Month: July 2025

Basketball usually took a backseat in early conversations between Eric Musselman and prized recruit Alijah Arenas.

On one side was a teenage phenom navigating an early jump to college. On another was a USC men’s basketball coach seemingly more interested in other aspects of Arenas’ life, including his mood, when he woke up and how he made sense of the people and the world around him.

So when USC’s coach stood in front of the Galen Center’s vibrant new scoreboard Friday morning — two days after it was announced that Arenas would miss six to eight months with a knee injury — Musselman found himself stammering, stitching together the words to encapsulate what the freshman meant to him.

“I probably feel closer to him than anybody that I’ve coached in a two-month span since he’s been on campus,” Musselman said.

The bond has already weathered more than most would in four years.

First came the reclassification — Arenas skipped his senior year of high school to join USC. Then came the rush course into collegiate basketball as he prepared spring practice. Then, on April 25, Arenas was in a serious car crash that led to him being placed into a coma.

After recovering from his injuries, Arenas was barely two weeks back from being medically cleared to practice when he sustained a slight meniscus tear and bone bruise.

But even in those 14 days — and just one full practice with Musselman present — Arenas proved enough to be the centerpiece of his coach’s vision for USC.

“We built the roster around some of the stuff that he could do, and knowing that he could play the one and the two, and when he played the one, would have great length,” Musselman said. “And I told people from the beginning of the recruiting process what a great passer he was.”

At 6 feet 7, Arenas averaged 30.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game at Chatsworth High before landing 13th in ESPN’s Class of 2025.

In Arenas’ absence, Musselman said he has weighed adding a 14th player to the roster, but would do so only if it “could help us.” The bigger hurdle, the coach added, would be revenue-sharing limits.

Arenas will still be traveling, learning and rehabbing alongside USC. And he’ll continue to shadow Musselman in a role the coach never had to explain to him.

“To some people during the recruiting process, you call them and you can’t wait to get off the phone, and you’re just kind of calling them to try to develop a relationship,” Musselman said. “The reason that Alijah and I are in such a good spot is because he picked up the phone when I called him.

He added: “We already had a built-in trust before he got here.”

Etc.

Musselman said Friday that Terrance Williams II (wrist), whose injury he called “one of the weirdest injuries I’ve seen,” will return Aug. 25 when the Trojans report for practice on the first day of the academic year. … Musselman noted that Jordan Marsh has been the team’s “biggest surprise” of the summer, while Rodney Rice will take over as the Trojans’ primary ball handler.

July 25 (UPI) — A suspect was arrested Friday after one person was killed and another injured in an early morning shooting at a University of New Mexico student housing complex in Albuquerque.

ABC News reported U.S. Marshals arrested the suspected shooter at an apartment complex in Los Lunas, which is 25 miles south of Albuquerque, the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office. KOAT-TV reported the person was arrested at 2:30 p.m.

The injured person has non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting that was reported at 3 a.m., according to a Lobo Alert at the Casas del Rio housing complex.

The university first posted an alert at 6:27 a.m. about the shooting

“Responding officers discovered two individuals had been shot. One victim is deceased, and the other sustained non-life-threatening injuries,” campus police said.

The victims were not identified.

At 1 p.m. local time, school officials began a “staged, tactical evacuation” of students and personnel.

For five hours, people were told to shelter in place. It was then lifted but “central campus remains closed. Evacuation is not necessary,” according to a post on X.

Multiple law enforcement agencies were on the scene.

A person on X expressed concern for those at New Student Orientation.

“We’re looking to ensure the safety of those on campus. NSO students have been directly communicated with, and operations like food services are currently being modified to accommodate them. We will continue to share updates here when they become available,” The campus X account replied.

More than 400 students were attending new student orientation and were staying in dormitories.

A “White Coat Ceremony” for incoming medical students, scheduled for Friday was canceled.

About 25,000 students attend the school in Albuquerque but the enrollment is much smaller during the summer.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of life and horrified by this act of violence in our campus community,” Stokes said in a statement. “This is certainly a difficult moment, and it’s okay to feel overwhelmed, angry, or afraid.”

In November 2022, one student died and three campus visitors were injured at a campus housing building when students attempted to lure a New Mexico State University basketball player to campus and tied to assault him. Two men were sentenced for their roles in the incident.

The entertainment company Paramount Global is expected to close its $8bn merger agreement with Skydance Media on August 7, a date that marks two weeks after the administration of President Donald Trump gave its approval.

On Friday, the two companies announced the final stage of the yearlong deal, which was first unveiled in July 2024.

The merger is considered a massive shake-up in the media landscape of the United States, drawing to a close the reign of the powerful Redstone family over the Paramount entertainment empire.

But the merger has garnered even more attention in recent weeks for its political backdrop.

On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave the green light for the merger to go forward, after a series of moves under Paramount that were widely interpreted as concessions to the Trump administration.

The FCC is technically an independent agency of the federal government, but since taking office in January for his second term, President Trump has sought to bring such agencies under his influence, including by appointing loyal allies to their leadership.

That put the fate of the Paramount-Skydance merger in question, particularly given Trump’s combative relationship with CBS Broadcasting Inc, one of Paramount’s premier properties.

Conflicts over content

Trump has long taken an adversarial approach to the news media, and CBS’s flagship news programmes were no exception.

Some of those tensions came to a head in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election, when Trump, a Republican, was facing off against Democratic contender Kamala Harris.

The TV news magazine 60 Minutes had a tradition of interviewing each of the major party nominees for the presidency in the lead-up to the vote, and it had invited both Trump and Harris to participate.

Harris accepted the invitation, but 60 Minutes said Trump cancelled his scheduled interview. Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, disputed that characterisation.

“There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in,” Cheung wrote on social media. “They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented.”

