Four Al Jazeera staff were among seven people killed in an Israeli drone strike outside al-Shifa Hospital on August 10. The Israeli military has admitted to deliberately targeting the tent after making unsubstantiated accusations that one of those killed, Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, was a member of Hamas.
Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed at least 238 media workers since October 2023, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office. This toll is higher than that of World Wars I and II, the Vietnam War, the war in Afghanistan and the Yugoslavia wars combined.
Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud said, “Press vests and helmets, once considered a shield, now feel like a target.”
“The fear is constant — and justified,” Mahmoud said. “Every assignment is accompanied by the same unspoken question: Will [I] make it back alive?”
The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists has been among several organisations denouncing Israel’s longstanding pattern of accusing journalists of being “terrorists” without credible proof.
“It is no coincidence that the smears against al-Sharif — who has reported night and day for Al Jazeera since the start of the war — surfaced every time he reported on a major development in the war, most recently the starvation brought about by Israel’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into the territory,” CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah said in the aftermath of Israel’s attack.
In light of Israel’s systematic targeting of journalists, media workers in Gaza are forced to make difficult choices.
“As a mother and a journalist, I go through this mental dissonance almost daily, whether to go to work or stay with my daughters and being afraid of the random shelling of the Israeli occupation army,” Palestinian journalist Sally Thabet told Al Jazeera.
Across the street from the ruins of the School of Media Studies at al-Quds Open University in Gaza City, where he used to teach, Hussein Saad has been recovering from an injury he sustained while running to safety.
“The deliberate targeting of Palestinian journalists has a strong effect on the disappearance of the Palestinian story and the disappearance of the media narrative,” he said. Saad argued the Strip was witnessing “the disappearance of the truth”.
While journalists report on mass killings, human suffering and starvation, they also cope with their own losses and deprivation. Photographer and correspondent Amer al-Sultan said hunger was a major challenge.
“I used to go to work, and when I didn’t find anything to eat, I would just drink water,” he said. “I did this for two days. I had to live for two or three days on water. This is one of the most difficult challenges we face amid this war against our people: starvation.”
Journalist and film director Hassan Abu Dan said reporters “live in conditions that are more difficult than the mind can imagine.”
“You live in a tent. You drink water that is not good for drinking. You eat unhealthy food … We are all, as journalists, confused. There is a part of our lives that has been ruined and gone far away,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said that despite the psychological trauma and the personal risks, Palestinian journalists continue to do their jobs, “driven by a belief that documenting the truth is not just a profession, but a duty to their people and history”.
In downtown Los Angeles, Gov. Gavin Newsom was holding a news conference with Democratic leaders when the Border Patrol showed up nearby to conduct a showy immigration raid.
In Washington D.C., hundreds of National Guard troops patrolled the streets, some in armored vehicles, as city officials battled with the White House over whether the federal government can take control of the local police department.
President Trump has long demonized “blue” cities like Los Angeles, Washington and New York, frequently claiming — often contrary to the evidence — that their Democratic leaders have allowed crime and blight to worsen. Trump, for example, cited out-of-control crime as the reason for his Washington D.C. guard deployment, even though data shows crime in the city is down.
But over the last few months, Trump’s rhetoric has given way to searing images of federal power on urban streets that are generating both headlines and increasing alarm in some circles.
While past presidents have occasionally used the Insurrection Act to deploy the military in response to clear, acute crises, the way Trump has deployed troops in Democratic-run cities is unprecedented in American politics. Trump has claimed broader inherent powers and an authority to deploy troops to cities when and where he decides there is an emergency, said Matthew Beckmann, a political science professor at UC Irvine.
“President Trump is testing how far he can push his authority, in no small part to find out who or what can challenge him,” he said.
State and local officials reacted with shock when they learned Border Patrol agents had massed outside Newsom’s news conference Thursday. The governor was preparing to announce the launch of a campaign for a ballot measure, which if approved by voters, would redraw the state’s congressional maps to favor Democrats before the 2026 midterms.
Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino told a Fox 11 reporter: “We’re here making Los Angeles a safer place since we won’t have politicians that’ll do that, we do that ourselves.” When the reporter noted that Newsom was nearby, Bovino responded, “I don’t know where he’s at.”
However, local law enforcement sources told The Times that the raid was not random and that they had received word from the federal authorities that Little Tokyo was targeted due to its proximity to the governor’s event. The raid, the sources told The Times, was less about making arrests and more of a show of force intended to disrupt Democrats.
Whatever the reason, the raid generated news coverage and at least in the conservative media, overshadowed the announcement of the redistricting plan.
Trump’s second term has been marked by increased use of troops in cities. He authorized the deployment of thousands of Marines and National Guard troops to L.A. in June after immigration raids sparked scattered protests. The troops saw little action, and local leaders said the deployment was unnecessary and only served to inflame tensions.
The operation reached a controversial zenith in July when scores of troops on horseback wearing tactical gear and driving armored vehicles, rolled through MacArthur Park. The incident generated much attention, but local police were surprised that the raid was brief and resulted in few arrests.
After the MacArthur Park raid, Mayor Karen Bass complained “there’s no plan other than fear, chaos and politics.”
Beckmann said the situation is a “particularly perilous historical moment because we have a president willing to flout constitutional limits while Congress and the court have been willing to accept pretext as principle.”
UC Berkeley Political Science Professor Eric Schickler, co-director of the university’s Institute of Governmental Studies, said the recent military displays are part of a larger mission to increase the power of the president and weaken other countervailing forces, such as the dismantling of federal agencies and the weakening of universities.
“It all adds up to a picture of really trying to turn the president into the one dominant force in American politics — he is the boss of everything, he controls everything,” Schickler said. “And that’s just not how the American political system has worked for 240 years.”
In some way, Trump’s tactics are an extension of long-held rhetoric. In the 1980s, he regularly railed against crime in New York City, including the rape of a woman in Central Park that captured national headlines. The suspects, known as the Central Park Five, were exonerated after spending years in prison and have filed a defamation suit against Trump.
Trump and his backers say he is simply keeping campaign promises to reduce crime and deport people in the country illegally.
“Our law enforcement operations are about enforcing the law — not about Gavin Newsom,” said Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
Federal agents “patrol all areas of Los Angeles every day with over 40 teams on the ground to make L.A. safe,” she said.
In Washington D.C., where the federal government has began assuming law enforcement responsibilities, the business of policing the streets of the nation’s capital had radically transformed by Friday. Federal agencies typically tasked with investigating drug kingpins, gunrunners and cybercriminals were conducting traffic stops and helping with other routine policing.
Twenty federal law enforcement teams fanned out across the city Thursday night with more than 1,750 people joining the operation, a White House official told the Associated Press. They made 33 arrests, including 15 people who did not have permanent legal status. Others were arrested on warrants for murder, rape and driving under the influence, the official said.
Thaddeus Johnson, a senior fellow with the Council on Criminal Justice, said the administration’s actions not only threaten democracy, but they also have real consequences for local leaders and residents. Citizens often can’t distinguish between federal or local officers and don’t know when the two groups are or aren’t working together.
“That breeds a lot of confusion and also breeds a lot of fear,” Johnson said.
“There’s a real threat to politicizing federal law enforcement, and sending them wherever elected officials think there’s a photo opportunity instead of doing the hard work of federal law enforcement,” Abt said.
Already, D.C. residents and public officials have pushed back on federal law enforcement’s presence. When federal officers set up a vehicle checkpoint along the 14th Street Northwest corridor this week, hecklers shouted, “Go home, fascists” and “Get off our streets.”
On Friday, the District of Columbia filed an emergency motion seeking to block the Trump administration’s takeover of the city’s police department.
“This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement on Friday. “The Administration’s actions are brazenly unlawful. They go well beyond the bounds of the President’s limited authority and instead seek a hostile takeover of MPD.”
The show of force in L.A. has also left local officials outraged at what they see as deliberate efforts to sow fear and exert power. Hours before agents arrived in Little Tokyo, Bass and other officials held a news conference calling for an end to the continued immigration raids.
Bass said she believes the recent actions violated the temporary restraining order upheld this month by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals prohibiting agents from targeting people solely based on their race, vocation, language or location.
The number of arrests in Southern California declined in July after a judge issued the order. But in the past two weeks, some higher profile raids have begun to ramp up again.
