Gianni Infantino’s alleged lover was given a severance payment over the affair by Uefa while he was its general secretary, according to a Daily Telegraph investigation, external.

A spokesman for the now Fifa president was reported to have told the paper Infantino “strongly denies these categorically untrue allegations”.

Uefa, for whom Infantino was general secretary from 2009 to 2016, issued a statement confirming “a departure payment was made to the individual in question”.

The allegations come as Infantino fights for his future as Fifa president following his aborted plans to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors.

BBC Sport has contacted Fifa and Infantino for comment.

The Telegraph reported that Uefa paid a six-figure sum to the woman, who had an alleged relationship with Infantino, who is married, during his time at European football’s governing body.

“Fifa president Gianni Infantino strongly denies these allegations, and they are categorically untrue. Any insinuation of inappropriate conduct or violation of statutes or regulations is defamatory,” a Fifa spokesman told the Telegraph.

“No employee at Uefa and Fifa has ever raised a complaint regarding Mr Infantino’s behaviour because there never was an incident where he was involved.”

Uefa confirmed a payment was made to the woman in question and that it covered the fees for her to complete an MBA course at a local business school.

It said all payments were in line with regulations at the time, but those regulations have since been tightened and “reflect those found in a modern, high-profile organisation”.

The US Senate approved its strongest move against Russia under Trump, advancing sanctions that could impose tariffs on major buyers including India and China.

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had cancelled an earlier Saudi trip after deadly July 29 US-Saudi strikes on Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ⁠and Saudi Arabian Intelligence chief Khalid bin Ali Al Humaidan have met in Baghdad in an attempt to resolve the governments’ ties strained by deadly cross-border strikes weeks earlier.

Al-Humaidan extended a renewed invitation for al-Zaidi to visit Riyadh in the meeting on Friday, the prime minister’s office said, after the latter’s earlier trip was called off in protest following a joint Saudi-US operation on July 29. The attacks killed 20 fighters of Iraqi armed groups, including five Iranians.

According to al-Zaidi’s office, the two focused on how Baghdad and Riyadh can better coordinate security issues as regional tensions simmer.

Al-Zaidi restated a pledge that Iraqi soil would not become a launchpad for attacks on any other country, and that Baghdad remains determined to guard its sovereignty.

The two countries have had a tense few weeks of diplomacy.

Saudi Arabia justified last month’s strikes on Iraq as retaliation for drone attacks on its oil infrastructure, which it blamed on the same pro-Iranian Iraqi armed groups.

Iraq’s National Security Council rejected the kingdom’s claim outright, calling the operation a breach of national sovereignty. In the days that followed, Iraqi authorities quietly tightened security across the country and along its borders to head off any retaliation.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq – the Iran-aligned network of armed groups that has clashed rhetorically with Riyadh in recent weeks – had promised to retaliate for the US-Saudi strikes.

But it announced on Friday that it was postponing a retaliatory strike, crediting the climbdown to lobbying from Hadi al-Amiri, one of the most powerful pro-Iran voices in Iraq, along with pressure from other unnamed political figures.

The group did not say what it had been preparing to hit.

Al-Zaidi, who took office earlier this year with Washington’s backing, has pledged to bring armed groups under state control and set a September 30 deadline for them to disarm.

His call has since faced opposition from powerful factions.

Iraq has long struggled to balance its ties with both the United States and Iran. The rivalry between Washington and Tehran has repeatedly turned the country into a proxy battleground.

Minnie Driver’s Paris adventures went awry this week when she was involved in a car accident that she’s describing as a frightening close call.

On Thursday, the actor — who has posted a series of “Paris Update” videos for her fans over the last two months while filming the sixth season of “Emily in Paris” — updated fans with a video posted to Instagram in which she appeared in a neck brace and recounted a harrowing close call. “Paris update is that I am actually back in London,” the video began.

“I got into a really bad car accident a few days ago with my friend Ben, and we somehow walked out of it,” she said. “Well, we didn’t walk out of it. We crawled out of it, but we did get out of it alive.”

Driver said the accident wasn’t their fault, and that they were cruising down a country road in the middle of France when another vehicle failed to stop at an intersection.

“We just T-boned it,” she said. “I’m fine. I’ve got a sprained neck, and I’m really in shock and sort of cry all the time, but I’m going to heal.”

According to Deadline, production on “Emily in Paris” will continue as planned aside from one scene involving Driver that had to be rescheduled. She plans to return to her role as Princess Jane when she recovers.

“The reason that I’m not dead, honestly, is the car that we were driving,” she continued in her update, adding that 360-degree airbags in the “tiny Kia” she was riding in saved their lives. “The fact that the entire car didn’t just concertina and crush us is down to the design of that car, which is frankly astonishing.”

