Former EastEnders star Shaheen Jafargholi, who played Shakil Kazemi on the BBC soap, shocked fans when he took to social media and posed topless to show off his ripped appearance
Shaheen Jafargholi played the part of Shakil Kazemi on EastEnders (Image: BBC/Jack Barnes)
Former EastEnders star Shaheen Jafargholi has shocked fans with his appearance – almost a decade after he left the BBC soap. The actor, 29, played Shakil Kazemi from 2016 until 2018, with his alter-ego leaving Walford in explosive scenes which saw him stabbed to death as part of a hard-hitting knife storyline.
The former soap star recently took to Instagram to share a series of snaps of himself topless whilst attending a music festival, and, in one photo he posed confidently as he looked to his left and showed off his toned physique.
In another snap, the TV star was seen rolling on the grass as he cuddled his dog. He did not caption the post, but fans were taken aback by his appearance.
One wrote: “Well then [fire emoji],” and another said: “Phoaar!” A third wrote: “You’re looking very nice and slim in this Photo,” and a fourth said: “gorgeous!!”
Following his time on EastEnders, he enjoyed a five-year stint as Marty Kirkby on Casualty and later this year, he will be seen in Sky legal drama War.
When Shaheen left EastEnders, he said: “It’s going to be weird – I’ve been there for two years now and made so many incredible friends and family.
“Like anything all good things come to an end, it’s the nature of these kind of shows, characters come and go I feel so blessed to be able to leave with such an incredible storyline that means so much.”
Shaheen initially found fame when he competed on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009 alongside Susan Boyle and Diversity, and has so far released two albums. Shortly after impressing Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan on the ITV1 talent show, and reaching the final, he was selected to perform at Michael Jackson’s funeral.
He sang Who’s Lovin’ You again and, according to the late US talk show host Larry King, the founder of Motown Records, Berry Gordy, said “If I were still in the business, I would sign him tomorrow.”
Shaheen previously recalled: “When I was walking I wasn’t thinking about anything other than the way to get there. So I just walked out and did it. When I opened my mouth to sing, I was fine.
“When I sing I go into a totally different world. I feel invincible. I feel nobody can touch me and I can do whatever I want to do. It wasn’t until I’d finished that I realised what I’d just done.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is moving to equip officers with body cameras in the next two months, but the agency’s policy gives it broad control over what footage will be made public by specifying any releases must be in its “best interests.”
After years of delays, ICE said its field officers nationwide will have body-worn cameras by the end of September. The rollout comes after recent fatal shootings by officers enforcing President Trump’s immigration crackdown have intensified pressure for accountability that the cameras could provide.
But the agency’s policy could mean taxpayers who are pitching in tens of millions of dollars to pay for the cameras may be kept in the dark about some high-profile confrontations — at least in their immediate aftermath.
The policy says ICE will promptly release video of shootings and other encounters in which its agents cause death or serious injury only after determining “it is in the best interests of the agency” to do so. That gives its director discretion to release recordings that reflect well on the agency’s image while working to keep others secret, experts on body camera policies said.
Such selective releases are routine in some law enforcement agencies but usually not stated so clearly in policy, according to Christopher Schneider, a professor at Brandon University in Canada and a co-author of the book “Police Body-Worn Cameras: Media and the New Discourse of Police Reform.”
“In some ways, ICE is saying the quiet part out loud,” he said. “Body-worn cameras are being used as contemporary image-work tools to present the police to the public in the most favorable way possible.”
The policy requires officers to activate cameras during routine enforcement activities, including while making arrests, executing search warrants and responding to emergencies.
After shootings or other serious confrontations, a committee that includes top ICE officials and lawyers will review footage and recommend whether to release it promptly, according to the body camera policy issued in February 2025.
If the answer is yes, the recording could be released within 72 hours. But if the ICE director finds that “specific and compelling circumstances” justify withholding the video, they have the authority to block or indefinitely delay the release, the policy says.
The policy does not elaborate on such circumstances, and ICE did not respond to a question about how it would make such decisions.
Practices vary widely in the U.S. In Chicago, a police watchdog agency routinely releases body camera video of shootings and other serious use-of-force incidents within 60 days. In Philadelphia, the police department very rarely uses its discretion to release video of specific incidents and has no policy for when to do so.
Even when footage is released, ICE’s policy will require the redaction of all officers’ identifying features such as their faces, names and badge numbers to preserve their privacy.
Schneider, who has studied body cameras since their use began spreading a decade ago, said he does not expect ICE to release footage of fatal shootings like those last month in Houston and Maine.
He noted ICE’s sister agency, Customs and Border Protection, has not released footage of the January shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis even though it was captured on agents’ cameras. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott told lawmakers in February that the video and other materials were under investigation and would be made public “when it’s appropriate.”
ICE spent $30.9 million in July to purchase body camera equipment from Axon, the Arizona-based company that also manufactures Tasers, according to federal spending records.
The spending began one day after the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old motorist in Maine by an ICE officer with a history of violent behavior. Days earlier, another ICE officer shot and killed a home-builder in Houston who was driving to work.
Neither shooting was recorded with body cameras. That news angered members of Congress, who had given ICE $20 million to purchase body cameras in a bill passed to end a partial government shutdown April 30.
ICE said body cameras have been sent to more than half its field officers and the rest will receive them by the end of September. That timeline pushes back estimates from earlier public statements. Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who backed funding for cameras, said last month that the agency informed her they would be deployed by the end of August. ICE had said earlier that they would be issued by mid-September.
ICE officers working in the Houston area, where the agency sent more than 800 cameras, are among those who have started training, according to Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat and member of the House Appropriations Committee.
At least one member of every arrest team will be required to have a camera, the agency said.
“I think the American people need to see what that officer sees and hears,” said White House border czar Tom Homan on July 19 on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “And if you look at the data, body cameras actually exonerate agents more than they, you know, provide evidence of wrongdoing.”