In one instance, an 18-year-old Los Angeles high school senior was picked up by federal immigration officers while walking his dog in Van Nuys. On Thursday, a man apparently running from agents who showed up at a Home Depot parking lot in Monrovia was hit by a car and killed on the 210 Freeway.
Bass appeared to be seething as she spoke to reporters after Newsom’s press conference on Thursday, calling the raid in Little Tokyo a “provocative act” and “unbelievably disrespectful.”
“They’re talking about disorder in Los Angeles, and they are the source of the disorder in Los Angeles right now,” she said.
When is a kiss not just a kiss? Season 2 of Netflix’s “Arcane” delivers a long-awaited payoff between two characters with such a deep emotional bond it inspired a “Bennifer”-style portmanteau: CaitVi. Co-executive producer Amanda Overton, who wrote the saga-defining scene, explains that Vi (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) has “lost everyone she loved,” and it’s during a moment of fear and honesty that she tells Caitlyn (voiced by Katie Leung), “Everyone in my life has changed. Promise me you won’t change.” Caitlyn reacts by inching closer, brushing her finger gently against Vi’s face before their lips meet in a soft, breathless kiss. “I won’t.” The enduring portrait comes at a cost. “We had Vi ask this impossible question at the wrong time, but she’s so vulnerable and desperate,” notes Overton. “Caitlyn lies at this moment because she thinks that’s what Vi needs to hear.” Her bold choice blooms into Vi returning the embrace. “We worked with Christelle [Abgrall], the director, to create the passion and longing they had for each other that was built up over the season. Because it was their first kiss we needed it to be romantic in every way.” See, even lies can be romantic.
But even when Mount was subbed off, he was replaced by Manuel Ugarte.
That meant Hojlund, 22, remained an unused sub on the bench as Rubem Amorim overlooked the £72m Danish man.
And United supporters took to social media to react to the fact that the manager ignored his most senior available striker in their last pre-season clash ahead of next weekend’s opener against Arsenal.
MAN UTD PLAYER RATINGS: Bryan Mbeumo eases pressure on Bruno Fernandes but Matheus Cunha lacks sharpness vs Fiorentina
BRYAN MBEUMO showed fans what they’ve been missing as Manchester United beat Fiorentina 5-4 on penalties in their final pre-season friendly.
United were a mixed bag in their final summer warm-up game- and the only one at Old Trafford – before the start of the new season next Sunday.
United unveiled their four new signings but it was Benjamin Sesko – who was announced from RB Leipzig before kick-off – that got the loudest roar from fans.
Palestinians in Gaza City are fearful of being displaced yet again after Israel announced plans to occupy Gaza City. The Israeli cabinet also approved a proposal for full “security control” of the Gaza Strip. Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum is there.
South Africa’s leading paceman Kagiso Rabada says it is time to move on from the euphoria of beating Australia in the World Test Championship final, but insists the side have “nothing to fear” now following their belated major trophy success.
Rabada will lead South Africa’s attack as they take on Australia in three Twenty20 clashes and three one-day internationals starting in Darwin on Sunday.
“I think it’s time to move on. I don’t think we’ll forget about that ever as a team, and South Africa won’t ever [forget], but time to move on now,” he told a news conference on Thursday.
The five-wicket win in the WTC final followed several frustrating near misses for South Africa in limited-overs World Cups.
“It was kind of like a relief. But the show moves on, and moving toward the T20 World Cup, I guess the approach will be a bit different.
“Now, you know, there’s no fear of anything.”
South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada lifts the ICC Test Championship mace on the podium with teammates after winning the final [Andrew Boyers/Reuters]
Rabada is relishing a reprisal of the rivalry between Australia and South Africa.
“It’s always some hard cricket being played, some good cricket,” he said. “Whenever we play Australia, I always feel like they get the best out of us, because they’re sort of in our faces. And I guess we like that.”
Rababa, who turned 30 in May, has not played since the WTC final in London.
“Thankfully, I’ve had quite a long break, so that’s been awesome. Maintenance work consistently has to be done because the volume of cricket is quite a bit.”
The Australia tour comes ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, and the 2027 World Cup in Southern Africa, and South Africa hope the experience will benefit the young players in their squad.
“For me, that’s extremely exciting to see them raring to go. It’s just about trying to see where we’re at as a team, moving into almost like another generation,” Rabada added.
Those close to Patrick Kielty have shared their concern following his split with This Morning presenter Cat Deeley, whom the comedian married in Rome in September 2012
04:08, 02 Aug 2025Updated 04:09, 02 Aug 2025
Patrick Kielty and Cat Deeley have announced their separation after more than a decade of marriage(Image: PA)
Patrick Kielty will be “in a very dark place” if Cat Deeley returns to the US with their children, insiders say.
The couple announced this week they have separated following a 13-year marriage, a bombshell which has reportedly led to huge concern for both parties. Residents in Dundrum, County Down – Patrick’s hometown – shared their worry for the 54-year-old star, who married Cat in Rome in September 2012.
Some who know Patrick, who has two children with Cat, fear the presenter would be devastated if his ex goes back to the US, where the couple used to live. One insider said: “Everyone is worried about Paddy. The fear is that Cat will go back to America with the little ones. That will leave him in a very dark place.” This comes as it has emerged other showbiz couple Helen Skelton and Gethin Jones split after he joined a notorious dating app on a lads’ holiday.
And so concern has grown Cat, who started her career hosting SMTV Live on Saturday mornings, could quite her ITV job and pack her bags for the US once more. Television insiders told Mail Online: “Cat’s time on This Morning has not been a failure, but it has hardly been a roaring success.
“It is a job which puts her under so much scrutiny, day-in and day-out, and unlike most British presenters she has plenty more lucrative options to choose from in the States… There is concern that all of this family drama could lead her to walk away.”
Cat and Patrick, a comedian and TV host, had lived in Los Angeles for more than 14 years, where Cat presented the reality TV show, So You Think You Can Dance. They returned and Cat swiftly started on This Morning, which is understood to be one of several ITV daytime shows subject to budget cuts. The broadcaster recently announced plans for a shake-up, which includes cutting Lorraine by 30 minutes and dropping it altogether during school holidays from January. It is believed This Morning is set to move from its base in White City, west London, to a smaller, cheaper studio in the centre of the capital.
And Cat, originally from West Bromwich, West Midlands, has also been open about her struggles to adapt to the 5am starts for the four days a week she presents This Morning, and has revealed that it led her and Patrick to sleep in separate beds most nights.
Sikkim, India – It was the middle of the night when Tashi Choden Lepcha was jolted awake by the tremors that shook her mountainside home in Naga village. Perched above the Teesta River, which flows through a gorge just below, Naga is a remote village in India’s northeastern Himalayan state of Sikkim. For centuries, it has been home to the Indigenous Lepcha people.
“It felt like an earthquake,” the 51-year-old mother of five says of the events of October 4, 2023. “The whole house was shaking. It was raining heavily, there was no electricity, and we couldn’t see anything.”
In the pitch dark and amid the heavy downpour that night, Lepcha roused her three children, aged 13, 10 and five, and rushed out of the house with her husband, panicking. Together with a few neighbours, they searched for a safe space on higher ground. That’s when they noticed a distinct smell of mud and something like gunpowder.
Moments later, an enormous, tsunami-like wave surged down with terrifying force. Lepcha didn’t know it at the time, but it was a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), which had been triggered by the sudden avalanche of ice and rock into the South Lhonak Lake – a glacial lake high up in the Teesta basin in North Sikkim.
The impact breached the lake’s moraine wall, releasing more than 50 million cubic metres of water. The flood destroyed the 1,200-megawatt Teesta III dam – Sikkim’s largest hydropower plant, located at Chungthang on the River Teesta, the largest river in Sikkim, which originates in the eastern Himalayas. The dam’s collapse released an additional five million cubic metres (equivalent to 2,000 Olympic swimming pools) of reservoir water.
The high-velocity flood in the Teesta River valley carried about 270 million cubic metres of sediment and debris along with it, causing widespread devastation across Sikkim, parts of West Bengal and Bangladesh through which the Teesta flows.
At least 55 people were killed, 74 went missing, and more than 7,025 were displaced. The flood damaged nearly 26,000 buildings, destroyed 31 bridges and flooded more than 270 square kilometres of farmland. It also triggered 45 landslides, damaged four dams and destroyed long stretches of National Highway 10.
Both Teesta III and Teesta V, another hydroelectric dam near Dikchu in Balutar, have remained shut since they were severely damaged during the flood. Repair work is continuing, but neither of the dams has generated electricity for almost two years.