Driver assured her followers that the video wasn’t a car ad — “Can you imagine if that’s what I was doing?” — but the actor appeared grateful and wanted to give due credit, all with her sense of humor still intact.

“I’m a mini driver, pun intended. I need to celebrate the car that saved us, because we’ve got families and people who love us, and I am so grateful to be alive,” she said. “So, Kia, you are a baller car company.”

Liverpool are close to signing Uruguay defender Ronald Araujo on a season-long loan from Barcelona.

The deal includes an option to buy Araujo, who is expected to link up with the Liverpool squad this weekend.

The 27-year-old centre-back has helped Barca win La Liga in three of the past four seasons, and ended last season as club captain.

Araujo is under contract until 2031 but only made 11 league starts last season, with Gerard Martin and Pau Cubarsi emerging as their preferred central defensive pairing.

After joining Barca from Uruguayan club Boston River in 2018, Araujo has made more than 200 appearances for the Spanish giants.

Liverpool were looking to strengthen their defence after Ibrahima Konate left the Reds to join Real Madrid on a free transfer.

Aug. 7 (UPI) — The Defense Department on Friday revoked Frank Kendall’s access to classified information, accusing the former secretary of the Air Force of leaking sensitive information to the press.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Frank was the source who told reporters that President Donald Trump‘s new Qatari-gifted jet lacked certain security features.

Parnell said the Defense Department revoked Kendall’s “eligibility for access to classified information and his ability to hold any sensitive position.”

“This action follows his unauthorized disclosure of classified information regarding Air Force One‘s capabilities to a media outlet,” the spokesman wrote on X. “Safeguarding classified information is a non-negotiable duty.

“Those who violate that trust forfeit the privilege of access and any role requiring it.”

Kendall, a lawyer and engineer, served as U.S. secretary of the Air Force from 2021 to 2025 under the Biden administration.

When asked about the new Qatari jet, Kendall told CNN it would take three to four years to get the plane on-par with the expectations of an aircraft serving as Air Force One.

The New York Times first reported that Trump’s new Air Force One, a Boeing 747-8, lacked advanced security features such as antimissile capabilities.

The plane was a $400 million gift from Qatar, but despite retrofitting, did not reach the level of safety required of the U.S. president’s main aircraft, The Times reported.

Trump denied the report and called for the prosecution of leakers, though days later he said the plane would be taken out of commission to be “maxed out” — tacitly admitting it wasn’t fully upgraded already.

The Trump administration subpoenaed four Times journalists over the incident.

The rulings allow the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for nationals of the two countries.

Two federal judges have cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to end temporary protections from deportation for people who have come to the United States from South Sudan and Myanmar.

Judges in Boston, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois on Friday rejected last-ditch efforts by immigrant-rights advocates to maintain the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for the two countries after the US Supreme Court in June allowed the administration to end similar protections for thousands of people from Haiti and Syria.

TPS shields people from deportation and grants work authorisation when their home countries are affected by armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions. The terminations would end protections for about 232 South Sudanese nationals and roughly 4,000 people from Myanmar, according to the Reuters news agency.

The Supreme Court decision had limited lower courts’ ability to block the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) efforts to end TPS for people from roughly a dozen countries, arguing the executive branch maintained broad authority to make decisions on the programme.

After the Supreme Court’s ruling, immigrant-rights lawyers made a new challenge, arguing that DHS lacked the authority to terminate TPS.

But US District Judge Patti Saris in Boston rejected the argument, saying it would not only call into question DHS authority to end TPS but also its longstanding authority to extend the protections.

Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago made a similar conclusion in the Myanmar case hours later.

Advocates have warned the rulings leave TPS recipients, who had been given an “administrative stay” amid the ongoing legal battle that allowed them to continue to work and live in the US, exposed to possible deportation to countries still gripped by conflict and instability.

DHS had moved in November 2025 to end TPS for South Sudan, which has held the designation since 2011 amid ongoing conflict, and Myanmar, in political turmoil since a 2021 military coup.

James Percival, General Counsel of DHS, said the new rulings leave only TPS terminations for Ethiopian and Somalian nationals, which are still blocked by courts.

“Every day these ‘administrative stays’ are in effect is a day the American people are denied what they voted for,” he wrote on X.

Just a day before the Head in the Clouds Music & Arts Festival takes over the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, a member of the headlining pop group Katseye has announced she is taking a hiatus from performing.

Sophia Laforteza announced on Instagram on Friday that she’ll be stepping away to take care of her mental health.

“It truly breaks my heart to have to miss out on a lot,” she wrote in an Instagram story. “You know how much I love being on stage, performing, and sharing these moments with you. Making this decision wasn’t easy, but I’m learning that health has to come first. I’m realizing that if I don’t take care of my mind and body now, I won’t be able to keep doing what I love the most for so long.”