ICE began testing body cameras in 2021 during the Biden administration and distributed 1,400 devices three years later, saying use would expand as funding became available.
After returning to office in 2025, President Trump rescinded a Biden order that required federal law enforcement agencies to use body cameras.
ICE did not buy body cameras even after it received a historic $75-billion infusion in Trump’s signature policy bill in 2025 and began hiring thousands of new officers. The two July purchases from Axon were made through an existing government contract that began in 2023, records show.
“This is not hard to deploy, but they’ve slow-rolled it,” said Jason Houser, who was ICE chief of staff under President Biden and helped implement the agency’s pilot program.
Houser said the Trump administration should have equipped officers with body cameras when it expanded mass arrests and traffic stops. Doing so only after several shootings and pressure from Congress “is clearly a political response” that will not make officers or the public safer, he said.
“This doesn’t fix the problem of putting officers in a place where they’re not trained or equipped to carry out the style of operations that the administration is asking them to do,” he said.
Foley writes for the Associated Press. AP reporter Valerie Gonzalez contributed to this report.
Gaza Health Ministry says hospitals receive bodies of two Palestinians as Netanyahu rejects Trump plan to end war.
Published On 10 Aug 202610 Aug 2026
Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least one person as Palestinian health authorities have confirmed another death after a body was recovered from beneath the rubble in the war-shattered enclave.
Israeli forces shot and killed one Palestinian east of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza on Saturday, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported, quoting medical sources.
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The Gaza Ministry of Health confirmed on Sunday that hospitals had received the bodies of two Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks, including one recovered from the rubble.
At least five people, including children, were wounded in Israeli attacks in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah on Saturday, QNA reported.
Local sources said several people were wounded when an Israeli tank opened fire on tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis. Among them was a woman who was critically wounded. A girl was seriously wounded by Israeli army fire in the al-Mawasi coastal area of Rafah.
Israeli artillery also shelled areas east of Khan Younis, and Israeli fire wounded several more people in the al-Mahatta area of Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the overall death toll since Israel launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023 was 73,386 with 174,250 wounded.
The remains of many people killed in Israeli attacks are still buried under rubble, and those deaths are uncounted, the ministry added. Ambulance and Palestinian Civil Defence crews remain unable to reach them.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel has rejected United States President Donald Trump’s 15-point plan for Gaza, telling a cabinet meeting that Israeli forces “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed”.
The rejection follows a similar position taken last week by the US-led Board of Peace, which said an Israeli withdrawal would only proceed once Hamas’s disarmament is complete, leaving both the ceasefire’s terms and any timeline for Israel’s exit from Gaza unresolved even as casualties continue to mount.
The court previously heard Dyson had been living in his car outside Wright’s cottage on Sheffield Road in Hoyland, often helping him with various jobs like cutting hedges, mending tractors and driving him to appointments.
Jurors heard Wright was a “weapons fanatic” and “a collector”, who owned a number of vintage firearms, old farm machinery and musical instruments.
Dyson’s ex-partner recalled how several months before his disappearance, Dyson had found a machine gun at Wright’s farm and kept it because it was “worth a lot of money”.
Prosecutors said Wright became “greatly angered” when he found out about the theft and killed him “with a shotgun immediately to hand”.
The last call from Dyson’s phone was made on 17 November 2019 and he was reported missing. Both Wright and Schwalbe, of Dike Hill, Low Harley, in Rotherham, were interviewed by police in the months after but denied knowing what had happened.
The pair’s trial heard how Wright had enlisted the help of his childhood friend Schwalbe to help him hide Dyson’s body.
In July 2025, a review of mobile phone data uncovered that Wright had called the owner of nearby Alderthwaite Farm in Hoyland three days after Dyson disappeared.
Farmer Ian Ollerenshaw told the court Wright had asked if he could store a livestock trailer on his land while he was “tidying up” his own farm, and noted the events of that day in his diary.
Ollerenshaw, who like Wright was a tenant of the Wentworth Estate, said the trailer was towed onto his land by a Fordson vintage tractor, but that he did not look inside it once it was parked.
Dyson’s body was later discovered in a concrete-filled barrel inside the padlocked trailer alongside Wright’s ID.
Aug. 2 (UPI) — Greek police announced Sunday they have arrested a man in connection with the grisly discovery of a British woman whose body had been stuffed into a suitcase and abandoned in an Athens neighborhood.
The Hellenic Police said a 26-year-old foreign man was identified as a suspect in the case and that he has been charged with manslaughter, robbery and violation of weapons laws.
The victim was identified by police as a 38-year-old British woman whose body was discovered stuffed into a suitcase left in an abandoned building in the neighborhood of Kypseli at on July 18.
Multiple media reports named the victim as Elisabeth-Jane Ross, a resident of Scotland.
Authorities determined she had been dead for eight days before her body was discovered.
They said the suspect confessed to his actions after being interrogated on Thursday, confirming to authorities he placed Ross’ body in a suitcase and transported it to the abandoned site.
The man later used victim’s bank cards to withdraw money from he accounts, police said.
During searches carried out at his home, a replica pistol and a knife were found and seized, accounting for the weapons charge.
Hellenic Police said they worked closely with British and Scottish counterparts in investigating the case.
Lisa had initially stayed in the area of Keratsini, 5.9 miles (9.5km) west of central Athens, with Greek friends.
She had told them that on 15 July she would go to Kypseli, where her “American friends” or acquaintances were.
On Saturday Greek police said they were fast-tracking toxicology reports in order to ascertain the cause of her death, potentially “in the coming days”.
Test results can take anywhere from several weeks to a few months depending on the complexity of the case and the workload of forensic laboratories.
They were also looking to trace Lisa’s American friends, who they said were also staying in Kypseli.
First Minister John Swinney called it an “absolutely appalling case”.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “This is an extremely distressing time for the family of Elisabeth-Jane Ross and it is important that their privacy is respected while enquiries continue.
“Scottish government officials are in communication with the family and with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensure they receive appropriate support.