Scientists say the scale of the destruction makes it one of the most devastating flooding disasters recorded in the Himalayas in recent decades.
Tashi Choden Lepcha, whose family lost both their houses in Naga village to the 2023 glacial flood. Nearly two years later, she still has no home [Arunima Kar/Al Jazeera]
Rebuilding amid ruin
Today, Naga village, located about 73 kilometres from Sikkim’s capital, Gangtok, is deserted due to continuous land subsidence. Houses are cracked, have collapsed or are still standing but leaning towards the river flowing below. The main NH10 road passing through the village has been destroyed with long, deep cracks.
In all, about 150 families lost their homes and land in the flood and now face an uncertain future. Lepcha’s family lost both their houses, which collapsed in the landslides. They, along with 19 other families, are now living temporarily in a government tourist lodge in Singhik, about 10km from their home.
As the region struggles to recover, and communities along the Teesta remain displaced and vulnerable, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has approved plans to rebuild the Teesta III dam without any public consultation, despite concerns about the risk of future glacial lake outburst floods and the fact that the Himalayan range running across Sikkim is seismically sensitive.
With the ongoing monsoon season, the Teesta’s water levels have risen significantly. This has already caused several landslides in North Sikkim, washing away the under-construction Sankalang bridge and cutting off large parts of the region.
Long stretches of roads across North Sikkim are still unpaved, muddy and full of rubble. Several bridges damaged during the 2023 flood and the monsoon next year are yet to be rebuilt.
The quality control lab at the Chungthang dam site has also been swept away, halting construction work. “It looks like a war-torn area. How will they rebuild Teesta III?” asks Gyatso Lepcha, a climate activist with Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), a group of Lepchas campaigning against large hydropower projects and environmental conservation in the region.
“A detailed risk assessment considering future climate scenarios, glacial behaviour, hydrological changes, and sedimentation rates is essential before deciding to rebuild the dam in the same location,” says Farooq Azam, senior cryosphere specialist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
In the absence of such an assessment, the region’s Lepcha communities, who fear further disaster, are protesting against the construction.
Naga village in north Sikkim, with its cracked and sinking houses and roads, is deserted following the glacial lake flood in 2023 [Arunima Kar/Al Jazeera]
A controversial dam
Sikkim is home to 40 of India’s 189 potentially dangerous glacial lakes across the Himalayan region, many of which are at risk due to rising temperatures and glacial melt driven by climate change.
Built on a river already lined with dams constructed by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), the Teesta III dam was originally pitched as a renewable energy project.
Approved in 2005 with a budget of Rs 5,705 crore (about $667m), the dam actually cost more than Rs 14,000 crore ($1.6bn) to build by the time it became operational in 2017. Delays were caused by the 2011 earthquake, which destroyed major infrastructure, and also repeated flash floods and landslides.
The dam faced criticism from environmentalists and the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF), which described it as a “failed example of public-private partnership” for the massive cost overruns, years of delay, ecological damage and disregard for Indigenous rights and livelihoods.
The operator, Sikkim Urja Limited (formerly Teesta Urja Ltd or TUL), was forced to sell electricity at half the agreed rate as buyers, including the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, refused to pay higher prices. In 2017, transmission delays caused yet more losses of about Rs 6 crore ($701,000) per day from June to September 2017.
Following the devastating flooding of 2023, the estimated reconstruction cost for the dam is now Rs 4,189 crore ($490m), but experts question how such a large-scale reconstruction could be completed at less than a third of its original building cost.
An investigation in May this year renewed concerns about the project. The Sikkim Vigilance Police, a special police force, found irregularities in the process used to select the independent power producer, who, according to the findings of the police investigation, lacked the qualifications for a project of this scale. It was alleged that critical dam design parameters had been compromised as a result.
Other reports have found that environmental assessments also overlooked key risks. A 2006 biodiversity report [PDF] from Delhi University had identified the Chungthang region as a highly sensitive ecological zone. Yet the project received swift environmental clearance from the environment ministry based on a report which claimed that little to no significant wildlife existed in the area. The clearance procedure also bypassed the ministry’s own directive that no dams could be approved in Sikkim until a full “carrying capacity study” (a study of an area’s capacity for supporting human life and industry) of the Teesta basin had been completed.
“What was the hurry to give clearance for rebuilding even before the Central Water Commission and Central Electricity Authority cleared the design?” asks Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), an advocacy group working on the water sector. “The Environmental Impact Report (EIA) used was done before 2006, which didn’t consider the risk of a GLOF. It contributed to the disaster, and now the same flawed EIA is being used again. Even the dam safety report prepared after the collapse hasn’t been made public or considered for this decision.”
Teesta Bazar in Kalimpong, West Bengal, endured extensive destruction in the October 2023 glacial lake outburst flood [Arunima Kar/Al Jazeera]
While a “concrete faced rockfill dam” is planned this time – supposedly more resilient to flooding than the old “concrete gravity dam” design – experts and local communities still worry this won’t be enough because, they say, key impact studies are incomplete.
Al Jazeera reached out to MoEF&CC with questions about why the Teesta III reconstruction had been approved without a new EIA, despite concerns over safety and ecological impacts. Questions were also sent to Sikkim Urja Ltd regarding reconstruction plans and structural safety and to NHPC about the cumulative impacts of multiple dams along the Teesta. Emails and calls to all these offices remained unanswered by the time of publication.
Tunnelling and blasting during the original construction of Teesta III, before it opened in 2017, led to landslides, erosion and damage to homes. Yet, no comprehensive assessment has been conducted on seismic risks, reduced river flow or long-term ecological impacts.
“Our soil is fragile,” says Sangdup Lepcha, president of ACT. “We are seeing more landslides every year. During the GLOF, the soil was completely washed away. If tunnels are dug again under our villages, the area could collapse.”
Sangdup, who lives in Sanggong village in Lower Dzongu, says the 10km stretch from Namprikdang to Dikchu is the only remaining stretch of the Teesta without any dams.
Many worry that if the rebuilding of Teesta III continues without safeguards, it will put villages at risk. “We have already seen what happened in Naga,” says Sangdup. “Why is the project getting emergency clearance while affected families are still waiting for rehabilitation?”
Teesta Bazar in Kalimpong, West Bengal, was one of the worst-hit areas downstream of the Sikkim dam during the October 2023 glacial lake outburst flood. Roads are still unstable and cracked, and many houses are sinking into the Teesta River [Arunima Kar/Al Jazeera]
Sacred land
Dzongu, a region bordering the Kanchenjunga Biosphere Reserve in North Sikkim, is a protected reserve for the Indigenous Lepcha community. Known for their spiritual ties to the rivers and mountains, the Lepchas from Dzongu have long resisted large-scale hydropower projects in the region to protect their identity, livelihoods and the biodiversity of the region.
When multiple dams were proposed in the early 2000s along the Teesta basin – a river the Lepchas revere as a living deity – ACT spearheaded protests against dam construction. Their hunger strikes and protests led to the cancellation of four major hydropower projects in Dzongu and four outside.
“We are animists,” says Mayalmit Lepcha, ACT’s general secretary. “Our traditions, culture, identity, and everything else are tied to Mount Kanchenjunga, Teesta, Rangeet and Rongyong rivers here.”
Despite their long history of activism, the communities say they were ignored during the public consultation process, even though their land and rivers would be used for the proposed 520 MW Teesta IV hydroelectric project.
At least 16 villages lie near the potential construction site, across the agricultural belt of North Sikkim. The project would include building tunnels underneath Hee Gyathang and Sanggong villages in Dzongu to carry water to the power station. The siltation tunnel, which will divert sediment-laden water away from the main reservoir, is supposed to run beneath the Tung Kyong Dho, a sacred lake known for its rich biodiversity.
Songmit Lepcha, from Dzongu’s Hee Gyathang village, told Al Jazeera that she lost her livestock and plantation during flash floods in June last year. “We are scared of rebuilding our homes,” Songmit said, her voice filled with worry.
Opposition Citizen Action Party (CAP) leader Ganesh Rai told Al Jazeera that he is particularly worried about the new plans to rebuild the dam to a height of 118.64 metres, twice as high as the original. “With climate change intensifying, any future breach could submerge all of Chungthang,” he said. “It won’t just affect Dzongu but everyone downstream.”