Laforteza thanked her fans for being “patient, understanding, and always showing me so much love,” and said she’d be joining Katseye fans, aka “eyekons,” in cheering on the group in the meantime.

“I promise I’m going to work as hard as I can to get through this, heal properly, and come back stronger,” she wrote.

A post on the group’s official Instagram account said Laforteza “will be temporarily unable to participate in upcoming promotional activities.”

“We understand how much EYEKONS were looking forward to seeing Sophia on stage, but it is imperative that her mental health and wellness are prioritized,” the post stated.

According to the statement, the pop star has been working with medical professionals who advised that she take “dedicated time for extended rest and ongoing care to ensure a full recovery.”

While Laforteza is eager to get back to work with her fellow Katseye members, the post said her “health, safety, and long-term well-being” will always be top priority.

Laforteza’s progress will be monitored and she’ll be reassessed in September — just as the group is slated to kick off their world tour. Fans can expect an update around that time, according to the post.

Earlier this year, Katseye member Manon Bannerman also hit pause on performing with the pop group, meaning Saturday’s headlining performance in Pasadena will feature four of the group’s original six members. Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel and Yoonchae Jeung are still set to take the stage.

Laforteza’s announcement followers similar decisions from actor-musician Ariana Grande, who told fans earlier this week that she would be stepping away from the public eye and that “human beings can need a break sometimes.”

Country music star Jelly Roll also announced a hiatus this month, saying he needed “to heal” following news that he finalized his divorce from Bunnie XO after nearly 10 years of marriage.

This article explores the historical significance of the Battle of Boyacá, a pivotal conflict that occurred in 1819 within the region then known as New Grenada. The narrative describes how Republican forces, led by prominent generals and supported by the British Legion, successfully intercepted and defeated Royalist troops at a strategic bridge. This swift military engagement was crucial for securing Bogotá and acted as the primary catalyst for Colombia’s independence from Spanish rule. Today, the site serves as a lasting national monument to South American liberation. The source also contextualizes this history within a modern news digest, highlighting the event’s enduring legacy as a public holiday.

It was early Wednesday morning when Edith Pfeffer and Carolyn Tallet became late-night TV stars, charming CNN hosts, producers and viewers alike with their earnest attempt to make sense of a mathematical snafu that had left the outcome of the Iowa caucuses hanging in the balance.

Pfeffer, who is chairwoman of the Clinton County Republican Central Committee, and Tallet, president of the Clinton County Republican Women’s Club, talked by phone with CNN hosts Wolf Blitzer and John King as the network tried to locate the final 3% of precinct tallies that would decide the winner of Iowa’s GOP presidential nominating contest.

The call resulted in eight minutes of hilarious, heartwarming television as the women tried to unscramble the math while King drew numbers on his special television screen and Blitzer pressed on for precision. (Watch the video below.)

Turns out Pfeffer had the missing tallies all night – they were phoned in less than an hour after the caucuses began, she said, but somehow weren’t counted by Republican Party officials.

Tallet told CNN that she learned just after midnight that the party was searching for the tallies, but couldn’t reach Pfeffer by phone.

“I knew they needed the information, and so I came to Edith’s home and pounded on the door and woke her up and got her up,” Tallet said.

“Do you know who carried this precinct?” King asked, referring to the precinct for which the state party said it had no votes. “…Who won?”

“Mitt Romney won with 51 votes,” Pfeffer said. “Rick Santorum and Ron Paul tied with 33 votes each.”

Double-checking, Blitzer asked Tallett and Pfeffer to give the totals for all precincts in Clinton County.

“Oh God, I added them up,” Pfeffer said, sparking giggles from the CNN crew offstage. “I added them up a couple times. I – oh, man.”

After they got the math all sorted out, Blitzer wanted to be sure he had the record straight.

“Just to be precise, we didn’t wake you up – the state chairs in Des Moines, they called you, they woke you up, is that right?”

“No!” Tallet said. “I woke her up…I was staying home watching CNN, waiting for the results, when I was told by the party. And so I came to wake up Edith, who didn’t answer her phone.”

The duo was such a hit that CNN called them back later in the night, once the results were official.

“I am just overwhelmed with all of this,” Pfeffer said. “I am just amazed because really and truly, my people did call this in tonight, and I don’t know where the glitch was…”

Pfeffer said she gave her county’s tallies to Romney campaign staff at the end of the night.

“And then I went to bed, and it’s been kind of interesting to wake up,“ she said.

kim.geiger@latimes.com

The Galaxy announced on Friday Hirving “Chucky” Lozano is joining its roster, making one of the most significant moves of the MLS transfer window in an attempt to turn around a disappointing season while the team still has a chance to make the playoffs.

