Colorado backup quarterback Dominiq Ponder died early Sunday morning in a single-car crash in Boulder County. He was 23.
According to the Colorado State Patrol, Ponder was driving a 2023 Tesla Model 3 at around 3 a.m. when he lost control on a righthand curve. The car went through a guardrail and hit an electrical line pole before rolling down an embankment and catching fire.
Ponder was pronounced dead at the scene. A preliminary investigation “shows that speed is suspected as a factor,” police said.
A three-star prospect out of Carol City High in Opa Locka, Fla., Ponder spent a year at Bethune-Cookman University before transferring to Colorado. He was a redshirt in 2024 and saw minimal action in 2025 — going 0-for-1 passing and rushing twice for minus-4 yards in two game appearances — but still made an impact on his coaches and teammates.
“Dom was one of my favorites! He was Loved, Respected & a Born Leader,” Colorado Coach Deion Sanders wrote Sunday on X. “Let’s pray for all that knew him & had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord you’re receiving a good 1. Comfort us Lord Comfort us.”
Offensive coordinator Brennan Marion called Ponder “a joy to be around & coach!”
“gonna be tough but man this one hurts Lord,” Marion wrote on X. “getting that call from his dad today didn’t feel real. Love you Dom! God cover his family & our team, especially our qb room!
Fellow Colorado backup quarterback Colton Allen posted a lengthy tribute to Ponder on Instagram.
“Dom, you were a blessing to so many people,” Allen wrote. “You had a presence about you that just made everything better. You brought so much joy to me and everyone around you. I’m grateful for every lift, every practice, every rep, every conversation we got to share. I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.”
Colorado athletic director Fernando Lovo said in a statement that Ponder “epitomized the values of passion, enthusiasm, leadership, toughness, and intelligence that were revered by his teammates and coaches alike. Our hearts go out to his family and all of his teammates during this difficult time.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in an interview Monday that she does not want embattled mogul Casey Wasserman running the 2028 Summer Games.
Bass told CNN’s Dana Bass that it was “unfortunate” that the organizers of the Los Angeles Olympics are supporting Wasserman amid revelations that he exchanged flirty emails with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell two decades ago.
Bass initially declined to take a position on the drama surrounding Wasserman, saying two weeks ago that it was up to the board of the LA28 Olympics — the nonprofit behind the Games — to decide whether to keep him.
But Monday, Bass offered a new take on Wasserman’s fate.
“My opinion is that he should step down,” Bass said. “That’s not the opinion of the board.”
She said that “we need to look at the leadership” of LA28 and that her job is to make sure that the city is “completely prepared” for the Games.
Wasserman has previously apologized for his correspondence with Maxwell and expressed regret for having any association with both her and Jeffrey Epstein. The exchanges took place before Maxwell’s crimes became known and before she was sentenced to prison for luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by financier Epstein.
Wasserman announced last week that he would sell his sports and entertainment company because of backlash over the email exchanges.
The executive committee of the LA28 board announced Wednesday that it reviewed the mogul’s past conduct and determined that based on the facts and his “strong leadership” of the Games, he should continue to serve as chair of LA28.
The LA28 executive committee — a subset of its broader, 35-member board — said it took “allegations of misconduct seriously.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, carrying the Olympic flag, LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman, front right, and Team USA Olympians skateboarder Tate Carew, second from left, diver Delaney Schnell, rear right, and volleyball player Micah Ma’a, top right, arrive in Los Angeles on Aug. 12, 2024.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
It met Wednesday after hiring outside counsel O’Melveny & Myers LLP to assist reviewing Wasserman’s interactions with Epstein and Maxwell. Wasserman, it said, fully cooperated with the review.
L.A.’s Olympic leaders have yet to reveal who is on the committee. Bass’ office last week said her appointees on the executive committee include entertainment attorney Matt Johnson, real estate developer Jaime Lee and union leader Yvonne Wheeler.
At least 10 L.A.-area politicians, including a third of the 15-member Los Angeles City Council, have called on Wasserman to resign from leading the Olympics, with many arguing the exchanges are a distraction.
