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Sonia Dhamani, a fierce critic of President Kais Saied, has criticised him for practices against refugees and migrants.

A Tunisian court has sentenced Sonia Dhamani, a prominent lawyer and renowned critic of President Kais Saied, to two years in jail, lawyers have said, in a case that rights groups say marks a deepening crackdown on dissent in the North African country.

Dhamani’s lawyers withdrew from the trial after the judge refused to adjourn the session on Monday, claiming Dhamani was being tried twice for the same act.

The court sentenced Dhamani for statements criticising practices against refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

Lawyer Bassem Trifi said the verdict was “a grave injustice”.

“What’s happening is a farce. Sonia is being tried twice for the same statement,” said lawyer Sami Ben Ghazi, another lawyer for Dhamani.

Dhamani was arrested last year after making comments during a television appearance that questioned the government’s stance on undocumented African refugees and migrants in Tunisia.

The case was brought under the nation’s controversial cybercrime law, Decree 54, which has been widely condemned by international and local rights groups.

Most opposition leaders, some journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned since Saied seized control of most powers, dissolved the elected parliament, and began ruling by decree in 2021 – moves the opposition has described as a coup.

Saied rejects the charges and says his actions are legal and aimed at ending years of chaos and rampant corruption.

Human rights groups and activists say Saied has turned Tunisia into an open-air prison and is using the judiciary and police to target his political opponents.

Saied rejects these accusations, saying he will not be a dictator and seeks to hold everyone accountable equally, regardless of their position or name.

Earlier this year, the country carried out a mass trial in which dozens of defendants were handed jail terms of up to 66 years. Critics denounced the trial as politically motivated and baseless.

The defendants faced charges including “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group”, according to their lawyers.

Among those targeted were figures from what was once the biggest party, Ennahda, such as the leader and former Speaker of Parliament Rached Ghannouchi, former Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, and former Minister of Justice Noureddine Bhiri.

Tunisia had been celebrated as perhaps the only democratic success of the 2011 “Arab Spring” revolutions, with strong political engagement among its public and civil society members, who frequently took to the airwaves and streets to make their voices heard.

The years that followed the revolution, which overthrew long-time autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, saw the growth of a healthy political system with numerous elections declared free and fair by international observers.

But a weak economy and the strengthening of anti-democratic forces led to a pushback, capped off by Saied’s dismissal of the government and dissolution of parliament.

A proposal to tax remittances sent by individuals without Social Security numbers has passed the House and is now before the Senate. At 3.5%, the levy was initially expected to raise $26 billion over the next decade.

Changes made by the Senate on Saturday greatly narrowed the scope, so the tax would be 1%, and the yield only $10 billion over the next decade. However, the goals have remained the same: deter undocumented migration and recoup funds from those working outside legal status who send money to their families back home.

It might seem like easy money to tax migrants, but that doesn’t make it smart policy. The proposed tax risks undermining both financial transparency and national security. The policy would push billions of dollars into unregulated channels such as cryptocurrency exchanges, make law enforcement’s job harder and ultimately hurt the very communities the United States seeks to stabilize abroad for geopolitical reasons.

The U.S. is the world’s largest source of remittances, and Mexico has the highest dependency on them; 97% of the money Mexican expats send back home comes from the States ($64.75 billion in 2024). A 1% tax on remittances to Mexico alone could take much-needed funds away from migrants and their families and divert it to the state. While this might sound like a straightforward revenue win, the real-world impacts are more complicated and the slippery slope of allowing for remittance tax can have unintended negative consequences for everyone.

First, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has already condemned the measure and said the government will “mobilize” against it. Other countries across Latin America and Southeast Asia, where remittances account for as much as 25% of GDP, are sounding alarms. The U.S. has long relied on economic diplomacy to build goodwill, and taxing remittances could erode that, making it harder to partner on border security, anti-trafficking efforts and the war on drugs.