“As this remains an operational matter for Police Scotland, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
On Thursday, United States President Donald Trump announced that Hamas had agreed to disarm and move to the next phase of the ceasefire deal in Gaza. The announcement was received positively by various regional actors while the US president characterised it as a “historic agreement”.
The problem is that the disarmament is unlikely to take place. That is because Hamas has made clear that it has conditioned relinquishing its weapons on Israel abiding by its obligations under the agreement, which the latter has failed to do since it was reached in October. The Board of Peace, the body tasked with overseeing the ceasefire and Gaza’s reconstruction, has done nothing to pressure it into compliance.
This is one of the many failures of this body, which has very little to show for its six-month existence. It lacks the power, financing, enforcement mechanisms and legal standing within the international legal system to fulfil its self-declared mandate. Rather than creating a pathway towards de-escalation, it has created an appearance of diplomatic progress that provides political cover for the continuation of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
The only way to move forward is for the board to be abandoned and responsibility returned to the United Nations.
Achieving nothing
The Board of Peace was established under Article 9 of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, announced in October. Its mandate is to oversee a temporary Palestinian technocratic body that would manage Gaza and an International Stabilization Force (ISF) of multinational peacekeepers. In theory, the board would supervise Gaza’s reconstruction and Israel’s gradual withdrawal. In practice, it has not achieved any progress on either of these processes.
Despite lofty promises from the Trump administration about transforming Gaza into a modern urban landscape, there has been no movement in that direction. The majority of the population still lives in abhorrent conditions in tents.
Last month, the board scaled down the reconstruction plan to a pilot project near Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, which is under the control of the Palestinians who collaborate with Israel. Israel would vet the Palestinians who are allowed to stay in that development.
Worse still, the board is trying to give itself the right to confiscate Palestinian properties or use them “free of charge”. This signals its willingness to serve as a facade for continuing Israeli theft of Palestinian land.
An Israeli withdrawal – the other major process the board should oversee – has been all but forgotten. Instead, Israel has continued to kill Palestinians in regular bombardments and encroach on more and more Palestinian land.
Since the ceasefire began in October, Israel has killed more than 1,100 Palestinian civilians. It has continued to carry out demolitions of Palestinian homes and to move its “Yellow Line”, expanding its control to about 70 percent of Gaza’s territory, up from 53 percent at the start of the ceasefire.
The Board of Peace has taken no action in response to these Israeli colonial practices and has not issued any public statements condemning them.
Meanwhile, the board has framed Palestinians as responsible for the lack of progress. Its high representative, Nickolay Mladenov, has described Hamas as the “principal obstacle” to implementing the ceasefire despite no recorded Palestinian attacks since its beginning.
This one-sided scrutiny reveals the board’s function: not peacemaking but providing cover for the ongoing occupation.
The Board of Peace has also maintained arrangements that allow Israel to control the flow of aid into Gaza. Although Trump’s plan stipulates that neither Hamas nor Israel should interfere with the entry and distribution of assistance, the Israeli military continues to determine both the quantity and type of assistance allowed into the Gaza Strip.
Major European countries and China have declined to join the Board of Peace. States that initially signalled a willingness to contribute to the ISF have since frozen or withdrawn their commitments.
This lack of confidence is also reflected in funding failures. Despite initial pledges of $10bn from the US and a further $7bn from other countries, the World Bank account established for the board reportedly has received no funds. Instead, it has relied on a few million dollars deposited into a private JP Morgan account, much of which has been spent on salaries and administrative overhead rather than reconstruction or civilian protection.
The return of the UN
Perhaps the starkest sign of the failure of the Board of Peace is that it is seeking to give itself immunity from prosecution. In a draft resolution, the board appears to pursue protections for its members and administrative bodies, including the Office of the High Representative, Palestinian technocrats, international military forces and nonresident contractors.
In other words, the board wants to operate above the law. The goal is clear: impose a foreign governance structure that obscures Israeli colonisation of Gaza behind an international body.
The continuing existence of such a body is an international disgrace, and it needs to end.
The appropriate response is a collective push by states that support the two-state solution and the peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to bring the process back to the United Nations umbrella. Palestinian factions should be at the forefront of this effort.
The UN should assume responsibility and transfer any relevant functions away from the board to established UN bodies.
Critics may counter that the UN has failed to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for more than seven decades. That is true. But its umbrella offers an international legal framework that anchors action in international law and readily identifies violations. That provides structure and legal levers the Palestinians can use to continue pushing for their rights.
What is more, there is a dedicated UN agency – UNRWA – that deals with Palestinian refugee problems and is best equipped to handle the vast challenges of a displaced and impoverished population. The return of UNRWA is important not only as a service-provision body but also as an entity that protects the rights and status of Palestinian refugees.
The UN and its associated bodies have established accountability and transparency mechanisms that can minimise the misuse of resources needed for rebuilding Gaza. While ending the occupation depends on the political will of the world’s foremost powers, the UN umbrella maintains the legal status of Gaza as occupied territory and protects the rights of the occupied population.
The UN can also play a role in the deployment of the ISF. The force should be deployed not just in Gaza but also the West Bank to protect Palestinians from settler attacks. Giving the ISF a UN mandate would encourage more countries to contribute to its creation and help build a wider coalition of countries invested in the stabilisation and protection of Gaza and the West Bank. This could be a preliminary step that sets up Israel’s withdrawal from these occupied territories.
The international community must act now. The Board of Peace must be abandoned, and all responsibility for Gaza must be transferred back to the UN system. The UN must be empowered to take the lead in any future arrangements.
Continuing to maintain the current situation in Gaza means the continuation of Palestinian suffering and the deepening of uninhabitability, in effect paving the way for the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land. What is urgently needed is a UN-led mechanism that is immediately enforceable and grounded in international law.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino says he has scrapped the controversial plan to sell off stakes in the governing body’s major competitions, following widespread opposition.
Infantino said it had become clear the project had “created divisions” that are “no longer in the interest” of its original objective.
