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A large group of former UCLA football players sent a letter to chancellor Julio Frenk earlier this month asking for besieged athletic director Martin Jarmond to be replaced “to reestablish the university’s commitment to excellence, both on and off the field.”

The 64 players, who represent multiple eras of UCLA football spanning coaches Bob Toledo to Chip Kelly and include several who went on to play in the NFL, wrote to “express deep concern with the current direction of UCLA Athletics under Martin Jarmond. Despite the resources, history, and opportunities at his disposal, Mr. Jarmond has not demonstrated the level of leadership or vision consistent with UCLA’s proud legacy. Rather than building on the foundations of greatness established by those before him, his tenure has fallen short of advancing UCLA to its rightful place among the nation’s premier programs.

“UCLA deserves an athletic director who understands that this role is not merely about administration, but about stewardship of a legacy — one rooted in excellence, historic achievement, and national leadership. Unfortunately, Mr. Jarmond has not embodied these values, nor has he positioned UCLA Athletics to rise to the standard its history demands.”

The letter went on to call for new leadership, saying it was part of a movement “bigger than any one of us. Former players have joined forces — through countless calls, texts, and meetings — to push this cause forward. We are united in our commitment to protecting the proud legacy of UCLA football and athletics.”

A UCLA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jarmond has come under fire since the dismissal of coach DeShaun Foster after only 15 games illuminated the athletic director’s stewardship of the football program. Jarmond’s refusal to fire Kelly before Kelly abruptly left in February 2024 to take a job as offensive coordinator at Ohio State led to the whirlwind hiring of Foster, a position coach whose deficiencies as a head coach were on full display while posting a 5-10 record that included an 0-3 start this season.

Others have since criticized Jarmond for a broad range of shortcomings, including an insufficient response to leaked donor data, lowered expectations for success involving a once-proud football program and carte blanch spending that has led to staggering athletic department deficits.

A petition seeking Jarmond’s removal or resignation garnered 1,462 signatures and a mobile billboard truck circled Westwood with messages such as “UCLA Football Deserves Better Fire AD Martin Jarmond” and “$7 Million Buyout for UCLA’s AD? Failure Never Paid So Well.”

Some have questioned why Jarmond was granted a contract extension in May 2024, at a time when UCLA was transitioning from outgoing chancellor Gene Block to Frenk. According to the terms of that extension, Jarmond would be owed roughly $7.1 million, or the full amount of a contract that runs through June 30, 2029, if he was terminated without cause.

Many appear to want him gone before then. Before each of the football team’s last two home games at the Rose Bowl, an airplane has flown over the stadium pulling a banner calling for his dismissal.

Group of 27 Congress members call for release of Mohammed Ibrahim, 16, held in Israeli detention for eight months.

A group of United States lawmakers have urged the Trump administration to secure the release of a 16-year-old Palestinian American who has been held in Israeli detention centres for eight months.

In a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, 27 members of the US Congress called for the release of Mohammed Ibrahim amid reports that he faces abusive conditions in detention.

“As we have been told repeatedly, ‘the Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens abroad,’” the letter, signed by figures such as Senators Bernie Sanders and Chris Von Hollen, states. “We share that view and urge you to fulfil this responsibility by engaging the Israeli government directly to secure the swift release of this American boy.”

Mohammed’s detention, which has now lasted for more than eight months, has underscored the harsh conditions faced by Palestinians held in Israeli prisons with little legal recourse.

“His family has received updates from US embassy staff and former detainees who described his alarming weight loss, deteriorating health, and signs of torture as his court hearings continue to be routinely postponed,” the letter said.

Analysts and rights advocates also say the case is demonstrative of a general apathy towards the plight of Palestinian Americans by the US government, which is quick to offer support to Israeli Americans who find themselves in harm’s way but slow to respond to instances of violence or abuse against Palestinians with US citizenship.

“The contrast has been made clear: The US government simply does not care about Palestinians with US citizenship who are killed or unjustly detained by Israel,” Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel programme at the Arab Center Washington DC, told Al Jazeera.

During his time in prison, Mohammed’s 20-year-old cousin, Sayfollah Musallet, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. US Ambassador Huckabee called for the Israeli government to “aggressively investigate” the murder, but no arrests have been made thus far, and Israeli settlers who carry out violent attacks against Palestinian communities rarely face consequences.

Musallet’s family have called for the Trump administration to launch its own independent investigation.

“Our government is not unaware of these cases. They are themselves complicit,” said Munayyer. “In many cases where Palestinian Americans have been killed, the government does nothing. This is not unique to the Trump administration.”

In testimony obtained by the rights group Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), Mohammed said that he was beaten with rifle butts as he was being transported and has been held in a cold cell with inadequate food. DCIP states that he has lost a “considerable amount of weight” since his arrest in February.

Israeli authorities have alleged that Mohammed, 15 years old at the time of his initial detention, threw stones at Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. He has not had a trial and denies the charge, and the letter from US lawmakers states that “no evidence has been publicly provided to support this allegation”.

Charges of stone throwing are widely used by Israeli authorities against Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli facilities are notorious for their mistreatment of detainees.

A DCIP investigation into the detention of Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank found that about 75 percent described being subjected to physical violence following their arrest and that 85.5 percent were not informed of the reason for their arrest.

“The abuse and imprisonment of an American teenager by any other foreign power should be met with outrage and decisive action by our government,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement about the case.

“The Trump administration must be America and American citizens first, and secure the release of Mohammed Ibrahim from Israel immediately. This 16-year-old from Florida belongs at home, safe with his family – not in Israeli military prisons notorious for human rights abuses.”

A MANHUNT has been launched for a lag who escaped a prison van on his way from court.

Cops are urging the public not to approach Sid Kemp, 31, who went on the run yesterday.

Kemp escaped the transport vehicle after appearing at Southend Magistrates’ Court and was last seen at The Clusters, heading towards Boston Avenue.

He is described as white, 6ft tall and with short black hair.

The wanted man was wearing a grey tracksuit – and is not thought to be a risk to the wider public.

Superintendent Jamie Gingell said: “We’re carrying out extensive enquiries to trace Sid Kemp.

“We would ask anyone who sees him to please call 999 rather than approaching him, or if you have information as to his whereabouts, please call.

“Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

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POLICE are urgently searching for two women who “may be together” after they vanished months ago.

Lorna Nightingale, 70, was last seen in Lowestoft, Suffolk, in February while Emma Nightingale, 36, has not been seen since being spotted in Colchester, Essex, in June.

Cops said it is known that both women have connections to Essex, suggesting that they may have travelled there.

Suffolk Police added that officers believed the women “may be together.”

