GEN Z has confirmed the mullet is the official hairstyle of anyone who wishes to announce they stand outside of the gender binary.
Neither boyish and short nor long and feminine, the mullet represents the younger generation’s refusal to conform to traditional standards of gender or beauty and willingness to look like a truck driver from 1987.
Sophie, not her real name, aged 20 with a nine-month-old mullet, said: “It’s inclusive. It’s neither one thing nor the other. It’s open to all who wish to be defined not by the sex they were born into but by their resemblance to Billy Ray Cyrus.
“We’re a generation that uses our style to show off our values – look at our shapeless, oversized T-shirts bearing ironic corporate logos as an example. Mullets promote pansexuality, as it’s impossible to tell the age or sex of whoever you’re chatting up.
“40-year-old lesbian? 19-year-old straight man? It’s a sexual bran tub where you don’t know who you’re going home with until you get their going-out Crocs and trackie bottoms off.
“And it’s asexual-friendly. Team a mullet with a bumbag and you’re cock-blocking the entire world.”
She added: “Mullets are massive on TikTok, the app tech experts have warned is being exploited by China to harm Western youth. Coincidence.”
It was just past 12:30 a.m. on June 9 when Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a burglary in progress at a home in Lynwood.
Upon arrival, according to the department’s incident summary, they saw Federico Rodriguez, 45, through a window, holding what appeared to be a pair of scissors.
Hearing screams inside, deputies forced a door open and entered the home, where they found Rodriguez repeatedly stabbing a woman. Sgt. Marcos Esquivel immediately drew his handgun, footage from his body-worn camera showed, and fired multiple shots that killed Rodriguez.
The incident was the fifth of six fatal shootings by deputies that the sheriff’s department has reported so far this year.
The woman Rodriguez was stabbing survived. But despite the apparently life-saving actions of the deputies, two days later the case became a point of controversy in a broader dispute between the department and L.A. County’s Office of Inspector General, which investigates misconduct and the use of deadly force by law enforcement.
The inspector general’s office sent a letter on June 11 to the County Board of Supervisors raising concerns that officials have been blocked from scenes of shootings by deputies and deaths in county jails.
Inspector General Max Huntsman said his office interprets the state law that led to its creation over a decade ago as giving him and his staff the authority to conduct meaningful on-site investigations, with state legislation approved in 2020 strengthening that power.
Inspector General Max Huntsman listens to testimony in the Robinson Courtroom at Loyola Law School in 2024.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Huntsman said allowing his staff to tour scenes of shootings and receive information directly from homicide detectives and other sheriff’s department personnel while the dead bodies have yet to be removed is essential for proper oversight.
But the sheriff’s department has repeatedly denied or limited access, Huntsman said. The June 11 letter announced the “indefinite suspension of Office of Inspector General regular rollouts to deputy-involved shootings and in-custody deaths.”
Huntsman said the decision to halt the rollouts was a response to a persistent lack of transparency by the sheriff’s department.
“The purpose of going there is to conduct an independent investigation. If all we’re doing is standing around being fed what they want us to know, that is not an independent investigation,” he told The Times. “We’re not going to pretend to be doing it when we only get to peek under the curtain.”
At the Civilian Oversight Commission meeting on July 17, Sheriff Robert Luna said his department “will now have a process in place” to allow officials responding to shooting scenes to contact an assistant sheriff to ensure “a little more oversight” over the process.
An interior view of the Altadena Sheriff Station in January.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Luna called Huntsman’s June 11 letter “alarming,” but disputed how many times officials had been turned away, saying he was only aware of it happening “once — at least in the last five years.”
Commissioner Jamon Hicks inquired further, asking whether the department could be incorrect about the number of times access has been restricted or denied, given that the inspector general’s office alleges it has been a recurring issue.
“It could be, and I’d love to see the information,” Luna said. “I’ve been provided none of that to date.”
Huntsman told The Times that officials from his office were “prohibited from entering” Rodriguez’s home on July 9, as were members of the district attorney’s office and the sheriff’s department’s Internal Affairs Bureau. It was at least the seventh time the sheriff’s department had improperly limited access since 2020, he said.
In a statement, the sheriff’s department said the “claim that the OIG was denied access on June 9 at a [deputy-involved shooting] scene in Lynwood is inaccurate.”
“An OIG representative was on scene and was given the same briefing, along with the concerned Division Chief, Internal Affairs Bureau, Civil Litigation Bureau, Training Bureau, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office,” the statement said.
An exterior view of the hiring banner outside the Altadena Sheriff Station in January.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The statement went on to say that the department is “only aware of one incident on February 27, 2025,” in which the OIG was denied access to a deputy-involved shooting scene.
“The Sheriff’s Department remains firmly committed to transparency in law enforcement and continues to work closely and cooperatively with all oversight bodies,” the statement said.
During the July 17 meeting, Dara Williams, chief deputy of the Office of Inspector General, said the office’s personnel often arrive at shooting scenes hours after deputies have pulled the trigger because of the logistical challenges of traveling across the county. Sheriff’s department homicide detectives typically present preliminary findings and offer tours of the scenes.
But on several occasions, the watchdogs have been denied access entirely, leaving them to rely solely on whatever information the sheriff’s department chooses to release, Williams said.
Hans Johnson, the Civil Oversight Commission’s newly elected chair, said investigators can’t do their jobs properly without being able to scrutinize homicide scenes.
“We count on you, in part, as eyes and ears in the community and in these high-value and very troubling cases of fatalities and deaths,” he said at the July 17 meeting.
Williams said the the sheriff’s department has also been “painfully slow” responding to requests for additional information and records following homicides by deputies. She said that in one particularly egregious example, “we served a subpoena in October of last year and we are still waiting for documents and answers.”
Responding to Huntsman’s letter on June 16, Luna wrote to the Board of Supervisors that the department’s Office of Constitutional Policing “has assisted the OIG by providing Department information to 49 of 53 instances” since January. “Suffice it to say,” he added later in the letter, “robust communications take place between the OIG and the Department. Any assertion to the contrary is false.”
Luna said sometimes access could be restricted to preserve evidence, but Williams said she does not “think it’s fair to say that we were excluded” for that reason.
Williams told the commission she was not allowed to tour a scene earlier this year that Huntsman later told The Times was a Feb. 27 incident in Rosemead.
The sheriff’s department’s incident summary stated that Deputy Gregory Chico shot Susan Lu, 56, after she refused commands to drop a meat cleaver and raised the blade “toward deputies.” Lu was taken to a hospital and declared dead later that day.
In his June 16 letter, Luna wrote that “the OIG, Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB), other Department units, and executives were denied access … due to concerns regarding evidence preservation, given the confined area and complexity of the scene layout.”
Williams told the commission “there was a narrow hallway but the actual incident took place in a bedroom, so I don’t know why we couldn’t have walked down that narrow hallway to just view into the bedroom” where the homicide took place.
“The bottom line,” she added later, “is we don’t want to mislead the public to give them the idea that this is actually effective oversight because, once again, we’re just getting the information from the department.”
As City Section 11-man football coaches prepare for the official start of practices on Monday, there’s a noticeable change under way.
They’re not fighting one another. Rather, they are uniting as a group, understanding and embracing their similar challenges while trying to create environments to keep the players and their parents invested in the future.
They still gripe and complain, but it’s part of working in the Los Angeles Unified School District. They are sacrificing, many as walk-on coaches, for “little” victories that inspire them to keep coaching.
Whether they realize it or not, this is the only way forward — helping kids develop as players and students first. Worry about on-field wins and losses later.
All they want is a fair and equitable playing field, though sometimes even that can’t be achieved.
Coaches have had to put themselves out on a limb. There was courage displayed last season when the head coaches at San Pedro, Gardena, Carson and Banning decided to forfeit games against Narbonne while demanding an investigation by LAUSD into alleged rule violations. Families were not happy at losing the opportunity to play games. Purists who believe forfeiting is never acceptable were aghast. Coaches involved received strong criticism by some.
