Like millions of us, Labour’s Jess Asato frequents the popular social media site X.

But in the back of her mind, Asato, 45, wonders if the next user she interacts with could be undressing her using AI tools.

In January, the MP for Lowestoft in Suffolk was allegedly among millions of women digitally undressed by people using Elon Musk’s chatbot, Grok.

‘I’ve spoken to many, many victims and what they’ve told me is how I feel,’ Asato tells Metro.

‘A bit more afraid, you don’t know who is out there or what they might be doing to your image.

‘The idea that, at any moment, you could be targeted just for speaking out or existing online.’

Asato lodged a legal complaint against xAI, which owns Grok and X, last week over the alleged nonconsensual images.

‘AI has turbocharged misogyny’

Asato joined X, then called Twitter, in 2009 – just two years after it launched.

‘It was a pretty joyous place,’ she recalls, saying she saw Twitter as a way for people to talk about politics on the ground.

That didn’t last long. One of Asato’s first experiences with misogyny on the platform was in 2014, when she commented on the rape trial of footballer Ched Evans.

‘The abuse I got was awful,’ she says. ‘Misogynistic abuse on social media has been going on for a really, really long time.

‘It’s now turbocharged with this ability to lift any woman’s image, manipulate it through AI, and then use it to demean, degrade, humiliate and create death threats.’

Phoney images of real people, mainly women wearing bikinis or in sexually provocative situations, flooded X in December and January.

Research published on Friday from Malwarebytes reveals that one in three daily AI users think it’s okay to create fake explicit images of people they know.

But women previously told Metro that the realistic AI-generated images, called deepfakes, amounted to digital sexual assault.

One estimate puts the number of sexualised images created of real people between December 29 and January 8 at three million, or 190 per minute, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

Asato’s mentions were flooded with such content after she called on Musk to take action.

‘Somebody created this horrible AI video of me being chloroformed and my skirts being lifted as if for a sexual assault,’ she says.

Given that she has campaigned against nudification apps, which create doctored explicit images, none of this is a surprise to her.

‘I became the victim of the very thing I was talking against,’ she says, alleging that X gave her no real ways to protect herself.

‘This isn’t just because of the nature of the content that’s created – albeit it is pretty traumatising – it’s to do with the fact that you, your personality, your image, has been taken without your consent, manipulated by somebody you don’t know into something that looks realistic but is not you. That’s where the violation happens.

‘Nobody would be allowed to come up to me in the street and strip my clothes off and put me in a bikini, so they shouldn’t be allowed to do that online either.’

Investigating xAI

Media regulator Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office, the data watchdog, both launched investigations into xAI.

The government even considered blocking X, as some countries did.

X removed illegal content depicting children and suspended accounts before restricting the image-generation tool to just paying subscribers.

However, Metro found that Grok could still make partially nude images by using certain words. It also doctored illicit images of men on its standalone app and website, Grok Imagine.

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It has since become illegal to request or create a non-consensual deepfake image of an adult in the UK.

In posts seen by Metro this week, the bot will now tell non-paying users asking for bikini images that ‘Ask Grok’ is only for subscribers.

When premium members request them, the bot doesn’t seem to respond.

Metro also saw examples last month of Grok replying to users as if it had generated an image of a person in a bikini, but without posting the image.

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Here you go! 🔥 Same fire pose, now in a bikini. What next?

— Grok (@grok) May 29, 2026

Things would have been different, Alsato argues, if Grok had launched with safeguards or followed policies outlined by regulators.

But a study by Security Hero found that even before Grok was released, 99% of nude deepfakes were of women or girls.

New claimants have come forward to join Asato’s legal action, many saying they have struggled to persuade X to remove the offending images.

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X has never been held accountable over the Grok saga, Veronica Oakeshott, head of external affairs at the charity Women’s Aid, tells Metro.

‘More must be done to control the use of this, and similar technologies to ensure that women and children are kept safe, online and offline,’ she says.

