ripped

AN Israeli couple whose abduction by Hamas became one of the most haunting symbols of the October 7 massacre have finally been reunited.

Noa Argamani, 27, and her boyfriend Avinatan Or, 32, were seized from the Nova music festival in southern Israel in 2023.

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Images of Noa screaming as she was dragged into Gaza on the back of a motorbike while reaching for Avinatan became one of the defining moments of the horror attack.

But this week, they were back in each other’s arms.

Video from the Re’im reception site shows Avinatan walking into a room and immediately embracing Noa, the pair clinging to each other after a harrowing 738 days apart.

The IDF shared a photo of him kissing her cheek as she smiled – a stark contrast to the terror captured in 2023.

Avinatan was among 20 hostages freed on Monday as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas brokered by US president Donald Trump.

Noa was rescued by Israeli forces in June 2024 after 245 days in captivity.

Their reunion comes with a dramatic revelation: Avinatan is a member of Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s elite special forces unit modelled on the British SAS.

His identity had been kept secret throughout his captivity amid fears Hamas would retaliate if they learned who he was.

Reports in Israeli media say Avinatan was held in isolation for more than two years, never encountering other hostages.

Medical examinations show he lost between 30 and 40 per cent of his body weight after prolonged starvation in captivity.

After his release, he reportedly asked to spend time alone with Noa – and the two shared what they called their “first cigarette together after two years.”

Noa described the horror of their abduction in a speech in Washington last week, days before Avinatan’s release.

“Avinatan and I came to the Nova music festival just to celebrate our life,” she said.

“We found ourselves in the darkest tunnels of Gaza. I cannot even begin to describe those terrible pictures.”

She said she searched for information about him throughout her captivity.

“I asked about Avinatan everywhere I went,” she recalled.

“I didn’t know if he was murdered or kidnapped, and I was afraid to know the answer.”

Noa, a Chinese-born Israeli citizen, has campaigned for the release of hostages since her rescue.

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When news broke that Avinatan was among those to be freed, she scrambled onto eight separate flights to return from Washington in time for his release.

Adding to the extraordinary turn of events, Avinatan’s employer revealed that his shares in NVIDIA had quadrupled while he was in captivity.

The company’s stock rose from $45.76 at the time of his abduction to $188.32 today.

Their reunion was one of several deeply emotional scenes on Monday as the 20 remaining living hostages were returned to Israel after more than two years underground.

Families who had campaigned for their return wept and embraced loved ones, some of whom appeared dramatically thinner and frailer than when they were taken.

Brothers David and Ariel Cunio were reunited with their partners Sharon and Arbel, while Omri Miran embraced his daughters – one of whom was just six months old when he was kidnapped.

“I’m on cloud nine,” said Omri’s father Danny.

“One moment I’m crying, the next I’m laughing.”

The hostage release follows a Trump-brokered ceasefire deal aimed at ending the two-year war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis.

It also paves the way for future stages including the disarmament of Hamas and the formation of a transitional government.

“After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the guns are silent and the sirens are still,” Trump said in a speech at the Knesset.

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AT LEAST 30 people have been injured in a Russian drone strike on a Ukrainian passenger train, which left the carriage burning and ripped apart.

Emergency services were rushed to Shotska, in Ukraine’s Sumy region, after the “savage” attack.

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In a post on X, he said: “A savage Russian drone strike on the railway station in Shostka, Sumy region.

“All emergency services are already on the scene and have begun helping people.

“All information about the injured is being established. So far, we know of at least 30 victims.

“Preliminary reports indicate that both Ukrzaliznytsia staff and passengers were at the site of the strike.

“The Russians could not have been unaware that they were striking civilians. And this is terror the world must not ignore.

“Every day Russia takes people’s lives. And only strength can make them stop.

“We’ve heard resolute statements from Europe and America – and it’s high time to turn them all into reality, together with everyone who refuses to accept murder and terror as normal.

“Lip service is not enough now. Strong action is needed.”

Jumping up in weight has historically left challengers vulnerable against naturally bigger champions.

Yet in Las Vegas this week, many pundits and fighters are tipping Crawford to win – a testament to his adaptability and ring IQ.