Every coach who signed on to the protest ended up resigning except for San Pedro’s Corey Walsh. They helped clean up a mess that shouldn’t had been allowed to fester.
When City Section coaches gathered for their annual meeting last month to discuss the season ahead, there were many hugs, handshakes and discussions of identical challenges (academic eligibility, increasing roster numbers, finding assistant coaches, concerns about federal immigration raids). The warmth was real because many of the older coaches have been mentors. Hamilton’s Elijah Asante used to coach L.A. Jordan first-year coach James Boyd.
So many families have left. The days when Carson, Banning, Dorsey and Crenshaw could compete against and beat the best of the Southern Section teams are gone. Remember when Crenshaw played De La Salle in the CIF Open Division state championship game in 2009? Coach Robert Garrett is still around with 290 career victories, but the Cougars’ roster hovers around 25 players with no JV team.
It doesn’t mean the former powers can’t rise again as champions within the City Section. Those who have stayed, from coaches to players, deserve praise for taking on an adventure that can be daunting. There are good, loyal people determined to help along the way.
New facilities have opened. All-weather fields and new grass fields are multiplying. Garfield, Roosevelt and Hamilton debut new stadiums this fall. A strong collection of City Section quarterbacks are ready to let the ball fly, from Eagle Rock’s Liam Pasten to Carson’s Chris Fields. There is no certain dominant team, though the usual contenders — Birmingham, Carson, San Pedro — are teams to watch. So far, 71 schools are playing 11-man football.
There’s a story line certain to provide inspiration — Palisades High trying to rise again after its campus was damaged during the Palisades fire. Even though its football field was largely untouched, the team is starting the season not allowed to play on the field and will be playing at Santa Monica College. Students have yet to return to the campus. TV cameras will be out en force to capture the drama if the Dolphins can put together a dream season.
Southern Section teams also begin practices on Monday. If you think you’re watching the movie “Groundhog Day,” you are correct. Every Division 1 title since 2016 has been won by Mater Dei or St. John Bosco. It’s almost certain to happen again in 2025.
It doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be some outstanding games in the Southern Section, starting with the Aug. 22 matchup of Santa Margarita and new coach Carson Palmer taking on Mission Viejo at Trabuco Hills.
There’s always excitement and intrigue when the pads first come on next week. Teaching kids who have never worn shoulder pads is both comedy and memorable. It will be just one more responsibility for City Section coaches who receive a $5,622 stipend over four months and are expected to be Superman every day.
To all coaches, thank you for your sacrifice and for providing teenagers the guidance, discipline and structure that will be needed when their playing careers are finished.
President Donald Trump’s administration dished out a cold burn to Trump’s ice-cream-loving predecessor, Joe Biden, saying he led the US ice cream industry down an economic rocky road.
“America had a trade surplus in ice cream in 2020 under President Trump’s leadership, but that surplus turned into a trade deficit of $40.6 million under President Biden’s watch,” the Office of the US Trade Representative wrote July 20 on X. The post included a chart that shows the US ice cream trade deficit with Japan, South Africa, the European Union, Brazil, Canada and Turkiye.
The US ice cream trade balance did change dramatically in 2021, the year Biden took office. The trade balance officially flipped negative – which means imports outnumber exports – in 2022 and has remained so since then.
But industry experts caution that US ice cream imports account for a minuscule fraction of all the US ice cream consumed in the US, and exports account for a tiny fraction of all US ice cream produced.
The trade change was driven mostly by a jump in imports. Exports have remained largely unchanged since 2020.
And the cherry on top? Disagreement over which products to classify as “ice cream” also affects data, experts say. For example, the data referenced by the office of the US Trade Representative also includes “edible ice”, which some experts (and dairy defenders) say doesn’t qualify as ice cream.
Removing edible ice shows that “the US is a net exporter by a significant margin of ($193 million) or +85% larger by value,” International Dairy Foods Association Executive Vice President Matt Herrick told PolitiFact via email.
Ice cream imports increase causes US trade deficit
From 1995 to 2020, the US had an ice cream trade surplus, ranging from about $20m to about $160m, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, an online economic data platform. Longtime customers include Mexico, followed by Saudi Arabia and Canada.
In 2021, that surplus nearly vanished, and in 2022 and 2023, the US notched up an ice cream trade deficit of $92m and $33m, respectively.
At first glance, importing frozen foods doesn’t seem practical.
“Shipping refrigerated and frozen products overseas is expensive,” dairy economist Betty Berningat of HighGround Dairy said. “Mexico is the top destination for US dairy exports.”
But many US and European companies have tapped into global markets.
“Consumers may also want a specific treat that is styled after or known to be from another country,” Herrick said.
Italy, the birthplace of gelato, is now the United States’ largest single source of imported ice cream. Italian ice cream imports more than quintupled from about $12m to almost $65m between 2020 and 2021 alone, before decreasing somewhat in 2023, the last year for which data is available.
Some of this stems from increased consumer demand for specialty pints. A report by Mordor Intelligence, a global market research firm, said “product innovation and premiumisation” have become key in the US ice cream industry.
“This trend is particularly evident in the growth of premium pint offerings and individually wrapped novelties that cater to both indulgence and portion control preferences,” the report said.
The US produces far more ice cream than it imports or exports
To get to the pint: The vast majority of ice cream consumed in the United States is made there, not overseas.
The Trump administration is cherry-picking stats from a fraction of a sliver of the US ice cream industry.
According to US Agriculture Department data, US ice cream makers churned out 1.31 billion gallons of ice cream in 2024. This includes regular ice cream, low-fat and nonfat ice cream, sherbet and frozen yoghurt.
By comparison, the US imported 2.35 million gallons of traditional ice cream in 2024 – that’s 0.18 percent of the amount produced domestically, Herrick said.
The US exported 16.4 million gallons of that domestic production, which is also a tiny fraction of 1.31 billion gallons of ice cream – a little more than 1 percent.
Factoring in ice cream mixes, excluding ‘edible ice’ products
Another caveat about the international trade data: It does not include “mixes”, which skews the totals, said Herrick of the International Dairy Foods Association.
Mixes are used to make ice cream shakes and soft-serve products, and they account for a significant portion of US ice cream exports. “Inclusion of such data points would change the picture quite significantly,” said Herrick. “While it is true that traditional ice cream and edible ice exports have seen decreased exports, the same cannot be said for exports of mixes.”
US milk-based drink exports increased 621 percent over the past five years, he said. In 2024, the US exported nearly $35m in mixes to the European Union.
Americans and dairy-based ice cream: A centuries-old love affair melting away?
The White House has churned out plenty of ice cream devotees.
George Washington stocked the capital with ice cream-making equipment. Thomas Jefferson is credited as being the first American to record an ice cream recipe. Ronald Reagan declared July National Ice Cream Month in 1984. Barack Obama even slung scoops back in the day.
Biden, who was often sighted with a cone in hand, proclaimed while visiting Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream headquarters in 2016: “My name is Joe Biden, and I love ice cream.”
But consumption of regular dairy ice cream – a category that does not include frozen yoghurt, sherbet or nonfat and low-fat ice creams – has been trending down for years.
In 1975, Americans ate an average of 18.2 pounds each of ice cream per year. That figure fell to 11.7 pounds by 2023.
Our ruling
The office of the US Trade Representative purported a summertime scoop: “America had a trade surplus in ice cream in 2020 under President Trump’s leadership, but that surplus turned into a trade deficit of $40.6 million under President Biden’s watch.”
It’s accurate that the US ice cream trade balance had a surplus for a quarter of a century before turning negative while Biden was president.
But the US Trade Representative’s statement makes the US ice cream deficit appear out of cone-trol.