The back-and-forth escalated when 60 Minutes aired two different cuts from its interview with Harris.

One version, which aired on a sister programme, Face The Nation, featured more of Harris’s answer about her stance towards Israel. The other version, which aired on the 60 Minutes broadcast, was shorter.

Trump called the different edits evidence of deceptive reporting tactics and filed a lawsuit against Paramount, CBS’s parent company.

“CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line from the exercise of judgment in reporting to deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news,” his court filing alleged.

“That is false,” 60 Minutes responded in a statement on its website.

“When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point. The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide ranging 21-minute-long segment.”

While many media experts expected Paramount to prevail on the merits of the case, the company instead sought to negotiate an end to the matter. Earlier this month, it agreed to pay $16m to Trump to go towards his future presidential library.

Shortly thereafter, another top CBS show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, revealed it had been cancelled, allegedly for financial reasons.

But the timing and unexpected nature of the cancellation drew speculation that it might have been an attempt to appease Trump and streamline the merger, given the fact that Colbert frequently lambasted the Republican president on his show.

Trump himself posted on Truth Social, “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”

The Late Show was consistently the top-rated late-night comedy show, and it had won a Peabody Award and multiple Emmy nods.

Days later, on July 22, Trump called for more comedians to be ousted, writing, “It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!”

That same day, he confirmed he received the $16m for his 60 Minutes settlement, adding that he expected to be receive an additional $20m in free advertising and programming from the “new owners”.

South Park TV show takes aim

Within weeks of both the 60 Minutes lawsuit settlement and the cancellation of The Late Show, the FCC gave its blessing to the merger between Paramount and Skydance.

Under the merger, Skydance founder David Ellison, the son of Oracle Corporation CEO Larry Ellison, is slated to helm operations.

Upon the merger’s approval, Trump’s appointee to lead the FCC, Brendan Carr, released a statement echoing some of the president’s criticisms of major news outlets.

He also hinted that the merger would result in changes to CBS’s news output.

“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly,” he wrote. “It is time for a change. That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcasting network.”

“In particular, Skydance has made written commitments to ensure that the new company’s programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum.”

To ensure compliance with that commitment, Carr said an ombudsman would be appointed to the media giant for a period of at least two years.

Carr added that the merger between Skydance and Paramount would also bar the new mega-company from implementing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, which are designed to create an equal playing field for people regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion or ability.

But the merger did not put an end to the scrutiny of Trump on Paramount platforms.

Hours after the FCC granted its approval, the TV channel Comedy Central aired an episode of the animated series South Park that mocked President Trump and satirised its parent company’s $16m settlement.

In one scene, an animated Jesus attempts to warn the show’s characters about Trump.

“The guy can do whatever he wants now that someone backed down, OK?” the animated Jesus says. “You guys saw what happened to CBS? Yeah, well, guess who owns CBS? Paramount! You really want to end up like Colbert?”

The Trump administration has since blasted the show as irrelevant.

Emmerdale has released a spoiler clip for next week that reveals John Sugden targets his brother Robert Sugden, getting Robert’s former enemy Ross Barton involved

A new Emmerdale clips has hinted at what John Sugden will uncover about his brother Robert Sugden next week.

Amid his plan to destroy his brother who is onto his dark crimes, he places a listening device inside his home and soon enough has some dirt on him. It’s not revealed what he finds out, but it seems a new preview has teased what it could be linked to.

John sets up some drama with Robert’s former enemy of sorts Ross Barton. In the clip for next week, airing towards the end of the week and after John’s discovery, Ross is let in on something Robert is hiding.

In the clip John watches Ross as he walks through the village, and then pretends that he’s rushed over to him – while he’s clearly been biding his time. John then fakes “bottling it” as Ross questions what he wants.

Ross looks confused as John suddenly goes to leave, just after stopping him in the village. Ross tells him to spit it out, telling him he can’t rush off after all that and that he clearly has something to tell him.

READ MORE: Emmerdale star warns of dark storyline ahead for Moira Dingle after health scare

It’s then that John feigns worry about letting slip what he knows, before telling Ross “he has a right to know” It’s then that he reveals it’s “about his brother” clearly meaning Robert. Ross’ face darkens and he demands answers, asking John: “What’s he done now?”. Robert is often up to no good and causing drama, so of course Ross would expect he’s done something bad, and he wouldn’t be surprised by this either.

John has deliberately targeted Ross as the person to tell whatever it is he knows, knowing how Ross will react towards Robert. But what is it about?

It has to be linked to Ross, otherwise why would John get him involved? Could it be linked to Seb, Robert’s son and Ross’ stepson? Or is it more than likely linked to what happened with new villain Ray just weeks ago?

Ross and his brother Lewis Barton were horrified to find Lewis’ cannabis plants, being harvested at the farm, were stolen. Few people knew about them, with Lewis having specific purposes for the plants.

Mackenzie Boy was initially blamed for the theft, after he told villain Ray about the weed. Mack protested his innocence though, and both Lewis and Ross realised he wasn’t behind it.

Viewers were let in on the twist though, and we saw Robert selling the drugs to Ray having stolen them from Lewis. So is this what John has found out, and is this what he tells Ross?

Spoilers had recently teased Ross was onto Robert and would confront him about it all. Maybe John, and Ross, now have evidence that Robert was to blame. Spoilers for next week revealed Ross would find out John had information about Robert.

There’s also Robert’s lies to Ross’ aunt Moira Dingle about his reasons for buying the land from her. So cold this be what John has uncovered and passed onto Ross, and will Moira learn the truth?

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

US president says chances of reaching a trade deal with the EU are ’50-50′ ahead of his August 1 tariff deadline.

United States President Donald Trump has arrived in Scotland, where he is set to meet with European and British leaders for trade negotiations and visit his golf courses.