Next, taxing formal transfers doesn’t stop people from sending money home, it just changes how they send it. And often, the next-best option is far worse. In states like Oklahoma, even modest fees led to a surge in informal money transfers. Similarly, the proposed federal tax, which some lawmakers have said should be up to 15%, is going to push migrants to remit through alternative systems including Chinese- or Russian-owned fintech companies, crypto platforms and cash-based means that operate outside the formal financial system. These underground methods are notoriously difficult to monitor and are exploited for money laundering, organized crime and terrorism financing. While most migrants are simply trying to support their families, moving funds through black market systems exposes them to the risk of being unknowingly entangled in illicit activity.

Federal agencies and academic experts have long cautioned that informal remittance systems complicate efforts to track illicit financial flows. When remittances are pushed out of the formal system, it becomes significantly harder to enforce safeguards designed to prevent money from being diverted to criminal or extremist actors. A federal remittance tax risks accelerating this shift underground, weakening oversight and inadvertently expanding a shadow market where the lines between legitimate and illegitimate transfers are increasingly blurred.

Meanwhile, enforcing such a policy brings its own set of problems. To begin, it outsources immigration enforcement to banks and wire services. A clerk at Western Union could soon be legislated to ask whether a sender has a Social Security number, flag suspicious transfers and carry out new compliance systems. These are all new responsibilities that might lead to an increase of transfer fees, which in the U.S. are already around 6%, increasing the burden on senders. Thus, the tax is a costly and complex undertaking — one that will affect legal residents and U.S. citizens, who even though not subject to the federal tax would still be paying the higher fees to subsidize companies’ compliance.

None of this excuses illegal migration. The U.S. has a right and responsibility to enforce its laws and protect its borders. But not every enforcement tool is effective, and they all deserve scrutiny.

Take the hypothetical example of a grandmother living in Arroyo Seco, Mexico, where one in four households receives U.S. remittances and remittance flows supersede the annual municipal budget. Her son, an undocumented migrant in the U.S., sends $400 a month to help with rent, medication and her grandchildren’s basic needs. An almost 10% levy (combining the proposed tax and transfer fees) would claw back $40 monthly, enough to force her to skip medication for herself or meals for the children. Multiply this story by millions, and you begin to see that this kind of economic destabilization doesn’t just erode household resilience but also weakens entire communities, fuels migration pressures and creates openings for criminal networks and authoritarian states to exploit financial desperation.

Taxing remittances won’t reduce undocumented migration but could fuel more. And it will drive flows underground, forcing families to rely on riskier and less accountable financial channels — such as unlicensed money transmitters operating through apps like WeChat Pay, which lack consumer protections and operate under opaque governance frameworks tied to foreign state interests. It will also burden and disincentivize the very institutions that make lawful transactions possible.

While the remittance tax might score political points, the long-term risk as well as geopolitical and institutional damages might not be worth the $10 billion.

Yvonne Su is the director of the Centre for Refugee Studies and an assistant professor of equity studies at York University in Toronto.

Authorities say forecasters cannot rule out a repeat of extreme weather like the devastating floods of 2022.

Nearly a week of heavy monsoon rains and flash floods across Pakistan have killed at least 46 people and injured dozens, officials say.

The government announced the death toll on Monday and said the fatalities were caused by several days of abnormally strong downpours.

They included 22 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan, 13 in the eastern province of Punjab, seven in Sindh in the south and four in Balochistan in the southwest, the National Disaster Management Authority and provincial emergency officials said.

“We are expecting above-normal rains during the monsoon season, and alerts have been issued to the concerned authorities to take precautionary measures,” Irfan Virk, a deputy director of Pakistan’s Meteorological Department, told The Associated Press news agency.

Virk said forecasters cannot rule out a repeat of extreme weather like the devastating floods in 2022.

Severe rains then inundated a third of the country, killing 1,737 people and causing widespread destruction.

The deaths from the past week include 13 tourists from a family of 17 who were swept away on Friday. The other four family members were rescued from the flooded Swat River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Rescuers found 12 bodies from the family, and divers continued searching on Monday for the remaining victim, said Bilal Faizi, a provincial emergency service spokesman.

The incident drew widespread condemnation online over what many called a slow response by emergency services.