There are three scoops of context on this trade sundae:
The change was driven mostly by a jump in imports. Exports have remained largely unchanged since 2020.
US ice cream imports and exports are a negligible amount compared to domestic production.
There’s also disagreement over which products should or shouldn’t be included in the data set, which can skew trend interpretations. Excluding edible ice products and factoring in ice cream mixes leaves the US with a surplus.
The statement is accurate but needs a sprinkling of clarification and additional details, so we rate it Mostly True.
For thousands of years, the Chumash people lived along California’s Central Coast and on its Channel Islands. Then the newcomers arrived — Spanish explorers, Catholic missionaries, Mexican rancheros, California settlers — and the Chumash way of life was dismantled, their people enslaved and their traditions, culture and language forbidden.
So it’s hardly surprising that the main message at the new Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center is as poignant as it is defiant: “We are the first people. And we are still here.”
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Elders Council commissioned New Mexico sculptor George Rivera to create this arresting bronze sculpture, “Keeping Our Culture Alive,” to stand near the entrance to the museum.
(Patrick W. Price)
The museum, which opened in May, sits on Highway 246 and Edison Street in tiny Santa Ynez, just across the road from Chumash Casino Resort operated by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. But where the resort is a sleek, modern high-rise, the low-lying museum and lushly landscaped grounds are dedicated to the past, showcasing the stories, craftsmanship and even the plants of the Chumash, whose bands ranged along the coast from Malibu to Morro Bay and as far inland as the San Joaquin Valley, said Nakia Zavalla, the tribal historic preservation officer and cultural director of the Santa Ynez band.
While the focus is on the past, however, the museum’s storytelling is high-tech, with lots of interactive displays that activate with just the wave of a hand. The tribe doesn’t permit photos inside the museum, and the few photos provided for publication don’t really do the exhibits justice, so believe me when I say the displays are far more engaging than just shelves of artifacts and well worth a visit for adults and children.
From the large parking lot, the path to the entrance winds along a man-made recirculating stream lush with spiky, deep-green mounds of deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens), feathery sandbar willow (Salix exigua) and a variety of juncus such as basket rush (Juncus textilis), used for making the tribe’s intricate baskets. The 3.5-acre grounds as well as the museum itself were designed by Jones & Jones Architects of Seattle, which also designed the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.
The main entrance is visually stunning, bringing visitors inside a larger-than-life “ap” (pronounced ahp), a towering representation of the traditional Chumash dwellings made from willow branches and dried leaves of tule plants, such as hardstem bulrush (Schoenoplectus acutus), which also grows on the grounds. The museum’s entry is like a giant dome with a big round skylight at the top. The large, sloping walls feature projections of birds taking flight and sparks rising from the faux firepit in the center of the room, along with detailed illustrations recognizing the region’s Chumash bands.
The broad curving walls and round skylight of the giant dome-shaped “ap” create a distinctive and dramatic entrance to the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultura Center.
(Patrick W. Price)
Inside, the exhibits are arranged in a meandering flow (just follow the blue line) that introduces visitors to a large and engaging range of interactive displays and stories, many of which were provided by elder Maria del Refugio Solares, Zavalla’s “fifth great-grandmother” and one of the last native speakers of the Chumash language Samala. Some tribal members are trying to resurrect Samala through classes and “just getting together and speaking with each other,” said Zavalla. “It’s opened so many doors to understanding our culture, our medicinal plants and ceremonies.”
Solares died in 1923 at 81, but left wax cylinder recordings of Chumash songs, stories and translations with linguist and Native American language ethnologist John Peabody Harrington. Incorporating Solares’ songs and stories makes the exhibits come alive.
For instance, near the beginning of the permanent exhibit there is a cave-like room explaining the Chumash understanding of the universe, which is divided into three levels. The upper world is inhabited by celestial Sky People, such as Sun and Sky Coyote, whose peón gambling games affected the seasons for everything from harvesting acorns to hunting game. The dark, eerie lower world is dominated by two giant rattlesnakes whose writhings cause the ground in the middle world — our world — to shake.
The phases of the moon? Those are caused by the way Slo’w, the Sky Eagle, stretches his wings. Thunder? The result of two brothers in the Upper World playing a rowdy stick game.
Nearby, an alcove features a preserved California condor known as AC8, the last female in the wild who was taken into captivity in 1986 to become part of a breeding program to rebuild the critically endangered population of North America’s largest land bird. In the exhibit, you must look up to see her, preserved as if in flight, her massive wings outstretched, while below is a miniature depiction of the local hills with a small gliding shadow of a condor in flight.
Further on are hunting outfits made from deer and bear heads and skins, examples of traditional Chumash stick and gambling games, and stuffed animals for children that were — literally — dead, cuddly rabbits carefully preserved. There are exquisite medallions and hair ornaments made from iridescent abalone shells and strings of Chumash currency — tiny, doughnut-shaped beads created from carefully cut olivella shells.
A coiled line with large silver hooks, attached to a smooth, palm-size rock was once used for fishing and is now part of the exhibit at the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center.
(From the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center)
And of course, there are multiple examples of Chumash basket weaving, from the tightly woven vessels used to hold food and even water to the carriers designed to securely tote babies. The museum includes more recent history as well, such as the startling news that running water wasn’t available on the reservation until 1969.
Outside, in the 3.5-acre cultural park, you can follow a winding trail through the Ancestor’s Grove — young coast live oak trees, each with a marker honoring a deceased tribal elder — to view the long redwood plank canoe known as a tomol, big enough to seat at least six adults and used annually to re-create the trips their ancestors made between the mainland and the Channel Islands. The park also features another recirculating stream and 100 species of native plants that would have provided food, shelter and habitat in the region before the explorers and colonists arrived.
The landscape is constantly changing, said Megan Carey, the museum’s collections and archives manager. “One of my favorite things about the Culture Park is that you see something different, something blooming, every week.”
A condor’s-eye view of the sprawling Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center, with its 3.5 acres of paths through 100 species of hyperlocal native plants.
(From the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center)
A former cleaner claims he was forced to bury the bodies of hundreds of women and girls, on the orders of supervisors at one of southern India’s most revered temples. As Soraya Lennie explains, the case has shocked the country and sparked accusations of a three-decade old cover up.
A former bustling resort loved by affluent holidaymakers now lies as a forsaken and crumbling ghost town.
Isabelle Rodney and Liam Ryder Digital Production Editor
12:57, 25 Jul 2025
One town was left abandoned by rich tourists decades ago(Image: ehrlif via Getty Images)
Elkmont, Tennessee, was once a thriving town and popular holiday destination for wealthy tourists. The town now stands as an abandoned and derelict site within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Famed for its countless walking paths, the spectacular 80-foot Laurel Falls, and the yearly synchronous firefly display that illuminates the mountains, Elkmont is most celebrated as the “abandoned town of the Smokies”.
Initially called “Little River”, the US region covered 86,000 acres of terrain and was bought in 1901 by Colonel Wilson B. Townsend, who established the Little River Lumber company.
The building of a railway for his timber operations led to a surge of visitors and transformed this location into a sought-after holiday spot for well-heeled travellers, reports the Express.
Eventually, this weekend retreat developed into a permanent home for residents from Knoxville, and the settlement became recognised as Elkmont.
But when the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was formed in 1934, property owners faced an impossible choice.
They were forced to pick between selling their homes and moving away immediately, or disposing of their assets at a reduced price to the National Park Service in return for a lifelong lease. Homeowners continued to reside and negotiate lease renewals until the late 80s.
The town is hidden deep in the Great Smoky Mountains(Image: Getty)
However, by 1992, most leases had expired, forcing residents to vacate their homes. This resulted in 70 historic buildings being abandoned, and the once bustling town of 1500 residents earned the eerie nickname Elkmont Ghost town.
With the decision that no one would return to Elkmont, questions arose about the fate of the buildings and the town after everyone’s departure.