Trump landed in the United Kingdom late on Friday, where he will hold talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Before departing from the White House, the US president told reporters that he would discuss the trade deal between Washington and London with Starmer and “maybe even improve it”.

Von der Leyen said earlier on Friday that she had a “good” call with Trump.

“We have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong,” she said in a social media post.

Shortly after coming into office, Trump imposed tariffs on imports from across the world, and he invited countries to negotiate bilateral deals with the US to avoid or lessen any further trade barriers.

The UK agreed to a trade agreement with the US in June that expanded access to American goods in the British market.

The deal also set the tariffs on the first 100,000 UK vehicles exported to the US annually at 10 percent.

But the US trade war with the European Union has, by contrast, intensified. Earlier this month, Trump announced 30 percent tariffs on EU imports starting on August 1.

European leaders have expressed willingness to negotiate a deal while also threatening to impose their own trade measures against the US.

Trump said on Friday that the prospects of securing a trade deal with the EU are at a “50-50 chance, maybe less than that”.

“It’ll be a deal where they have to buy down their tariffs,” he said.

Beyond economic negotiations, Trump is expected to visit his golf courses in Aberdeen and Turnberry in Scotland, where he said he will host Starmer for dinner.

The US president – whose mother was Scottish – is expected to face protests as he moves around Scotland.

A group dubbed the Stop Trump Coalition has announced plans on Saturday for protests that it described as a “festival of resistance”, featuring environmental and antiwar advocates.

“Donald Trump may shake hands with our leaders, but he’s no friend of Scotland,” Alena Ivanova, a campaigner with the group, said in a statement.

“We, the people of Scotland, see the damage he has done – to democracy and working people in the US, to the global efforts to tackle the climate crisis, to the very principles of justice and humanity.”

The daily newspaper The National, which advocates for Scottish independence, described Trump’s visit in a front-page headline as: “Convicted US felon to arrive in Scotland”.

Trump’s visit to Scotland comes as he faces mounting pressure at home over his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In the UK, Starmer will meet Trump amid growing calls – including from within his own Labour Party – for London to recognise a Palestinian state amid the Israeli-imposed starvation crisis in Gaza.

Earlier on Friday, Trump dismissed an announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron that Paris will recognise Palestine’s statehood.

“Here’s the good news: What he says doesn’t matter,” Trump told reporters. “It’s not going to change anything.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom stood alongside six Democrats from the Texas Legislature on Friday and joined them in accusing President Trump and Republicans of trying to “rig” elections to hold onto congressional seats next year.

“They play by a different set of rules and we could sit back and act as if we have some moral authority and watch this 249-, 250-year-old experiment be washed away,” Newsom said of the nation’s history. “We are not going to allow that to happen.”

The Texas lawmakers and the governor spoke with reporters after meeting privately at the Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento to discuss a national political fight over electoral maps that could alter the outcome of the midterm elections and balance of power in Congress.

At the urging of President Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called his state Legislature into a special session this week that includes a call to redistrict the Lone Star State to help Republicans pick up seats in Congress.

The move is part of a gerrymandering effort pushed by Trump to prevent the GOP from losing control of the House of Representatives next year. If Democrats take the House, they could derail the president’s agenda, which has so far included a crackdown on undocumented immigrants, tariffs on imports, rescinding efforts to combat climate change and undercutting state protections for the LGTBQ+ community, among other policy priorities.

Newsom has threatened to mirror Trump’s tactics and said he’s in talks with leaders of the California Legislature to redraw the state’s congressional districts to favor electing more Democrats and fewer Republicans.

Texas Democrats, who said they traveled to California to meet with the governor and explain the state of play in Texas, pledged do everything in their power to push back against Trump’s plan.

“We’re going to use every tool at our disposal in the state of Texas to confront this very illegal redistricting process that is going to be done on the backs of historic African American and Latino districts,” said Texas state Rep. Rafael Anchía.

Another group of Texas lawmakers are expected to meet with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in Chicago.

Changing the maps to benefit Democrats is a massive departure from California’s work over the last decade to remove political partisanship from the redistricting process.

California voters in 2010 gave an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission the power to determine the boundaries of voting districts for the U.S. House of Representatives instead of leaving that authority with the state Legislature.

To redistrict before the midterms, the most legally sound option is for state lawmakers to send a constitutional amendment to voters that seeks to allow changes to the voter map outside the boundaries of California’s independent redistricting process. The vote would need to happen in a special election before the June primary.

Newsom has said he’s also exploring a potential legal loophole that could allow the California Legislature to redraw the congressional maps themselves with a two-thirds vote.

The governor’s office said state law charges the redistricting commission with crafting new maps after a census, which is conducted about every 10 years. But they say the law is silent on everything that happens in between that time period.

Newsom’s lawyers believe it could be possible for the Legislature to redistrict congressional seats mid-decade on its own without going to the ballot.

The governor’s call to fight Trump using his own gerrymandering tactics has drawn a mixed response.

Newsom argues that Democrats will continue to lose if they remain the only party that plays by the rules. But others worry about the integrity of electoral outcomes across the nation if political parties in every state resort to naked political gamesmanship to gain control.

Texas Republicans have long been accused of crafting political maps to dilute the power of Black and Latino voters, which led to an ongoing lawsuit from 2021. Newsom’s effort in California would effectively seek to increase the share of Democrats in Republican-held districts.

Redistricting experts in California say redrawing the maps in the Golden State could create the potential for Democrats to flip at least five of the seats held by GOP incumbents.

Democrats may have the potential for greater gains from gerrymandering, particularly in places such as California that have attempted to practice nonpartisan redistricting, compared to states such as Texas, where maps are already drawn in favor of Republicans.

“It should be no surprise to anybody who covers Texas that every decade since 1970 Texas has been found to discriminate against people of color in its redistricting process,” Anchía said.