Crawford looks ripped and defined, not having put on weight at the expense of his athleticism, but whether he can carry the same speed, timing, and precision into the ring remains the question.

He says the extra pounds have been more blessing than burden.

“It’s been different because I don’t have to worry about anything – the weight room, strength and conditioning, when I’m eating and things like that. I’m as happy as could be,” he told BBC Sport on Tuesday.

The freedom has even extended to breakfast.

“I woke up and ate pancakes this morning. I would never have been able to eat pancakes before,” he said.

If Crawford can dethrone Alvarez in Nevada, it won’t just be another indulgence. It will be the syrup on top of a career already dripping with greatness.

RESIDENTS in a historic city have been left fuming after a granite cobbled street was ripped up and repaired with a blob of tarmac.

Emergency repair work to fix a water leak in Canterbury, Kent, resulted in the ripping up of granite setts, locals say.

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One section in Burgate Street has now been replaced with black asphalt – which has been described as a mess by disgruntled residents.

Clive Bowley, 73, from the Canterbury Society says he heard about the unappealing repairs last week after complaints from other locals.

The resident, who works as an architect restoring historic buildings, says it is becoming a pattern in the town with other traditional streets also seeing tarmac patches.

He said: “It was brought to our attention by people complaining. I just thought ‘oh not again.’ It was depressing.

“The problem is that service engineers have to go in to do necessary work and they don’t reinstate the ground properly afterwards.

“There is just a great big patch replaced by tarmac. It is a bit of a mess really. They have done a botched job.”

Photos show several repairs across the city centre, which has UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

Clive, who has lived in Canterbury for over 40 years, says that if these streets aren’t restored soon then the historic feel will be ruined.

Clive said: “It is all about civic pride really. If things are botched up then it looks a mess and seems like people don’t care. It gradually will look more and more scruffy as time goes on.

“Burgate is one of the streets that leads down into the heart of a historic area. So, all that end of town is a conservation area and is of special heritage interest.

“If they are not put right in due course the town will gradually become a pit of all sorts of patches.”

Clive claims that he has complained to Kent County Council about the tarmac, and that they have claimed it will be fixed soon.

However, he says that many locals believe the unique road materials are now in landfill- and they feel that repairs will be impossible.

He said: “The council said that they would press the water company to do it properly. But similar things have happened around the town that were never fixed- so we are a little skeptical.

“The other concern is that they have dug up all these specialist materials and we don’t know what has happened to them. If the granite setts are thrown away, then we won’t be able to get more because they are unique.

“Every material used is unique, so you can’t just go to the builders’ merchants and buy more. My skeptical nature suggests that they probably dumped them.”

The water mains repairs were completed by South East Water, who insist that this quick fix is only temporary, and say that they will begin restoration next week.

Nick Bell, of South East Water, said: “We’re sorry to customers in the Canterbury area who have been left upset at the current appearance of the interim surface laid following urgent repairs to the burst water main in Burgate.

“This is not the finished reinstatement, but our priority was to backfill the excavation quickly to allow the road to be reopened, rather than prolonging the road closure.

“We have ordered the necessary materials to complete the permanent reinstatement, which involves re-setting the granite cobbles to their original condition.

“We will be carrying out this work from Thursday, 28 August, and we’ll work as quickly as possible to minimise the impact locally and restore the road to its original condition.”

A spokesman for Kent County Council said that the emergency works were to fix a leak, with the need to reopen the road as quickly as possible.

But the authority says the company is obliged to reinstate the road to its original surface within six months.

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The man just had his immigration case dismissed and his wife and 8-year-old son were trailing behind him when agents surrounded, then handcuffed him outside the downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

Erick Eduardo Fonseca Solorzano stood speechless. His wife trembled in panic. The federal agents explained in Spanish that he would be put into expedited removal proceedings.

Just moments earlier on Friday, Judge Peter A. Kim had issued a dismissal of his deportation case. Now his son watched in wide-eyed disbelief as agents quickly shuffled him to a service elevator — and he was gone. The boy was silent, sticking close by his mother, tears welling.

“This kid will be traumatized for life,” said Lindsay Toczylowski, chief executive and co-founder of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, who reached out to the family to help them with their case.