That could include settlements in Dikchu, Rangpo, Singtam and Kalimpong, and Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in West Bengal, which were severely affected by the 2023 flood. In places like Bhalukhola near Melli, families have been living in makeshift relief camps since the 2023 floods. Conditions are difficult, with limited access to clean water, sanitation and medical care.
Leboon Thapa’s house in Bhalukhola, Kalimpong, was destroyed by the 2023 glacial lake outburst flood in Sikkim. He has been living with his parents in a single, cramped room in the relief camp alongside the Teesta highway since then [Arunima Kar/Al Jazeera]
Struggles downstream
The 2023 flood did not just destroy 22-year-old Leboon Thapa’s family home in Bhalukhola in north Bengal, about 100km downstream from the site of the old Teesta III dam. It also disrupted his dreams of a professional football career.
Leboon is now living with his parents in a single, cramped room inside a relief camp along the Teesta highway, which is situated above Bhalukhola. They are sandwiched between works being done to widen the highway in front of their site, and the ongoing tunnel construction work for the Sevoke-Rangpo railway project behind them. The exposed location leaves them at risk of landslides and flooding.
“If they are rebuilding the dam, they must build protection walls here for our safety,” says the lanky, athletic young man, looking around at what’s left of his village. The fields he played football in as a child, as well as the playground he once ran about in, are now buried under silt and debris. “We only have this land. If we lose it, where do we go?”
About 10km further downstream in Teesta Bazar, 68-year-old Tikaram Karki lost his house and motorcycle repair shop to the 2023 flooding. His home, built above the riverbank, began cracking and sliding just a few days after the flood.
“We were hiding in the mountains in the rain. When we came back at 6am, there were no houses, roads, or electricity,” he says, as he stands next to what remains of his house and shop, both of which are leaning steeply towards the Teesta. He smiles even as he talks about his losses since that dreadful night.
Tikaram now lives in a rented house with his family of four. He is paying Rs 8,000 ($93) monthly rent while struggling with financial losses as he has no way to run his business.
He received some compensation from the West Bengal state government, but it does not cover all he has lost. “I have been living here for 30 years and spent Rs 30 lakh ($35,000) building my house. I only got Rs 75,000 ($876) in compensation. What will happen with that?”
Like others here, Tikaram says he believes the destruction was made worse by years of poor planning and unchecked silt buildup caused by the dam, which raised the riverbed of the Teesta.
“If they had cleared the silt during the dry months, we wouldn’t be so vulnerable now,” he says.
“I cannot tell the government not to build the dam, but they should build proper protection for all the people still living along Teesta,” adds Tikaram.
Tikaram Karki’s home and motorcycle repair shop in Teesta Bazar, Kalimpong, are sinking into the Teesta River following the October 2023 flood, which caused massive destruction to property in the region [Arunima Kar/Al Jazeera]
Rising risk
In a January 2025 study by an international team of scientists and NGOs published in the Science journal, researchers warned that South Lhonak Lake is one of the more rapidly expanding and hazardous glacial lakes in Sikkim. The lake expanded from 0.15 square kilometres in 1975 to 1.68sq km by 2023, posing a danger of flooding to the communities downstream.
“The Teesta-III dam played a significant role in amplifying the downstream impact of the South Lhonak GLOF disaster,” Azam, at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), tells Al Jazeera.
Azam explains that while the disastrous flood could not have been prevented, its impact could have been significantly reduced through better infrastructure planning and active monitoring of the lake. “Reinforced spillways, sediment handling systems, and early warning systems linked to upstream sensors could have provided critical response time,” he says.
The night the flood hit, the dam’s power station was still operating. According to Thakkar, authorities had received alerts well in advance, but there were no standard operating procedures or emergency protocols in place about opening spillway gates during such situations. “And there has been no accountability since,” he added.
Thakkar says he is deeply concerned that the dam is being rebuilt without taking into account the flood potential based on current rainfall patterns.
“And what happens to the other downstream dams when this one releases excess water during the next flood?” he asked. “None of them are being redesigned to withstand that kind of excess flow.”
Rai criticises the state’s priorities, saying the government was “pushing for more dams instead of strengthening disaster preparedness” at a time when the frequency of extreme weather events is expected to increase.
Once a thriving town, Chungthang in North Sikkim is now strewn with rocks, boulders and a deep layer of sand and debris after the 1,200-megawatt Teesta III dam was destroyed by a massive glacial lake outburst flood from South Lhonak Lake, above, in Lachen [Arunima Kar/Al Jazeera]
‘No Future Here’
Nearly two years after the October 2023 flood, Tashi Choden Lepcha still has no home. Her voice chokes up as she speaks about her houses in Naga village.
“We were born there, raised children there. Now we have nothing,” she says of herself and her husband, wiping her tears. Her brother used to live next door: he lost everything as well.
After the disaster, she, her husband and children stayed in a school building in Naga. But when cracks appeared in the school walls, they were shifted to Singhik. The lodge, too, is beginning to show cracks in the kitchen and bathroom.
Her husband and children have since relocated to Siliguri, about 150km away, for work and education, while she stayed behind alone because she teaches at Naga Secondary School.
The government gave them Rs 1.3 lakh ($1,520) in compensation, but most of it went on the cost of moving their belongings to different locations.
There have been discussions about allocating land higher up in the mountains for the displaced families. But many of them fear it could take years before they are rehoused. “If the government gives us land in a safe location, we can build a house. How long can we live like this? We have no future here,” she says now.
Most people in the surrounding villages share her fears. They want the dam project scrapped or moved to a safer location.
Mayalmit echoes this call for caution. “We’re going to have more GLOFs, there’s no doubt,” she says.
“People will have confidence only if decisions are based on proper impact assessments, considering all factors, and done in a transparent way,” Thakkar adds. “But that’s not happening now, which is why there’s scepticism about hydro projects among locals.”
He says that Indigenous communities must be part of the decision-making process. “They’re the ones most at risk, and also the most knowledgeable.”
Praful Rao of Save The Hills, an NGO working in disaster management in North Bengal and Sikkim, has called for joint disaster planning between the two states. “What happens upstream affects us downstream. It is time we work together for science-based disaster planning, not blindly push dam projects for revenue.”
While hydroelectricity is important for India’s energy future, Rao warns against unchecked expansion. “You can’t build dams every few kilometres. We need to study how many this fragile region can safely support.”
Mayalmit urges central and state authorities to reconsider the approval. “Don’t act against Indigenous rights, the environment. I speak for the rivers, the birds and the animals here.”
When Children’s Hospital Los Angeles first told thousands of patients it was shuttering its pediatric gender clinic last month, Jesse Thorn was distraught but confident he could quickly find a new local care team for his kids.
But by the time the Center for Transyouth Health and Development officially closed its doors on Tuesday, the father of three was making plans to flee the country.
“They’re targeting whoever they can,” Thorn said. “[I’m afraid] the police will show up at my door because I took my child to see their doctor.”
Until this week, Children’s was among the largest and oldest pediatric gender clinics in the United States — and one of few providing puberty blockers, hormones and surgical procedures for trans youth on public insurance.
The closure of the renowned program signals a wider unraveling in the availability of care across the country, experts said. That includes in former safe havens such as California, New York and Illinois, where state laws protecting trans-specific healthcare are crumbling under mounting legal pressure and bureaucratic arm-twisting by the Trump administration.
In the last week, University of Chicago Medicine and Children’s National in D.C. announced they will end or dramatically scale back services for trans youth, following similar moves by Stanford Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
“There’s a rapid collapse of the provision of this care in blue states,” said Alejandra Caraballo, a civil rights attorney and legal instructor at Harvard. “By end of 2025, most care will effectively be banned.”
Some parents in L.A. say they fear the Department of Justice will use private medical data subpoenaed from California’s largest pediatric safety-net hospital to take their children away from them.
“It’s absolutely terrifying,” said Maxine, the mother of a Children’s Hospital patient, who declined to give her last name for fear of attacks on her son.
“I’m very afraid that the DOJ and this acting Attorney General are going to come after parents and use the female genital mutilation law … to prosecute parents and separate me from my child,” she said.
On July 9, Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi announced the Department of Justice was subpoenaing patient medical records from more than 20 doctors and clinics, the latest in a cavalcade of legal and technical maneuvers against providers who care for trans youth.
“Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” Bondi said in a news release announcing the move.
Children’s would not say whether it had been subpoenaed or if it had turned over records responsive to the government’s demand.