The Mexican forward arrives on loan from San Diego FC through December with an option to buy. Lozano will occupy a designated player spot, becoming the new offensive leader of the team coached by Greg Vanney for the final stretch of the season.

Although his time with San Diego FC began in June 2024 with high expectations as the first designated player signed in the club’s history, the relationship between Lozano and the club deteriorated.

The Mexican forward suffered several muscle injuries that limited his playing time last season and toward the end of Lozano’s tenure, coach Mikey Varas opted not to feature Lozano because he didn’t fit with the club’s sporting vision.

The combination of physical problems and internal disagreements ultimately paved the way for his departure even though he made a strong offensive impact.

“Hirving is a player whom we tried to acquire three years ago, so this feels like something of a full-circle moment. He is a fierce competitor with an excellent track record of performing on teams that have competed for titles in multiple leagues, including his debut season in MLS,” Galaxy general manager Will Kuntz said.

Kuntz said after evaluating various options to strengthen the roster, the club concluded that Lozano was the ideal fit to help them tackle the final 15 games of the season.

“We have a talented group, a strong locker room, and a clear objective over these final 15 games of the season, and we are thrilled that Hirving and his family are joining the Galaxy,” Kuntz said.

In 33 matches with San Diego FC, Lozano recorded 20 goal contributions, including goals and assists.

Before arriving in MLS, Lozano made his professional debut with Pachuca, where he won the 2016 Clausura and the 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League, a tournament in which he finished as the top scorer.

He later moved to PSV Eindhoven, where he won the Eredivisie title in the 2017–18 season before signing with Napoli in Italy. With the Neapolitan club, he played in 155 matches, scored 30 goals and was part of the historic squad that won the Scudetto in the 2022–23 season, ending a wait of more than three decades for the club.

He returned to PSV in 2023 and added two more consecutive Dutch league titles before embarking on his MLS adventure.

With the Mexican national team, he has accumulated more than 70 international appearances, 18 goals, and 12 assists.

He etched his name into Mexican soccer history by scoring the goal that gave El Tri a 1-0 victory over Germany at the 2018 World Cup in Russia — one of the national team’s most important World Cup victories.

He also represented Mexico at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, in addition to competing in the Copa América, the Confederations Cup, the Gold Cup and the CONCACAF Nations League. In 2018, he was named CONCACAF Player of the Year.

At 31, Lozano joins the Galaxy —which no longer has Gabriel Pec — as the team seeks to strengthen its attack to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.

The Galaxy hope to capitalize on his speed, ability to play on both wings and experience in high-pressure situations.

Aug. 7 (UPI) — Justice Samuel Alito said Friday in a rare interview that he is committed to returning for another term at the Supreme Court.

Speculation that Alito, 76, would retire swelled in June, after NPR mistakenly reported that he planned to step down at the end of this term.

On Friday, the justice put those rumors to bed.

“Obviously I’m here for another term,” Alito told The Wall Street Journal.

“It’s not pleasant, in the sense that it’s a reminder of mortality,” he said to the newspaper about questions related to his retirement.

“It’s like, what are those vultures doing up there?” the justice added. “They are flying around. But it goes with life tenure.”

Alito’s non-retirement was reported by NPR reporter Nina Totenberg, a veteran of Supreme Court coverage, on June 30.

NPR retracted the story later that same day.

Totenberg said she heard a retirement announcement while rushing out of the courtroom and mistakenly assumed it was Alito.

She called it “the worst professional mistake of my more than 50 years in journalism.”

Alito, a staunch conservative, was appointed by President George W. Bush and joined the court in 2006.

A new mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan has raised questions about the shifting geopolitical landscape of the Middle East, where fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran has prompted some countries to seek new arrangements to safeguard their security.

The pact, termed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, was signed in the Saudi city of Mecca on Friday.

“The agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression, and stipulates that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all,” a statement from the meeting reads.

“It further provides for the enhancement of all aspects of defence cooperation among the three states.”

While it is not yet clear what such an agreement might look like in practice, analysts say the pact points to growing questions about the durability of US security guarantees.

“Regional states have harbored growing doubts about the reliability of the US security partnership for more than a decade,” Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, told Al Jazeera over email.

“Both the decision to begin military operations against Iran and the subsequent conduct of the war and the on-off attempts to resolve it have only intensified those concerns and accelerated efforts to diversify security and defence relations.”

But, Ulrichsen added, building new defence pacts is likely not intended “to replace or supplant the US, but to provide additional strategic and policy options”.

Uncertainty over US role

While the administration of US President Donald Trump has yet to weigh in on the pact, analysts say the agreement is an effort by the three countries to reorient themselves after the turmoil of the Iran war.