On Sunday, the National Disaster Management Authority had warned of potential hazards and advised people against crossing rivers and streams.

Former world number one upset by Benjamin Bonzi of France on day one of third Grand Slam of the year.

Former United States Open champion Daniil Medvedev has suffered a shock first-round defeat at Wimbledon at the hands of France’s Benjamin Bonzi.

Medvedev had reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the past two years, but the Russian’s bid for another strong run at the All England Club came to an abrupt end on Monday at the hands of the world number 64.

Bonzi beat ninth-seeded Medvedev 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in three hours and seven minutes in sweltering conditions on Court Two.

It was the first time in seven Wimbledon appearances that Medvedev failed to advance past the opening round.

Medvedev, a six-time Grand Slam finalist, has endured a dismal year at the majors, losing in the second round of the Australian Open and first round of the French Open before his Wimbledon flop.

The 29-year-old, who won the US Open in 2021, defeated top-seeded Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year before losing to defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.

“This is my first top-10 win at a slam. Obviously, it is always special at this tournament,” Bonzi said.

“I love this place, so it’s very special, and Daniil is a great player. He has reached two semifinals here.

“I knew it was a tough match, but sometimes it is better to play this kind of player in the first round. Anything can happen, so I’m very happy with the win.”

Beijing’s remarks come after Ottawa announced it would cease all Canadian operations of the company.

Canada’s request for Chinese surveillance equipment firm Hikvision to close local operations will “damage” bilateral trade, complicating recent efforts to improve ties between the countries, China’s Ministry of Commerce has said.

Beijing’s remarks came on Monday after Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly announced last week on the social media platform X that Hikvision Canada Inc had been ordered to cease all operations due to concerns their continuation would be “injurious” to the country’s security.

Her statement on Friday did not provide details on the alleged threat posed by Hikvision products, but said departments and agencies would be prohibited from using them, and that the government is “conducting a review of existing properties to ensure that legacy Hikvision products are not used going forward”.

China’s Commerce Ministry responded by accusing Ottawa of “over-generalising national security”, stating: “China is strongly dissatisfied.”

“This not only undermines the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and affects the confidence of companies from both countries in cooperation, but also disrupts and damages the normal economic and trade cooperation between China and Canada,” the statement read.

“China urges Canada to immediately correct its wrong practices,” it added.

Hangzhou-based Hikvision is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of security cameras and other surveillance products, but it has faced scrutiny abroad for its role in Beijing’s alleged rights abuses against the Muslim minority Uighur population.

The United States included Hikvision in a 2019 blacklist of Chinese entities it said were implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.

The latest disagreement represents an early test for China-Canada relations after Prime Minister Mark Carney surged to electoral victory in April.

China said in response to the election result that Beijing was willing to improve ties with Ottawa, a relationship rocked in recent years by a range of thorny issues.

The arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive on a US warrant in Vancouver in December 2018 and Beijing’s retaliatory detention of two Canadians on espionage charges plunged relations into a deep freeze.

Ties were further strained over allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections in 2019 and 2021, charges Beijing has denied.

Joly had said the decision to ban Hikvision had been reached following a “multi-step review” of information provided by the Canadian security and intelligence community.

Republicans in the US are trying to get President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax and spending bill passed by the Senate despite opposition from Democrats, who say it will be the most expensive bill in history while giving benefits to the wealthy.

Britain’s High Court has ruled that the government’s decision to allow the export of Lockheed Martin F-35 jet parts to Israel is lawful despite accepting that they could be used in breach of international humanitarian law.

In a 72-page ruling on Monday, Judges Stephen Males and Karen Steyn said the case was about a “much more focused issue” than just the jet parts.

“That issue is whether it is open to the court to rule that the UK must withdraw from a specific multilateral defence collaboration … because of the prospect that some UK-manufactured components will or may ultimately be supplied to Israel, and may be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law in the conflict in Gaza,” the ruling said.

“Under our constitution, that acutely sensitive and political issue is a matter for the executive, which is democratically accountable to Parliament and ultimately to the electorate, not for the courts,” it added.