The Justice Department was already investigating pediatric specialists for a litany of alleged crimes, from deceptive trade practices to billing fraud. Federal health agencies have vowed to withhold funding from institutions that continue to provide affirming care.
“These threats are no longer theoretical,” Children’s Hospital executives wrote to staff in an internal email announcing the closure June 12. “[They are] threatening our ability to serve the hundreds of thousands of patients who depend on CHLA for lifesaving care.”
Advocates say gender-affirming care is also lifesaving. They point to statistics — contested by the federal government and some experts — showing high rates of suicide among trans youth.
In June, the decision to shutter the clinic was widely condemned. Advocates said Children’s Hospital L.A. had “thrown trans kids under the bus” in disregard of state law.
Few are saying that now.
“You could see kids with leukemia being cut off their chemo therapy unless these hospitals stop provide care to trans people,” Caraballo said. “If one of the biggest children’s hospitals in the country couldn’t shoulder that burden, I don’t see many others being able to do so.”
Others agreed.
“No matter what California or any other state has done to say, ‘We want to protect these kids,’ unless they can write checks that equal the amount of money that’s being lost, [programs close],” said Dara E. Purvis, a law professor at Temple University.
So far, the Trump administration has painted parents as victims of “radical gender ideology.”
Some experts warned that as the government tightens the screws on doctors and hospitals, trans teens and their families are likely to seek hormones outside the medical system, including through gray market channels.
“We’ve seen this with abortion,” Caraballo said. “People are going to go about getting it whichever way they can.”
There are fears that families could face prosecution for continuing to seek medications, similar to charges being filed against mothers who have secured abortion pills for their teenagers.
“We’re working with Congress on existing criminal laws related to female genital mutilation to more robustly protect children,” Justice Department Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle said during a Federal Trade Commission workshop entitled “The Dangers of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors.”
“We are using all of the tools at the Department of Justice to address this issue,” Mizelle said.
For now, dozens of hospitals across California still provide gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy and surgical procedures.
But the list changes almost day to day.
“Even programs that may have been operating a month ago are not operating now,” said Terra Russell-Slavin, chief impact officer at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “There’s a lot of concern about even being public about offering care because those agencies become targets.”
With the medical care their children rely on under threat and few promised protections from the state, some families are unsure what the coming months will bring.
For one Orange County father, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation against his trans son, plans for future travel are suddenly in jeopardy.
He said only about half of his son’s identity documents match his gender, and they’ve been warned not to try to change others.
“He won’t be able to leave the country because he can’t get a matching passport,” the father said.
For Maxine, the L.A. mom, balancing the banal with the existential is a daily strain.
“My kid is just living their life. They want to go to concerts, they want to go shopping for back to school — they don’t know any of this is happening,” the mother said. “You have to experience this intense fear while maintaining a normal household for everybody else.”
PORCIUNCULA, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian Jose Natal da Silva often tends to his modest coffee plantation in the interior of Rio de Janeiro state in the middle of the night, sacrificing sleep to fend off pests that could inflict harm on his precious crops. Read More
On Sunday, our thoughtful and reserved president reposted on his Truth Social site a video generated by artificial intelligence that falsely showed former President Obama being arrested and imprisoned.
There are those among you who think this is high humor; those among you who who find it as tiresome as it is offensive; and those among you blissfully unaware of the mental morass that is Truth Social.
Whatever camp you fall into, the video crosses all demographics by being expected — just another crazy Trump stunt in a repetitive cycle of division and diversion so frequent it makes Groundhog Day seem fresh. Epstein who?
But there are three reasons why this particular video — not made by the president but amplified to thousands — is worth noting, and maybe even worth fearing.
First, it is flat-out racist. In it, Obama is ripped out of a chair in the Oval Office and forced onto his knees, almost bowing, to a laughing Trump. That imagery isn’t hard to interpret: America’s most esteemed Black man — who recently warned we are on the brink of losing democracy — forced into submission before our leader.
If you are inclined to give Trump the benefit of the doubt, right before this scene of Obama forced to kneel, a meme of Pepe the Frog — an iconic image of the far-right and white supremacy — flashes on the screen.
Not subtle. But also, not the first time racism has come straight from the White House. On Monday, the Rev. Amos Brown, pastor of San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church and a student of Martin Luther King Jr., reminded me that not too long ago, then-President Woodrow Wilson screened the pro-KKK film “The Birth of a Nation” at the executive mansion. It was the first film screening ever held there, and its anti-Black viewpoint sparked controversy and protests.
That was due in no small part to a truth that Hollywood knows well — fiction has great power to sway minds. Brown sees direct similarities in how Wilson amplified fictional anti-Blackness then, and how Trump is doing so now, both for political gain.
“Mr. Trump should realize that Obama hasn’t done anything to him. But just the idea, the thought of a Black person being human, is a threat to him and his supporters,” Brown told me.
Brown said he’s praying for the president to “stop this bigotry” and see the error of his ways. I’ll pray the great gods give the reverend good luck on that.
But, on the earthly plane, Brown said that “the more things change, the more they remain the same.”
Trump courted the Black vote and has his supporters among people of all colors and ethnicities, but he’s also played on racist tropes for political success, from stoking fear around the Central Park Five, now known as the Exonerated Five, decades ago to stoking fear around Black immigrants eating cats and dogs in Ohio during the recent election. It’s an old playbook, because it works.
Reposting the image of Obama on his knees is scary because it’s a harsh reminder that racism is no longer an undercurrent in our society, if it ever was. It’s a motivator and a power to be openly wielded — just the way Wilson did back in 1915.
But the differences in media from back in the day to now are what should raise our second fear around this video. A fictional film is one thing. An AI-generated video that for many people seems to depict reality is a whole new level of, well, reality.
The fear of deepfakes in politics is not new. It’s a global problem, and in fairness, this isn’t the first time (by far) Trump or other politicians have used deepfakes.
Of course it did, and millions of people looked at these fake pictures, at least some assuming they were real.
The list of deepfake political examples is long and ominous. Which brings us to the third reason Trump’s latest use of one is unsettling.
He clearly sees the effectiveness of manipulating race and reality to increase his own power and further his own agenda.
Obama on his knees strikes a chord all too close to the image of Latino Sen. Alex Padilla being taken to the floor by federal authorities a few weeks ago during a news conference. It bears chilling resemblance to the thousands of images flooding us daily of immigrants being taken down and detained by immigration officers in often violent fashion.
Videos like this one of Obama are the normalizing, the mockery, the celebration of the erosion of civil rights and violence we are currently seeing being aimed at Black, brown and vulnerable Americans.
There is nothing innocent or unplanned about these kinds of videos. They are a political weapon being used for a purpose.
Because when repetition dulls our shock of them, how long before we are no longer shocked by real images of real arrests?
Deir el-Balah, Gaza – “There is no voice louder than hunger,” the Arabic proverb goes.
Now it has become a painful truth surrounding us, drawing closer with each passing day.
I never imagined that hunger could be more terrifying than the bombs and killing. This weapon caught us off-guard, something we never thought would be more brutal than anything else we’ve faced in this endless war.
It’s been four months without a single full meal for my family, nothing that meets even the basic needs on Maslow’s hierarchy.
My days revolve around hunger. One sister calls to ask about flour, and the other sends a message saying all they have is lentils.
My brother returns empty-handed from his long search for food for his two kids.
We woke up one day to the sound of our neighbour screaming in frustration.
“I’m going mad. What’s happening? I have money, but there’s nothing to buy,” she said when I came out to calm her down.
My phone doesn’t stop ringing. The calls are from crying women I met during fieldwork in displacement camps: “Ms Maram? Can you help with anything? A kilo of flour or something? … We haven’t eaten in days.”
This sentence echoes in my ears: “We haven’t eaten in days.” It is no longer shocking.
Famine is marching forwards in broad daylight, shamelessly in a world so proud of its “humanity”.
A second birthday amid scarcity
Iyas has woken up asking for a cup of milk today, his birthday.
He has turned two in the middle of a war. I wrote him a piece on his birthday last year, but now I look back and think: “At least there was food!”
A simple request from a child for some milk spins me into a whirlwind.
I’d already held a quiet funeral inside me weeks ago for the last of the milk, then rice, sugar, bulgur, beans – the list goes on.
Only four bags of pasta, five of lentils and 10 precious kilos (22lb) of flour remain – enough for two weeks if I ration tightly, and even that makes me luckier than most in Gaza.
Flour means bread – white gold people are dying for every single day.