While history buffs wanted to preserve Elkmont due to its century-long history, environmentalists pushed for the demolition of these cabins to allow the land to revert to its natural state.
The National Park Service also favoured demolition, but it was decided that 19 of the 74 structures would be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, preventing their destruction and ensuring their restoration. The remaining buildings were demolished.
Parts of the town have been untouched for decades(Image: Getty)
Buried within the Tennessee mountains, haunting photographs show rotting and deteriorating cabins that have remained undisturbed for more than 40 years.
Today, visitors are invited to explore this deserted town in the Smoky Mountains at their own pace and witness structures slowly being reclaimed by nature.
As the photos reveal, you’ll encounter broken wooden floors, flaking paint, collapsed roofs, and vacant cabins, all reminiscent of houses from a horror film. You’ll also have the opportunity to tour the restored structures during your visit.
The area now has an eerie, horror-film feel(Image: Getty)
Reddit users have taken to the site to talk about Elkmont’s slow demise. One user said: “Ghost towns never cease to amaze me… like a little sliver forever frozen in time.” Another said it was “cool” and gave them “Friday the 13th vibes”.
Despite this, many walkers and tourists add this hidden treasure to their must-visit list in Tennessee, finding Elkmont a surprisingly tranquil spot. Maybe you’d fancy stepping back in time and exploring this ghost town for yourself.
Southern California Edison’s plans to compensate Eaton fire victims for damage were met with skepticism Thursday from lawyers representing Altadena residents, but drew tentative support from others who say the initiative could help shore up the state’s $21-billion wildfire fund.
The utility announced its Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program this week, saying it would be used to quickly pay victims, including those who were insured, while avoiding lengthy litigation.
The announcement comes as state officials consider ways to shore up the state’s fund to compensate wildfire victims, amid fears that it could be fully exhausted by Eaton fire claims. Fees that attorneys receive as part of victim settlements could further strain the fund.
State Sen. Henry Stern (D-Calabasas) said Edison’s new program may have some merit as potentially “a more efficient way” than lawsuits to make sure victims are fairly compensated.
He pointed out that lawyers were “coming across the country to represent” Eaton fire victims. “Are they really getting their money’s worth when they pay 30% to these lawyers?” Stern asked.
Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network, said Edison’s program had the potential to reduce costs that otherwise must be covered by the wildfire fund, which was established in part by a surcharge on the bills paid by customers of Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric.
“If Edison is determined to be the cause of the fire, anything they can settle early reduces the costs that otherwise would be paid later,” Toney said.
The utility has released few details of how the program would work, leaving victims who are already coping with uncertainty with more questions. And lawyers who had been seeking to represent victims in lawsuits against Edison were quick to urge caution.
“Without admitting fault or providing transparency, Edison is asking victims to potentially waive their rights,” said Kiley Grombacher, one of dozens of lawyers involved in litigation against Edison for the Jan. 7 wildfire that killed 19 and destroyed 9,000 homes in Altadena.
According to Edison, the program would be open to those who lost homes or businesses as well as renters who lost property. It would also cover those who were harmed by smoke, suffered physical injuries or had family members who died.
“People can file a claim even if they are involved in active litigation,” said Kathleen Dunleavy, an Edison spokeswoman.
Dunleavy said the company would be releasing more information soon, including on eligibility requirements.
At a Thursday meeting in Sacramento of the Catastrophe Response Council, which oversees the wildfire fund, officials said they were creating criteria that Edison must follow in designing the program, including having measures to prevent fraud and clear eligibility standards.
Sheri Scott, an actuary from Milliman, told the council that the firm estimated that losses from the Eaton fire ranged from $13.7 billion to $22.8 billion.
“We heard from our guest today that we might run out of money very quickly,” said Paul Rosenstiel, a member of the council appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
He urged state lawmakers to consider changing the law that created the fund so that less money was at risk of flowing to third parties who aren’t fire victims.
PG&E created a program to directly pay victims of the 2021 Dixie fire, which burned more than 960,000 acres in Northern California. It created a similar program to compensate victims of the 2022 Mosquito fire, which burned nearly 77,000 acres in Placer and El Dorado counties.
PG&E said it offered Mosquito fire victims who lost their homes $500 per square foot and $9,200 per acre for those whose lots did not exceed 5 acres. To aid in rebuilding efforts, victims who decided to reconstruct their homes were eligible for an additional $50,000.
Lynsey Paulo, a PG&E spokeswoman, said in an email that the company paid nearly $50 million to victims of the Dixie fire through its program. That money went to 135 households, she said.
“PG&E’s program was designed to provide claimants with resources to rebuild as quickly as possible and help communities recover,” she said.
Richard Bridgford, a lawyer who represented Dixie fire victims, said that PG&E’s offer was lower than victims won through lawsuits, and that only a fraction of those eligible for the PG&E program decided to participate, he said.
”Victims have uniformly done better when represented by counsel,” said Bridgford, who now represents victims of the Eaton fire.
Edison’s announcement of its program came as fire agencies continue to investigate the cause of the Eaton fire. Edison said in April that a leading theory is that a dormant transmission line, last used in 1971, somehow was reenergized and sparked the blaze. The company says the new compensation program “is not an admission of legal liability.”
“Even though the details of how the Eaton Fire started are still being evaluated, SCE will offer an expedited process to pay and resolve claims fairly and promptly,” Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, the utility’s parent company, said in a news release. “This allows the community to focus more on recovery instead of lengthy, expensive litigation.”
The utility said it had hired consultants Kenneth R. Feinberg and Camille S. Biros, who had worked on the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, to help design the program.
If Edison is found responsible for the fire, the $21-billion state wildfire fund would reimburse the company for all or most of the amounts paid to victims through the new program or through lawsuits and insurance claims.
Half of the fund’s $21 billion came from charges to electric bills of customers of Edison, PG&E and SDG&E. The other half was contributed by shareholders of those three companies, which are the only utilities that can seek reimbursements from the fund.
England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton says the Lionesses know they may have to do things the hard way once again when they face Spain in Sunday’s Euro 2025 final
Resident doctors picket Saint Thomas’ Hospital in central London on Friday at the start of a five-day walkout over pay. Photo by Andy Rain/EPA
July 25 (UPI) — Thousands of National Health Service resident doctors in England walked out Friday at the start of a five-day strike in a dispute with the government over pay.
The British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, said in a post on X that the strike could have been avoided if Health Secretary Wes Streeting had put forward a “credible offer” to address a one-fifth real-terms drop in their pay since 2008.
The 190,000-member union pointed to the inequity that after seven years of study and training, doctors in their first year as a fully qualified resident were paid more than $7 an hour less than a physician assistant in their first year.
“This is why resident doctors in England are taking a stand against the government — it’s time to pay us what we’re worth,” said the BMA, adding that it was seeking a raise of just $5.39 a hour to $30.45.
The union called on doctors to join picket lines outside designated large hospitals in London and seven other regions of England as the strike got underway at 7 a.m. local time, three days after negotiations with the government collapsed.
Streeting and Prime Minister Keir Starmer appealed to the doctors not to take industrial action due to the damage it would inflict on the NHS, which the Labour government had been working hard to rebuild since coming into office in summer 2024.
In a video posted on X, Streeting warned that striking doctors would make the working conditions of their colleagues who remained at their posts much more difficult, expressing “incredible frustration” over the action despite significant pay hikes over the past year.
“These strikes were unnecessary because resident doctors have already had a 28.9% pay increase since this government came to office. They’ve had the highest pay increase of the entire public sector two years in a row,” said Streeting.
He said the action was also unnecessary as he had been asking for the union to postpone for just three weeks to allow time to put together a package that would have made “a real difference to resident doctors’ working lives” by addressing training costs and other associated costs, as well as career progression issues.
Streeting vowed the impact on patients would be kept to a minimum, with NHS leaders ordering hospitals not to cancel non-emergency appointments and surgeries, with senior doctors stepping in to cover for their striking colleagues.