City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is challenging Bass in the upcoming mayor’s race is among those calling for Wasserman to step away. Raman previously worked at a women’s rights organization formed in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement before becoming a council member.
Even before revelations about the emails, there were tensions between Wasserman and some Los Angeles politicians concerned that financial shortfalls in staging the $7-billion Summer Games will need to be covered by local taxpayers.
The relationship between the city and LA28 was further strained when the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, published allegations in 2024 that Wasserman was a “serial cheater” who’d carried on affairs with young female staff members. Wasserman, who separated from his wife, Laura, in 2021, has denied the allegations.
Former Mayor Eric Garcetti picked Wasserman, a close friend, more than a decade ago to run the Olympics.
Casey Wasserman, the embattled sports and entertainment mogul who is the face of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, is preparing to sell his talent agency.
In a memo to his staff Friday, Wasserman acknowledged his appearance in a recently released batch of documents related to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his companion, Ghislaine Maxwell, had “become a distraction.”
In his memo, which was reviewed by The Times, Wasserman said he was “heartbroken that my brief contact with them 23 years ago has caused you, this company, and its clients so much hardship over the past days and weeks.”
Representatives for Wasserman did not immediately return for requests for comment.
“I’m deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort,” Wasserman wrote to his staff. “It’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to the clients and partners we represent so vigorously and care so deeply about.”
“I know what I know, and I am following my gut and my values,” Wambach wrote on Instagram. “I will not participate in any business arrangement under his leadership…He should leave, so more people like me don’t have to.”
Wasserman told his staff that Mike Watts, a longtime company executive, would assume day-to-day management of the firm while he begins the process of selling it.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Wasserman’s staff memo.
Wasserman’s grandfather, Lew Wasserman, was a Hollywood titan who built the studio MCA into a powerhouse that acquired Universal Pictures. Casey Wasserman’s sports and talent agency, also built through a series of savvy acquisitions, has about 4,000 employees.
Wasserman plans to stay in his position leading the LA28 Olympic Committee, which has stood by him. In a recent statement, LA28 noted that the racy emails with Maxwell were sent following a humanitarian mission to Africa two decades “before Mr. Wasserman or the public knew of Epstein and Maxwell’s deplorable crimes…This was his single interaction with Epstein.”
“The Executive Committee of the Board has determined that based on these facts, as well as the strong leadership he has exhibited over the past ten years, Mr. Wasserman should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful Games,” LA28 concluded.
The messages to Maxwell were part of a massive trove of Epstein-related documents made public by the Department of Justice this month.
In them, Wasserman wrote to Maxwell, who is now serving a lengthy prison sentence for sex trafficking of minors, “I thought we would start at that place that you know of, and then continue the massage concept into your bed … and then again in the morning … not sure if or when we would stop.”
She responded: “Umm — all that rubbing — are you sure you can take it? The thought frankly is leaving me a little breathless. There are a few spots that apparently drive a man wild — I suppose I could practise them on you and you could let me know if they work or not?”
Wasserman released a statement saying: “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light. I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. As is well documented, I went on a humanitarian trip as part of a delegation with the Clinton Foundation in 2002 on the Epstein plane. I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them.”
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer has emerged rattled but ultimately unscathed after a day and night of drama during which a key member of his Labour Party called for him to resign over revelations about a former ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, in the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Starmer has faced more than a week of mounting pressure since the release of the latest tranche of documents from the US Department of Justice relating to the criminal cases against the late sex offender. They revealed that Mandelson had maintained a close friendship with the disgraced financier even after Epstein had pleaded guilty to solicitation of sex with a minor and was jailed in 2008.
They include documents and emails that suggest Mandelson may have received payments from Epstein and passed sensitive information to him during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
Since then, Starmer has admitted that he knew of the pair’s friendship when he appointed Mandelson as ambassador but said the peer had lied about the extent of it. The affair has caused outrage in parliament. Two key members of Starmer’s inner circle have resigned and a third is under pressure to go. On Monday, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for the prime minister to do the same.
While Starmer’s position has been shored up for now by a rally of support from his cabinet on Monday night, just how badly has this affair shaken his government?