The Swiss added: “As a result, this proposal will not proceed.”
Infantino had offered all 211 member associations $40m (£30m) if they backed a proposal for private investment in its tournaments, including the men’s and women’s World Cups.
Carlos Cordeiro – Infantino’s senior adviser on global strategy and governance – resigned over the mater, saying the proposal was “a bad deal for football” and would “mortgage football’s future”.
That came after two other major confederations spoke out against the plans.
Concacaf, which governs football in North, Central America and the Caribbean – and hosted this summer’s World Cup – said its members “rejected” the proposal, with sources saying the vast majority of associations from the region are losing, or have lost, faith in Infantino.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said it stood in “solidarity” with Uefa and Concacaf, while UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Infantino was “the wrong man” to lead Fifa.
Infantino, 56, is now under immense pressure as he seeks re-election for a fourth term as president at the Fifa Congress in March.
He said he now intends to “bring all interested parties back together” in the “spirit of shared interest” in football.
Ahead of the new series of Van Der Valk airing, star Maimie McCoy recalled filming a difficult stunt in water, where she was unable to move and had to be “hauled” out.
The All Creatures Great and Small actress is returning to her role as Inspecteur Lucienne Hassell opposite Marc Warren’s Commissaris Piet van der Valk in the fourth series of Van der Valk.
A loose reimagining of the 1972 series, and based on Nicolas Freeling’s crime thriller novels, the detective drama tracks Dutch detective Van Der Valk and his team as they crack three further murders in Amsterdam.
Shot on location in and around the city, the latest series promises to be more explosive than ever, with Maimie sharing what shooting certain scenes was truly like, reports Yorkshire Live.
In a press pack ahead of the new series airing, Maimie revealed one moment where she had to be hauled out of water.
She explained: “There’s quite a little community where I swim down in the Amstel. So I did suggest it, thinking we’d just be shooting in the summer again. And then they were like, ‘We’ll be shooting at the end of October.’
“And there was a lot of panic about how cold it would be and I was like, “I’m good, I’m hardy.” And then I went in the day before we shot it and thought, ‘This is a bit colder than I was expecting.’
“But we did a great scene. It’s at the beginning of episode two. Lucienne is totally away from everybody and just having a moment of reflection for herself.
“It’s almost a meditation to her and a real calm away from the job that they’re doing. I think it’ll be a lovely contrast.
“But they had to haul me out of the water, because I was fine swimming, and then I realised that I had no body strength left.“
The new series features Van Der Valk and his team taking on three mysteries, with the first following the death of a whistleblower under police protection, and the second uncovering the death of an environmental campaigner on the eve of a global conference, with a famous singer who was thought to have died by suicide considered as a suspect.
The series finale has Van Der Valk’s team hunting down the truth behind a scientist searching for a potential breakthrough in cancer treatment being found dead, and the possible link to a pharmaceuticals billionaire.
Teasing the new episodes, writer Chris Murray shared: ““We are 100% series that this is the best series of Van Der Valk we’ve done so far.
“Three strong, contrasting, resolving films flooded with our distinctive team dynamic but this time with the added spice of Piet’s combative ex-girlfriend turning up at the same time as one of our team has to confront their own mortality.”
Marc Warren added: “Chris Murray, the writer and showrunner, when we did the first scene this season, he said it felt like slipping on a comfortable jumper. We just fitted into it very easily.
“There’s a general feeling of knowing where we’re at and being very relaxed and comfortable with it. But maybe there’s a few more smiles. I felt very relaxed with it. I don’t think about it too much.”
He went on: “What it felt like, and I felt it really strongly in episode one, it felt like a bigger show. It seemed like we had more crew and there was more going on. In episode one particularly it was quite an intricate show, lots of cars and explosions and stunts, and it felt like the whole show had gone up a level. It’s a very impressive episode.”
Van Der Valk returns on Sunday, August 2, at 8pm on ITV
Beloved presenter Fern Britton is best known for hosting ITV daytime programme This Morning
Fern Britton has returned to screens with her popular ITV series(Image: ITV/Love Monday TV)
Fern Britton has a very famous father and fans will be floored at who he is.
The former This Morning presenter is currently appearing on screens in Fern Britton: Inside the Vet’s. The ITV documentary series follows Fern as she goes behind the scenes at a Bristol surgery.
The programme has recently returned for a second season at The Grove Vets, with the latest instalment set to feature a 10-month-old cat with an injury sustained in a fight. That’s not all, as Dr James Greenwood also provides emergency care to a whippet with a nasty throat injury, and delivers a masterclass on doggy dental hygiene with special help from his own pet.
As Fern continues to delight audiences on ITV1, some viewers may be surprised to learn that she comes from a very famous family, reports the Express.
Who is Fern Britton’s famous dad?
Fern’s dad was the actor Tony Britton. Tony was best known for starring in BBC sitcom Don’t Wait Up alongside Nigel Havers in the 1980s, as well as many British films including The Day of the Jackal.
He also appeared in Robin’s Nest alongside Richard O’Sullivan and Tess Wyatt, and films Operation Amsterdam, as well as Sunday Bloody Sunday. In 1975, he won the Broadcasting Press Guild’s best actor award for his role in The Nearly Man.
Fern announced her father’s death in 2019, just one year after the passing of her mother, Ruth. The deaths of her parents were followed by more heartbreak, as her marriage to TV chef Phil Vickery soon “fell apart”.
The couple announced their split after two decades together in 2020. Fern and Phil haven’t spoken in several years, with Fern claiming that her ex “stopped talking to me” after her mum died.
“My mum died in 2018 and my dad died in 2019, and then my marriage died,” Fern previously told The Telegraph.
Fern Britton’s body transformation
The 68-year-old star recently revealed her weight loss to fans on social media, after losing five stone.
Fern has since spoken about the massive change she made to her diet and how it has influenced her weight loss journey.