“In trying to do this, it is going to create great harm, not only to the people we represent, to the voters of the state of Texas, but also potentially to all Americans,” he said about Trump’s plan.

It’s common for the party in control of the White House to lose seats nationally in the first election after a presidential contest. Republicans hold majorities in the Senate and the House, and losing power to Democrats could be detrimental to Trump’s presidency.

Trump’s job approval rating dropped to a second-term low of 37% in a Gallup poll conducted earlier this month. The dip is just above his lowest approval rating ever of 34% at the end of his first term.

Trump has said publicly that he thinks it’s possible for Republicans to redistrict and pick up five seats in Texas, with the potential for gains in other states that redraw their maps.

“[The crowd] got their money’s worth. I think they wanted 15-all but that last leg, I just had to stay focused,” he told Sky Sports.

“I didn’t really panic. Leg by leg, Andrew started to win a few on the trot, but on the last leg, against the darts, I just had to get over the line.

“He played his part, it’s very tough. Andrew never goes out of rhythm, he’s the same throw by throw. I just had to find a rhythm to match him.”

Littler teased there would be “fireworks” in the fourth quarter-final and Rock delivered.

Both the 24-year-old (104.02) and Price (100.21) averaged above 100, but it was Rock who seized the moment, winning three consecutive legs to open up an 11-8 lead and then extending his advantage to 13-9.

Price rallied to make it 13-11, but Rock – who beat three-time champion Michael van Gerwen in round two – closed out the match in style, winning the last three legs and producing a checkout of 164 in the final one.

“I’m on cloud nine at the minute. What a game,” Rock told on Sky Sports.

“I was just like, ‘Josh, you’re doing nothing wrong, you’re playing your own game, happy days’. The form Gerwyn’s in, you know what to expect.

“Littler’s one of my closest friends behind the scenes. I hope we both turn up. Hopefully it will be a cracking game.”

The semi-finals will take place on Saturday evening with England’s James Wade facing Jonny Clayton of Wales, before Littler’s meeting with Rock.

July 24 (UPI) — Tesla’s shares price declined 1.74% for the week on Friday, two days after posting declining profits for a third straight quarter amid increased competition and a pending loss of federal tax credits.

On Friday, the stock price closed at $316.06, up $10.76, or 3.52%, from the day before, when the stock slumped 8.2%. Its market capitalization slumped to $984.73 billion. Tesla earnings report was released after the market closed on Wednesday.

Tesla is down 16.7% year to date but up 43.5% from one year ago, according to NASDAQ.

Tesla’s price was as low as $284.70 on June 5 when Elon Musk’s feud with President Donald Trump intensified and $221.85 on April 8 when stock indexes and bond market were tumbling before Trump announced a pause on harsh tariffs on trading partners.

The company’s stock price reached a record of 479.86 on Dec. 17 before Trump entered the White House as president again on Jan. 20. Tesla first began trading on June 29, 2010, with an initial price offering of $17 but opened trading at $19 per share.

Back then the only car for sale was the Roadster and two years before the Model S hit the market. The top-selling cars are now the Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan.

Musk wasn’t Tesla founder but he invested early and served as chairman and took over as CEO in 2008.

The conference call Thursdsay was light in earnings information and more focused on robotics and artificial intelligence.

“The company offered remarkably little detail on some of the most important factors” – like its mysterious new lower-priced model – “making our outlook lean more on imagination than realistic targets,” Truist’s William Stein, who has a hold rating on Tesla, said in a note after the call in a report by CNN.

“I wouldn’t say it was a conference call that should be put in the Hall of Fame,” Dan Ives of Wdbush Securities, told CNN on Thursday, but said he is still bullish on Tesla’s robotics future with Musk in charge. “Communication on the call was less than stellar in terms of details, and I think that definitely played into the selloff that we’re seeing.”

Tesla later told staff Thursday it plans to launch its Robotaxi service in San Francisco this weekend, according to an internal memo obtained by Business Insider. Tesla has a permit for testing its self-driving software in California with a driver behind the wheel.

Earning report

Looking back, Tesla sold $22.5 billion worth of products during the second quarter, which is $3 billion less than the $25.5 billion in sales during the same period in 2024.

Tesla reported $1.2 billion in earnings profit from April to June, which is down from $1.4 billion a year earlier.

The earnings drop is the third straight quarter for the EV maker that last reported an earnings gain during the third quarter last year.

Driving much of the loss is a decline in Tesla vehicle sales, which totaled $16.7 billion during the second quarter — down by 16% from a year ago.

Tesla delivered 384,000 vehicles during the second quarter, which is 14% fewer than a year ago, the company announced in July.

Several factors have contributed to the decline in Tesla sales, including the end to federal tax credits for buying electric vehicles and increased competition for EV makers in China and elsewhere.

Musk recently cautioned investors about the approach of a “few rough quarters” due to the loss of the federal EV tax credits.

A recently signed budget bill that Trump dubbed “one big, beautiful bill” eliminates a $7,500 federal tax credit after September.

Trump said he does not intend to eliminate federal subsidies for Tesla, though.

“I want Elon and all businesses within our country to thrive … like never before,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday.

“The better they do, the better the USA does, and that’s good for all of us,” Trump added.

Tesla also posted a decline in new vehicle registrations in Europe in July and only sold 4,300 units of its Cybertruck during the second quarter.

Tesla sold about half as many Cybertrucks during the second quarter than it did a year earlier, according to Cox Automotive.

Musk has announced Tesla will soon offer a new EV that costs less after beginning production in June.

Industry analysts anticipate it will be similar to Tesla’s electric Model Y SUV.

Tesla’s declining EV sales come as demand for EVs has grown by 1.5% so far in 2025 in the United States and by 32% and 26%, respectively, in China and Europe, Cox Automotive and Rho Motion reported.