‘The distraction needs to end,’ Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar says at a news conference in Glasgow on February 9, 2026, at which he called for Starmer to step down [Andy Buchanan/AFP]
Why did Anas Sarwar call for Starmer to resign?
Sarwar said at a news conference early on Monday afternoon that he had called Starmer and told him it was time for him to resign. “I spoke to the prime minister earlier today, and I think it’s safe to say he and I disagreed,” Sarwar said.
He said “too many mistakes” had been made in relation to the appointment of Mandelson.
“The distraction needs to end, and the leadership in Downing Street has to change,” Sarwar said as he became the first Labour heavyweight to stand against the prime minister.
While Sarwar said he believed Starmer to be a “decent man”, the fury over the Epstein files had severely damaged the government’s support and wrecked its chances in the upcoming Scottish parliament elections. Opinion polls put Scottish Labour some distance behind the Scottish National Party, followed by the far-right Reform party, led by Nigel Farage.
But cabinet members came out in support of Starmer, ultimately ending the coup that never was. Angela Rayner, former deputy prime minister and a senior member of the Labour Party, was the first to show him support. She said in a post on X that while she did not defend Starmer’s judgement, “the worst possible response [to the scandal] would be to play party politics or factional games.”
“I urge all my colleagues to come together, remember our values and put them into practice as a team,” she wrote on X. “The Prime Minister has my full support in leading us to that end.”
Within hours, nearly every minister had followed suit. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, urged people to “give Keir a chance”. Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, said he hoped the prime minister would stay on, and Douglas Alexander, Scotland secretary, said he “respected” Sarwar’s stance but backed the prime minister.
On Monday night, Starmer addressed more than 400 MPs and peers at a Labour Party meeting. “I have won every fight I’ve ever been in. I fought to change the Labour Party to allow us to win an election again,” he told them.
“But I’ll tell you this, after having fought so hard for the chance to change our country, I’m not prepared to walk away from my mandate and my responsibility to my country or to plunge us into chaos as others have done.”
Journalists gather outside 10 Downing Street, the official residence of Britain’s prime minister, on February 9, 2026, as Starmer was ‘getting on with the job of delivering change across the country’, a spokesman told them. [Henry Nicholls/AFP]
Who has resigned from Starmer’s team and why?
Two key figures have already resigned, and a third is under pressure to do so, UK media has reported.
Amid growing outrage over the new revelations about Mandelson and Epstein, Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, resigned on Sunday, taking “full responsibility” for advising the prime minister to appoint Mandelson to the ambassadorship, which he took up in 2025, despite the risks.
“The decision to appoint Mandelson was wrong,” McSweeney said. “He has damaged our party. … I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that.”
Mandelson was dismissed from the post in September after serving seven months after the UK daily The Sun obtained other emails between him and Epstein that showed the depth of their friendship.
After the release of the latest tranche of Epstein documents on January 30, Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party and the House of Lords.
Tim Allan, Starmer’s communications chief, resigned on Monday, saying he was leaving to pave the way for a “new No 10 team” to be built as Starmer tries to reset his government.
Allan, who founded the Portland Communications firm specialising in reputation management, had been in the job for only five months, and Starmer is now looking to hire his fifth communications chief since taking office in 2024.
Chris Wormald, the cabinet secretary and senior-most civil servant in Downing Street, is also reportedly under pressure to resign and is said to be currently negotiating his exit from the role, which he has been in for less than a year.
The UK’s Guardian newspaper reported that some people close to Starmer view him as a “disastrous” appointment.
UK Ambassador Peter Mandelson, shown standing just right of US President Donald Trump, seated, talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer by speaker phone in the Oval Office of the White House on May 8, 2025, in Washington, DC [Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images via AFP]
What did the Epstein files reveal about Mandelson?
The latest release of files showed Mandelson maintained his relationship with Epstein after the latter was jailed in 2008.
They also suggested Mandelson received payments from the late financier and may have shared market-sensitive information with him that was of financial interest to Epstein.
Leaks of sensitive information by Mandelson allegedly took place in 2009 while he was serving as the UK’s business secretary.
The UK police have launched a criminal investigation over suspected misconduct in public office linked to Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein.
In one of the emails revealed in the most recent tranche of documents released from the US Justice Department, Mandelson told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced in 2008.