“Resident doctors should break ranks with the BMA leadership. The industrial action that starts on Friday is in no one’s interests and medics should not follow their union down its dangerous and destructive route, Starmer wrote in The Times.
The NHS leaders’ organization, the NHS Confederation, laid blame for “the impact of strikes and the distress they will cause patients” squarely at the feet of the BMA.
However, the Conservative opposition’s shadow health secretary, Stuart Andrew, said it was the government’s fault and that it had put patients in danger.
“Labour’s capitulation to union demands has fuelled this chaos. The real tragedy is not just the political cowardice that invited this chaos but the disruption of care patients face. It’s a threat to lives,” he wrote on social media.
The industrial action, the 12th round of strikes, is part of a long-running dispute over pay dating back to 2023 with doctors in the early years of their careers claiming inflation over the past 17 years has eroded away their pay, leaving them 20% worse off.
Inheriting the dispute from the previous Conservative government in July 2024, Labour gave doctors an immediate 22% raise, followed by an average of 5.4% for this year.
NHS doctors’ base salary is relatively low to start but rapidly rises to more than $100,000 a year, and can go much higher.
“Resident doctors are not worth less than they were 17 years ago. Restoring pay remains the simplest and most effective route toward improving our working lives,” BMA resident doctor co-leaders Dr. Melissa Ryan and Dr. Ross Nieuwoudt told the BBC.
“Mr. Streeting had every opportunity to prevent this strike going ahead, but he chose not to take it.”
Jay Slater’s mum Debbie Duncan asked for her son’s inquest to be resumed after a number of witnesses did not attend the last hearing in May
Jay Slater’s death was accidental after falling from a height, a coroner has concluded.
The 19-year-old of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, went missing in Tenerife on 17 June 2024, a huge search was launched, and his body was found in a ravine near the village of Masca on 15 July.
He had told his friends he was “in the middle of the mountains” and in need of a drink, as he attempted a 14-hour walk home the morning after taking drugs and alcohol on a night out, Preston Coroner’s Court was told on Thursday.
The conclusion is that “Jay Dean Slater died an accidental death” without third-party influence, Dr James Adeley said.
‘Particularly dangerous area’
He had a “wonderful life” and was a “joy to be around”, his mother told the inquest into his death which resumed on Thursday after it was adjourned in May so witnesses could be traced.
Debbie Duncan said: “He loved his family very much and was not afraid to show affection.”
She added her son had a “large circle of friends who have been left devastated” by his death.
“He was very loved and our hearts are broken,” Ms Duncan said.
In his conclusion, Dr Adeley said Mr Slater died on 17 June 2024 in a remote ravine in the Rural de Teno national park.
He fell in a “particularly dangerous area”, resulting in skull fractures and brain trauma, dying instantly.
Dr Adeley said Mr Slater had fallen up to 25m (82ft) and there was a fracture across the base of his skull, and another up the left side.
He added contributing factors to the fall may have been a lack of suitable clothing, sleep and mountain training, as well as potential after effects of drugs he had consumed.
There were also fractures on his pelvis in multiple places.
The impact of the skull was enough to cause non-survivable brain injuries, even if he received immediate medical help and death was likely instant, he said.
The coroner said he hoped it is of “some consolation to the family” that Mr Slater would not have been in pain.
When the coroner delivered his findings, Ms Duncan nodded and his father, Warren Slater, looked straight ahead arms folded, showing no emotion.
Reuters
Jay Slater’s body was found in a ravine near the village of Masca on 15 July after a huge search
The coroner noted that on the night of 16 June 2024 and afterwards, there was “every indication” that Mr Slater’s friends who were accompanying him on the holiday were concerned about him, tried to find him and look after his welfare.
The inquest heard from Lucy Law who travelled to Tenerife with Mr Slater.
She recounted a phone call she received from a friend on the morning of 17 June 2024 when she was told Mr Slater was in the mountains and did not have much phone battery after he had left an Airbnb in Masca, a village miles from his holiday apartment in Los Cristianos.
Ms Law then described a subsequent phone call with Mr Slater – the last known outgoing communication from his phone – in which she asked him where he was and what he was doing.
She said: “He was like ‘I’m in the middle of the mountains’.”
Mr Slater told her there was “literally nothing” around, she added.
She added she was panicking because his battery was low, and asked him to go back to where he came from.
Bradley Geoghegan, on holiday with Mr Slater said his friend had taken ecstasy pills, and possibly ketamine, along with cocaine and alcohol, on the night out before he disappeared.
The next morning, Mr Geoghegan said he got a video call from Mr Slater, who was walking along a road and was still “under the influence”, the inquest heard.
Mr Geoghegan said: “I said put your maps on to see how far you were. It was like a 14-hour walk or an hour drive. I said, ‘Get a taxi back’, then he just goes, ‘I will ring you back’.”
He told the court he did not feel his friend was fearful. “I think he probably got there and thought, ‘Why am I here?’, sobered up and decided to come back,” he said.
Netflix viewers have been left completely gripped by a Western drama series set in the 1850s that has been labelled an ‘absolute masterpiece’ and one of the ‘greatest of all time’
Netflix has struck gold with a Western drama series that’s being hailed as one of the all-time greats. The gripping show, American Primeval, which debuted on the streaming giant in 2025, takes audiences back to the tumultuous times of 1857.
Spanning six episodes, it tells the tale of a mother on the lam and a band of Latter-Day Saints fighting for survival amidst the chaos of the Utah War. Starring GLOW’s Betty Gilpin as Sara Rowell, a mother evading a murder accusation, the series sees her character enlisting the help of Isaac Reed, played by Taylor Kitsch, to escort her and her son Devin, portrayed by Preston Mota, to the safety of Crooks Springs.
Taylor Kitsch, Betty Gilpin and Preston Mota star in American Primeval(Image: Brentwood Gazette)
Although not directly based on a specific true event, American Primeval powerfully portrays the struggles faced by those living in that era. It draws inspiration from historical incidents like the Mountain Meadows Massacre, where Latter-Day Saint militia and Native American allies brutally killed about 120 members of the Baker-Fancher wagon train.
The Netflix series doesn’t shy away from brutality, featuring relentless gunfights, axe battles, and high-stakes confrontations. Alongside Gilpin and Kitsch, the cast includes Dane DeHaan, Saura Lightfoot-Leon, and Derek Hinkey.
The show’s grim and turbulent backdrop is captured in its synopsis: “Up is down, pain is everywhere, and innocence and tranquility are losing the battle to hatred and fear. Peace is the shrinking minority, and very few possess grace – even fewer know compassion. There’s no safe haven in these wild lands, and only one goal matters: survival.”, reports the Express.
The series currently boasts an impressive 88% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes alongside an 8 out of 10 rating on IMDB. Peter Berg’s American Primeval has sparked widespread acclaim across social media platforms, with numerous viewers hailing the production as an “absolute masterpiece”.
One enthusiastic fan declared: “@netflix American Primeval is a MASTERPIECE! ! ! I NEED MORE! Do they make it to California! ? ! ? ! ? What happens to Bridger! ? ! ? Does he go get the army ? ? PLEASE I NEED MORE.”
Another viewer passionately recommended the series, writing: “One of the best TV shows I will find this year, a great introductory to the year 2025. Such an amazing show! Brutal and realistic conflict, believable acting, great story and drama. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys fantastic action, a rigorous story that grips not only your attention but your feelings as well, then give this a try. You won’t be disappointed.”
A third admirer proclaimed: “American Primeval. Bravo! ! What an absolute masterpiece! ! Best thing I’ve watched in a very long time! ! Well done! ,” whilst a fourth viewer agreed: “American Primeval gotta be one of the greatest short series I’ve ever seen on television had me gripped from start to finish.”