“This is one of the first major geopolitical signs that the regional order is being reshaped by the US-Israeli war on Iran,” Sina Toossi, an analyst at the Center for International Policy, told Al Jazeera.

“The significance is less about a formal military alliance than about what it says regarding how regional states are reassessing security.”

Toossi pointed to the long-running alliance between the US and Saudi Arabia. For decades, the two countries have enjoyed a strong relationship, hinged on shared security interests. But the pact could be a sign that Saudi Arabia is looking to expand its security alliances.

“Rather than relying primarily on Washington, Saudi Arabia appears to be broadening its security partnerships and laying the groundwork for more intra-regional security arrangements,” Toossi explained. “That is arguably the most important takeaway.”

Media reports have also indicated that US partners in the Middle East were frustrated that the Trump administration had launched February’s war against Iran with little apparent thought to the impact on allies in the region.

Iranian forces have launched waves of missile and drone strikes against US military facilities in the Middle East, causing bystander casualties. Iran has also targeted civilian infrastructure, including energy and desalination plants.

Tehran’s decision to close the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for the region’s energy exports, has also imposed a steep cost on local economies.

Despite heavy strikes by the US and Israel, Iran has largely maintained its ability to restrict traffic through the strait, and Washington has struggled to provide partners with sufficient air defence munitions, many of which went to Israel.

‘Normative deterrence’

Under the circumstances created by the war, the longstanding reliance on Washington for security in the region has become more strained.

“It’s a fluid, tabula rasa era in the Middle East,” Brett McGurk, a key architect of Middle East policy under former US President Joe Biden, wrote in a social media post.

But analysts note that Friday’s security pact is best understood as an effort to supplement regional security cooperation with other countries and deter Iran.

“These countries are all US partners, and they recognise that there is no framework that can replace the United States,” Yasmine Farouk, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.

Farouk added that it would also be a mistake to see the pact as a step towards greater confrontation with Iran.

She noted that all three countries involved have generally called for mediation and de-escalation since the US and Israel first launched their attacks on Iran in late February.

“What these countries have in common is that they are not seeking regional escalation,” she said, underscoring that the importance of the agreement might be something closer to “normative deterrence”.

Iran, she explained, has emerged from the war hardened and more confident in its ability to use force to advance its goals.

“There is a long-term perspective here on strategic cooperation, not just a deterrent effect.”

Ann Droid made a comeback tonight with another twist in Sue and Linda’s story.

BBC fans rushed to say the same thing about Diane Morgan and Sue Johnston’s new sitcom Ann Droid tonight.

The fourth episode of Ann Droid aired this evening, Friday, August 7, at 9.30pm, on BBC One, with Sue (played by Sue Johnston) welcoming her son Michael (Paul Ready) and his wife Renee (Andrea Valls) for what was meant to be a happy family dinner.

Of course, this didn’t go quite according to plan as they announced they were trying to get pregnant, much to Sue’s frustration, before asking her to give them money for a new house.

But as the episode continued to play out with carer droid Linda (Diane Morgan) not sure when it is appropriate to celebrate their news, fans soon had their say.

Many viewers flocked to X share the same praise with some labelling Ann Droid as “absolutely brilliant”.

The same fan continued: “lots of real laugh out loud moments both Sue and Diane are fantastic!” A second wrote: “Love Ann Droid, so funny”, with another writing: “So funny!

“I absolutely love this series! I wish robots were really so advanced – I’d definitely buy one!”

A fellow viewer said: “Time for the best part of the week” at the start of the episode with someone else remarking: “It’s a terrible idea – but somehow it does work.”

Meanwhile, a user who had already binge-watched the entire six episodes, commented: “Just finished Ann Droid and my sides are splitting. That was f*****g hilarious.”

By the end of this evening’s episode, Phyllis (Margot Leicester) visited Sue in tears, sharing that no one turned up to her birthday party.

After sharing a few glasses of wine with Diane playing party music in the background, the pair shared stories of their “terrible families”.

But realising that she didn’t want to miss out on being a potential grandmother, Sue left her son Michael a voicemail saying she would downsize to free up money for him and Renee.

A tipsy Sue and Phyllis continued to dance and celebrate as Linda tried to tell her that it would lead to “financial ruin” but is she right?

Ann Droid continues every Friday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

The National Enquirer’s parent company paid a Manhattan doorman $30,000 for a story it never published alleging that Donald Trump secretly fathered a child, according to news reports.

Former doorman Dino Sajudin told the story to the National Enquirer in late 2015, when Trump was the top contender for the Republican presidential nomination, the Associated Press and the New Yorker reported early Thursday.