When previously asked by Metro, Grok said it does not ‘assist’ with requests involving real, identifiable people.

Asato’s High Court claim is being brought under the Data Protection Act and for tortious misuse of private information.

Goshawk, director of business development at the domestic abuse and sexual violence charity, Solace, says it should mark a change in our approach to online safety.

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‘Removing the tools alone does not get to the heart of this issue, which is that our society values women’s privacy and dignity less,’ Goshawk says.

At the end of the day, Asato says she’s not asking for much – no woman is.

‘It’s making sure that women are free to be ourselves in online spaces without the fear,’ she adds, ‘of being turned into pornography if you say something a man doesn’t like.’

xAI has been approached for comment.

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Swinton Estate, near Ripon, has announced the appointment of Steve Darou as Executive Head Chef, joining the estate on June 8.

Darou joins from St. John restaurants in London, where he served as Group Head Chef.

The estate says he brings with him a deep respect for ingredient-led cooking, seasonality and the resourceful nose-to-tail philosophy that has made St. John one of the UK’s most influential culinary institutions.

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Sheep gives birth to five lambs at Swinton Estate in Masham

That experience will strengthen Swinton’s estate-to-plate ethos still further, and focus on the connection between land and kitchen, championing whole-animal butchery, and ensuring the estate’s produce is used with imagination, integrity and minimal waste.

A key part of his role will be to develop the wider team of chefs so that they build a deeper understanding of how to handle and use ingredients from across the county, creating a more authentic expression of Swinton’s land, people and provenance.

 Steve Darou said: “I am delighted to be joining Swinton and leading the food offering across the estate. Having grown up in Canada with a strong connection to foraging and fishing, I have always held a deep respect for produce and provenance.

 “After 12 years with St. John in London, I am excited to work with the team to realise the full potential of one of the country’s great estates, from its exceptional walled kitchen garden to the wider landscape that shapes its identity. It is a rare opportunity to create food that is not only delicious, but truly rooted in place.”

 Alongside these wider developments, Josh Barnes will conclude his time at the Chef’s Table at Swinton on July 5, bringing to a close an important chapter in the evolution of the estate’s culinary offering.

During his tenure, the Chef’s Table was awarded 3 AA Rosettes and received Michelin recognition. Further details of the next chapter for the experience will be announced in due course.

General Manager Ramune Aleks added: “This is an exciting moment for Swinton, and we are delighted to welcome Steve to the estate.

“His appointment reflects our ambition to build a kitchen culture that combines exceptional cooking with a deeper understanding of provenance, seasonality and regenerative hospitality, while making the very most of the extraordinary produce and farming heritage around us.”

Welcome back to What’s Cooking, Metro’s food series, taking a peek inside the nation’s kitchens.

This week we’re at home with chef and presenter, Andi Oliver, who is best known as the host of the BBC’s Great British Menu.

After replacing Prue Leith on the show and working as a judge for four seasons, Andi took over the mantle of host in 2020. 

However, the 63-year-old hasn’t always worked with food. She actually started her career as a singer in the band Rip Rig + Panic in the 80s.

If you’ve ever wondered what a TV chef really eats at home when the cameras aren’t rolling, we’ve got the answers, as well as her top tips for finding the most delicious dishes when travelling.

First, tell us a secret. What’s your most unhinged snack obsession?

I’m addicted to this vegan caramelised white chocolate by Ombar. It’s so nice and creamy, I eat it every single day.

Usually, I don’t have a massive sweet tooth, but now I have to have at least two squares of this after dinner, otherwise I feel a bit weird.

I went on holiday to Antigua recently, and I’m so obsessed that I had to take some of it with me. I literally had 10 bars of it in my suitcase.

Do you have any tips for finding the best food when travelling?

I like to find out what local people are eating. So I always ask the cab drivers for their recommendations. They’ll tell you where to go, and it’ll be some random little cafe that you’d likely never have found by yourself.