China’s BYD EV maker is growing its market share there, while JATO Dynamics reported Volkswagen has overtaken Tesla as the top EV seller in Europe.

Recent political turmoil also has led to negative publicity for Musk and Tesla by extension.

Musk’s recently controversial activities as the former director of the Department of Government Efficiency, subsequent fallout with Trump and recent announcement of founding a third political party have preceded declines in sales and Tesla’s share price.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are pleading for help as more people have starved to death under Israel’s unrelenting blockade of the coastal enclave.

The Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Friday that local hospitals recorded nine new malnutrition deaths in the previous 24 hours.

That brings the total number of such deaths to 122 since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, including at least 83 children.

“We urgently demand an immediate end to the famine, the opening of all crossings, and the entry of infant formula now, along with 500 aid trucks and 50 fuel trucks daily,” the Health Ministry said.

“We hold the Israeli occupation, the US administration, and other states complicit in this genocide—such as the UK, Germany, and France—as well as the international community at large, fully responsible for this historic crime.”

Sources at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, told Al Jazeera early on Saturday that a six-month-old infant also succumbed to starvation-related medical complications.

Starvation deaths have steadily increased in Gaza this week as Israel continues to maintain a strict blockade on the territory, preventing a steady flow of food, water, medicine and other supplies from reaching Palestinians.

The United Nations has warned that children are especially vulnerable as the crisis worsens.

Noor al-Shana, an independent journalist in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, told Al Jazeera that extreme hunger is affecting all aspects of life in the Strip.

She said she now struggles to find enough for one meal per day, while four of her relatives were killed while seeking food at aid distribution points run by the notorious Israel- and United States-backed GHF.

“The world is just saying ‘Free Palestine’ … We don’t want words, we want solutions,” she said.

“Enough, we are tired,” al-Shana added, fighting back tears. “We are suffocating. We are dying here.”

‘Deliberate mass starvation’

Separately, sources at hospitals in Gaza told Al Jazeera that at least 38 people were killed by Israeli attacks across the enclave since the early hours of Friday morning.

Of that, at least six Palestinians were killed while trying to collect food at aid distribution sites.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), on Friday reiterated criticism of the GHF, calling it a “cruel” politically driven effort that “takes more lives than it saves”.

Lazzarini called for the UN agency’s aid stockpiles to be let into Gaza, warning that the enclave is suffering from “deliberate mass starvation”.

“Today, more children died, their bodies emaciated by hunger,” he said in a post on X. “The unfolding famine can only be reversed by a political will.”

The Israeli military has blamed international organisations for the crisis, claiming that aid trucks are inside Gaza but that the UN has refused to distribute the assistance.

UN officials have rejected that, saying repeatedly that they have not received the necessary approvals from the Israeli authorities to distribute the aid.

The UN and other humanitarian groups have also refused to work with the GHF aid distribution scheme, which they say does not adhere to humanitarian principles such as impartiality and independence.

As the crisis continues to spiral, United States President Donald Trump on Friday solely blamed Hamas for the apparent collapse of Gaza ceasefire talks, saying the group is going to be “hunted down”.

“Hamas didn’t really want to make a deal. I think they want to die, and it’s very, very bad,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

The US president’s comments came a day after his Middle East envoy said US negotiators had withdrawn from ceasefire talks in Qatar.

Hamas responded to the US’s announcement with surprise, saying on Thursday that it had submitted a positive and constructive response to the latest proposal it was offered.

Despite Hamas’s insistence that it is ready to work towards a deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel and the US are weighing ways to secure the release of captives in Gaza that do not depend on a negotiated agreement with the Palestinian group.

“Together with our US allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region,” Netanyahu said.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 59,676 Palestinians and wounded 143,965 others. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks and more than 200 were taken captive.

British actor Micheal Ward, known for the Netflix series “Top Boy” and and most recently Ari Aster’s movie “Eddington,” is facing charges of allegedly raping and sexually assaulting a woman in the United Kingdom in 2023.

London’s Metropolitan Police announced in a Friday statement that prosecutors had charged BAFTA winner Ward, 28, with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault following an investigation into an alleged January 2023 incident. The statement did not provide details about the incident, including the location and the identity of Ward’s accuser.

“Our specialist officers continue to support the woman who has come forward — we know investigations of this nature can have significant impact on those who make reports,” Det. Supt. Scott Ware said in the statement.

Representatives for Ward did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Friday. The actor is due to appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court in London on Aug. 28.

Ward, who was born in Jamaica, broke into acting less than a decade ago, appearing in the British drama series “Top Boy” and rapper Rapman’s 2019 film “Blue Story.” He won BAFTA’s rising star award in 2020. That same year he appeared in “The Old Guard” opposite Charlize Theron and in Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” miniseries.

His movie credits also include Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light,” “The Book of Clarence,” “Bob Marley: One Love” and “The Beautiful Game.” He currently stars as a young police officer in “Eddington,” the latest film from “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” filmmaker Aster.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, under pressure to recognise a Palestinian state, said he would do so only as part of a wider peace deal. His Labour-led government is facing growing calls to recognise a Palestinian state after France said it will and a cross-party group of parliamentarians urged Starmer to act before it is too late.

WASHINGTON — Despite the sun bearing down on him and the sweat beading across his face, President Trump still lingered with reporters lined up outside the White House on Friday. He was leaving on a trip to Scotland, where he would visit his golf courses, and he wanted to talk about how his administration just finished “the best six months ever.”

But over and over, the journalists kept asking Trump about the Jeffrey Epstein case and whether he would pardon the disgraced financier’s imprisoned accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.

“People should really focus on how well the country is doing,” Trump insisted. He shut down another question by saying, “I don’t want to talk about that.”