Currently, the United Kingdom contributes components for F-35s to an international defence programme that produces the bombers.

But Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq, based in the occupied West Bank, took legal action in January against the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) over its decision to exempt the parts when it suspended some export licences in September last year.

During a hearing in May, Al-Haq said the government’s decision to send the jet parts was unlawful as it “gives rise to a significant risk of facilitating crime”.

The same month, Defence Secretary John Healey said suspending it would affect the “whole F-35 programme” and have a “profound impact on international peace and security”.

After Monday’s ruling, Shawan Jabarin, the chief of Al-Haq, said, “Despite the outcome of today, this case has centred the voice of the Palestinian people and has rallied significant public support, and it is just the start.”

“By exposing serious government failings in facilitating international crimes against Palestinians through its arms exports, civil society and human rights organisations have achieved a crucial breakthrough, and we will continue to persevere in the UK and beyond until governments are held accountable, Israel’s impunity is challenged and justice for the Palestinian people is realised,” he added.

‘Knock on effect’

Reporting from London, Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic said the building of an F-35 fighter jet is part of a “global programme” where many nations build different parts, and they are all manufactured in different countries.

“Britain makes about 15 percent of each F-35 jet, however, it doesn’t make those parts specifically for Israel,” Veselinovic explained.

“So, what the UK was arguing is that if they stop those parts from being exported that could have a knock on effect on the entire international programme, it would impact the supply chain, it would impact on their NATO allies, even on the ability, they said, for Ukraine to defend itself from Russia’s invasion,” she said.

However, Al-Haq has argued that by building the parts for the global pool, the UK was in breach of international law, including the Geneva Convention, due to the use of the weapons in Gaza.

“But the High Court sided with the government rejecting that and did accept the UK’s argument that this was a strategic objective despite acknowledging that it could mean that the UK is also in breach of international law,” Veselinovic added.

Export licences

In September last year, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that the government was suspending about 30 of 350 export licences of items used during Israel’s war in Gaza after a review of its compliance with international humanitarian law.

However, according to global advocacy organisation Oxfam International, which joined Al-Haq’s case against the DBT, the partial ban did not include British-made F-35 parts, including refuelling probes, laser targeting systems, tyres and ejector seats.

Moreover, a report by pro-Palestine activist groups found in May that despite the suspension, military items have continued to be exported to Israel.

Since the war began in October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed at least 56,500 people and wounded 133,419 others.

Video shows the aftermath of a deadly Israeli strike on Evin Prison in Tehran, that killed at least 71 people, including visiting women and children. The prison, known for holding political prisoners, was hit just a day before a ceasefire ended 12 days of fighting initiated by Israeli strikes.

Izmir’s airport suspends flights, and authorities evacuate residents as strong winds fan blaze in the western province.

Turkiye has evacuated four villages and two neighbourhoods in its western province of Izmir as firefighters battle wildfires for the second day, according to local authorities.

Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said on Monday that the blaze was fanned overnight by winds reaching 40-50kmph (25-30mph) in Kuyucak and Doganbey areas of Izmir.

Helicopters, fire-extinguishing aircraft and other vehicles, and more than 1,000 people were trying to extinguish the fires, Yumakli told reporters in Izmir.

Operations at Izmir Adnan Menderes airport were suspended due to the fire, Turkish media reported.

Media footage showed teams using tractors with water trailers and helicopters carrying water, as smoke billowed over hills marked with charred trees.

Earlier, strong winds grounded the helicopters, leaving two water-bombing aircraft and a large ground crew struggling to battle the flames.

The first fire broke out on Sunday between the districts of Seferihisar and Menderes in Izmir, spreading swiftly due to winds of up to 117kmph (75mph), according to Governor Suleyman Elban.

Five neighbourhoods in Seferihisar have been evacuated as the fire approaches residential areas, the governor added.

Residents in the village of Urkmez were forced to cut trees to create firebreaks and protect their homes, a witness told the AFP news agency over the phone.