Both women are from Lowestoft, cops said.

Lorna is described as being 5ft 2in tall, of a slim build, with short grey hair.

Emma is described as 5ft 8 in tall, with mousey-coloured long hair.

If you have seen Lorna or Emma, or have any information about them, contact police by calling 999.

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COPS have launched an urgent probe after a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted near a church as they urge any witnesses to come forward.

The shocking attack is reported to have taken place in Liftondown, Devon, at the weekend sparking a police investigation.

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The woman was sexually assaulted by a man at around 1am on Saturday, August 2, Devon and Cornwall Police say.

The attack allegedly happened near the Methodist church on the A388 in Liftondown.

Officers, who said the woman is being supported by specially trained staff, are appealing for dashcam footage from anyone driving in the area at the time.

Detective Inspector Neil Lloyd said: “The female victim is being supported by specially trained officers as our enquiries are continuing.

“We are currently appealing for dashcam footage from anyone who was driving in that area between midnight and 2am on Saturday 2 August.

“Incidents of this nature understandably cause great concern in the local community, and we urge anyone with any information to contact us.”

About ten times each day, giant freight trains pass along a narrow section of track along the Sacramento River in far northern California where engineers on the locomotives regularly tense up with stress.

“Every single time, it’s a near miss” of a train hitting a person, said Ryan Snow, the California State Chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. “Multiple near misses, every single run. My nightmare is that a family that isn’t paying attention gets hit.”

This particular stretch of track, which wends north from the town of Dunsmuir, is a renegade route for hikers to one of northern California’s most enchanting natural sights, Mossbrae Falls. Fed from glaciers on Mount Shasta, the water pours out of lava tubes and down mossy cliffs, forming a verdant and ethereal cascade into a calm, shaded swimming hole.

It appears magical. It is also inaccessible —unless visitors trespass more than a mile on on the tracks or wade across the river. Accidents have happened. Two people have been struck by trains in the last few years (although both survived.) In May a Southern California woman drowned after trying to reach the falls via the river. But the tourists keep coming. Drawn by Instagram and Tiktok, increasing numbers of people have taken to visiting the falls — nearly 30,000 according to a city study, the majority of them by trespassing up the train tracks.

For years, outdoor enthusiasts in and around Dunsmuir have pushed Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the tracks, to work with the city to create a safe, accessible, legal path. But the effort has been dogged by delays.

This week, the train workers union decided to enter the fray, issuing a press release decrying the slow progress and calling on Union Pacific to do more to make the long-held dream of a trail a reality.

“Each month that goes by without a real construction timeline, lives are put at risk,” Snow said in a statement. The statement also accused Union Pacific of “slow-walking” the project, saying railroad officials have called for meeting after meeting, but has never produced a right-of-way commitment or a clear construction timeline.

Many engineers, Snow said, are frustrated and feel the delay “unfairly endangers both railroad personnel and the public.”

In a statement, Union Pacific said that the railroad had “approved the concept of a trail into Mossbrae Falls years ago, and we have been working with the City of Dunsmuir and the Mount Shasta Trail Association to find solutions that address everyone’s safety concerns.”

Earlier this summer, Dunsmuir city officials held a “summit” with Union Pacific officials to tour the falls and talk about the proposed trail connection.

City officials said the summit, which included representatives from local elected officials offices as well as railroad officials from Omaha and Denver, marked “a new milestone in the slow but steady process.” A city press release noted that “key Union Pacific officials had the opportunity to see the falls for the first time, recognizing the importance of building public access to this beautiful natural resource.”

But some longtime trail advocates said they were not convinced that the dream is any closer. John Harch, a retired surgeon with the Mount Shasta Trail Assn. and has been working with others for years on public access, said he still didn’t see evidence of concrete progress.

“Here we sit, as before, while people risk their lives to see the falls,” he wrote in an email.

Snow said he hopes the public can put pressure on the parties to make concrete progress.

“We’ve been lucky that we haven’t had any fatalities caused by a trespasser strike,” he said. “The worst thing an engineer can do is hit somebody. It’s stressful.”

Meanwhile, he said, the route is only becoming more popular. “It’s in hiking magazines, and on the internet everywhere. It’s attracting more and more people.”

He added: “I can’t blame them. It’s beautiful.”

Michael Shanks’ “Together” is the only romance you’ll see this year that’s infatuated by John Carpenter and Plato.

A fusion of body horror and couples therapy, it centers on a sunken cave with a pool of water that, when sipped, makes cells thirst to meld with the nearest mammal. In the opening sequence, this urge to merge overtakes two dogs who smush together like the monster mutt in “The Thing.” (Thankfully, the camera doesn’t linger; the whimpering is plenty.) Now, it’s Tim and Millie’s turn. The unhappy boyfriend and girlfriend, played by real-life spouses Dave Franco and Alison Brie, have moved from the city to the forest anticipating that the scenery change will make or break their relationship. Blend is more like it.

How does ancient philosophy squeeze into a gooey metaphor for codependence? According to Jamie (Damon Herriman), a history teacher at the school where Millie works, Plato’s “Symposium” claims that humans were once rebellious, eight-limbed beings who tumbled around doing cartwheels. Zeus cleaved us pesky mortals in two as a form of control, figuring that we’d be so consumed by the quest to find our other half that we’d never get around to toppling Mount Olympus — and if that didn’t work, he’d leave us “on one leg, hopping.” (Shanks can save that for the sequel.)

It’s worth noting that Plato was kidding, a three-millennium-old joke that’s essentially, “Take my wife — Zeus!” But mating does preoccupy our mental bandwidth, and welding together two lives is unwieldy. Tim and Millie have been dating for a decade, from their hopeful 20s to their resigned 30s, and have become so mismatched in maturity that their efforts to stick together feel less like giddy Grecian handsprings and more like a three-legged race. As Millie confesses early on, “I’m not sure if we love each other or if we’re just used to each other.”

Brie and Franco lend the fictional couple their intimacy, but dial down their spark. Only a few scenes allow their characters any welcome emotional connection. There’s no sense of peeking behind their celebrity curtain, so we’re with Millie’s best friend Cath (Mia Morrissey) when she openly wishes the pair would split for good. But Millie and Tim have leaned on each other so long that neither is sure how to stand on their own. The emotional and physical pain to come has the sense of being aboard a train chugging toward certain disaster. There’s opportunities to jump off, but no one has the nerve to try.

Alison Brie, left, and Dave Franco in “Together.”