One fan, clearly enamoured with the series, gushed: “Just finished American Primeval, and I have to say-this series is absolutely phenomenal. From start to finish, it’s an intense, gripping, and immersive journey into the brutal and unforgiving American frontier of the 1850s. The storytelling is raw and unflinching, making you feel like you’ve been transported back in time, facing the same dangers, hardships, and moral dilemmas as the characters.”
Another viewer concurred, praising: “By far the best historical drama show I have seen in years. This is one of those rare shows which immerses you in the midst of action and makes you feel what the main protagonist feels in the moment.”
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman tells Al Jazeera direct talks with Cambodia are priority as deadly clashes continue.
Thailand has called for a peaceful resolution to deadly border fighting with Cambodia, saying it prefers to settle the matter through bilateral dialogue while leaving the door open to potential involvement from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) if necessary.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said on Friday that the situation on the ground had improved slightly although clashes had resulted in casualties. “The fighting is continuing since yesterday although the situation today seems to be a little bit better from yesterday,” he said.
Thailand has tried to reach out to the Cambodian government in the hopes of easing tensions, Nikorndej told Al Jazeera. “We have always insisted we want to resolve this matter peacefully through bilateral mechanisms. … Very unfortunately, the Cambodian side has not reacted positively.”
While Thailand insists it has the tools to resolve the issue bilaterally, it has not ruled out future mediation by regional partners. “Our doors have always been open to talks. … We are still waiting for positive reactions from the Cambodian side,” Nikorndej said.
On possible third-party mediation, he added: “It’s a bit too premature for me right now to say that we are ready for any mediation, … but if we are going to talk about anyone to step in and help, countries in ASEAN … would be best suited.”
Malaysia, which currently chairs ASEAN, has reached out to both sides. Nikorndej confirmed that Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has spoken to his Thai counterpart, acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, to discuss potential regional engagement.
At least 13 Thai civilians and one soldier have been killed and 45 people have been wounded, including women and children, as fighting continues along the disputed frontier. “We are defending our territorial integrity and the Thai people,” Nikorndej added. Cambodia has reported one death on its side.
Nikorndej said the Thai military came under direct fire, which contributed to the current escalation. In response, the government has opened evacuation shelters, deployed medical teams and distributed aid to civilians displaced by the clashes.
Cambodia has alleged that Thailand first opened fire on Thursday, igniting the fighting.
Thailand has evacuated at least 100,000 people from areas near its eastern border with Cambodia, as shelling and gunfire displace civilians, reviving memories of past conflicts. Cambodian officials said about 20,000 people have evacuated from the country’s northern border.
Cambodia first took the contentious border issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1963. In 2011, Cambodia again went to the ICJ in relation to the Preah Vihear Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The ICJ ruled in Cambodia’s favour and handed it control of the immediate area around the temple in 2013.
However, the court did not address any of the other disputed areas, especially those within the “Emerald Triangle”, a shared border region between Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, where troops also frequently clash.
Thailand has refused to acknowledge the ICJ’s jurisdiction in this issue. Tensions have simmered until this year’s acute escalation.
On Thursday, he signed an executive order to address “endemic vagrancy” and end “crime and disorder on our streets.” He called for the use of “civil commitments” to get those who suffer from mental illness or addiction into “humane treatment.”
Steve Lopez
Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001. He has won more than a dozen national journalism awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist.
This comes after last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling making it legal for cities to punish people for being homeless, even if they have nowhere to go.
There’s some truth in what he says, and California’s record on housing and homelessness is ripe for criticism. I’ve watched too many people suffer from addiction and mental illness and asked why the help is so slow to arrive. But I also know there are no simple answers for either crisis, and bluster is no substitute for desperately needed resources.
Like a lot of what Trump does, this is another case of grandstanding. In the meantime, the Washington Post reported Thursday that the “Trump administration has slashed more than $1 billion in COVID-era grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and is proposing to slash hundreds of millions more in agency grants.”
Wendell Blassingame sits at the entrance to San Julian Park in downtown Los Angeles in 2023.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
As it happens, I was in the middle of a column on the latest Los Angeles homeless count when news of Trump’s executive order broke. I had just spent time with two homeless women to hear about their predicaments, and none of what Trump is proposing comes close to addressing their needs, which are tragically commonplace.
Namely, they’re living in poverty and can’t afford a place to live.
In his executive order, Trump said that “nearly two-thirds of homeless individuals report having used hard drugs … in their lifetimes. An equally large share of homeless individuals reported suffering from mental health conditions.”
I don’t know where he got those numbers, but truth and accuracy are not hallmarks of this administration.
No doubt, addiction and mental illness are significant factors, and more intervention is needed.
But that’s more complicated than he thinks, especially given the practical and legal issues surrounding coercive treatment — and it’s not going to solve the problem.
When the latest homeless count in Los Angeles was released, a slight decline from a year ago was regarded by many as a positive sign. But when Eli Veitzer of Jewish Family Service L.A. dug into the numbers, he found something both unsurprising and deeply disturbing.
The number of homeless people 65 and older hadn’t gone down. It had surged, in both the city and county of Los Angeles.
“This isn’t new this year. It’s a trend over the last couple of years,” said Veitzer, whose nonprofit provides meals, housing assistance and various other services to clients. “It’s meaningful, and it’s real, and these people are at the highest risk of mortality while they’re on the streets.”
The numbers from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed a 3.4% decrease in the total homeless population in the city, but a 17.6% increase among those 65 and older. The county numbers showed a 3.99% decrease overall, but an 8.59% increase in the 65 and older group.
In the city, the increase over two years was from 3,427 in 2023 to 4,680 this year — up 37%.
Reliable research has shown that among older adults who become homeless, the primary reason is the combination of poverty and high housing costs, rather than mental illness or addiction.
A man smokes inside a tent on Los Angeles’ Skid Row in March 2020.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
“They or their spouse lost their job, they or their spouse got sick, their marriage broke up or their spouse or parent died,” Dr. Margot Kushel of UC San Francisco’s Homelessness and Housing Initiative was telling me several hours before Trump’s executive order was issued.
Her team’s landmark study, released two years ago (and covered by my colleague Anita Chabria), found that nearly half the state’s homeless residents were 50 and older, and that participants in the study reported a median monthly household income of $960.
“The results … confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing,” Kushel said at the time.
Among the older population, Veitzer said, the jump in homelessness comes against the backdrop of federal and local budget cuts that will make it harder to reverse the trend. And harder for nonprofits, which rely in part on public funding, to keep providing group meals, home-delivered meals, transportation, social services and housing support.
“Every provider I’ve talked to in the city of L.A. is cutting meal programs,” Veitzer said. “We’re going to have to close two of our 13 meal sites, and last year we closed three. We used to have 16, and now we’re down to 11.”
On Wednesday, I went to one of the sites that’s still up and running on Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of the 405, and met Jane Jefferies, 69. She told me she’s been camping in her vehicle since February when living with her brother became impossible for various reasons. She now pulls into a Safe Parking L.A. lot each night to bed down.
Jefferies said she collects about $1,400 a month in Social Security, which isn’t enough to get her into an apartment. At the senior center, she uses her own equipment to make buttons that she sells on the Venice boardwalk, where she can make up to $200 on a good weekend.
But that’s still not enough to cover the cost of housing, she told me, and she’s given up on government help.
“All the funding has been cut, and I don’t know if it’s because a lot of the city and state funding is subsidized by the federal government. We all know Trump hates California,” she said.
As Veitzer put it: “There’s nowhere near enough low-income senior housing in L.A. County. Wait lists open up periodically,” with far more applicants than housing units. “And then they close.”
His agency delivers a daily meal to Vancie Davis, 73, who lives in a van at Penmar Park in Venice. Her next-door neighbor is her son, Thomas Williamson, 51, who lives in his car.
Davis was in the front seat of the van when I arrived, hugging her dog, Heart. Her left leg was amputated below the knee two years ago because of an infection, she told me.