Speaking on the Postcards From Midlife podcast, she said: “I realised the sugar intake. I’m addicted to sugar and, funnily enough, if you’re not eating doughnuts, biscuits, cake, jam, you know… it makes you feel a lot better. So, now if I’m eating sugar, it’s too sweet for me because I used to be able to tolerate an awful lot.”
She added: “And like cigarettes as well, I used to be able to tolerate anybody smoking anything in my face, but now it’s like, ‘Stop it’. Apart from that, it was very much kind of sensible.”
Fern Britton: Inside the Vet’s is available to stream on ITVX
The Dodgers’ 9-2 loss to the Diamondbacks on Saturday wasn’t enough to prevent them from going into the All-Star break with the best record in the majors — that much is ensured. But the uninspired all-around performance sealed a series loss on the final weekend of the season’s first half.
The Dodgers (61-35) put little pressure on the Diamondbacks pitching staff. And Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto wrapped up his first-half campaign with his highest-scoring start of the season; he surrendered six runs in six innings.
Over the All-Star break, Yamamoto (2.85 ERA) will get the week to rest. Before the game Saturday, manager Dave Roberts confirmed Yamamoto, an All-Star for the second consecutive year, will not pitch in the game.
The timing of his start Saturday, three days before the Midsummer Classic, suggested as much. Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to have his left knee drained coming out of the All-Star break and will not travel to Philadelphia. So Justin Wrobleski, who was added to the National League roster Saturday, is the only Dodger set to pitch in the All-Star Game.
Yamamoto held the Diamondbacks to one run through the first five innings. But his final inning quickly unraveled. It started with a leadoff walk and peaked with a three-run home run from James McCann.
The Dodgers finally rallied for two runs in the sixth and then fell quiet again. The Diamondbacks then scored three runs against Landon Knack in his three-inning season debut coming off the injured list.
Yamamoto’s uncharacteristic sixth inning ended his streak of quality starts at five, including two that lasted eight innings or more. He leads the team with 110⅔ innings pitched.
“His delivery is so consistent, repeatable,” Roberts said before the game. “He uses his body so efficiently. I just see how he takes care of himself, and the tax wasn’t going to be a problem for him.”
Yamamoto’s workload, along with Wrobleski’s emergence, have helped the Dodgers weather injuries to pitchers who were expected to be major contributors.
In a promising sign for closer Edwin Díaz’s recovery timeline, he started a rehab assignment with single-A Ontario on Saturday. Díaz made just seven appearances for the Dodgers before undergoing an operation to remove loose bodies from his right elbow in late April.
“He’s been throwing pretty effortlessly, free, maybe a week after he started throwing,” pitching coach Mark Prior said.
He estimated that Díaz would return in about three to four weeks if his progression goes smoothly.
Blake Snell — who also had loose bodies removed from his pitching elbow, undergoing a NanoNeedle Scope procedure on May 19 — threw two simulated innings to batters Saturday.
Snell is scheduled to begin a minor-league rehab assignment next weekend, Roberts said. Prior believes Snell will need at least four to five outings, likening it to a spring training buildup.
“The goal would be to get him fully built up to 90ish pitches before he comes back,” Prior said.
Tyler Glasnow, who had been sidelined for more than two months with a lingering back injury, threw a bullpen session Friday.
“It was like 95, 96 [mph] in his ‘pen, but he does that rolling out of bed when he’s healthy,” Prior said. “But it’s a good sign.”
Glasnow has had plenty of back and forth in his rehab, however. Twice he started playing catch only to be shut down when back spasms returned.
“The schedule is starting to move with a little bit more consistency than it had been,” Prior said. “So he’s in a good spot.”
Glasnow is scheduled for another bullpen session on Monday.
The Belgian football federation has vowed “to challenge” FIFA’s controversial reversal of a red card game suspension against Folarin Balogun, which allows the star USA player to take the field in the round of 16 World Cup match against Belgium.
The statement on Monday from the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) came hours before the match was set to begin, and as US President Donald Trump defended directly reaching out to FIFA’s President Gianni Infantino ahead of the controversial decision.
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The federation charged that FIFA did not follow the proper protocol in allowing an appeal of its lifting of Balogun’s game suspension, the result of a red card shown during the round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The RBFA said, given FIFA’s conduct, the federation “has no alternative but to challenge [Balogun’s] eligibility for the upcoming match”. It was not immediately clear how such a challenge would proceed.
“Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole,” the federation said.
Trump says he asked Infantino to ‘review’ the decision
The decision to lift Balogun’s one-game suspension came shortly after Trump spoke directly to Infantino.
That has raised eyebrows and accusations of political meddling in the tournament, with critics noting it is exceedingly rare for FIFA to lift a game suspension during the World Cup, even when a referee makes a questionable call.
If Balogun is allowed to play, it would be the first time since 1962 that a red card issued at the World Cup did not result in a suspension.
FIFA has said it relied on Article 27 of its disciplinary committee rules to reverse the game ban. The provision states “the judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure”.
FIFA had earlier said the game ban could not be appealed by Team USA.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump denied that he directly influenced FIFA’s decision.
“All I did, I asked for a review, because I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump told reporters.
“I thought it was two great athletes that crashed [into] each other and got entangled.”
He further called football referee Raphael Claus “very suspect”. He added, “If you want, I’ll provide you with the past”, without providing further details.
Later on Monday, Infantino also released his version of the call, which he said was among many he regularly receives from “heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues”.
Infantino maintained he was not involved in the decision on Balogun’s suspension and was only made aware after it was released.
“During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies,” he said.
‘Keep politics out’
To be sure, several leading football pundits have questioned the decision by Claus to show Balogun the red card.
Many have argued that Balogun incidentally stepped on the ankle of Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic during an otherwise legitimate challenge, and the contact did not warrant the potentially tournament-transforming penalty.
Nevertheless, the unusual series of events is likely to cast a further pall of politics over the games ahead, adding to criticism of the Trump administration’s treatment of Iran’s national team.