A child who’s father was detained by ICE after a court hearing stands inside the North Los Angeles Street Immigration Court on Friday.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

Similar scenes are taking place across the country as the Department of Homeland Security asks to dismiss its own deportation cases, after which agents promptly arrest the immigrants to pursue expedited removals, which require no hearings before a judge.

The courthouse arrests escalate the Trump administration’s efforts to speed up deportations. Migrants who can’t prove they have been in the U.S. for more than two years are eligible to be deported without a judicial hearing. Historically, these expedited removals were done only at the border, but the administration has sought to expand their use.

The policies are being challenged in court.

“Secretary [Kristi] Noem is reversing Biden’s catch-and-release policy that allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be let loose on American streets,” said a senior official from the Department of Homeland Security.

The official said most immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally within the last two years “are subject to expedited removals.” But he noted that if they have a valid credible fear claim, as required by law, they will continue in immigration proceedings.

Toczylowski said it was Fonseca Solorzano’s first appearance in court. Like many of those apprehended this week, Fonseca Solorzano arrived in the United States from Honduras via CPB One, an application set up during the Biden administration that provided asylum seekers a way to enter the country legally after going through a background check.

Erendira De La Riva, left, Sarai De La Riva and Maria Elena De La Riva speak to the media Friday about the status of Alvaro De La Riva, who was detained the previous night by ICE and taken to the North Los Angeles Street Immigration Court.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

More than 900,000 people were allowed in the country on immigration parole under the app, starting in January 2023. The Trump administration has turned the tool into a self-deportation app.

“We are punishing the people who are following the rules, who are doing what the government asks them to do,” Toczylowski said.

“I think that this practice certainly seemed to have shaken up some of the court staff, because it’s so unusual and because it’s such bad policy to be doing this, considering who it targets and the ripple effects that it will have, it’ll cause people to be afraid to come to court.”

A Times reporter witnessed three arrests on Friday in the windowless court hallways on the eighth floor of the Federal Building downtown. An agent in plain clothes in the courtroom came out to signal to agents in the hallway, one wearing a red flannel shirt, when an immigrant subject to detainment was about to exit.

“No, please,” cried Gabby Gaitan, as half a dozen agents swarmed her boyfriend and handcuffed him. His manila folder of documents spilled onto the floor. She crumpled to the ground in tears. “Where are they taking him?”

Richard Pulido, a 25-year-old Venezuelan, had arrived at the border last fall and was appearing for the first time, she said. He had been scared about attending the court hearing, but she told him missing it would make his situation worse.

Gaitan said Pulido came to the U.S. last September after fleeing violence in his home country.

An immigrant from Kazakhstan, who asked the judge not to dismiss his case without success, walked out of the courtroom. On a bench across from the doors, two immigration agents nodded at each other and one mouthed, “Let’s go.”

They stood quickly and called out to the man. They directed him off to the side and behind doors that led to a service elevator. He looked defeated, head bowed, as they searched him, handcuffed him and shuffled him into the service elevator.

Lawyers, who were at courthouses in Santa Ana and Los Angeles this week, say it appears that the effort was highly coordinated between Homeland Security lawyers and federal agents. Families and lawyers have described similar accounts in Miami, Seattle, New York, San Diego, Chicago and elsewhere.

During the hearing for Pulido, Homeland Security lawyer Carolyn Marie Thompkins explicitly stated why she was asking to dismiss the removal proceedings.

“The government intends to pursue expedited removal in this case,” she said. Pulido appeared confused as to what a dismissal would mean and asked the judge for clarity. Pulido opposed having his case dropped.

“I feel that I can contribute a lot to this country,” he said.

Kim said it was not enough and dismissed the case.

People line up outside the North Los Angeles Street Immigration Court before hearings on Friday.

(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)

The courthouse arrests have frustrated immigrant rights advocates who say the rules of the game are changing daily for migrants trying to work within the system.

“Immigration court should be a place where people go to present their claims for relief, have them assessed, get an up or down on whether they can stay and have that done in a way that affords them due process,” said Talia Inlender, deputy director at the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law School. “That is being ripped away sort of at every turn.

“It’s another attempt by the Trump administration to stoke fear in the community. And it specifically appears to be targeting people who are doing the right thing, following exactly what the government has asked them to do,” she said.