Sajudin, who worked at Trump World Tower near the United Nations headquarters, told the National Enquirer that he’d heard from co-workers that Trump had “knocked up” one of his employees, who gave birth to a girl, according to documents posted on the website of Radar Online, a sister publication of the National Enquirer.

The supermarket tabloid requested a polygraph exam, and the examiner concluded that Sajudin was telling the truth about hearing the story, the documents say.

Four unnamed National Enquirer employees told AP that top editors, despite the polygraph results, ordered them to stop reporting the story.

Sajudin signed a contract with the tabloid’s parent company, American Media Inc., led by President Trump’s close friend David Pecker. Sajudin, who received the $30,000 in return for giving American Media exclusive rights to the story, agreed to pay a $1-million penalty if he failed to keep quiet, according to the AP and the New Yorker.

“I can confirm that while working at Trump World Tower, I was instructed not to criticize President Trump’s former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she had with President Trump which produced a child,” Sajudin told CNN on Thursday.

It is the second known case of American Media spending money in a way that protected Trump from a potentially harmful story during the 2016 presidential race — a practice known in the tabloid gossip world as “catch and kill.”

Days after Trump won his party’s presidential nomination, American Media paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story of a nine-month affair with Trump, but never published it.

McDougal is suing to void the deal, alleging that her attorney was secretly colluding with Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is prized for his loyalty — and willingness to attack the president’s rivals »

The FBI raided Cohen’s office, home and hotel room this week under search warrants reportedly seeking records on McDougal’s nondisclosure deal with American Media.

The search warrant also reportedly sought records on a separate confidentiality agreement that Cohen reached in October 2016 with porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. He set up a shell company that paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about Trump’s alleged 2006 sexual encounter with her.

It’s unclear what crimes federal authorities suspect were committed. But McDougal’s lawsuit charges that American Media’s $150,000 payment to her was an illegal secret donation that federal election law required the Trump campaign to publicly disclose.

Common Cause, a nonpartisan ethics group, has filed complaints with the Justice Department and Federal Election Commission alleging that the payments to McDougal and Daniels were illegal campaign contributions.

On Thursday, Common Cause submitted new complaints alleging the payment to Sajudin, too, was an unlawful attempt to influence the 2016 election by protecting Trump’s candidacy from bad publicity.

“Secret payments to hide affairs may have been commonplace in the president’s previous life as a tabloid figure, but when he became a candidate for the presidency, any new payments to safeguard his candidacy became violations of federal law,” said Paul S. Ryan, the vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause.

Cohen acknowledged that he discussed Sajudin’s story with the National Enquirer when it was reporting on the allegations, but denied knowing in advance that the tabloid paid the former doorman $30,000, the AP reported.

Neither the AP nor the New Yorker named the woman who was alleged to have had Trump’s child about 30 years ago.

The documents posted by Radar Online indicate that the National Enquirer found in late 2015 that the woman was then living in Queens, and her daughter in Northern California.

Radar Online reported that despite the polygraph results, National Enquirer editors concluded after four weeks of investigating, that Sajudin’s story was false.

“When we realized we would be unable to publish, and other media outlets approached the source about his tale, we released Sajudin from the exclusivity clause that had accompanied his $30,000 payment, freeing him to tell his story to whomever he wanted,” Dylan Howard, the chief content officer at American Media, told Radar Online.

American Media, or AMI, led by longtime Trump friend Pecker, released a statement denying that Cohen or Trump had anything to do with its decision “not to pursue a story about a ‘love child’ that it determined was not credible.”

“The suggestion that David Pecker has ever used company funds to ‘shut down’ this or any investigation is not true,” the statement said. “In addition, AMI and Mr. Pecker emphatically deny any suggestion that there might have been be any ‘partnership’ created which might influence any business ties in regard to AMI. These claims are reckless, unsubstantiated, and false.”

The statement also quoted Howard defending the decision to not publish a story.

“Paying for information has long been a practice of The National Enquirer and to suggest that it has only paid for, and not run, stories about any particular person is absurd,” he said.

The former National Enquirer employees told the AP that the tabloid failed to pursue its standard reporting practices for proving paternity, such as exhaustive stakeouts.

In 2007, when the National Enquirer disclosed that Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards had fathered a child with a mistress, it did so in part by rummaging through a dumpster for material to use in a DNA test. Months later, Edwards admitted the story was true.

Edwards, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina, was tried on federal charges of using campaign money to hide the pregnant mistress from voters during the campaign. The case ended in an acquittal on one charge and a mistrial on five others.

michael.finnegan@latimes.com

Twitter: @finneganLAT

UPDATES:

6 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from American Media Inc.

1:30 p.m.: This article was updated with Sajudin’s statement to CNN and background on John Edwards.

12:20 p.m.: This article was updated with new Common Cause complaint.

This article was originally published at 10:55 a.m.