It was another example of how the Epstein saga — and his administration’s disjointed approach to it — has shadowed Trump when he’s otherwise at the height of his influence. He’s enacted a vast legislative agenda, reached trade deals with key countries and tightened his grip across the federal government. Yet he’s struggled to stamp out the embers of a political crisis that could become a full-on conflagration.

Trump faces pressure from his own supporters

The Republican president’s supporters want the government to release secret files about Epstein, who authorities say killed himself in his New York jail cell six years ago while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. They believe him to be the nexus of a dark web of powerful people who abused underage girls. Administration officials who once stoked conspiracy theories now insist there’s nothing more to disclose, a stance that has stirred skepticism because of Trump’s former friendship with Epstein.

Trump has repeatedly denied prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and claimed he cut off their relationship long ago. For a president skilled at manipulating the media and controlling the Republican Party, it has been the most challenging test of his ability to shift the conversation in his second term.

“This is a treadmill to nowhere. How do you get off of it?” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist. “I genuinely don’t know the answer to that.”

Trump has demanded his supporters drop the matter and urged Republicans to block Democratic requests for documents on Capitol Hill. But he has also directed the Justice Department to divulge some additional information in hopes of satisfying his supporters.

A White House official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal strategy, said Trump is trying to stay focused on his agenda while also demonstrating some transparency. After facing countless scandals and investigations, the official said, Trump is on guard against the typical playbook of drip-drip disclosures that have plagued him in the past.

It’s clear Trump sees the Epstein case as a continuation of the “witch hunts” he’s faced over the years, starting with the investigation into Russian interference during his election victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton nearly a decade ago. The sprawling inquiry led to convictions against some top advisors but did not substantiate allegations Trump conspired with Moscow.

Trump’s opponents, he wrote on social media on Thursday, “have gone absolutely CRAZY, and are playing another Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax but, this time, under the guise of what we will call the Jeffrey Epstein SCAM.”

During the Russia investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors were a straightforward foil for Trump to rail against. Ty Cobb, the lawyer who served as the White House’s point person, said the president “never felt exposed” because “he thought he had a legitimate gripe.”

The situation is different this time now that the Justice Department has been stocked with loyalists. “The people that he has to get mad at are basically his people as opposed to his inquisitors and adversaries,” Cobb said.

It was Trump’s allies who excavated the Epstein debacle

In fact, Trump’s own officials are the most responsible for bringing the Epstein case back to the forefront.

FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, regularly stoked conspiracy theories about Epstein before assuming their current jobs, floating the idea the government had covered up incriminating and compelling information that needed to be brought to light. “Put on your big-boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are,” Patel said in a 2023 podcast.

Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi played a key role too. She intimated in a Fox News Channel interview in February that an Epstein “client list” was sitting on her desk for review — she would later say she was referring to the Epstein files more generally — and greeted far-right influencers with binders of records from the case that consisted largely of information already in the public domain.

Tensions spiked earlier this month when the FBI and the Justice Department, in an unsigned two-page letter, said that no client list existed, that the evidence was clear Epstein had killed himself and that no additional records from the case would be released to the public. It was a seeming backtrack on the administration’s stated commitment to transparency. Amid a fierce backlash from Trump’s base and influential conservative personalities, Bongino and Bondi squabbled openly in a tense White House meeting.

Since then, the Trump administration has scrambled to appear transparent, including by seeking the unsealing of grand jury transcripts in the case — though it’s hardly clear that courts would grant that request or that those records include any eye-catching details anyway. Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche has taken the unusual step of interviewing the imprisoned Maxwell over the course of two days at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Fla., where her lawyer said she would “always testify truthfully.”

All the while, Trump and his allies have resurfaced the Russia investigation as a rallying cry for a political base that has otherwise been frustrated by the Epstein saga.

Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who just weeks ago appeared on the outs with Trump over comments on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, seemed to return to the president’s good graces this week following the declassification and release of years-old documents she hoped would discredit long-settled conclusions about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The developments allowed Trump to rehash long-standing grievances against President Obama and his Democratic advisors. Trump’s talk of investigations into perceived adversaries from years ago let him, in effect, go back in time to deflect attention from a very current crisis.

“Whether it’s right or wrong,” Trump said, “it’s time to go after people.”

Megerian and Tucker write for the Associated Press.

Caitlin Clark hasn’t been able to spend much time on the court lately, but her pesky injuries didn’t prevent the Indiana Fever superstar from setting a record off the court.

One of her rookie cards sold Thursday night for $660,000 on the Fanatics Collect auction site.

That’s by far the most ever paid for a women’s sports card, nearly twice the amount garnered by the previous record holder — which was also a Clark rookie card.

The Caitlin Clark 2024 Panini Flawless WNBA Platinum Rookie Logowoman Patch Auto 1/1 card sold at auction this month for $660,000, which Fanatics Collect says is a record for a women’s sports card.

(Fanatics Collect)

The new top seller is officially known as the Caitlin Clark 2024 Panini Flawless WNBA Platinum Rookie Logowoman Patch Auto 1/1. It features a photo of Clark and a game-worn patch from her Fever uniform.

The card also was autographed by Clark, who signed her name and wrote “769 pts and counting,” a reference to her WNBA rookie record for points scored.

Clark already was a phenomenon when she got to the WNBA last summer, having led Iowa to back-to-back NCAA championship game appearances and setting the all-time Division I scoring record for both men and women with 3,951 points.

Selected No. 1 overall by the Fever, Clark helped the WNBA reach unprecedented levels of success while leading her team to its first playoff appearance since 2016. She set league records for assists in a single game and in a season and was named rookie of the year.