Every cup I add to the dough feels heavy. I whisper to myself: “Just two cups”. Then I add a little more, then a bit more, hoping to somehow stretch these little bits into enough bread to last the day.
But I know I’m fooling myself. My mind knows this won’t be enough to quell hunger; it keeps warning me how little flour we have left.
I don’t know what I’m writing any more. But this is just what I’m living, what I wake up and fall asleep to.
With little more than flour and lentils left, the author struggles to make supplies last and feed her family [Maram Humaid/Al Jazeera]
What horrors remain?
I now think back on the morning bread-making routine I used to resent.
As a working mother, I once hated that long process imposed by war, which made me miss being able to buy bread from the bakery.
But now, that routine is sacred. Thousands of people across Gaza wish they could knead bread without end. I am one of them.
Now I handle flour with reverence, knead gently, cut the loaves carefully, roll them out and send them off to bake in the public clay oven with my husband, who lovingly balances the tray on his head.
A full hour under the sun at the oven just to get a warm loaf of bread, and we’re among the “lucky” ones. We are kings, the wealthy.
These “miserable” daily routines have become unattainable dreams for hundreds of thousands in Gaza.
Everyone is starving. Is it possible that this war still has more horrors in store?
We complained about displacement. Then our homes were bombed. We never returned.
We complained about the burdens of cooking over a fire, making bread, handwashing clothes and hauling water.
Now those “burdens” feel like luxuries. There’s no water. No soap. No supplies.
Iyas’s latest challenge
Two weeks ago, while being consumed by thoughts of how to stretch out the last handfuls of flour, another challenge appeared: potty training Iyas.
We ran out of diapers. My husband searched everywhere, returning empty-handed.
“No diapers, no baby formula, nothing at all.”
Just like that.
My God, how strange and harsh this child’s early years have been. War has imposed so many changes that we could not protect him from.
His first year was an endless hunt for baby formula, clean water and diapers.
Then came famine, and he grew up without eggs, fresh milk, vegetables, fruit or any of the basic nutrients a toddler needs.
I fought on, sacrificing what little health I had to continue breastfeeding until now.
It was difficult, especially while undernourished myself and trying to keep working, but what else could I do? The thought of raising a child with no nutrients at this critical stage is unbearable.
And so my little hero woke up one morning to the challenge of ditching diapers. I pitied him, staring in fear at the toilet seat, which looked to him like a deep tunnel or cave he might fall into. It took us two whole days to find a child’s seat for the toilet.
The author’s daughter, Banias, demonstrates how her father carries the bread to be baked at the public oven [Maram Humaid/Al Jazeera]
Every day was filled with training accidents, signs he wasn’t ready.
The hours I spent sitting by the toilet, encouraging him, were exhausting and frustrating. Potty training is a natural phase that should come when the child is ready.
Why am I and so many other mothers here forced to go through it like this, under mental strain, with a child who I haven’t had a chance to prepare?
So I fall asleep thinking about how much food we have left and wake up to rush my child to the toilet.
Rage and anxiety build up as I try to manage our precious water supply as soiled clothes pile up from the daily accidents.
Sweden captain Kosovare Asllani says they “don’t fear” England as the teams prepare to meet in the Euro 2025 quarter-finals on Thursday.
Defending champions England are ranked fifth in the world, just one place above Sweden, who finished top of their group.
Peter Gerhardsson’s side picked up the maximum nine points, ending their group games with an impressive 4-1 win over Germany.
Following England’s 6-1 victory over Wales, midfielder Ella Toone told ITV Sport Sweden “should be scared” – but Asllani disagrees.
“We respect England, the team they have and everything they have achieved so far. But fear? No. We don’t have the word fear in our dictionary,” said Asllani.
“We look up the word courage. Of course you have to respect one of the best sides in the world but we have the perfect gameplan for this match.
“We want to achieve the football we want to represent. In our minds there is only one outcome and that is to win the game.”
Sweden have been one of the standout performers in the tournament and England captain Leah Williamson said they “deserved a little bit more recognition”.
Alongside England and France, Sweden have reached the quarter-finals at all five major tournaments since 2017.
“I feel like Sweden are always flying under the radar. It kind of suits us,” said London City Lionesses midfielder Asllani.
“Obviously we think we’re one of the best teams in the world from what we have been doing. But people rarely speak about us as [a team] who can win gold.
“We know we can beat any team in the world when we have our best day. People should definitely talk about us more.”
Call the Midwife star Helen George has been a firm favourite on the BBC show for her role as Nurse Trixie Franklin, but what is known of her life away from the cameras?
Since her debut on Call the Midwife in 2012, Helen George has become popular with fans of the show for her portrayal of Trixie Aylward (formally Franklin).
Audiences have followed her character’s intense journeys, from conquering alcoholism to embarking on a new chapter when she married Matthew Aylward (Olly Rix) and embraced stepmotherhood.
In a switch from her traditional BBC role, fans are now getting to see a different side to Helen as she dives into the reality TV world with ITV’s Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters.
With the BBC actress stepping out of her nurse’s uniform, curiosity about her personal life has piqued. We’re exploring Helen’s life behind the cameras.
BBC romance
Helen George met Jack on the set of Call the Midwife(Image: GETTY)
Helen met fellow actor Jack Ashton, known as Reverend Tom Hereward on Call the Midwife, in 2015.
Their paths may have been tumultuous on television, yet off-set, a real-life love story was blossoming between the two.
Love struck for the pair in 2016 during the shooting of the series’ Christmas Special in the picturesque landscape of South Africa, reports the Express.
The couple soon welcomed their baby girl, Wren, into the world in 2017, followed by the birth of their second daughter, Lark, four years later in 2021.
Regrettably, after seven years, the duo parted ways in 2023. They shared in a poignant statement at the time: “Some months ago, we separated. Our two beautiful girls remain the focus, and I respectfully ask for privacy for this next chapter.”
Deep-rooted fear
The actress developed her fear when she was a child(Image: ITV)
Fans of Call the Midwife are in for a treat as they get to see Helen George in a fresh light, as she joins the star-studded line-up of ITV’s Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters.
However, participating in the series was far from a walk in the park for the 41-year-old actress, who had to confront one of her deepest fears.
Helen suffers with aquaphobia, an extreme and irrational fear of water, which she developed following a harrowing incident at a swimming party when she was a child.
In her own words, she said: “I was terrified of putting my head underwater. I have a real deep-rooted fear. I used to love the water when I was really young, but I went to a swimming party when I was six.
She continued: “They put those weird Nineties foam mats down. They’re massive yoga mats, really. “I just remember this moment of being stuck underneath one and not being able to get out. There was that fear of being trapped.”
Painful condition
Helen opened up about her condition after an episode of Call the Midwife(Image: GETTY)
Interestingly, Helen’s personal health journey has also mirrored some storylines in Call the Midwife. During both her pregnancies, she suffered from intrahepatic cholestasis (ICP), a condition characterised by intense itching and leading to the premature birth of her two children.
Sharing her experience on social media, Helen expressed gratitude towards the medical team at Guys and St Thomas who assisted her during childbirth.
Reflecting on her challenging pregnancy experience, she shared her ordeal on Instagram, saying: “I started getting the itch a lot earlier with this pregnancy, and it was infuriating. I tried everything, creams, baths all of it and nothing would work.”
She continued to describe the relentless discomfort: “I would scratch all day and all night, normally on my hands, shoulders, feet but that quickly increased to just bl**dy everywhere. I was put onto medication (Urso) at around 30 wks.
“I have to say this pregnancy was so uncomfortable and painful. I thought the second would be easier but it really wasn’t. Spreading the word about this sometimes fatal condition is really important to me. I was over the moon that Call the Midwife tackled the subject last night.”
A Southern California Roman Catholic bishop told his diocese of roughly one million parishioners this week that they can stay home on Sundays to avoid Mass while concerns about federal immigration sweeps still loom over the region.
Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino wrote in the decree Tuesday that many church-goers have shared “fears of attending mass due to potential immigration enforcement action” and that “such fear constitutes a grave inconvenience that may impede the spiritual good of the faithful.”
In lieu of Sunday service, Rojas encouraged his members to “maintain their spiritual communion” by praying the rosary or reading scripture and directed diocese ministers to offer support and compassion to the affected.
Since early June, countless Southern California families have been living in fear and gone underground amid an extraordinary federal immigration enforcement push by the Trump administration. Nearly 2,800 people have been caught up in the sweeps in the L.A. area alone, including U.S. citizens and hundreds of undocumented immigrants without any criminal record.