(Ben King / Neon)

Shanks is attuned to how a long-term twosome divides up duties (and identities), defining themselves by what each one contributes and, in the process, becoming less of a whole person. Tim can’t drive. Millie can’t cook. Tim is the broke musician. Millie has the steady job. “I’m the boring one,” she says begrudgingly. Meanwhile, the resentful girl struggles to label Tim’s role, stammering to Jamie that she lives with, “my partner, my Tim, my boy-partner Tim.”

“Boy-partner” sounds right. The design teams have outfitted Franco’s hipster with goofy sweatshirts and a fledgling mullet. He can’t even commit to the most famously noncommittal hairstyle. Yet, before long, Tim finds he’s unable to leave Millie’s side for a moment. Every time he touches her, the rest of the world seems to disappear: The focus goes shallow, the fine hairs on Brie’s skin dapple in the light, her muscles creak as loudly as tectonic plates. She’s confused. He keeps apologizing, becoming increasingly flustered and frantic.

The film will go on to have memorably fleshy visuals. (Picture massaging butter underneath the raw skin of a Thanksgiving turkey.) “It Happened One Night’s” Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable relied on a flimsy Wall of Jericho to keep themselves separated. Here, when things get tricky, Millie and Tim reach for an electric handsaw.

Gross? Totally. But empathetic too. Brie’s Millie is sensible and vulnerable, while Franco manages to makes us pity his bad boyfriend Tim. Part of his aloofness comes from grieving his father’s death and his mother’s subsequent mental breakdown; the rest is his shame that his rock ‘n’ roll dreams have yet to become reality. “I thought you’d make Millie cooler,” her younger brother Luke (Jack Kenny) says. “Instead …” Luke adds with a snort, as the rest of the sentence slides into the abyss, taking Tim’s ego with it.

For a first-time feature director, Shanks expertly fuses himself to the audience’s POV. He knows that we know where this is going — the title gives the game away — so his job is to goose the inevitable in ways that make us squirm and gasp. Working with the cinematographer Germain McMicking and the production designer Nicholas Dare, he plunks us into standard jump scare scenarios — the dark hallway, the subterranean lair — and then tricks our eyes into looking at the wrong corner of the frame.

His talent for misdirection also applies to the narrative. Shanks expects us to clock the unacknowledged wedding ring on Herriman’s Jamie, a Hallmark rom-com charmer, and so his script takes our suspicions and twists them once, twice and a third time for good measure. Even steeled for a plot point we’re dreading — the couple making the terrible choice to do something more adult than hold hands — when the scene finally arrives, it’s ickier and more humiliating than we could have imagined.

My quibbles with the ending are too close to spoilers to cite outright. But the delight of the film is that its editor Sean Lahiff has the rhythm of a shock comic. He favors nasty jolts and cartoonish rim shots, like when Millie advises Tim not to do anything stupid and Lahiff immediately smash-cuts to the guy running off full-tilt. Nothing about “Together” screams comedy, yet that’s precisely how it’s put together. Awkward humor is the skeleton under its prestige nightmare surface, even as it’s wonderfully, heartbreakingly tragic to watch our leads roil to melt together like mozzarella. How’s that for an update on the old quip? Make my wife — cheese!

Washington, DC – Josephine Guilbeau’s voice remained steady as it rose with anger and frustration outside the United States Capitol while she described the Israeli-imposed hunger crisis in Gaza.

“The level of evil that it takes to make a decision to starve a baby as a means of war, as a weapon of war – what have we come to as a humanity? What have we come to as a country?” the 17-year US Army veteran said on Thursday.

Guilbeau had joined several fellow veterans, doctors, former officials and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in calling on the lawmakers and President Donald Trump to listen to the US public and end unconditional support for Israel.

The advocates banged on empty pots outside the Capitol to draw attention to the starvation in Gaza, where many have not eaten in days and more than 100 have died of hunger due to the Israeli blockade, according to United Nations agencies and local health officials.

Holding photos of famished Palestinian children, doctors and veterans stressed the US role in enabling Israel’s conduct through military aid, weapons provision and diplomatic support.

Tlaib called on her colleagues in Congress to join their constituents in opposing Israeli atrocities.

Recent public opinion polls have shown growing US public discontent with Israel over its treatment of Palestinians, but Congress remains staunchly supportive of Israel on a bipartisan basis.

“Americans serving in Congress, wake up because the American people are telling you over and over again: We’re not in support of this,” Tlaib told reporters outside the US Capitol.

“So maybe for once, would you listen to your constituency? Poll them like you like you poll everything else. They will tell you they do not want one goddamn freaking dime going to starve a whole people.”

‘Stop enabling the genocide’

Tlaib appeared to criticise a vote by her progressive ally Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez against a measure to stop $500m in missile defence aid to Israel.

Only six lawmakers voted in favour of the amendment, introduced by Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, last week.

Ocasio-Cortez, who was one of 422 legislators to vote against the proposal, argued that cutting off “defensive” aid to Israel does not help end the bombardment of Palestinians.

Tlaib, however, suggested on Thursday that she is not convinced by that justification.

“No matter what weapons – I don’t care if it’s offensive or defensive, whatever you call it – let’s stop enabling the genocide,” the Palestinian American congresswoman said.

Although Ocasio-Cortez has described Israel’s war on Gaza as genocide and supported measures to restrict arms to Israel, her vote last week stirred a backlash from left-wing activists who said any weapons to Israel would enable its bombardment campaign against Palestinians.

Washington provides Israel with billions of dollars in military assistance annually despite allegations of rights violations that would make the country ineligible for security aid under US law.

UN experts and leading rights groups have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

Stacy Gilbert, who resigned from the US Department of State last year after a 20-year career in protest to a government report denying that Israel is blocking aid to Palestinians, said on Thursday that the starvation in Gaza is the result of a “deliberate” decision by Israel.

“I am calling on Trump to make a break with this policy that started under Joe Biden, this disastrous policy of unconditional military support for Israel,” Gilbert told reporters.

Doctor says Trump ‘failed’ supporters

Nidal Jboor, a Michigan-based physician with the advocacy group Doctors Against Genocide, also warned Trump against following the same policies as his predecessor, stressing that the US president has the power and leverage to end the war.

“If you don’t stop it today, then you are as sleepy as Joe was. It’s your call,” Jboor said, invoking Trump’s moniker for Biden, “Sleepy Joe”.

“This is not who we are. Americans are better than this. What we are supporting in Gaza does not make America great again. Shut down the killing zone. Flood Gaza with aid. End the genocide. History will remember at this point and this moment what we did and what we failed to do.”

During the election race last year, Trump courted the sizable Arab and Muslim communities in Michigan with promises of bringing peace to the region.

The US president initially took credit for a truce that came into effect in January. But shortly after taking office earlier this year, he proposed removing all Palestinians from Gaza – a plan that rights advocates say would amount to ethnic cleansing, a crime against humanity.