“I think the world of you,” Mandelson told Epstein, adding about his prosecution: “I can still barely understand it. It just could not happen in Britain. You have to be incredibly resilient, fight for early release and be philosophical about it as much as you can.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, talks with then-Ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson at a welcome reception at the ambassador’s residence in Washington, DC [File: Carl Court/pool/AFP]
How damaging has this all been for Starmer?
Starmer has apologised publicly for appointing Mandelson as ambassador to the US despite knowing of his ties – but not the extent of them, he said – to the disgraced financier.
“None of us knew the depth and the darkness of that relationship,” Starmer said on Thursday as he apologised to Epstein’s victims.
“I am sorry – sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you, sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointing him.”
But this has not been enough to let him off the hook entirely, experts said.
Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said the scandal has been hugely damaging for Starmer. “A more popular PM might have been able to ride it out, but he was already facing a good deal of hostility from voters before it blew up,” Bale told Al Jazeera. “He’s managed so far to hold on to his cabinet, but he’s completely lost the trust of the electorate – and that’s hard to get back.”
Bale said “people are disgusted by” Starmer’s decision to appoint Mandelson “despite knowing that he’d stayed friends with Epstein after he’d been convicted”.
Then-UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner greet each other as they arrive for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London on September 2, 2025 [Toby Melville/Reuters]
Can Starmer’s leadership still be challenged?
While Starmer has survived Monday night, his position is still weak with low approval ratings, experts said.
Labour is expected to suffer losses in crucial Scottish elections in May. A parliamentary by-election is also due on February 26.
“The immediate danger [to Starmer] is that [Labour] suffers catastrophic losses in a by-election and then a big set of elections in May,” Bale said. “That will reignite calls for Starmer to resign and, if he doesn’t, a challenge from one or more of his colleagues.”
Among the top runners to replace Starmer are Rayner, his former deputy prime minister who resigned from the cabinet last year over a tax scandal.
A website pitching Rayner as leader, angelaforleader.co.uk, went live in January briefly, The Guardian newspaper reported. Rayner has denied any links to the website.
Another politician gearing up to replace Starmer is Wes Streeting, the health secretary.
Streeting, 43, has also been called out for his ties with Mandelson. In a bid to distance himself from the former ambassador, Streeting this week shared private chats he had with Mandelson that questioned the government’s growth plan.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, 45, is another possible successor to Starmer. She has grown popular among several right-aligned leaders of the Labour Party with her moves to tighten border controls and crack down on unauthorised immigration.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has survived calls for him to step down, but his approval ratings are low, and he remains vulnerable [File: Andy Rain/EPA]
What other issues has Labour faced under Starmer?
The Labour Party swept to power in July 2024, ending nearly 14 years of Conservative rule. However, the prime minister has since had a difficult time in Downing Street.
In the 2024 elections, Reform UK, the right-wing, populist, anti-immigration party led by Farage, won just five of the 650 seats in parliament. However, it has gone on to become one of the best polling British parties. In July, a YouGov poll put Reform in the lead, predicting it could win 271 seats if elections were held then.
In his speech on Monday, Starmer called the challenge posed by the rise of the Reform party, which has won over a number of high-profile defectors from the Conservative Party in recent weeks, “a fight for our lives”.
Starmer is also facing domestic pressure to put a stop to undocumented immigration to the UK. More than 32,000 people tried to cross the English Channel from France in small boats last year. These crossings are dangerous and have resulted in many deaths.
The UK and France have laid the blame on each other for the rising numbers. This led to a “one-in-one-out” migrant deal signed between the UK and France last year, under which the UK returns one migrant to France for each accepted refugee. The scheme has had little success, however, with only a handful of migrants returned.
Starmer himself has dropped in popularity by 20 percentage points from July 2024 to January this year, according to YouGov.
“Reform has obviously spooked some in the Labour Party,” Bale said, adding, however, that Reform is eating into the Conservatives’ base more. “And Labour probably needs to worry more about the Greens and the Liberal Democrats at this stage.”
“The break-up of the two-party duopoly that has dominated British politics for a century is no longer simply an aspiration among challenger parties but an ongoing reality,” Bale said.