The threat of an immigration raid has rippled through all aspects of Southern California life, including church attendance, where some houses of worship say up to a third or half their congregants are no longer showing up in person.
“The accusation that ICE entered a church to make an arrest [is] FALSE,” wrote Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in an email to The Times. “The illegal alien chose to pull into the church parking lot [and] officers then safely made the arrest.”
Days later, Rojas wrote a message to worshipers on Facebook.
He said that he respected and appreciated law enforcement’s role in keeping “communities safe from violent criminals,” but added that “authorities are now seizing brothers and sisters indiscriminately, without respect for their right to due process and their dignity as children of God.”
As for his latest edict allowing worshipers to forgo Mass, Rojas said it will remain in effect until further notice or until the circumstances “necessitating this decree are sufficiently resolved.”
Times staff writers Andrew Castillo, Rachel Uranga and Queenie Wong contributed to this report.
Jon Stewart took aim at his network’s parent firm Paramount Global for paying $16 million to settle President Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News, calling the move a payoff for approval of a pending merger.
On the Monday edition of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” Stewart and guest and former “60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft laid out the details of the legal skirmish, which they agreed felt like an organized crime shakedown.
“I’m obviously not a lawyer, but I did watch ‘Goodfellas,’” Stewart said. “That sounds illegal.”
Last week, Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million to settle the legal volley from Trump, who claimed “60 Minutes” edited an interview with his 2024 election opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, to make her look better and bolster her chances in the election. CBS denied the claims, saying the edits were routine.
But the suit — described as frivolous by 1st Amendment experts — was seen as an obstacle to Paramount Global’s proposed $8-billion merger with David Ellison’s Skydance Media. The deal requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump acolyte Brendan Carr.
Stewart rhetorically asked Kroft if this settlement was “just a payment so this merger can go through and not be challenged by Trump’s FCC?”
Kroft, who noted that Paramount Global majority shareholder Shari Redstone wants the sale to go through, confirmed Stewart’s assessment.
Kroft noted that “60 Minutes” never said it screwed up, “they just paid the money.”
“So just flat-out protection money,” Stewart said.
“Yeah, it was a shakedown,” Kroft said.
Comedy Central, the cable network that serves as the home of “The Daily Show,” will be included in the Skydance deal. But Stewart remained relentless throughout the segment.
“It doesn’t feel like scrutiny on news networks — it feels like fealty,” Stewart said. “They are being held to a standard that will never be satisfactory to Donald Trump. No one can ever kiss his ass enough.”
Stewart has always spoken his mind on “The Daily Show,” delivering mostly harsh assessments of Trump. It remains to be seen if he’ll have that freedom when Skydance, led by Trump supporter Larry Ellison and his son David, eventually takes over.
Stewart returned to Comedy Central after parting ways with Apple TV in 2023. His last program, “The Problem With Jon Stewart,” ended after Apple executives reportedly expressed concerns over the comedian’s handling of potential show topics related to China and artificial intelligence.
Apple has deep ties to China and has launched an artificial intelligence product incorporated into its operating systems.
Stewart demonstrated the shakiness of the Trump lawsuit’s claims with an edited Fox News interview with Trump from last year.
Trump appeared to give a simple yes when asked on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” if he would de-classify government files on convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. However, Trump equivocated in a longer version of the answer that aired later on the network.
With the Harris interview, CBS News split an answer on Israel that she gave to “60 Minutes” presenting one portion on its Sunday round table program on “Face the Nation.” A different portion aired on the actual program, which led Trump supporters to cry foul.
“I would like to know why the ’60 Minutes’ edit was worthy of a $16-million acquiescence of what is considered the Tiffany news, gold standard network … when very clearly, Fox just did what seems to me a more egregious edit,” Stewart said.
A representative for Paramount Global had no comment on Stewart’s remarks.
Kroft said the the mood is bleak at “60 Minutes” in the aftermath of the settlement.
“I think there is a lot of fear over there,” he said. “Fear of losing their jobs. Fear of losing their country. Fear of losing the 1st Amendment.”
California and a coalition of 17 other states threw their support Monday behind a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of recent federal immigration enforcement raids in Los Angeles, asking a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order against such operations while their legality is challenged.
The states’ action adds substantial heft to a lawsuit filed last week by advocacy groups and detained individuals, who accused the federal government of violating the rights of Los Angeles residents by sending masked immigration agents to detain people in certain L.A. neighborhoods based on little more than the color of their skin.
It came the same day that heavily armed agents in tactical gear swept through MacArthur Park in Los Angeles in a stunning show of force that further rattled local residents and drew outrage from local officials.
In their amicus filing, the states wrote that masked and unidentified ICE and CBP agents were stopping people in L.A. communities without any legitimate cause, and that such stops have “shattered [the] rhythms of everyday life” and diminished public safety in those neighborhoods.
“Masked immigration agents conducting unannounced enforcement actions through the community and, in all too many instances, stopping residents without so much as a reasonable suspicion of unlawful conduct have left people afraid to leave their homes …,” the states argued. “The cumulative effect of defendants’ unlawful actions — including unconstitutional stops — has had devastating impacts on California’s peace and prosperity, and has turned once bustling neighborhoods into ghost towns.”
The states said the immigration enforcement tactics have had a “chilling effect” that has reached far beyond undocumented people, leading to the detention of U.S. citizens and others legally in the country.
The states wrote that the “secretive approach” to such raids — with agents heavily masked and in plainclothes — “has not only created a culture of fear, but has also needlessly impeded local law enforcement.”
Federal officials have vigorously defended their actions as part of President Trump’s promised agenda to conduct mass deportations. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement last week that “any claims that individuals have been ‘targeted’ by law enforcement because of their skin color are disgusting and categorically FALSE.”
Trump administration officials also have defended federal agents wearing masks, saying it was to protect themselves and their families from threats to their safety. They declined to comment on the operation in MacArthur Park.
The Trump administration has specifically targeted L.A. for its “sanctuary” policies, and administration officials have suggested that heavy immigration enforcement activity will continue in the city for the foreseeable future.
In announcing the states’ filing Monday, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said the recent actions of ICE and CBP agents in Los Angeles were “part of a cruel and familiar pattern of attacks on our immigrant communities by an administration that thrives on fear and division,” and that his office would be fighting back.
“Let me be crystal clear: These raids are not about safety or justice. They are about meeting enforcement quotas and striking fear in our communities,” he said. “We won’t be silent. We won’t back down. We will continue to hold the federal government accountable when it violates the Constitution and federal law.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that every person in California is protected by the Constitution against “unreasonable searches and seizures,” and that the recent actions of federal agents in L.A. have threatened “the fabric of our democracy, society, and economy.”
“Instead of targeting dangerous criminals, federal agents are detaining U.S. citizens, ripping families apart, and vanishing people to meet indiscriminate arrest quotas without regard to due process and constitutional rights that protect all of us from cruelty and injustice,” Newsom said.
Joining Bonta in the states’ filing were the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
July 3 (UPI) — Immigration raids and enforcement actions have prompted some Southern California communities to cancel their annual Independence Day fireworks displays, officials announced Thursday.
Organizations opposed to the Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions have said they plan to carry out planned demonstrations on Friday in Los Angeles, regardless.
Last month, several protests turned violent, prompting President Donald Trump to dispatch National Guard troops and Marines to the city, where local police and Gov. Gavin Newsom said the soldiers were not needed to help them enforce the law.
The city announced that it would postpone its annual Fourth of July block party “in light of recent events affecting a portion of downtown Los Angeles and the ongoing circumstances impacting the region,” NBC News reported.
More than 1,600 people have been arrested during ICE enforcement operations since the National Guard and Marines arrived in the city to bolster local efforts to remove undocumented immigrants from businesses and locations that knowingly hire or harbor them.
The Los Angeles chapter of 50501, a group that organized a “No Kings” rally last month in opposition to Trump’s enforcement tactics, has said it plans an all day demonstration outside City Hall on Friday, pushing back on the administration’s immigration actions.
“This isn’t a celebration, ” the group said in a statement. “It’s a stand.”
Prompted by high profile immigration enforcement-related arrests, other, smaller communities that have large immigrant populations are also reconsidering Independence Day celebrations, including East Los Angeles, the Boyle Heights neighborhood, Lincoln Heights and El Sereno, all of which have historically been home to large immigrant populations.