A separate blaze ignited at a landfill in Gaziemir, 13km (8 miles) from central Izmir, spreading to nearby woodland and threatening the Otokent industrial zone, home to several car dealerships.

One dealership was seen ablaze in footage broadcast by Turkish channel NTV.

Turkiye’s coastal regions have in recent years been ravaged by wildfires, as summers have become hotter and drier, which scientists relate to climate change. Last year, the same area in Izmir was also hit by a massive wildfire.

Elsewhere

Across Southern Europe, firefighters were also mobilised as people sought shelter from the punishing temperatures of a heatwave that is set to intensify in the coming days.

In France, wildfires broke out in the Corbieres area of Aude in the southwest, where temperatures topped 40C (104F), forcing the evacuation of a campsite and abbey as a precaution.

Last week, Greek firefighters had to battle a forest blaze on the coast south of Athens that forced some evacuations.

Several areas in the southern half of Portugal, including Lisbon, were also under a red warning until Monday night, said the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere.

Kootenai County Sheriff says law enforcement officials are taking sniper fire as they hunt for the killer.

At least two people have been killed in the United States after a gunman shot at firefighters responding to a blaze in the state of Idaho, according to officials.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said that crews responded to a fire at Canfield Mountain, just north of the city of Coeur d’Alene, at about 1:30pm (19:30 GMT) on Sunday, and gunshots were reported about a half hour later.

Sheriff Bob Norris said officials believe the two people killed were fire personnel. He did not know if anyone else was shot.

The sheriff said it was not immediately clear if there was one gunman or more, and urged the public to stay clear of the area.

“We don’t know how many suspects are up there, and we don’t know how many casualties there are,” Norris told reporters. “We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak.”

The Canfield Mountain, an area popular with hikers, is located near Coeur d’Alene, a city of 57,000 people about 260 miles (420 km) east of Seattle in Washington state.

Norris said the shooter or shooters were using high-powered sporting rifles to fire rapidly at first responders, and that the perpetrators “are not, at this time, showing any evidence of wanting to surrender”.

The sheriff said it appeared the attacker was hiding in the rugged terrain and using a high-powered rifle. He said he has instructed deputies to fire back.

“If these individuals are not neutralised quickly, this is going to be likely a multi-day operation,” he added.

Idaho Governor Brad Little said “multiple” firefighters were attacked.

“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” he said on X. “I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”

Little did not give further details on any casualties or how the incident unfolded.

“As this situation is still developing, please stay clear from the area to allow law enforcement and firefighters to do their jobs,” Little added.

Law enforcement is investigating whether the fire could have been intentionally set to lure first responders to the scene, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Jeff Howard told ABC News.

The broadcaster reported that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been briefed on the shooting.

The FBI said it has sent technical teams and tactical support to the scene.

“It remains an active, and very dangerous scene,” the agency’s deputy director, Dan Bongino, wrote in a post on X.

Gun ownership is widespread in the US, where the country’s Constitution protects the rights of Americans to “keep and bear arms”.

Deaths related to gun violence are common. At least 17,927 people were murdered by a gun in 2023 in the US, according to the most recent available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Legal woes hang over the former president, who has called for several demonstrations in support of himself in recent months.

Facing serious legal jeopardy with potentially years of incarceration over an alleged coup plot being tried by the nation’s Supreme Court, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has attended a protest by his supporters.

Around 2,000 people attended the rally on Sunday in Sao Paolo.

On Saturday night, the far-right ex-leader told his followers on the AuriVerde Brasil YouTube channel that “Brazil needs all of us. It’s for freedom, for justice”. He urged supporters to march through Sao Paulo’s Paulista Avenue on Sunday.

“This is a call for us to show strength … this massive presence will give us courage,” he declared.

In February, Bolsonaro, 70, who led the country from 2019 to 2022, was charged with five counts of planning to remain in power and overturn the 2022 election result, which current president, the left-wing Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, won. Thirty-three of Bolsonaro’s closest allies were also charged.

Earlier this month, Bolsonaro testified for the first time before the nation’s Supreme Court, denying any involvement in the alleged coup plot.