Moreover, he has continued to arm Israel, and his administration has backed Israel’s resumption of the war in March, the siege on Gaza and the upending of the aid system in the territory.

Jboor said Trump “failed” his Arab and Muslim supporters.

“People were voting for him because he promised peace, and now he’s breaking his promises,” the doctor told Al Jazeera.

US touts GHF

In May, the US and Israel launched an initiative to monopolise aid distribution through a private entity, dubbed GHF.

But Palestinians and rights groups have described GHF aid distribution sites, concentrated in the south of Gaza, deep inside areas under Israeli army control, as death traps.

Israeli troops have been opening fire daily at aid seekers, killing hundreds of people.

While the US proudly proclaims that GHF has distributed 90 million meals since May, the tally amounts to a fraction of the food needed to feed the territory’s two million people.

In recent weeks, Israel has allowed some aid convoys to enter the north of Gaza, but the assistance trucks have also come under Israeli firing and shelling there, as well.

Despite the bloodshed, the US has been touting the GHF operation as a success, reiterating false claims that Hamas steals aid distributed through the UN and its partner organisations.

Asked about the hunger spreading in Gaza, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters on Thursday that the US is “aware” of the humanitarian situation in the territory and wants to see an end to the devastation.

“That’s why we have seen this commitment to get aid to the people who need it, in a way where it is not weaponised by Hamas,” Pigott added, referring to GHF.

Shortly before Pigott expressed continuing support for GHF, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu appeared to confirm that his country is purposely starving Gaza, saying that “there is no nation that feeds its enemies.”

“The government is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out,” Eliyahu said in a radio interview, according to The Times of Israel.

Back on Capitol Hill, the advocates appeared confident that their voices could make a difference, even after 22 months of war that have seen the crisis deepen and the death toll mount daily.

“Every single voice is so powerful to move the needle; we have to change the minds of our leaders and make them understand that if they do not stop funding Israel, we will vote them out,” Guilbeau, the US Army veteran, told Al Jazeera.

Letter demands that London act now to halt ‘erasure and annexation’ of Palestinian land before it’s too late.

Nearly 60 lawmakers in the United Kingdom have written to Foreign Secretary David Lammy this week, calling out Israel’s plans for the “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza and demanding the country immediately recognise Palestine as a state.

The 59 lawmakers, all from the governing Labour Party, criticised Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz’s plans to force Gaza’s 2.1 million Palestinians into a so-called “humanitarian city” – likened by some analysts to a concentration camp – built on the ruins of Rafah.

The letter, sent to Lammy on Thursday and made public on Saturday, cited Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard as saying Palestinians were being pushed to the southern tip of Gaza “in preparation for deportation outside the strip”, slamming the move as “ethnic cleansing”.

They urged the foreign secretary to stop Israel’s “operational plan for crimes against humanity”. It also called on London to follow the lead of French President Emmanuel Macron, who recently announced an intent to recognise a Palestinian state, so as not to undermine its own policy in support of a two-state solution.

Dozens of Labour MPs have signed letter calling on @FCDOGovUK Secretary David Lammy to take concrete action on #Gaza including immediate recognition of #Palestine

Here it is in full, though more MPs signing up by the minute

Thanks @LFPME for coordinating, government must heed pic.twitter.com/fOxiylKKVi

— Rupa Huq MP (@RupaHuq) July 12, 2025

Reporting from London, Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego said Macron had given calls to formally recognise Palestine as a state “extra heft” during his three-day state visit to the UK this week.

In an address on Tuesday to the UK’s Parliament, he had said the move was a matter of “absolute urgency” and the “only path to peace”, calling on the country to help create the “political momentum” for a two-state solution.

Gallego pointed out that Lammy had on Tuesday criticised the controversial US-backed GHF sites at Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.

“It’s not doing a good job. Too many people are close to starvation. Too many people have lost their lives,” Lammy had said.

Three out of the enclave’s four GHF sites, which have sidelined Gaza’s vast UN-led aid delivery network, are located in southern Gaza, effectively forcing starving Palestinians towards Israel’s new “humanitarian city” in Rafah.

On Friday, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that 819 Palestinians have been killed while waiting for food – 634 in the vicinity of GHF sites, which have been operational since late May. On Saturday, 34 more were killed near a GHF site in Rafah.

Lammy had also said that the UK could take further action against Israel if a ceasefire deal to end the war in the Palestinian territory does not materialise. But he stressed that London wants to recognise Palestine as part of a concrete move towards the two-state solution, not just as a symbolic gesture.

The lawmakers welcomed the Labour government’s calls for a ceasefire, its suspension of arms licenses to Israel, and its sanctioning of hardline Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, but said the “desperation and seriousness” of the situation in Gaza required more action.

“We cannot leave actions in our back pocket while the situation facing Palestinian civilians reaches critical and existential levels,” said the letter, which was organised by Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East, co-chaired by lawmakers Sarah Owen and Andrew Pakes.

“By not recognising [Palestine] as a state, we … set an expectation that the status quo can continue and see the effective erasure and annexation of Palestinian territory,” it added.

The Times of Israel reported this week that an international conference aiming to resuscitate the two-state solution was postponed to July 28-29 after plans to hold it last month were derailed by the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

Brigitte Knightley’s debut novel, “The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy,” has everything fans of enemies-to-lovers romance are looking for: disagreement that becomes flirtatious banter, ethical quandaries, forced proximity, and characters who can overcome their prejudices to see a human beneath a label. Featuring a brutal assassin and a magical healer forced to work together while trying — desperately — not to fall in love, the heat of this romantasy novel is perfect for warm summer nights.

Osric Mordaunt, considered a dark magic user, is part of an order of assassins hated and dismissed by Aurienne Fairhrim’s light magic order of healers. When Osric seeks medical treatment for a degenerative condition, he gets roped into helping Aurienne’s order cure an outbreak of pox that is killing children in droves. The pair traipses around seeking healing under romantic full moons and become involved in spycraft that reveals evidence that the outbreak is not what it seems. They begin to see each other beyond their individual allegiances, but it happens slowly, prejudices unraveling at a crawling pace. The author’s bio declares that she puts the unresolved back in “unresolved sexual tension,” and it’s true: Knightley is a master of the slow burn.