More than 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines remain stationed at federal office buildings in Los Angeles while other Guard soldiers have been redeployed to prepare for a busy wildfire season as hot, windy weather and low humidity have combined to create tinder dry vegetation and other dangerous conditions.
Legal action to remove more federal troops from Los Angeles remains pending in court.
Fear and uncertainty of surprise ICE enforcement actions have cast a shadow of fear and uncertainty over events that still remain planned in Southern California and other places with a high concentration of immigrant populations, including cities in the Midwest and on the East Coast.
Alabama Gov. George Wallace (L) and Sen. Edward Kennedy are shown together on July 4, 1973, in Decatur, Ala., during a July Fourth “Spirit of America” celebration. Photo by UPI | License Photo
For months, CBS News has been roiled with trepidation that parent company Paramount Global would write a big check to make President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit go away.
On Tuesday night, those fears came true.
Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million to settle Trump’s legal salvo against “60 Minutes” over the editing of an interview with his 2024 opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Within the news organization, there was anger over what is widely seen as a capitulation to Trump in order to clear a path for Paramount’s $8-billion merger with David Ellison’s Skydance Media. The case was labeled as frivolous by 1st Amendment experts.
But among some CBS News veterans, tempers were calmed by a sobering reality: that the outcome could have been worse.
The biggest concern inside the news division since Trump’s complaint was that the media company would be strong-armed into making an apology or statement of regret over a case that they believed had no merit. Amid the internal anger over the settlement, there is relief that that did not happen.
“Everybody knew that was a line in the sand,” said a relieved CBS News veteran not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.
Another journalist at the network, speaking on the same condition, said the thinking among many was that any financial payment of less than $20 million without an apology would count as a partial win.
As the negotiations to end the suit lingered, it became more apparent that corporate interests overrode any concerns about the appearance of caving to Trump’s demands.
Trump filed suit in October, claiming “60 Minutes” edited an interview with Harris to make her look smarter and bolster her chances in the election, which Trump won decisively. CBS denied the claims, saying the edits were routine.
“If there wasn’t a merger pending and they took this to court they would have won,” the journalist said of Trump’s case. “I think they understood that if they made an apology they would have an internal rebellion and they would have because there was nothing to apologize for.”
Some say that the departures of former “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens and CBS News and stations head Wendy McMahon were enough to satisfy the Trump camp‘s desire for an apology. Both executives were adamant that CBS News did nothing improper in the handling of the Harris of interview.
Trump’s legal team claimed victory.
“President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit,” a spokesman said in a statement.
But while “60 Minutes” avoided the humiliation that would have come with a statement of contrition, the program that is the foundation of the news division now has to move forward in an era of media mistrust on the political right and disappointment on the left by those who believe courage is in short supply.
According to several CBS News insiders who spoke to The Times, no one is expected to depart “60 Minutes” in protest of the settlement decision.
Andrew Heyward, a former CBS News president who is now a consultant, said it will be up to the new owners of CBS to maintain the program’s journalistic independence. “If that’s jeopardized in the future, that would be unfortunate for CBS News and the country,” he said.
Though there is anger, many feared a bleak future for the news organization and the rest of the network if Paramount Global couldn’t close the Skydance deal. The lawsuit was seen as an obstacle to the deal, which needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission, run by Trump appointee Brendan Carr.
“We can get outraged all we want, but the fact is we were in a really precarious situation,” said one of the journalists not authorized to speak publicly. “If that merger went dead, I don’t know if anyone would have come along and bought the whole company.”
While ownership change usually generates fear and uncertainty through media organizations, insiders at CBS News say they will be happy to see Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone in their rearview mirror once the Skydance deal is done.
The feelings inside the news division regarding Skydance range from hope for new investment from deep-pocketed Ellison to resignation that “it can’t get any worse.”
As for any damage to its reputation, CBS News is taking some comfort in the fact that ABC News hasn’t noticeably suffered from its own $16 million settlement over anchor George Stephanopoulos mistakenly saying Trump was convicted of rape rather than sexual abuse in the civil suit brought by E. Jean Carroll. Stephanopoulos signed a new contract at the network amid the controversy and his program “Good Morning America” hasn’t suffered a ratings loss since.
Viewers have high expectations for “60 Minutes,” which after 57 seasons still ranks as the most-watched news program on television (it’s also the most profitable show on CBS). If the program is allowed to maintain the same standard of deep reporting it’s known for, the audience will get past a bad corporate decision, according to Heyward.
“People on the right will say it’s another example of mainstream media getting what it deserves,” Heyward said. “People on the left will say it’s another example of a corporation caving to President Trump for its own selfish interests. And most people will go back to watching ’60 Minutes’ and expect strong independent reporting without fear or favor — that’s what really matters.”
The Loose Women panellists are said to be worried that, as part of the upcoming shake-up at ITV, they are going to be axed from their jobs to make way for younger stars
Daniel Bird Assistant Celebrity and Entertainment Editor
09:49, 24 Jun 2025
Nadia has spoken openly about her feelings on the changes(Image: ITV/Ray Burmiston/REX/Shutterstock)
Last month, ITV announced a major overhaul of their daytime schedules, which affects both Loose and Lorraine Kelly’s self-titled morning programme. However, despite being hit with a mass loss of viewers, the magazine show This Morning remains unaffected. While both Lorraine and Loose air throughout the year, they will be axed to just 30 weeks of airtime.
The Loose Women stars are said to be fearing for their future on the show(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Reports claim that some of the older panellists fear they’ll be axed in favour of younger members of the panel, including GK Barry, Olivia Attwood, former singer Frankie Bridge and Stacey Solomon, who hasn’t been on the show since 2023. The younger panellists have millions of online followers and use social media platforms such as TikTok to their advantage.
Former singer Stacey has a staggering six million followers on her Instagram page alone. “The other girls feel like they can’t compete with Stacey’s stats,” a source told Closer magazine. The outlet goes on to claim that other members of the panel are being encouraged to build their online following on platforms such as TikTok, but this has been branded a “full-time job in itself.”
Bosses on the programme are reportedly telling panellists that any change is not a personal move, but that hasn’t gone down too well. “Nadia has been warning her co-stars it’s not about who you are anymore, but how many followers you have,” the insider added.
It’s reported that Stacey Solomon, who hasn’t been on the show since 2023, could return(Image: ITV)
While final decisions are yet to be made, the source went on to comment: “In the long term, it could mean a farewell to the golden oldies. Coleen has been on the show, on and off, since 2000, a quarter of a century. Viewing numbers are down, and financial cuts have been made to save the ship and there’s a few that are expected to walk the plank.”
Nadia, however, has spoken publicly about the cuts. Speaking on her YouTube page, the actress and broadcaster said: “Do you know what, at the moment, all of us on screen are in work and are proud of what we do. But behind the scenes there are people that are really suffering, and what you don’t realise is when you attack the show you attack them, because you never see all the army of people behind the scenes and how hard they work.
“So to all my friends and colleagues behind the scenes who have just got a huge shock out of the blue, I’m so sorry. Mark knows how upset I’ve been at home about it. I just can’t bear it. So just be f*****g kind to people.”
TikTok star GK Barry has made a name for herself on the show(Image: ITV)
She then added: “What people don’t realise at Loose Women is that we’re self-employed, I am self-employed. Every contract is a new contract. I could be let go tomorrow, in five years, you don’t know because we’re not employees.
“So I can’t tell you anything except I am on for my next contract. What has been brutal over the past week, and I am getting tearful about it, is that hundreds of people are going to be made redundant out of the blue. A lot of my friends and colleagues have been there for decades and I cannot tell you how upsetting it was to see people walking around numb with shock and fear about what they are going to do. That has been so awful. It has been worse than whatever trolls have been saying about our show that we feel really protective of.”
Speaking previously of the fears the panellists are having, a Loose source told the Mirror: “We are not planning any radical changes to the panel. All of our Loose Women are hugely valued and we celebrate each and every one and the experience and opinions they bring to the show every day.
“Many of our long standing panellists have appeared on the show for the majority of its 25 year run on screens and those stalwart, Loose legends are at the core of the show’s success and hugely popular with the audience. The show remains a big priority within our daytime slate, having secured a BAFTA nomination, launched a podcast and celebrated a milestone anniversary in the last year alone.”
The Mirror has approached Loose Women, Nadia and Stacey’s spokespeople for comment.