The Supreme Court headquarters in Brasilia was one of the targets of a rioting mob known as “Bolsonaristas” – who raided government buildings in January 2023 as they urged the military to oust President Lula, an insurrection attempt that evoked the supporters of Bolsonaro ally United States President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.

Police have referred to the demonstration as an uprising and an attempt to force military intervention and depose Lula.

Bolsonaro claims that the various cases against him are politically motivated, aimed at preventing him from making a comeback in the 2026 elections.

Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court ruled last year that due to an abuse of Bolsonaro’s political power and his baseless claims about the country’s electronic voting system, he would be banned from holding office until 2030.

‘An abominable thing’

Earlier this month, at Bolsonaro’s first testimony at the Supreme Court, the former president denied that there was a coup attempt.

“There was never any talk of a coup. A coup is an abominable thing,” Bolsonaro said.

“Brazil couldn’t go through an experience like that. And there was never even the possibility of a coup in my government.”

Bolsonaro was abroad in Florida in the US at the time of this last-gasp effort to keep him in power after the alleged coup planning fizzled. But his opponents have accused him of fomenting the rioting.

At the same time, Brazilian police have called for Bolsonaro to be separately charged with illegal espionage while president.

According to legal experts, the sentencing part of the coup plot case is expected in the second half of the year. If convicted, Bolsonaro could face up to 12 years in prison.

During his legal troubles, the former president has called for several protests, but his appearances at them have declined in recent months, as have the crowds.

According to estimates by the University of Sao Paulo, about 45,000 people took part in the most recent march on Paulista Avenue in April, almost four times fewer than in February.

Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, a former Bolsonaro minister, is a top candidate to represent the conservatives in the 2026 presidential election.

ITV have reportedly made a huge move to sign up two actors with great ‘charisma’ to present a brand new gameshow to be aired on Saturday nights

TV fans are set for a real treat with ITV’s latest gameshow signings, according to reports. It’s suggested the channel is to welcome an “amazing duo on-screen” to front a new gameshow.

Claims suggest the top secret new Saturday evening show is set to air next year. And at the helm is said to be Rivals duo Danny Dyer and Emily Atack.

The former EastEnders man, 47, and star of The Inbetweeners, 35, will reportedly start filming to project later this year. It comes after their successful performance on Disney+’s Rivals.

The series, based on Jilly Cooper’s bonkbuster books, was well received by fans and saw the duo roundly praised for their roles. Now, a source has claimed it’s this accoladed that had the ITV bosses clamouring to sign the duo.

Speaking to the Sun, a source said: “Bosses have been impressed with Danny and Emily’s charisma on Rivals and thought they’d make an amazing duo on-screen to freshen up their entertainment talent.

“They’re an unlikely pair but have appeared on a few panel shows together and have plenty of fun energy that is perfect for the tone that ITV want to set. Producers are keen to trial new presenting partnerships to get people talking, and both Emily and Danny have huge appeal.”

And they added: “ITV is constantly trying to create the next big show and duo. It’s about getting the chemistry just right.”

It continues Danny’s huge life turnaround. The actor has been open about his previous struggles in recent years. He revealed the moment of clarity to make a change to his life after he was “slowly killing himself” as he was “off his head” after the National TV Awards.

Looking back at his plight with interviewer Louis Theroux, Danny said previously he knew he was “destroying himself” and his career. And he admitted that at the time he was on EastEnders playing Mick Carter, but he would head into rehab in Cape Town in 2016.

He said: “I had a moment of clarity where I had been on it all night after the NTAs. I think I’d won and that’s always on like a Tuesday or something and I had to go to work. There’s another thing with EastEnders, is that they go, yeah, come celebrate NTAs, but you are up at seven in the morning. So anyway, I’d just overdone it again and I just could not work out how to get my jeans on.

“I was just sitting on my ensuite toilet trying to work out what leg goes in what, and I don’t why. I’ve sort of had many of them moments over the years of me being completely off my head.

” But that one really resonated with me. It was more because I looked up, my wife was just watching me and she looked shattered and she looked ill.”