There is plenty of fun along the way: Getting to know both magical orders, their fortes and foibles, is a squelching, bodily fluid-filled delight: The only thing sharper than their wit is the divide that separates their lives. The magic system has an almost science-fiction element to it, with lots of medical talk about magical maladies and a well-rendered in-line breakdown of how “Outlander”-esque menhir travel works. Aurienne is as much a scientist as a witch, which is a treat in a genre overrun by wand-waving laziness. The novel is set in the 19th century, but in a version of England where the Norman Conquest of 1066 failed. Instead of a unified empire, the smaller kingdoms of the Heptarchy still dominate, their various dangerous machinations providing the raison d’être for the differing orders.

“Irresistible” might be set in the period we know as the Victorian era, and there are royals and attendant paraphernalia, but lovers of polite courtly romances might want to steer clear. With more dick jokes than a Deadpool movie, Knightley’s novel is dirty. Sexual attraction is not hidden behind genteel metaphors; Aurienne and Osric want. They’re not blushing virgins on their way to an altar, but adults who have loved and lost, who each bring a trolley’s worth of emotional baggage and sexual preferences to their relationship. Their self-awareness is part of the charm; they might wield magic like us mortals wield butter knives, but they’re relatable.

Readers plugged into the world of fan fiction may recognize the author’s name, which is a pseudonym. Writing under a previous nom de plume, isthisselfcare, Knightley gained an enormous fan base dedicated to “Draco Malfoy and The Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love,” her 199,000-word Dramione — short for Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy — on a popular fan-fiction site. With a Jane Austen-influenced voice, it was ironic, sarcastic and delightful. Knightley’s new novel is like a grown-up version of “Mortifying” — more mature, more grounded and more voicey than ever. Fans will be pleased to see how she’s grown.

People love to denigrate fan-fiction writers, though some of today’s most popular authors started as fan-fiction writers: Cassandra Clare, Naomi Novik and Andy Weir, to name just three. Novels like “Irresistible” are proof positive that writing fan fiction is an excellent training ground for building a novel. To write truly great fan fiction, a writer must identify what makes the source material sparkle and then replicate it. It’s not enough to graft existing characters into new situations. The most effective fan fiction shows readers how characters can continue to grow beyond the bounds of the original work while remaining consistent with the source material. That exercise in maintaining consistency and internal logic is excellent practice for creating original worlds.

In some cases, that also means identifying elements about characters that original authors themselves might not see. This was especially true of the explosion of Draco/Hermione fic after the Harry Potter series ended. Where author J.K. Rowling saw an irredeemable villain in Draco Malfoy, thousands of people saw an abused child who had grown up in a dangerous household and was trying to survive. Fan fiction allowed writers to transform Draco into a good person who falls in love with his childhood enemy; this gave readers the redemption arc Rowling set up but didn’t follow through on. There are tens of thousands of fics that explore this arc.

Literary-minded sociologists could probably study how millennial women never fully recovered from Draco’s lost redemption. The preponderance of platinum blond bad boys with chances at redemption has only grown as the girls who grew up reading Harry Potter became authors themselves: Coriolanus Snow in Hunger Games trilogy prequel “Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” Sebastian Morgenstern in “City of Glass,” Cardan in “The Cruel Prince.” (“Buffy’s” Spike is a clear predecessor.)

With Knightley’s debut, we can add Osric Mordaunt to the list. He is a tragic figure, doomed to a life filled with violence after an abusive childhood. He’s shaken out of this destiny by meeting the STEMinist figure Aurienne, who accepts no excuses for his bad behavior.

Though Osric seems to have Malfoy DNA at his heart, the rest of the cast is original and well-developed. That said, Aurienne does toe the line between aloof and arrogantly unlikable. We get the hint that she has a dark backstory, that her snark is a shield, but we’ll have to wait for Book 2 to find out. Until then, “Irresistible” will probably inspire fan fiction of its own, training a new generation of authors.

Castellanos Clark, a writer and historian in Los Angeles, is the author of “Unruly Figures: Twenty Tales of Rebels, Rulebreakers, and Revolutionaries You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of.”

Love Island fans tell Conor to follow Megan out of the villa and ‘go home’ after he asked her to wait for him after she was voted as the least favourite girl and dumped

Love Island fans told Conor to follow Megan home after she was dumped from the island in Friday’s episode. After days of back and forth, Megan and Conor finally decided to give it a go and focus on their connection, however, this didn’t last long as Megan was brutally dumped from the villa.

Conor was shocked and upset as soon as Megan’s name was called, and he shed a few tears as he said his goodbyes. Fans have since been left confused as Conor asked Megan to wait for him while he remained in the villa, with many fans telling him to ‘go home’ if he really does like her.

One fan took to x, formally known as Twitter, and said: “ffs he cared that much, he didn’t go with her”, while another asked: “Why didn’t Connor leave w her then??”. A third penned: “I ain’t crying. he could have gone with her”, while a fourth added: “Don’t ask her to wait,..leave with her”.

As the episode continued, Conor said he didn’t know if he would find another connection like the one he had with Megan, which further confused fans.

Conor said: “I hand on heart do not think that anyone is going to come through that door that I fancy more than Megan… I look at her like a girlfriend on the outside.”

This follows after a dramatic week in the villa which saw Remell and Megan brutally dumped after being voted as the least favourite boy and girl. Alima had already called off her connection with Remell after his actions in ‘The Sleepover’ where he was kissing bombshell Poppy outside of challenges.

Alima said she ‘was done’ even though Remell decided to stay coupled up with her.

Megan on the other hand had just started her connection with Conor which seemed to be going in the right direction before she was sent packing. It was an emotional goodbye for Megan and tears were shed among the girls and boys who she was leaving behind.

Before she left, she sat down for a private moment with Conor where he asked her to wait for him, and she told him she would.

After leaving the villa, Megan said: “I’m gutted to have left because I was getting to a really good place with Conor and I’d tied up loose ends with Tommy and Emily.

“I would’ve liked to have left on better terms with Tommy. We were getting there, but that comes with time and I didn’t have time on my side. I made best friends there and had an absolute ball.”

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As federal immigration raids continue to upend life in Los Angeles, Asian American leaders are rallying their communities to raise their voices in support of Latinos, who have been the primary targets of the enforcement sweeps, warning that neighborhoods frequented by Asian immigrants could be next.

Organizers say many Asian immigrants have already been affected by the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants working in the country without documentation. Dozens of Southeast Asian immigrants in Los Angeles and Orange counties whose deportation orders had been on indefinite hold have been detained after showing up for routine check-ins at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices, according to immigration attorneys and advocacy groups.

In recent months, a number of Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese immigrants whose deportation orders had been stayed — in some cases for decades — have been told that those orders will now be enforced.

The Asian immigrants being targeted are generally people who were convicted of a crime after arriving in the U.S., making them subject to deportation after their release from jail or prison. In most cases, ICE never followed through because the immigrants had lived in the U.S. long enough that their home countries no longer recognized them as citizens.