Davis said she and another son were living in a trailer in Oregon, but the owner shut off the utilities and changed the locks. She said she reached out to Williamson, who told her, “I’ve got a van for you, so you’ll have a place to live, but it’s going to be rough. And it is. It’s very, very rough.”
I’ve heard so many variations of stories like these over the years, I’ve lost count.
The magnitude that exists in the wealthiest nation in history is a disgrace, and a sad commentary on an economic system and public policy that have served to widen, rather than narrow, the inequity gap.
On Thursday, Trump’s executive order on homelessness grabbed headlines but will do nothing for Jane Jefferies or Vancie Davis and for thousands like them. We know the interventions that can work, Kushel said, but with deep cuts in the works, we’re moving in the wrong direction.
Davis’ son Thomas told Times photographer Genaro Molina about another person who lives in a vehicle and has been a neighbor of theirs in the parking lot.
LAS VEGAS — Wearing horn-rimmed glasses, a light blue suit with a UCLA lapel pin and tan wingtips, Nico Iamaleava settled into his seat on an elevated platform in front of about 30 reporters.
“How’s everybody doing?” the new Bruins quarterback asked casually inside the convention center hall late Thursday afternoon, giving no hint that this was the most pressure he had faced since an attacking Ohio State defense sacked him four times in the opening round of the College Football Playoff.
These reporters were almost as relentless. For more than 25 minutes during the final Big Ten media day, they peppered Iamaleava with questions about his decision to leave Tennessee on the eve of its spring game for a program with a lesser pedigree, prompting UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar to take Iamaleava’s spot in what essentially amounted to a college football trade.
What was Iamaleava’s motivation in making his move? Was his dissatisfaction with Tennessee’s name, image and likeness package a factor? Did he have to take a pay cut to come to UCLA? What was it like dealing with the fallout from jilted Tennessee fans?
While failing to offer many specifics, Iamaleava patiently engaged every question, the Southern California native saying he was driven by a desire to play for a top program closer to his family in Long Beach.
“Ultimately,” the 6-foot-6 quarterback had told a small group of Los Angeles-based reporters earlier in the afternoon, “it came down to me wanting to be back home, you know, be back home next to my family while still competing at the highest level.”
In an exclusive interview with local media, Nico Iamaleava said he’s “never been pushed like this by a staff before,” in response to my question about his best moments at #UCLA so far. pic.twitter.com/ZEFITAg0Or
Iamaleava pinned the timing of his departure from Tennessee on “false reports” about financial demands that “made me not feel comfortable in the position I was in. But, you know, in the back of my head, I always wanted to come back home and be closer to my mom, be closer to my dad.” Tennessee was reportedly set to pay Iamaleava more than $2 million to play for the Volunteers this season.
Declining to discuss his new NIL deal at UCLA, Iamaleava said he was focused on football and academics while trying to revive a program that has not won a conference championship since 1998.
“The realistic expectation for us,” Iamaleava said, “is to bring championships back to Westwood, and, you know, the first day I stepped into the locker room, I felt that from every guy in there, that they’ve got a chip on their shoulder and that they want to go out there and prove people wrong.”
Iamaleava will have to do it wearing a new number after attempts to get his preferred No. 8 — retired in honor of Troy Aikman — failed, leaving him with No. 9. He said he’ll proudly wear the number to represent his seven siblings and two parents whom he credited for his humble nature.
One of those siblings is now a teammate. Freshman quarterback Madden Iamaleava, who verbally committed to UCLA before signing with Arkansas, flipped his allegiance back to the Bruins in the spring after his older brother decided to come home. Depending on how he fares in training camp, Madden could become Nico’s top backup.
“I think he’s ready, man,” Nico said of his sibling. “My little brother was a bonus from me, you know, for him to come home with me. And just being a helping hand to him in anything he needs, I think, was the biggest thing for me.”
If everything goes as planned, Nico acknowledged, his stay at UCLA will be a short one. Should the Bruins win a lot of games and Iamaleava further establish himself as a top NFL prospect, the redshirt sophomore will move on after this final college season.
“This is a year where, you know, I’m really trying to get out after,” Iamaleava said. “So, you know, I’m going to give my all to UCLA, and, you know, if I have the year I want, you know, I want to get out.”
Everything about Iamaleava’s stay might have an accelerated feel. He said he received the offensive playbook after signing in April and has participated in player-run practices since arriving on campus in June, quickly impressing his new teammates with not just his talent but also his savvy.
“He’s good at looking off people,” linebacker JonJon Vaughns said of Iamaleava’s ability to deceive a defense, “and his arm is big, it’s powerful.”
There will be no easing into a training camp that starts next Wednesday in Costa Mesa given that UCLA opens the season exactly one month later against Utah on Aug. 30 at the Rose Bowl. The strength staff has already provided Iamaleava an indication of the high expectations he’ll face on the field.
“I’ve never been pushed like this by a staff before,” Iamaleava said, “so I’m excited to go to work for these guys.”
Calling it “a fun challenge,” Iamaleava said he was trying to quickly absorb a pro-style offense that he described as “a little more condensed formations” than what he ran at Tennessee. The chance to play for offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri, who has a history of immediate success with new quarterbacks, has invigorated Iamaleava.
“He’s a high-energy guy,” Iamaleava said of Sunseri, “and I wanted to go play for him the first day I met him.”
Praising his entire wide receiving corps, Iamaleava said he had already developed good chemistry with Kwazi Gilmer, Mikey Matthews, Ezavier Staples and Titus Mokiao-Atimalala. He’s gotten to know the offensive linemen through a bowling outing that also included the quarterbacks.
“He’s a great person,” right tackle Garrett DiGiorgio said. “He’s got a good heart, and he really cares.”
Not always. Iamaleava said he tuned out social media during his departure from Tennessee, shielding himself from the vitriol. He found solace in video games such as NBA 2K25 and UFC.
“I was playing a lot of video games with my friends and my cousins, man, and, you know, really paid no mind to it,” he said. “Sometimes I had no idea [what was happening]; my cousins would come and tell me about stuff they would see and I was like, ‘I don’t care.’ So, you know, I think a lot of that just comes with, you know, protecting your peace.”
Later, as he rose from the platform and thanked reporters, Iamaleava appeared fully zen. After all the speculation about his future, he’ll have the final say on the field.
After signing an online petition, a Palestinian man spirals into self-doubt and anxiety.
I Signed the Petition is a documentary short that captures the filmmaker’s candid phone conversation with a friend, as the pair dissect and question what it means to publicly back the cultural boycott of Israel.
Includes historical archival footage from 1950, taken from Sands of Sorrow, a film produced by the Council for the Relief of Palestine Arab Refugees.
The Valdai Discussion Club, in partnership with the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), will hold the 3rd Russian-African conference titled “Realpolitik in a Divided World: Rethinking Russia-South Africa Ties in a Global and African Context” in late July 2025. The primary goal of the conference is to form and expand communities of African and Russian experts interested in cooperation, the confidential discussion of the most pressing international issues, and the preparation of recommendations for practical foreign policy work.
It is no coincidence that South Africa has been chosen as the venue for the Valdai’s conference. In 2025, South Africa chairs the G20 summit. In preparation for the upcoming late July conference, Steven Gruzd, Head of the African Governance and Diplomacy Programme and the Africa-Russia Project at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), offers an insight into the current Russia-South Africa relations, the United States trade issues with Africa, and Africa’s future prospects in this rapidly changing world. Here are the interview excerpts:
The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) will host the 3rd Russian-African conference of the Valdai Discussion Club in South Africa. Within the context of the shifting geopolitics, what would you say, in terms of current Russia-South Africa relations, its status and prospects, as one of the themes for discussion?