Observers have said the optics of Trump’s intervention could taint any future success of the USA team, which has far exceeded expectations under head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
“This is embarrassing to a wonderful US team and a wonderful player,” Shibley Telhami, a professor of peace and development at the University of Maryland, wrote on X following FIFA’s decision.
“Keep politics out. This US team is good enough to win honourably. Now, a win will be diminished.”
A Palestinian technocratic committee will take its place to manage the enclave’s day-to-day governance.
The Palestinian group Hamas has announced the dissolution of the body that has governed Gaza for nearly two decades, paving the way for a technocratic committee to implement civilian rule in the war-ravaged, besieged territory.
The move on Monday marks a significant political shift by Hamas, which has governed Gaza since its fighters seized control from rival Palestinian movement Fatah in 2007 after Hamas won legislative elections the previous year.
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Since a United States-brokered “ceasefire” with Israel took effect in Gaza last October, the group has repeatedly said it is prepared to step aside from day-to-day governance, but the question of its disarmament remains unresolved.
Mohammed al-Farra, head of the government’s emergency committee, “has decided to submit his official resignation from his position and to announce the dissolution of the Government Emergency Committee, as a demonstration of the seriousness of these measures, in implementation of the agreed arrangements, and to facilitate the administrative transition process”, read a statement released by Gaza’s Government Media Office on Monday.
A Hamas official said the group wished for the swift entry of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a body which is tasked with overseeing the future administration of Gaza under a US-backed plan to end Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.
“Hamas has taken a new step in that it will no longer be in charge of the Gaza Strip, in order to remove any pretexts for the occupation, which continues its aggression and war of extermination,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told the AFP news agency.
“We hope for the swift entry of the [NCAG], and Hamas affirms its readiness to hand over governmental responsibilities to the committee to ensure its success.”
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said Hamas’s announcement appears to be “politically significant”.
“It has been viewed as part of the concession from the Hamas side in order to move the negotiations forward, to pave the road for the technocratic committee to arrive to the Gaza Strip and take responsibility after months of an increasing power vacuum there.”
Mahmoud stressed that the move doesn’t mean that Hamas is relinquishing its political or military role in Gaza, but rather “stepping back from the direct civilian government in Gaza”.
The head of the NCAG welcomed Hamas’s announcement.
“We affirm that the [NCAG] is fully prepared to assume its national responsibilities as soon as the necessary resources and capabilities are available,” Ali Shaath, head of the committee, wrote on social media.
Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative overseeing the US-founded Board of Peace for Gaza, which would supervise the NCAG’s work, said the decision “underscores the importance of bringing the roadmap discussions to a successful conclusion”.
“It is the bridge between declarations and implementation,” he added.
Mladenov noted that once an agreement is reached on the remaining implementation provisions, the NCAG will be able to assume its responsibilities.
The NCAG has remained based outside Gaza for months, reportedly due to Israeli objections to its entry into the besieged enclave.
Israel has ruled out allowing Hamas to rule the enclave but has also rejected a direct takeover by the Palestinian Authority, which controls the occupied West Bank, at this stage.
Indonesian troops have recovered the body of American pilot Nicholas Goselin from the restive Papua region after he was killed by separatist ‘Bakusip’ rebels last week. The operation involved a 10-member team and three helicopters.
Chris Johnson, the former NFL running back who holds the record for most yards from scrimmage in a single season, has the degenerative neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Johnson shared the diagnosis during an interview with Michael Strahan that aired Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The 40-year-old father of four spoke in his own voice but didn’t use his mouth — instead, he used his eyes to trigger a device that generated sentences based on recordings Johnson made soon after he was diagnosed last year.
“It’s continued to progress much faster than I ever imagined,” Johnson said of the disease. “I want people to understand just how quickly ALS can attack your body. Just over a year ago, I was picking up my 7-year-old daughter so she’d make a wish with her birthday cake. Today, I couldn’t do that.”
There is currently no known treatment that stops or reverses ALS, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and most people with disease die of respiratory failure within three to five years of noticing symptoms (although one in 10 survive a decade or more).
In addition to receiving the standard medication to help slow the disease’s progression, Johnson has been working with neurologist and leading ALS researcher Dr. Merit Cudkowicz. She told “Good Morning America” that Johnson has taken part in a clinical trial for a therapy “that decreases inflammation, and I think that helped him a lot.”
“At first, you’re in shock, then you realize you have two choices: You can give up, or you can fight,” Johnson said. “I chose to fight.”
Johnson’s wife Brittany told Strahan: “We’re still hopeful. We’re hopeful that a breakthrough will happen or … a miracle will happen.”
Selected by the Tennessee Titans at No. 24 in the 2008 draft, Johnson was an instant NFL star. He made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons and was named the league’s offensive player of the year in 2009. Also that season, Johnson led the NFL with 2,006 rushing yards — earning the nickname CJ2K as one of only nine players to have rushed for 2,000 or more yards in a season — and set a record with 2,509 yards from scrimmage that still stands.
Johnson rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his six seasons with the Titans, then spent a year with the New York Jets and three more with the Arizona Cardinals before retiring after the 2017 season. He finished with 9,651 yards and 55 touchdowns rushing and 2,255 yards and nine touchdowns receiving.
Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk released a statement Monday morning after Johnson’s diagnosis was revealed.
“Learning this news is extremely difficult, and we will support Chris every step of the way throughout his journey,” she wrote. “We are holding him and his family close, and join our fans around the world in expressing our love for Chris.”
The Jets and Cardinals also released statements expressing their support for Johnson.
While Johnson’s body will no longer allow him to perform a task like gripping a cup, he said he wants people to know that with ALS, “your mind stays sharp.”
“People sometimes look at the physical disability and assume you’re not still the same person inside,” Johnson said. “I still think the same. I still dream. I still love my family. My body just doesn’t cooperate.”
Australian national Simon Peter Carman has been charged with murder after the body of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla was found inside a suitcase. CCTV footage appears to show the pair entering a hotel together and Carman leaving hours later with only a suitcase.