As he continued to open up about the moment, he then revealed he made the decision to go to rehab in Cape Town after this awards show after-party at his house.

Dad-of-three Danny also previously told the BBC receiving a letter from his daughter Dani while at a rehab facility in 2016 was what convinced him to continue his treatment.

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US president denies multiple reports and accounts that say US strikes did not destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

United States President Donald Trump has reiterated a vow not to allow Iran to get nuclear weapons following the end of Iran and Israel’s recent 12-day conflict, in which the US militarily intervened, and has stuck closely to his narrative as questions remain about the impact of US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.

On the Fox News programme Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Trump repeated his claim that Iran was “weeks away” from making the weapons before Israel attacked on June 13. Nine days later, the US targeted Iran’s top three nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

Both US intelligence and the United Nations nuclear watchdog have ascertained that Tehran was not building a nuclear arsenal. Iran has long insisted that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only.

While Trump has said that the sites were “obliterated” by the US bombers, in the wake of the attacks, several major news organisations, citing intelligence sources, have reported that the US strikes did not destroy the facilities.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Monday that it was unclear what damage had been sustained at the Fordow plant, which houses the bulk of Iran’s most highly enriched uranium needed to make a nuclear weapon.

On Sunday, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said Iran could restart uranium enrichment in a matter of months, while Trump insisted over the weekend that the attacks had set Iran’s nuclear ambitions back “by decades”.

According to an IAEA report last month, Iran has more than 400kg (880lb) of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent purity, close to the roughly 90 per cent weapons grade – which is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons.

Trump told Fox News that the news outlets questioning the efficacy of the attacks he ordered and lauded were spreading “fake news”.

“It’s just horrible and I could see it happening, and they [news outlets] tried to build that into a story, but then it turned out, no, it was obliterated like nobody has ever seen before and that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions at least for a period of time,” Trump said.

On whether or not Iran would restart its nuclear programme following the end of the conflict, Trump said, “The last thing they want to do right now is think about nuclear.”

During the attack on the sites, reports emerged that Iran had removed the enriched uranium from Fordow, but Trump claimed that was false.

“It’s a very hard thing to do, plus we didn’t give them much notice because they didn’t know we were coming until just then and nobody thought we would go after that site because everybody said that site was impenetrable… it’s at the bottom of a mountain and it’s granite,” he said.

“[But] the bomb went through it like butter, like it was absolute butter,” he said.

Trade talks

Separately, Trump told Fox that US trade talks with Canada would be stopped “until such time as they drop certain taxes” after Canada pushed ahead with a new digital services tax on foreign and domestic technology companies.

Regarding a trade deal with China, Trump said that while Washington, DC has a large trade deficit with Beijing, the US was currently “getting along” with China.

The president added that he had found a buyer for the social media platform TikTok, by a group of “very wealthy people”, who he will reveal in about two weeks after he extended a ban on the app for the third time, for another 90 days.

In 1944, amid the harsh glare of Jim Crow, 14-year-old George Stinney Jr. was strapped into South Carolina’s electric chair after a trial that lasted just a single day. With no physical evidence, no defense witnesses, and an all-white jury that deliberated for ten minutes, he was convicted of murdering two white girls. Nearly seven decades later, a judge threw out the verdict.

In this episode:
– Matthew Burgess, Criminal Defence Attorney
– Dr Melanie Holmes, Assistant Professor of African American Studies

When The Hunger Games books came out in the late 2000s to much acclaim, probably few readers expected scenes from these dystopian novels would take place in the world they live in. But they now do – here in Gaza, every day.

We have been suffering under a full Israeli blockade since the beginning of March. Starvation has spread over the entire strip. Most families have just one meal per day. Some do not eat at all for days.

In late May, the United States- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began limited aid deliveries to the strip. Since then, Palestinians have been forced into a deadly game to secure some food.

None of my family members has dared go to a GHF aid distribution point, but some of my neighbours and friends have. All I have heard from them are horror stories.