Hampered by multiple muscle injuries this season, Clark has played in only 13 of the Fever’s 25 games, missing the last three and the WNBA All-Star game with a groin pull. Coach Stephanie White told reporters Thursday night that while no new injuries were discovered when Clark was evaluated this week, there is still no timetable for her return.

In March, Clark’s autographed 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Gold Vinyl 1/1 was auctioned by Goldin for a then-record $366,000. Before that, the record amount garnered by a women’s sports card was the $266,400 paid three years ago for a signed 2003 Serena Williams card.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has revealed that deportation flights have begun to depart from a remote detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz, as the Republican leader seeks to put his state at the forefront of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.

Speaking from the south Florida site on Friday, DeSantis framed his efforts as a model for other states seeking to partner with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“I’m pleased to report that those flights out of Alligator Alcatraz by DHS have begun,” DeSantis told reporters.

“ The reality is this provides an ability to enhance the mission, to increase the number and frequency of deportations. And so what’s been done here has really been remarkable.”

A representative for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Garrett Ripa, also confirmed that “two or three removal flights” had already been conducted from the Alligator Alcatraz facility and that more were planned.

He indicated that those flights contained “ up to a hundred individuals who were illegally present in the state of Florida”.

Delegating resources

President Trump campaigned for re-election last November on the promise that he would undertake the “largest deportation operation in American history”.

But with more than 11 million undocumented people believed to be living in the United States, critics have pointed out that his ambitions may outstrip the amount of detention space and resources the government has available.

That has led the Trump administration to seek additional resources from state and local authorities, as well as assistance from foreign governments.

He has also deployed the military to assist in immigration enforcement operations, a task traditionally outside its scope.

Part of Trump’s toolkit has been deputising state and local leaders through Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

While the federal government is solely responsible for immigration enforcement, Section 287(g) creates a loophole that allows ICE to enter into written agreements with state and local authorities to perform specific immigration-related functions.

Speaking alongside DeSantis on Friday, Larry Keefe, the head of Florida’s newly established State Board of Immigration Enforcement, said his team has already taken advantage of such arrangements.

“Just within the last couple of days, the federal government has issued credentials to over 1,200 Florida sheriff’s deputies and over 650 FDLE [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] agents and other state and local law enforcement agencies,” Keefe said.

“We have more than doubled our capability and capacity to effect arrests.”

Florida at the forefront

Florida, however, has been testing the limits of what it is able to do independently in terms of cracking down on undocumented immigration within its state lines.

Earlier this year, for instance, the Florida’s Republican-led government passed a law, known as SB 4-C (PDF), that imposes stiff criminal penalties on adult undocumented immigrants who knowingly enter the state.

But federal courts placed an injunction to prevent the law from taking effect, on the basis that it preempts the federal government’s authority over all things immigration.

Still, President Trump has hailed the aggressive immigration efforts in Florida, his adopted home state, where he maintains a residence, Mar-a-Lago, as well as golf courses.

Earlier this month, he visited Alligator Alcatraz, applauding its fast-paced construction. “This is what you need,” Trump said at the time. “A lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops in the form of alligators.”

Critics have denounced the facility as an exercise in cruelty, with reports emerging of poor conditions inside Alligator Alcatraz. Some immigrants have said they faced floodwater, poor sanitation, clogged toilets and clouds of mosquitoes as they stayed in fenced-in units where the lights were never dimmed.

Environmental groups and Indigenous members of the local Seminole and Miccosukee tribes have also criticised the facility for its location in the middle of the Everglades wetlands, a sensitive ecosystem prone to seasonal flooding.

Utilising an old airfield

Built across eight days in June, Alligator Alcatraz sits atop the site of the former Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida.

That set-up has been a benefit for plans to also use the facility for deportation flights, DeSantis said on Friday. He described transferring immigrants from their detention cells to planes with relative ease.

“One of the reasons why this was a sensible spot is because you have this runway that’s right here,” DeSantis explained.

“You don’t have to drive them an hour to an airport. You go a couple thousand feet, and they can be on a plane and out of here.”

He added that the site already has runway lighting and 18,927 litres — or 5,000 gallons — of jet fuel on site. That, he hopes, will help pave the way for the number of deportation flights to increase in the coming weeks.

“ The cadence is increasing,” DeSantis said. “We’ve already had a number of flights in the last few days.”

Alligator Alcatraz — named for a forbidding island prison in the San Francisco Bay that closed in the 1960s — has the capacity to hold up to 3,000 people, according to Florida officials.

DeSantis has long positioned Florida as the “blueprint” for what Republican leadership in the US could look like, and in 2023, he launched a short-lived presidential campaign to challenge Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Increasing the pace

In his remarks on Friday, DeSantis briefly acknowledged the shortcomings in Trump’s mass-deportation plans, playing up the efficiency of the Alligator Alcatraz system.

“ICE has been understaffed — you know, is not scratching the surface of what would need to be done to get to where you have the largest mass deportation in history,” he said.

“So you’ve got to increase that tempo. You have a limited amount of time to do it. I think we’ve got to assume we’ve got these four years under the Trump administration to really get the job done.”

DeSantis also brushed aside concerns that the isolated facility cuts immigrants off from their legal representation and their right to be heard before a court.

He pointed out that he plans to have immigration judges on site. But he also questioned whether undocumented people should be allowed the same due process rights as US citizens and immigrants with legal status.

“To me, it’s like, if you are subjected to a traditional criminal process, there’s a whole a bunch of due process that goes into that,” DeSantis said.

By contrast, DeSantis argued that the immigration process “should be a pretty simple process. You either have a right to be here or you don’t.”

Emmerdale’s latest episode saw Joe Tate’s lies to Moira Dingle rumbled by her, leading to her refusing to agree to a deal to seel her fam to Kim Tate despite initial plans

There was quite the discovery about Joe Tate on Emmerdale on Friday, and Moira Dingle wasn’t standing for it.