Thousands of mourners lined Bangkok streets as the body of Princess Bajrakitiyabha, daughter of Thailand’s king, was brought to the Grand Palace in a royal procession. The 47-year-old princess had been in a coma for more than three years before dying from an abdominal infection.
Tina O’Brian has shown off her stunning figure in new snaps from her holiday to ItalyCredit: InstagramThe actress is currently soaking up the sun a solo holidayCredit: Instagram
Taking to Instagram, Tina shared a slew of pictures from her solo trip to Italy this week as she soaked up the sun.
She donned a patterned pink bikini in one with a matching cover-up, showing off her slim physique while posing in the mirror.
Other snaps showed Tina sipping cocktails by the pool, enjoying lavish meals and exploring the area.
She captioned the post: “I had the most incredible solo travel experience exploring Ischia and Capri 🇮🇹 🛵 ❤️ Can’t wait to plan the next one 💫
It comes months after Tina’s split from Adam FableCredit: instagramThe actress described her trip as the ‘most incredible solo travel experience’Credit: InstagramShe sipped cocktails by the pool during the tripCredit: InstagramShe showed off her tan in the slew of snapsCredit: Instagram
‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’ – Mary Oliver”.
Tina’s co-stars such as Lucy Fallon, Samia Longchambon and Sally Carman all took to the comment section of the post to send their love to Tina.
The solo trip comes months after Tina split from her boyfriend Adam in November after four months together.
The Coronation Street star, 42, went official with the millionaire businessman in the summer last year and they both made their first public outing at her co-star Jack P. Shepherd’s wedding in July.
Insiders said that the Sarah Platt actress called time on the relationship after she felt it “wasn’t going anywhere” and she didn’t think it was “going to last”.
Tina’s outcome is said to have shocked Adam, 38, who believed they had a real future.
CONVICTED murderer Mackenzie Shirilla showed tell-tale signs she was trying to force emotion during her arrest and in her bombshell Netflix interview, a body language expert has claimed.
Shirilla, 21, has been languishing behind bars in Ohio after being found guilty of murdering her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend, Davion Flanagan.
Her case has sent true crime fans into a tailspin after the success of the Netflix documentary, The Crash, in which she broke her silence and maintained her innocence.
Shirilla’s TikToks and Instagram posts have resurfaced, showing her regularly posing in the mirror, showing off designer clothing, and even smoking weed in her car.
Text messages revealed by police showed her toxic relationship with Dominic, her boyfriend of four years, whose family claims had tried more than once to break up with her.
She reportedly threatened to harm him during arguments before purposefully plowing into a brick wall while driving her Toyota Camry on July 31, 2022.
Renowned body language expert Logan Portenier, host and creator of the popular YouTube channel Observe, spent hours breaking down her movements in dozens of social media clips and footage.
Here he gives The U.S. Sun his biggest takeaways from the case.
TikTok star
Shirilla was a social media-obsessed teen before the crash and shared daily posts on TikTok of her and Dom, both at home and out and about, as she was often the center of attention.
Reviewing one clip of them in the car together, Logan said, “He doesn’t seem to be as stoked for this video that she’s filming as she does.
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“It didn’t seem as though they were quite on the same page emotionally.
“She’s doing her different poses and expressions for the sake of the video and for his side of things, he seems much more reserved and subdued.
“Because he’s not performing as much for the camera as she is, we’re seeing a fair bit of synchronization across the upper half of his face and the lower half of his face, which lets us know that anything that we’re kind of seeing on that is probably going to be forced. It’s performative.
“And he does, a little lackluster kind of asymmetrical smile on the bottom half of his face.”
Mackenzie Shirilla pouts in a TikTok video with her boyfriend, Dominic RussoCredit: TikTok/kenzshirillaThe then-teenage Shirilla is seen posing in a mirror as her boyfriend Dominic stands awkwardly in the backgroundCredit: TikTok/kenzshirilla
Uncomfortable posing
In another clip from Shirilla’s TikTok, the couple is at home, and she is trying to get him to pose in a full-length mirror as he is seen hiding behind her.
“Mackenzie is doing a lot of the posing,” Logan said. “She’s hitting her different looks that she wants to do during this.
“In the background, you could see initially Dom’s nonverbal communication.
“He’s doing a self hug. You can see him holding both of his arms there.
“That is misconstrued in a lot of areas as exclusively defensive,” but Logan feels this is more about comfort.
“What I do find more interesting is that he does shift later on to holding both hands in front.
“So both of those clusters there, he has one in front and then he has his hands clasped in front like that. Both of those signal a level of discomfort.”
Logan added, “We’re seeing again this dichotomy between the two of them.
“He’s kind of there and he’s being present, albeit uncomfortable, reserved, and needing to do a little bit of self-soothing to be able to make it through.”
Distracted driving
Shirilla, who made no secret of being image-conscious before her arrest, frequently posed for TikTok videos — even when she should have been concentrating on the road.
In hindsight, clips showing her filming herself while driving are especially unsettling, given that two young men would later lose their lives in a crash while riding in a car with her behind the wheel.
“It’s very focused on the phone and what she appears like on it, hitting her specific facial expressions as well,” Logan said.
Mackenzie Shirilla is seen in shades posing while driving her car in one disturbing clipCredit: TikTok/kenzshirillaMackenzie Shirilla looks distressed as she is cuffed in the back of a police carCredit: Strongsville Police Department
“And on those facial expressions, this helps us understand how she will behave and appear when she’s performing.
“There might be some of that lip pursing that we kind of see in there.
“There are some head tilts in there as well as she’s trying to be perceived in a very specific way, so that performative non-verbal communication comes in handy in future situations, because then you can keep an eye out for some of those patterns that may or may not show up in the future.”
Cuffed and anxious
Shirilla survived the crash and police launched an investigation, as evidence slowly proved it was not an accident and she recovered from multiple surgeries.
Fast-forward to November 2022, and Shirilla’s life blows up in smoke as she’s finally arrested and later charged with murder.