During the 1970s, San Fernando High football coach Bill Marsh created something scarier than Frankenstein: the wishbone offense.

In 1974 and 1975, the Tigers were the most electrifying, explosive and entertaining team in Southern California, winning back-to-back City Section titles behind the trio of fullback Charles White, running back Kevin Williams and quarterback Kenny Moore, all of whom went on to USC.

Another halfback, Ray Williams, also starred and went to Washington State. Kevin Williams won the state 100-yard dash in 1975. Moore was a two-time City player of the year. White would win the state 330-yard hurdles championship and become a Heisman Trophy winner.

Former San Fernando High football coach Bill Marsh.

(San Fernando HS)

“I had sleepless nights worrying about keeping these guys from being envious or jealous of one another,” Marsh said in 1999.

Marsh, who grew up in Pacoima and played at San Fernando before becoming a coach, P.E. teacher and businessman, died on Monday in Porter Ranch, according to current San Fernando football coach Charles Burnley. Marsh was 79.

“He was a great man,” said Al Coney, who played for Marsh in 1976.

Burnley got into trouble while attending another high school when Marsh intervened to get him another chance.

“He saved my life,” Burnley said.

Those championship San Fernando teams kept running off big plays and using their speed while relying on lots of talent from Pacoima. They were the days when kids went to their neighborhood schools, and Marsh took advantage with a run-oriented offense that left defenses unable to stop the Tigers. In one game against Reseda, the Tigers rushed for 529 yards, with Kevin Williams running for 180 yards, White 152, Raymond Williams 110 and Moore 82.

“It was very hard to stop because Kenny Moore ran the offense like a college quarterback. He learned to read the defensive end,” said receiver DeWayne Jett. “We probably had the top talent in the Valley all at once.”

Five of the offensive players made it to the NFL — Jett, White, both Williamses and Moore.

The 1975 team was ranked No. 1 in the nation to start the season. Sportswriters tasked with selecting City player of the year ended up making White, Moore and Kevin Williams tri-players of the year, which certainly made Marsh happy trying to spread the fame.

Jett almost went to Monroe because of the Vikings’ passing attack, but he remembers Marsh confronting him. “I’m hearing you’re going to Monroe. You’re not going. You’re gold and black.”

Marsh retired after the 1979 season.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

New president, who replaces leftist Gustavo Petro, continues rightward political shift in Latin America.

Right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella has been sworn in as Colombia‘s president after winning a run-off election on promises to crack down on the armed groups, cut government spending by as much as 40 percent, and revive the South American country’s oil and gas industry.

De la Espriella, 48, took the oath of office on Friday, breaking with tradition by holding the ceremony not in the capital, Bogota, but in Cali, a city in Colombia’s volatile southwest that has long borne the brunt of the government’s conflict with armed groups.

The choice signaled a decisive break from the strategy of negotiated peace with those groups pursued by outgoing leftist leader Gustavo Petro, whom de la Espriella defeated in June’s runoff. De La Espriella has dismissed Petro’s policy as a failure.

“There will be no room for maneuvers that undermine the stability of the nation,” de la Espriella said on Friday, as he pledged to “relentlessly defeat narco-terrorism”.

He added that “the option of dialogue is completely exhausted”.

A political newcomer known to supporters as “El Tigre”, The Tiger, de la Espriella built his fortune and public profile as a lawyer and businessman rather than through elected office, largely self-financing his campaign as an outsider candidate.

His arrival in power marks a sharp ideological reversal for a country that, for the past four years, was led by a former rebel fighter who was frequently critical of the drug and immigration policies of United States President Donald Trump.

De la Espriella has, in contrast, hewed closed to Trump and his militaristic approach to drug crime in Latin America.

Security dominated Friday’s ceremony, which was held at a university auditorium before Congress. Soldiers and armoured vehicles lined roads near the venue, and police manned checkpoints screening vehicles for explosives in the preceding days.

After the ceremony, de la Espriella travelled to a nearby military battalion to address troops directly, framing the visit as both a morale boost for the armed forces and a signal to the country’s armed groups of the approach he plans to take.

Colombia’s southwest remains contested territory for dissident factions of the demobilised FARC rebel movement who rejected the peace deal signed a decade ago. The Clan del Golfo drug cartel, and the National Liberation Army, or ELN guerrilla group are also active in the area.

The new president has also pledged to join the so-called “Shield of the Americas”, a US-backed regional coalition against drug trafficking that grew out of a summit hosted by the Trump administration in March. He has vowed to restored diplomatic relations with Israel and sever ties with Cuba and Nicaragua, branding them “tyrannies”.

Petro had initially refused to accept the election result, alleging that vote tallies had been manipulated. The claim was dismissed by international observers and Colombia’s own electoral authorities. Petro ultimately conceded he would respect the outcome.