Steven Gruzd: SAIIA looks forward to co-hosting the Third Russian-African Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club later in July 2025. We believe that it is important to interact and engage with a variety of actors in a balanced and nuanced way. We do not believe that academic boycotts are constructive.
The event is being held against the backdrop of rapidly shifting global geopolitics and the erosion of the “rules-based international order,” as nationalism is reasserted and conflicts endure in the Great Lakes in East-Central Africa and in the Middle East.
South Africa has maintained good relations with Russia throughout the last decade, although trade remains at a relatively low level and there is much scope to improve it. Diplomatically, relations are warm and constructive, and have been enhanced by regular interaction between the two countries in both BRICS and the G20. South Africa has tried to play a mediating role in Russia’s war with Ukraine, but here it has been one voice among many and does not have much concrete to show for these efforts, as the war rages on. Nevertheless, it remains a key driver of the African Peace Initiative. At the UN, most of South Africa’s votes on the Russia-Ukraine war have been abstentions, in line with its declared non-aligned stance.
To what degree are the few points raised above influencing or reshaping Russian-African relations? Do you also think Russia is rivaling and competing with its own BRICS members, for instance, China and India, across the continent?
SG: Russia-Africa relations have been steadily growing, as the two well-attended Russia-Africa Summits in 2019 and 2023 attest to. As Russia has faced sanctions and been shunned by the West, it has sought new markets and to strengthen ties with the Global South, including in Africa. Russia supported the membership of Egypt and Ethiopia to become full BRICS members at the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg. The 2024 BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, was successful and added Algeria, Nigeria, and Uganda as “partner countries.” This was an important occasion for Russia to show that it was not internationally isolated and could still rely on many countries as friends.
The operations of the Wagner Group, especially in the Sahel, have been gradually subsumed under the Africa Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Russia has been strengthening bilateral relations with many African countries and is looking to provide peaceful-use nuclear technology to about 20 African countries. It is heavily involved in the building of a nuclear energy plant in Dabaa, Egypt.
Russia’s BRICS partners—China and India, but also the UAE and Saudi Arabia—are active on the African continent, but at this stage it seems that all are able to achieve their strategic objectives in Africa without coming into conflict with one another.
Do you view South Africa’s G20 presidency as a unique factor for fighting neo-colonialism and Western hegemony and for addressing thorny trade issues with the United States?
SG: South Africa’s G20 presidency is important. It remains the only African member state of the G20, although the African Union has joined as a full member since 2023. This is the first time that the G20 is hosted in Africa. As the president, South Africa has the ability to influence the G20’s agenda. It is the fourth developing country in a row to host the G20—after Indonesia (2022), India (2023), and Brazil (2024). It has continued several of the initiatives of these Global South states in its focus. South Africa’s priorities include strengthening disaster resilience and response, ensuring debt sustainability for low-income countries, mobilizing finance for a just energy transition, and harnessing critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development. The aim is for a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient global economy.
So far, the US has not sent its top leaders to preparatory meetings in South Africa, and there is doubt whether US President Donald Trump will attend the G20 Summit in November. This threatened to damage South Africa’s leadership, but the other G20 members have rallied to support South Africa.
I do not think that the G20 is the venue to “fight neo-colonialism, Western hegemony, and trade issues with the United States,” or at least not in using that language. I think BRICS may be a more appropriate platform to air these issues. South Africa will nevertheless push the concerns of the Global South this year.
Can South Africa’s presidency change perceptions of the G20’s role in global politics and its invaluable contributions to Africa’s development?
SG: I believe South Africa is doing well in its G20 stewardship so far and will hopefully host a successful summit, which has become especially challenging in the current geopolitical environment. If Trump does not attend, it will be damaging to the G20, particularly because the US is the host for 2026. South Africa’s relations with the US have deteriorated, including over Trump’s views on the treatment of white farmers, the expulsion of Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool from Washington, and threatened high tariffs, among many other issues.
The summit will hopefully showcase South Africa and change perceptions about failed or failing African states. South Africa remains a key player in Africa, contributing to the continent’s development through peace efforts, trade, and political interactions.
But I also think South Africa should be and has been modest in its expectations of what the G20 can do during any one-year presidency. The G20 remains one of the few forums where Russia and the West still sit around the same table, and it has been challenging to reach consensus.
South-South cooperation is frequently resonating, as is the United States skipping the G20, Trump, and the new world architecture featuring in bilateral and multilateral discussions. Can African leaders change attitudes and face geopolitical development realities? Can Africa remain non-aligned? What then can we expect as future prospects, especially for Africa?
SG: There is no doubt that South-South cooperation is happening and being talked about more and more, and it is set to continue. The global environment is subject to profound geopolitical tensions, not least due to Trump’s “America First” policies, including high trade tariffs. The entire world of development assistance or foreign aid is likewise undergoing far-reaching changes. Trump has destroyed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), putting at risk or shutting down countless development projects in Africa. European countries—for a long time generous donors to Africa—are diverting billions of euros in development funding to defense and dealing with migration-related issues.
African countries will be under continual pressure to “pick a side” in what some have called the “New Cold War,” and for the most part they will continue to assert their non-aligned stances. How long they can continue on this path is unclear. And many say they are non-aligned but continue to lean closer to either the West or China and Russia in reality. African leaders are having to adjust to a rapidly changing and uncertain world, the contours of which are not entirely clear at this point. African leaders have been forced to deal with a world with less aid. Hopefully this will encourage African states to be more self-reliant, curb corruption, and pursue their national interests.
AN ‘unbelievable’ horse and serial Cheltenham winner has made a shock stable switch from Paul Nicholls to Nicky Henderson.
Ginny’s Destiny, owned by Gordan and Su Hall, was second in the 2024 Turners Novices’ Chase won by Grey Dawning.
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Paul Nicholls had a successful working relationship with Gordon and Su Hall, who have now decided to send some of their horses to Nicky Henderson insteadCredit: PA
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Ginny’s Destiny loved Cheltenham and almost won a Grade 1 Festival chase there – but now he is trained by Nicky Henderson having left Paul Nicholls’ Ditcheat baseCredit: Getty
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Gordon and Su Hall have decided to switch some of their horses aroundCredit: Alamy
Prior to that he had won three times in a row at the home of jumps, rocketing up the ratings from 133 to 155.
With more than £150,000 in career earnings, the nine-year-old has more than paid his way for his popular owners.
But the Halls have decided now is the time to move on and have sent him to Henderson instead.
The horse’s updated page on the BHA showed he moved to the Seven Barrows handler earlier this week.
Ginny’s Destiny had been with 14-time champion trainer Nicholls since July 2023, having previously been with Tom Lacey for just shy of three years before that.
Promising bumper winner Act Of Innocence is another of the Hall horses on his way to Henderson.
The five-year-old gelding looks like he could be set for a season novice hurdling after winning at Taunton when last seen in March.
Don’t Tell Su, a 118-rated hurdler and novice chaser has also gone to Henderson.
While £100,000 Old Park Star, who Nicholls bought alongside Tom Malone in June 2023, will now be trained by Henderson too.
Gordon, who runs a construction company, and Su have been labelled the ‘luckiest owners in racing’.
Their first horse together was Truckers Lodge, an eight-time winner who finished second in the 2019 Grand National and won the 2023 London National under Nicholls’ expert care.
Owners Neil and Alfie Smith have moved Scottish Champion Hurdle runner-up Kabral Du Mathan to Dan Skelton from Nicholls.
While the Ditcheat boss has been busy stocking up his squad with some eyecatching purchases, including the hugely promising £260,000 Gold Cast.
Henderson is starting to welcome some of his horses back from their summer break.
He recently posted a photo of Constitution Hill alongside Sir Gino.
Both stars will be on recovery missions in the new season.
Constitution Hill looked nothing like the breathtaking Champion Hurdle winner when falling twice last season.
While Sir Gino was forced to miss Cheltenham after one of his legs suffered a nasty infection.
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