Just this week the character learned from Joe that Kim Tate wanted to buy her farm. Joe claimed Kim had no intention to turn the land into a housing development or anything other than a farm, with a rather good offer on the table for farmer Moira.

Moira has faced losing her beloved home and business ever since the slurry leak months ago. With fines to pay and the farm not doing well at all, Moira has had to consider selling up. Moira already agreed to sell Annie Sugden’s land around the farm to Robert Sugden recently after his fake claims of wanting to carry in the family legacy.

Fans know he was actually planning to tell it onto Kim, while that plan fell apart this week with Robert changing his mind. As for the farm, Moira came to the decision to consider Kim’s offer which was shared to her by Joe, after another update from the water company brought the news Moira’s appeal had been rejected.

READ MORE: Emmerdale star reveals secret struggles with ‘misunderstood’ neurodivergent condition

With Moira told by Joe she could remain as a tenant but they wanted ownership, she was keen – unaware that Joe was lying and planned to get the family out. While it was only a hint, he suggested a loophole would likely lead to her losing her home.

After Noel from the water board advised Moira that her appeal to get the fines called off had been rejected, she was left believing her only option was to sell. That was until Friday when she found out Joe was in cahoots with someone.

But it’s not Kim that Joe is working with to get his hands on the farm, and instead it was none other than Noel. Joe bribed the character to keep up the punishment hoping it would encourage Moira to give in and sell up.

Moira caught them in the act though, hearing them discussing the matter just as she was about to sign over the ownership. Realising she was being duped, she wasted no time in returning the unsigned papers and admitting what she’d found out.

Joe was mortified to realise he’d scuppered up his own dark plans, but soon he was back to threats. Moira stood her ground though, telling him she knew exactly what he was up to and how she wasn’t going to let him get away with it so easily.

She told her husband Cain all about it, who called Joe a snake. As Joe showed up at the farm and they continued their showdown, Moira let rip.

Moira said “she’d rather go under than sell to Kim”, while Joe told her the offer was still on the table but not for long. Moira was once again left with a decision to make but what will she do?

Unbeknownst to her though Joe was ready with his next move. He told Dawn Taylor that Moira was going to learn that “he gets what he wants” and that he was prepared to do whatever it takes to get it.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

More than 200 lawmakers in the United Kingdom have called on the British government to recognise a Palestinian state, as pressure mounts on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take concrete action amid Israel’s war on Gaza.

Some 221 MPs from across the political spectrum signed an open letter on Friday calling on Starmer’s Labour government to recognise a Palestinian state in advance of a United Nations conference on Palestine next week.

“We are expectant that the outcome of the conference will be the UK Government outlining when and how it will act on its long-standing commitment on a two-state solution; as well as how it will work with international partners to make this a reality,” the letter reads.

“Whilst we appreciate the UK does not have it in its power to bring about a free and independent Palestine, UK recognition would have a significant impact due to our historic connections and our membership on the UN Security Council, so we urge you to take this step.”

Parliamentarians from nine political parties were among the signatories, Labour MP Sarah Champion said, including Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, and the Greens.

The letter comes as public anger is growing in the UK and around the world over Israel’s continued bombardment and blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has spurred a deadly starvation crisis.

221 MPs, from 9 parties, have sent a joint letter to the Prime Minister & Foreign Secretary urging them to recognise Palestine as a state now pic.twitter.com/b2hbX2XCGR

— Sarah Champion (@SarahChampionMP) July 25, 2025

It also comes a day after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognise the State of Palestine at the UN in September.

“Consistent with its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine,” Macron said in a social media post on Thursday.

“I will make this solemn announcement before the United Nations General Assembly this coming September. The urgent priority today is to end the war in Gaza and to bring relief to the civilian population.”

Macron’s announcement drew the ire of Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the move “rewards terror”.

But Netanyahu has faced widespread condemnation for Israel’s continuing assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians since it began in October 2023.

Israel’s blockade of the enclave has caused a deepening humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations and top human rights groups reporting that many Palestinian children are now suffering from severe malnutrition and at risk of death.

In a statement on Friday, Starmer said “the appalling scenes in Gaza are unrelenting”.

“The continued captivity of hostages, the starvation and denial of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, the increasing violence from extremist settler groups, and Israel’s disproportionate military escalation in Gaza are all indefensible,” he said.

But Starmer stopped short of announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state, instead saying he was working “on a pathway to peace in the region”.

“That pathway will set out the concrete steps needed to turn the ceasefire so desperately needed, into a lasting peace,” he said.

“Recognition of a Palestinian state has to be one of those steps. I am unequivocal about that. But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis.”

Reporting from a protest outside Starmer’s residence in London on Friday afternoon, Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic said demonstrators expressed “outrage” at the British government’s stance amid the dire situation in Gaza.

“Many of them feel powerless, so one of the only things they can do is gather here, make as much noise as they can, and hope that it will be noticed by the people in power,” she said.

“They want Keir Starmer to do more with the power that he has, and with the influence that he has, to put an end to this.”

In addition to recognising a Palestinian state, the British government has faced growing calls to sanction Israel and impose an arms embargo against the country.

Veselinovic said Starmer is in “a difficult diplomatic situation” as he prepares to meet United States President Donald Trump, who was travelling to Scotland on Friday.

She explained that Macron’s announcement added pressure on the UK, which is a close ally of both France and the US, to also recognise a Palestinian state, but noted that Trump has criticised the French president’s move.

“It does seem like a gulf is emerging here over what the European stance is overall, which is much more aligned with what UN aid agencies are saying is going on on the ground in Gaza, and the American position, which seems to nearly 100 percent back whatever is the Israeli government’s version of events is,” she said.

“And in the middle of that is Keir Starmer, who wants to maintain good relations with both sides.”