The first time we heard about the aid zone that the Israelis call the “Netzarim Corridor”, we imagined there would be tents, queues, order. But those who risked going there found only chaos and death.

The aid distribution takes place in a fenced area near Salah al-Din Street, close to the eastern edge of Gaza – in a zone so dangerous, locals call it the death corridor.  It is surrounded by sand and guarded by foreign military contractors. There are Israeli tanks and soldiers stationed nearby.

There is no clear schedule for the aid deliveries. Sometimes, the GHF opens the gates at 4am and sometimes later. Palestinians wait starting at sunset the night before.

When the gates finally open, the crowd floods in. There are no queues, no staff, no signs. Just noise, dust and fear.

Overhead, drones circle like vultures. Then, a voice from a loudspeaker shouts: “Four minutes! Take what you can!”

Food boxes are left in the middle of the sand, but there is not enough of them. They are never enough. People rush towards the pile, shoving and climbing over each other. They push each other. Knives come out. Fistfights erupt. Children scream. Men fall. Women crawl through the sand. Few people are the lucky ones who are able to grab a box and hold onto it. Then gunfire starts. The sandy square becomes a killing field.

People run for their lives. Many get hit. Some manage to crawl out with injuries. Others are carried by friends or relatives or even strangers. Others bleed alone into the sand.

Since the end of May, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed when the Israeli army has opened indiscriminate fire on people gathered to try to get aid. More than 4,000 have been wounded.

Subhi, the father of my friend Nour, was one of them. The family had no food left, so he felt compelled to risk his life to get some aid. On the morning of June 14, he left for the aid hub in Netzarim. He never came back.

Nour told me how they waited by the door. Hours passed. No word. No call. The internet was cut. The silence was unbearable. Then suddenly, they heard the sound of shooting in the distance. They immediately knew something had gone wrong, but they had no way to reach him.

Later, paramedics found his body. He was killed while trying to carry a bag of food home to his children.

Another friend, Hala, told me the story of another victim of the GHF death trap, Khamis, the brother-in-law of her sister. He had been married for just two years and had no children yet, but he carried the weight of an entire household on his back. He had started taking care of his brother’s children after he was killed earlier in the war.

When their food ran out, Khamis’s friends managed to convince him to go with them to try to pick up some aid. On the morning of June 24, they were waiting near the aid hub when someone shouted: “They’ve opened the gates!”

Khamis stepped out of their hiding place – just slightly – to see for himself. A bullet from an Israeli quadcopter pierced his shoulder, then lodged in his heart, killing him. He left behind a grieving widow and hungry nieces and nephews.

There are countless other stories – just as painful, just as heartbreaking – that will never be known.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health has called these incidents “aid massacres”. Legal experts have called them war crimes. But they really are “hunger games”.

Hunger changes people. It doesn’t just weaken the body – it tests the soul. It undermines trust and solidarity between people and unleashes the most basic of instincts.

The occupier knows that, and it is weaponising it.

It is no coincidence it viciously attacked and banned the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

UNRWA’s aid distribution system was a model of organisation and fairness. Each family registered with the agency had an identification card with which it could receive aid distributed through a careful, transparent process. Priority was given to the most vulnerable – widows, orphans, the elderly and disabled people – ensuring that those who need help the most received it first.

Its system reduced the risk of deadly stampedes and violent clashes because there was order, dignity and respect for human life.

The occupier does not want any of that.

That is why it designed aid distribution in the form of “hunger games”.

These are orchestrated traps designed to cause chaos and disorder so Palestinians fight each other and the social order and solidarity that hold Palestinian society together break down.

For a month, Israel and the GHF denied that there were any mass killings happening at the aid hubs – another Israeli lie that was widely believed. Now, the Israeli media themselves have reported that Israeli soldiers were ordered to shoot at the crowds of Palestinians trying to get aid at the GHF hubs.

Will the world believe us now? Will it take action?

What is happening in Gaza is not fiction. It is not a horror movie. The “hunger games” are real and so is the genocide they are part of. That the world is allowing such dystopia to unfold is damning evidence of its own loss of humanity.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.