“Our community is much more silent, but we are being detained in really high numbers,” said Connie Chung Joe, chief executive of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California. “There’s such a stigma and fear that, unlike the Latinx community that wants to fight and speak out about the injustices, our community’s first reaction is to go down and get more and more hidden.”

On Thursday, more than a half-dozen leaders representing Thai, Japanese and South Asian communities held a news conference in Little Tokyo urging community members to stand together and denounce the federal action as an overreach.

President Trump came into office in January vowing to target violent criminals for deportation. But amid pressure to raise deportation numbers, administration officials in recent months have shifted their focus to farmworkers, landscapers, street vendors and other day laborers, many of whom have been working in the country for decades.

While an estimated 79% of undocumented residents in L.A. County are natives of Mexico and Central America, Asian immigrants make up the second-largest group, constituting 16% of people in the county without legal authorization, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Across the U.S., Indians make up the third-largest group of undocumented residents, behind Mexicans and Salvadorans.

According to the Pew Research Center, the L.A. metropolitan area is home to the largest populations of Cambodian, Korean, Indonesian, Filipino, Thai and Vietnamese people in the U.S.

So far, the highest-profile raids in Southern California have centered on Latino neighborhoods, targeting car washes, restaurants, home improvement stores, churches and other locales where undocumented residents gather and work.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado and Peter Gee of the Little Tokyo Service Center were among the speakers who denounced ICE raids during a news conference Thursday.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

But Asian businesses have not been immune. A raid outside a Home Depot in Hollywood happened near Thai Town, where organizers have seen ICE agents patrolling the streets. In late May, Department of Homeland Security agents raided a Los Angeles-area nightclub, arresting 36 people they said were Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants in the country without authorization.

In Little Bangladesh, immigration agents recently detained 16 people outside a grocery store, said Manjusha P. Kulkarni, executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance, a coalition of more than 50 community-based organizations.

“They will come for us even more in the coming days and weeks,” Kulkarni said. “So we are only protected when we’re in solidarity with our fellow Angelenos.”

From June 1 to 10, at the start of the federal sweeps, ICE data show that 722 people were arrested in the Los Angeles region. The figures were obtained by the Deportation Data Project, a repository of enforcement data at UC Berkeley Law.

A Times analysis found that 69% of those arrested during that period had no criminal convictions. Nearly 48% were Mexican, 16% were from Guatemala and 8% from El Salvador.

Forty-seven of the 722 individuals detained — or about 6% — were from Asian countries.

“We know the fear is widespread and it is deep,” said Assemblymember Mike Fong, a Democrat whose district takes in Monterey Park and west San Gabriel Valley, areas with large Asian immigrant populations.

Los Angeles City Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Ysabel Jurado spoke of the repercussions the raids were having on immigrant communities. Raman is Indian American, and Jurado is Filipino American.

Jurado said undocumented Filipinos make up a sizable portion of the region’s caregivers, tending to elderly people and young children.

“Their work reflects the deepest values of our communities: compassion, service and interdependence,” Jurado said. “Their labor is essential, and their humanity must be honored.”

Jurado and Raman called on the federal government to end the raids.

“This is such an important moment to speak out and to ensure that the Latino community does not feel alone,” Raman said. “I also want to make it clear to every single person who is Asian American, these aren’t just raids on others. They’re raids on us.”

Staff writer Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.

This article is part of The Times’ equity reporting initiative, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, exploring the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to address California’s economic divide.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have called for de-escalation in the conflict between Israel and Iran, following a call between the leaders.

The presidents showed a united front in their response to the escalating crisis on Thursday, after their shared geopolitical rival, the United States, indicated it had not ruled out joining Israel’s strikes on Iran.

During the call, Xi called for “major powers” to help cool the conflict, in a thinly veiled reference to Washington. Russia, which has a strategic cooperation pact with Tehran, says it has been urging the US not to strike Iran, warning it would dramatically destabilise the region and risk a nuclear disaster.

Following the call, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Putin and Xi “strongly condemn Israel’s actions, which violate the UN Charter and other norms of international law”, news agencies reported.

Both leaders “fundamentally believe that there is no military solution to the current situation and issues related to Iran’s nuclear programme”, he said, adding that a solution “must be achieved exclusively through political and diplomatic means”.

Putin has presented his country as a potential mediator in the conflict over Iran’s nuclear programme, but so far he has not been taken up on his offer.

Ushakov said that during the call, Putin reiterated his suggestion of mediating in the dispute, and Xi expressed his support, “as he believes it could serve to de-escalate the current acute situation”.

Chinese state media reported that, during the call, Xi had called for all parties, “especially Israel”, to “cease hostilities as soon as possible to prevent a cyclical escalation and resolutely avoid the spillover of the war”.

He added that “major countries” with “special influence” in the region should step up their diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation, Chinese state media reported, in an apparent reference to the US.

‘Rough edges’

The leaders also remarked on the apparent friction between Western leaders at the recent G7 conference in Canada, Ushakov said.

“They noted the well-known rough edges that emerged in the relations between participants,” the Kremlin aide said, according to the Reuters news agency.

The G7, an informal club of major industrialised democracies, concluded its latest summit on Tuesday without leaders issuing a joint statement in support of Ukraine, as it had in recent years.

Trump, having made comments in support of Russia at the summit, left a day earlier than expected, making bellicose statements about Iran on his return that have fuelled fears of more direct US involvement in the conflict.

Iran-Russia cooperation

Moscow and Tehran signed a long-delayed strategic cooperation agreement in January, reinforcing ties between the allies who share an anti-US stance.

Although Russia has not yet provided Iran with weaponry, it has assisted with its contentious nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is for peaceful civilian purposes.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday, Putin said that more than 200 Russians were continuing to work at Iran’s Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant, and that an agreement had been reached with Israel over their safety.

Xi made his first public comments on the crisis at a summit in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, saying he was “deeply worried” about Israel’s military operation against Iran.

Ushakov said Xi and Putin had agreed to keep in close contact in the coming days as the crisis unfolds. The leaders plan to next meet in China in late August at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting, the Kremlin aide said.

Jeremy Clarkson’s Clarkson’s Farm has come to an end and fans are now searching for something to fill the void.

After eight gripping episodes, Clarkson’s Farm season four has wrapped up, showcasing Jeremy Clarkson’s tumultuous journey as he endeavoured to launch his pub, The Farmer’s Dog.

The popular Prime Video series is set to conclude after its fifth season, with Jeremy announcing the end of the show, citing the cast and crew’s fatigue from the intense filming schedule.