Still protests broke out in Cali, Bogota and Barranquilla on inauguration day.

In Cali’s Puerto Resistencia neighbourhood, once the epicentre of mass anti-government demonstrations in 2021, 25-year-old protester Sebastian Ocampo said residents were “defending dignity” against a president he said had not won their support.

De la Espriella’s win extends a run of electoral victories by conservatives across Latin America, with seven elected since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. That includes Peru’s Keiko Fujimori, Jose Antonio Kast in Chile, and Argentina’s Javier Milei.

Trump personally endorsed de la Espriella’s campaign.

Leaders in attendance at Friday’s event included Spain’s King Felipe VI, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and several of Latin America’s other conservative leaders, including Milei and Kast.

Temperatures on Saturday will begin to climb above average again, reaching the mid- to high 20s Celsius in most of England and Wales.

It will be cooler in Scotland and Northern Ireland at 17 to 21C with more cloud, a bit of rain and a blustery wind.

By Sunday and into next week temperatures will rise even further with many parts of the UK exceeding their heatwave threshold temperature of 25 to 28C, depending on location.

With this hotter weather expected to last well into the week, many locations will have the three consecutive days needed to declare the fifth widespread heatwave of the year.

It has already been a remarkable summer in the United Kingdom with multiple records broken.

July has been the sunniest month on record for the UK, as well as the driest July on record for England and Wales.

There have so far been 33 days this year when temperatures have exceeded 30C in the UK. Next week, it is likely the record of 34 days, set in 1995, will be broken.

For the first time ever, a temperature of 35C has also been recorded somewhere in the UK on the three consecutive months of May, June and July.

It is possible August will join that list by the end of next week as some forecast models suggest 35C in central and south-east England.

The BBC drama’s season three finale delivered a gut-wrenching twist this evening (August 7)

A mother’s love drove one of television’s most heartbreaking twists of the year as Granite Harbour season three drew to a close on Friday, August 7, with Shelley confessing to three murders to shield her family — only for the truth to tear everything apart.

The BBC Scottish drama had gripped viewers since its third season opener last month, which began with the shocking murders of teenagers Lisa Stirling (played by Jess Douglas-Welsh) and Matty Grough (Bailey Newsome). The discovery of Richard Loughty’s (Alastair Mackenzie) body at the Loughty Estate followed shortly after, with the victim having publicly campaigned to sell the land that would prevent the travelling community from returning.

With Mac (Dawn Steele) and her team closing in, it was traveller liaison officer Alex (Thoren Ferguson) who unwittingly set the finale in motion by handing over Matty’s bag to police after finding it in Shelley’s (Emma Hartley-Miller) caravan. Brought in for questioning, Shelley took the extraordinary step of confessing to all three killings.

What happened in the Granite Harbour finale?

Her account painted a picture of a chain of tragic accidents. On the night of Rose’s party, she claimed to have followed Lisa into the woods to confront her about bullying her son Noah (Aaron MacGregor), only for the argument to turn fatal when the teenager was pushed and struck her head.

When Matty witnessed the incident and captured it on his phone, Shelley said she had stabbed him with a dagger taken from Rose’s to silence him. She further claimed that Loughty had later stumbled upon the phone, threatened to go to the authorities, and died accidentally during a struggle.

But the confession quickly unravelled. Officers discovered Shelley had terminal cancer with only weeks left to live, and forensic evidence proved she could not physically have moved Matty’s body. The real story was far more devastating.

When police returned to the travellers’ site, Alex’s shirt was torn open during a confrontation, revealing a lion tattoo — the very image Lisa had sketched in her journal alongside the name of her secret boyfriend, Leo. Alex was Leo.

The truth then came flooding out. Shelley revealed that Alex was also Noah’s biological father, a secret both had kept hidden knowing he would not have been accepted by the community as a non-traveller by blood. On the night of the party, Alex had followed Lisa into the woods to end their relationship, unaware that Noah was secretly listening nearby. Lisa had persuaded Matty to film the exchange, intending to use it to destroy Alex’s life. Noah, unwilling to let his bully ruin his father, shoved her in a moment of rage — fatally.

It was Alex, not Shelley, who had found the dagger. When he realised Matty had filmed the whole incident, he chased him down and stabbed him to bury the evidence and protect his son. Loughty, meanwhile, had discovered Alex’s affair with Lisa and attempted to use it as blackmail, sparking yet another confrontation that ended in his accidental death.

Shelley had carried the weight of all three confessions to shield the two people she loved most. In the end, both Alex and Noah came forward, faced charges, and left Shelley — a terminally ill woman who had sacrificed everything — utterly devastated.

Granite Harbour is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.