“I don’t know that she’s aware that there’s a camera pointed at her, that she’s going to be perceived in this area, and so what we’re going to be able to see is more of her unfiltered nonverbal communication,” Logan pointed out.
“And with this, she is feeling what would be considered in that vein of the universal emotion of sadness.
“There’s grief, there’s panic, and stress, everything that can go into that.
“What really gives it away is the action in her forehead area.
“What we’re seeing predominantly is unit one activation, which is the middle portion of your eyebrows when they go upward during genuine sadness and grief.
“You can see that happening symmetrically, but if it’s more performed, a lot of people will end up having light asymmetrical activation because it’s not genuine.”
Frozen with fear
In further footage of Shirilla in the back of a police car after her arrest, Logan said she appears frozen with fear despite not shedding a tear as she heads to the station.
“She has fairly relaxed eye positioning in general when she’s not panicked,” he said.
“And so this widening of her eyes, it indicates, genuinely, that she’s feeling anxious. This would be considered fear.”
Logan added that while Shirilla “might not be terrified, it would at least trigger as fear to the anxiety levels” as she rides in the police car.
“So we’re seeing both the combination of the grief across the upper half of her forehead and her eyes are showing the fear as well,” Logan said.
She relaxed before suddenly looking distressed again, but Logan feels it may not have been genuineCredit: Strongsville Police DepartmentMackenzie Shirilla is seen in a mugshot after her arrest in November 2022Credit: ohio.gov
“Then when we get down to the rest of her face, some things that show more physiology rather than just physical movements, is a lot of the inflammation around her nose and upper lip,” which Logan claims “[lets] us know that this is coming from an authentic place.”
Putting on an act
Logan explained that emotional states have a profile, and things can usually shift after around four and a half seconds.
During the journey, Shirilla seems to relax, despite the situation that she’s in, and is seen rolling her head back and looking bored.
But as they approach the station, Logan feels she starts to perform as she realizes she should be more upset than she is if she’s not guilty of murder.
“When you’re watching somebody who’s performing, you’ll see a lot of crashes in between,” he told The U.S. Sun.
“So they’ll be emoting a specific way and then it’s almost like they remember like, ‘Oh, I should be sad right now.’ And then they’ll crash into sadness, something like that.
“You can see it start to kind of creep through the cracks of her rather reserved expression beforehand.”
This is where Logan returns to Shirilla’s “eyebrow activation.”
He claims Shirilla’s outer and inner eyebrows are working together at this point to show sadness, stress and anxiety.
Again, the corners of her nose are also activated, not in disgust, but trying to show she is upset, something he says he doesn’t often see.
Oscar-worthy performance
She is later seen sobbing during her trial before being locked up for 15 years to life on murder charges.
Shirilla starts to mix with people from different walks of life, and it’s years later when we see her sit down with film producers for her bombshell interview.
She is seen walking into the frame and sitting down at a table wearing her prison scrubs, her hair tied up in a large bun.
“The fact that she’s sitting down, crossing her arms, immediately lets us know that she’s probably feeling uncomfortable about what’s about to happen there and needs to block off and self-soothing a little bit,” Logan said.
Shirilla then activated her glabella – the smooth area of skin on her forehead located directly between the eyebrows and just above the bridge of her nose, Logan said.
He claims this was to give the impression she is empathetic, but instead of it being symmetrical, she delivered asymmetrical activation.
“Her right eyebrow does not have the same activation as her left eyebrow.
“Her left eyebrow is doing the exact same expression that we saw in the cruiser. Her right eyebrow is not.
“It’s an asymmetrical expression which lets us know this isn’t authentic empathy.
“This isn’t authentic pain or fear or grief that she’s feeling here. It’s forced.”
Logan said this was also visible further down the vein on the bottom half of her face.
She also began pursing her lips – something she would do in her performative TikTok videos, where she wanted to control how she was being perceived.
He said she is trying to convince the audience she is upset about the situation she is in, and victims’ deaths, but “her body is betraying her.”
“And then when we get to this specific interview she’s talking at a lower register, she has a little bit more husky to her voice,” he said.
“Some of the verbal tics that she uses as well have shifted. And my immediate thought was, this has to be something about the performance that she’s obviously performing.
“She wants people to feel a certain way. And so she shifted her tone, her speaking differently as well to perhaps support that.”
He feels not only her voice will have changed in prison, but her body language as she mixes with other inmates.
“I have no doubt in my mind that she’ll be adjusting her overall nonverbal behavior as well to better fit in and get to where she wants to be in that social circle as well,” he said.
To see the full interview with Logan, and other exclusive videos on Mackenzie Shirilla, visit our YouTube channel.
Matt Brown, who starred with his family in the Discovery reality television show “Alaskan Bush People,” was found dead in the Okanogan River in Washington state, law enforcement officials said Sunday.
Brown’s body was discovered Saturday by a group of private citizens who were conducting a search, the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Brown’s brother, Bear Brown, said in a video posted Saturday on social media that fellow brother Noah had been with the search team, helped pull the body out of the river and identified him.
The official cause and manner of death is still to be determined by the coroner, the sheriff’s office said. But the Brown family believes Matt Brown died by suicide, Bear Brown said in the video.
Witnesses said they saw Matt Brown in or near the river and that he “took his own life,” Bear Brown said on social media.
“I would have never suspected he would hurt himself, honestly,” Bear Brown said in the emotional video. “He struggled for a long time.”
Bear Brown said his brother had battled with alcohol and drugs and that Matt Brown told him in their last conversation that he had “fallen off the wagon.”
The Brown family and their life in the Alaskan wilderness were the subject of the reality TV show “Alaskan Bush People,” which ran on the Discovery Channel from 2014 to 2022.
Suicide prevention and crisis counseling resources
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, seek help from a professional or call 988. The nationwide three-digit mental health crisis hotline will connect callers with trained mental health counselors. Or text “HOME” to 741741 in the U.S. and Canada to reach the Crisis Text Line.