As fans await season five, they’re on the lookout for similar entertainment to fill the gap, with Vinnie Jones in the Country emerging as a top pick.

Available on Discovery Plus, the series follows the adventures of actor and ex-footballer Vinnie Jones as he tackles 2,000 acres of West Sussex countryside, embarking on overly ambitious farming projects.

The show debuted in November 2023 and has already delighted viewers with two seasons, reports Gloucestershire Live.

Fans have confessed to binge-watching the series, with Nik Anderson commenting: “Hi Vinnie, I was a bit unsure of what I was going to experience watching your life in the country series. I was expecting ‘Oh crash bang wallop alright geezer?'”.

Anderson continued, expressing his unexpected captivation: “To my surprise and my sheer ignorance I was hooked in minutes! There was so many things I took from your series and try implement them into my life!

“I too have had tragic experiences and trauma in my life as most of us have, but some of us more than others. You deal with things admirably.”

Jan Casper also shared her enthusiasm on Google Reviews: “Thoroughly enjoyed watching all the episodes, binge watched over Christmas.

“Vinnie is a man who appreciates nature and conservation of his beautiful farm buildings and his surroundings. You can see his vision is genuine and from the heart.

“It has been lovely to see that everyone who works with him has that passion too. Can’t wait for season three.”

The series touches on some tough topics, especially after the loss of Vinnie’s wife Tanya in 2019 due to a prolonged illness.

Vinnie has opened up about how both he and his late wife were diagnosed with skin cancer.

Prime Video has given the series a glowing four out of five stars, while it boasts an impressive IMDb rating of 7.9.

In its first season, audiences watched as Vinnie and his kin constructed, connected, and quipped their way through life, all while eyeing the future prospects of their estate.

Viewers witnessed them introducing new conservation approaches, reviving species, and creating habitats to entice novel wildlife.

Israel’s aerial assault on Iran has destroyed the above-ground enrichment plant at Natanz, where there is now “contamination”, according to Rafael Grossi, chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

Grossi delivered the update during an emergency UN Security Council meeting in New York on Friday, where he and other senior UN officials urged both Israel and Iran to show restraint to prevent a deeper regional conflict.

“I have repeatedly stated that nuclear facilities should never be attacked regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment,” said Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He reported radiological and chemical contamination inside the Natanz facility, where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60 percent. However, he added that the contamination is “manageable with appropriate measures”, and said the IAEA is ready to send nuclear security experts to help secure the sites if requested.

“I call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation,” he added.

UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo also urged both sides to show “maximum restraint at this critical moment”.

“A peaceful resolution through negotiations remains the best means to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme,” she told the council. “We must at all costs avoid a growing conflagration which would have enormous global consequences.”

Israeli ‘declaration of war’

The 15-member Security Council, also joined by representatives of Israel and Iran, met at Iran’s request after Israel struck several Iranian nuclear facilities and military sites in the early hours of Friday, and carried out assassinations of senior military officials and nuclear scientists.

Iran’s UN Envoy Amir Saeid Iravani told the emergency meeting that the attacks, which he described as a “declaration of war” and “a direct assault on international order”, had killed 78 people and injured more than 320.

He accused the US of providing Israel with both intelligence and political support for the attacks, the consequences of which he said it “shares full responsibility” for.

“Supporting Israel today is supporting war crimes,” he said.

The US representative, McCoy Pitt, insisted the US was not involved militarily in the strikes, but defended them as necessary for the self-defence of Israel.

He warned that the “consequences for Iran would be dire” if it targeted US bases or citizens in retaliation. “Iran’s leadership would be wise to negotiate at this time,” he said.

‘How long did the world expect us to wait?’

Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon cast its attack on Iran’s nuclear sites as “an act of national preservation”, claiming Iran was days away from producing enough fissile material for multiple bombs.

“This operation was carried out because the alternative was unthinkable,” said Danon. “How long did the world expect us to wait? Until they assemble the bomb? Until they mount it on a Shahab missile? Until it is en route to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem?”

“We will not hesitate, we will not relent, and we will not allow a genocidal regime to endanger our people,” said Danon

An Iranian counterattack on Israel took place while the UN meeting was in progress, with Iran firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israeli targets.

“Iran affirms its inherent right to self-defence,” said Iran’s Iravani, promising to respond “decisively and proportionately” against Israel.

“This is not a threat, this is the natural, legal and necessary consequence of an unprovoked military act,” he said.

Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN ambassador, told the council Israel’s actions in the Middle East are “pushing the region to a large-scale nuclear catastrophe”.

“This completely unprovoked attack, no matter what Israel says to the contrary, is a gross violation of the UN Charter and international law,” he said.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers this week condemned the Trump administration’s termination of humanitarian protections that have left a 4-year-old girl who is receiving critical medical treatment in Los Angeles vulnerable to deportation and death.

On Tuesday, The Times published the story of S.G.V., who has short bowel syndrome — a rare condition that prevents her body from completely absorbing nutrients. She and her parents received temporary permission to enter the U.S. legally through Tijuana in 2023.

In a letter Thursday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 38 congressional Democrats, including California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, urged her to reconsider the termination of the family’s legal status.

“We believe this family’s situation clearly meets the need for humanitarian aid and urge you and this Administration to reconsider its decision,” the lawmakers wrote. “It is our duty to protect the sick, vulnerable, and defenseless.”

Last month, S.G.V.’s family, who now live in Bakersfield, received notice from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that their status had been terminated and that they had to leave the country immediately. Earlier this month, they applied again for humanitarian protections.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that the family is not actively in the deportation process and that their application is still being considered.

The girl’s physician, Dr. John Arsenault of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, wrote in a letter requested by her family that any interruption in her daily nutrition system “could be fatal within a matter of days.”

The story about S.G.V. drew swift public outcry. An online fundraiser for the girl’s care had amassed nearly $26,000 as of Thursday morning.

The letter to Noem was led by Reps. Luz Rivas (D-North Hollywood) and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles). Rivas said state legislators and constituents messaged her about the family, asking what she could do to help.

While the family lives outside of Rivas’ district, which encompasses the north-central San Fernando Valley, she said it is her role as a California Democrat and a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to speak up for immigrant constituents in districts where Republican representatives may not do so.

“That’s why we’re organizing as members of Congress,” Rivas said. “Without action from Secretary Noem and this administration, this little girl will die within days.”

In a post on X, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) called the situation “heartbreaking.” Seeking to deport the girl despite her medical condition is “cruel and inexcusable,” Chu added.

In another X post, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) wrote: “Trump wants to deport a four-year-old who could die from a life-threatening medical condition if her treatment is interrupted. How does this cruelty make us a stronger nation?”

The family and their attorneys held a news conference Wednesday at the Koreatown office of the pro bono firm, Public Counsel. The lawyers explained that the equipment administered by the hospital to S.G.V. for home use is not available outside the U.S.

“If they deport us and they take away my daughter’s access to specialized medical care, she will die,” said Deysi Vargas.

Attorneys for the family noted that S.G.V. is not the only child affected in recent months by the Trump administration’s immigration policies. In an attempt to speed up arrests and deportations, they said, children are needlessly being swept up in the process.

Gina Amato Lough, directing attorney at Public Counsel, said the girl’s case “is a symbol of the recklessness of this administration’s deportation policies.”

“We’re seeing a pattern of cruelty and a violation of our most treasured rights and values,” said Amato Lough. “These are people coming to us for protection, and instead we’re sending them to die. That’s not justice, and it doesn’t make us any safer.”

DEONTAY WILDER has been urged to hang up his gloves just a month before his ring return.

The former long-reigning WBC heavyweight champion will bid to get back to winning ways on June 27 in a rebuild fight against Tyrrell Herndon.

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Wilder, 39, will enter the bout on the back of four defeats in his last five outings, with three of those losses being brutal knockouts to Tyson Fury and Zhilei Zhang.

The American has looked like a shell of the fighter who struck fear into the hearts of heavyweights during his pomp, so much so that a litany of boxing icons, Fury, included, have urged him to call it a day.

During an appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast with former UFC champs Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, he said: “I’d like to see poor old Deontay retire from boxing.

“When I beat Wilder, he was 44 and 0, with 43 KOs, and he KO’d the guy who went the distance with him in the rematch, so that means he knocked out every single person he ever faced. 44 people.

“Obviously, he lost the three fights to me and since that third trilogy, we took a lot of lot of years off each other’s lives.

“That war, which ended in the 11th round by knockout, that took a lot out of our tanks.

“Between me and Wilder in that trilogy there was 10 knockdowns. It takes a lot out of a fighter.

“Even when he’s come back and had a couple of fights since, he’s only a shadow of his former glory.

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“The only thing left that remains the same about Deontay is his name.”

Legendary boxing coach Teddy Atlas, who used to train Mike Tyson, shares the same view as Fury.

Atlas told Slingo: “The last thing to go, George Foreman showed, is that the last thing to go with a fighter is power.

“As long as you have power, you’ve got a shot.

“But the way he’s looked, the punishment he took against Zhilei Zhang.

“Wilder took a lot of punishment in his last few fights.

“And the way he took it, how clean he got hit, and how he reacted to it, just as a human being.

“Forget trainer, promoter, anything, just as a human being, I’d be concerned about him fighting again.”

Wilder and his team are hoping a win over Herndon will kick-start an unlikely run to a world title, with head coach Malik Scott saying: “He’s still got that urge to become champion, because he’s a champion at heart.

“He’s on the second half of his career, he’s filthy rich.

“He wants to make another run at the heavyweight championship of the world.”

Slow down.

Previously limited to fastballs and splitters, Shohei Ohtani threw a handful of sliders and curveballs in his mid-week bullpen session, but that doesn’t mean he will be a two-way player again before the All-Star break.

Ohtani is lined up to potentially face hitters in a simulated game on Saturday in New York, but that doesn’t mean he will pitch in the upcoming four-week stretch that could determine the course of the Dodgers’ season.

As encouraged as the team is with his progress and as desperate as the Dodgers are for one of their sidelined frontline starters to return, they will continue to slow play Ohtani’s return to the mound, according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking but not authorized to speak publicly.

The Dodgers could use Ohtani’s arm, but they absolutely need his bat, and they don’t plan on jeopardizing his offense by exposing him to any unnecessary risks on the mound.

Which is a major gamble in itself.

Every one of their next 26 games will be against teams with winning records. Of them, 23 will be against teams that would have qualified for the playoffs if the regular season ended on Wednesday, the exception being the St. Louis Cardinals, who have won 13 of their last 17 games.

Starting on Friday at Citi Field with the opening game of a three-game series against the New York Mets, the stretch of games will include seven meetings with the San Diego Padres and three with the San Francisco Giants.

The Padres were 2 ½ games behind the Dodgers in the National League West entering Thursday. The Giants were just two back.

Considering the state of their pitching staff, the Dodgers could very easily emerge from this stretch of games in second, third, or maybe even fourth place in their division.

Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell will be sidelined for another month, leaving Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the team’s only reliable starter.

Roki Sasaki is targeting a return in late June from what the team described as a shoulder impingement, but the rookie never looked entirely comfortable before he went down, so who knows what he will offer them when he comes back.

Roki Sasaki is one of several Dodgers starting pitchers on the injured list.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“Not sure I’ve ever seen their pitching so decimated,” an executive from a rival team said.

The loss of frontline starters is nothing new for the Dodgers, whose injury problems last year practically forced them to acquire Jack Flaherty at the trade deadline. What’s new is their lack of depth.

The returns of Tony Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw have mitigated the problem but only so much. Along with the inconsistent Dustin May and the consistently mediocre Landon Knack, Gonsolin and Kershaw represent the rotation’s final line of defense.

In previous seasons, the Dodgers always seemed to have 10 pitchers in their organization who could beat a mid- or low-level opponent on any given day. However, the inability to keep their young pitchers healthy has cost them much of that depth. Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan and Gavin Stone underwent major surgeries last year. Michael Grove had a shoulder operation this year. Injuries have turned Bobby Miller into a pedestrian minor leaguer, but if another starter is injured, the Dodgers could be forced to call him up again.

Dave Roberts expertly managed a depleted rotation and exhausted bullpen in the playoffs last year, and he’ll have to do it again less than two months into the regular season. He could have to punt on certain games. When his team is behind, he could have to ask his starter to pitch an extra inning or two so that he could save his high-leverage relievers for games in which they are ahead.

This isn’t to say Ohtani’s pitching comeback should be expedited. Whomever they have pitching, the Dodgers will have to score runs to win another World Series, and that starts with Othani. Before they unleash Ohtani the pitcher, they have to protect Ohtani the hitter.

Because of that, they have gambled on May pitching more games like the one he pitched on Wednesday night in a 3-1 victory over Diamondbacks. They have gambled on Kershaw figuring out how to pitch as a 37-year-old returning from multiple operations. And they have gambled on Roberts managing an injury-ravaged pitching staff.

The wagers will decide what kind of season this will be, whether this is a year in which the Dodgers will run away with the NL West or one in which they will have to fight until the final days of the regular season to determine which team is granted a first-round bye in the playoffs.