I was taken to the best jerk and barbecue place in Jamaica. It was in this little clearing in the Blue Mountains, and I’m so glad we asked, because if not, I would have completely missed it.

You can also ask people in local food markets where they like to go, or speak to the experts at Intrepid Travel.

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I’m a massive fan of what they do, which is why I’m working with them on their new Endangered Dishes campaign to highlight 10 iconic global dishes facing extinction due to overtourism and climate change. 

These are more than just delicious things on the plate; these are our human stories. These recipes tell the stories of the movement of people, why we’re in the places we are, how we got there, how we connected, and how we thrived as people all over the world.

We need to preserve, celebrate, and encourage people to experience these beautiful dishes.

Which dish always reminds you of your childhood?

Banana pancakes. My mum used to make them every day, and we’d eat them with savoury food in Antigua.

You can make them from pumpkin or banana, and they’re a cross between a pancake and a fritter. They’re delicious, and you can have them with everything.

Name one thing that’s always in your fridge…

I don’t have dairy, so I buy oat milk, and I specifically like to get pistachio oat milk.

I’ve got one of those Nespresso machines, and you can get matcha and vanilla pods. I mix that with pistachio oat milk, and then put a little bit of honey and add a tiny drop of orange blossom water in there – it’s a trick I learned from a woman in San Antonia, and it’s absolutely delicious.

What about in your store cupboard?

I love tinned fish, like big time, and I’ll make sardines on toast with shaved, raw onion, a fudgy boiled egg, and a little bit of green seasoning on top, which is a mix of herbs, spring onion, and garlic. 

That’s a real Antiguian breakfast/lunch thing to eat, with a side of avocado.

And in the freezer?

I always have stock or bone broth in my freezer, and I’m quite a fan of Itsu dumplings.

I’ll cook the dumplings in a pan, straight from frozen, and add some of the green seasoning I mentioned earlier, plus a splash of stock, and some butter. You get this really lovely, buttery chicken stock sauce. 

Top it with some spinach and put the lid on while it finishes cooking, and that’s a really banging, quick lunch.

Is there anything you can’t resist splurging on at the supermarket?

I do like a nice £40 bottle of champagne, like Fleury. That goes down very well in this house, and I’m partial to it with some elderflower cordial. 

What do you prefer to get the cheap own-brand version of from the supermarket?

Tinned beans. There’s been a real thing lately where everybody’s buying beans in glass jars, but you don’t need fancy ones. People will always find a way to tell you to buy something more expensive, but I’ve been eating beans out of tins since I was born, and they’re fantastic.

Finally, what’s been cooking lately?

I’m currently working my way through all 10 of the Endangered Dishes and bringing them to life. 

Recently, I’ve made chicken and oxtail gumbo from Louisiana, which is a filé gumbo. It has a roux, which is thickened with the filé powder (dried and ground leaves from a sassafras tree). 

It’s not an easy dish to cook; it takes hours, and there’s definitely some skill involved, but it was really interesting and exciting to make.

Want to take part in What’s Cooking and let Metro raid your kitchen at home? Email courtney.pochin@metro.co.uk  

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‘The phone charger is very handy, I can’t find anything not to like’

Argos shoppers have been raving about a versatile desk lamp that serves several other purposes including charging smartphones. The model in question is available at Argos, which has highlighted the £40 Groov-e Ares LED Charging Desk Lamp as an ‘in demand’ item.

The standout feature of the lamp is its built-in 10W wireless charging pad, which can be used to charge compatible wireless charging devices such as smartphones and tablets by placing them on the base. This includes gadgets from brands like Apple and Samsung, with users reporting ‘no issues’ charging iPhones.

Available in black or white, the multifunctional Groov-e lamp also has a digital screen on the stem that can display the time, calendar or room temperature, as well as serving as a built-in alarm clock. It’s cleverly designed with a backup battery that ensures the alarm still operates should mains power be lost.

READ MORE:

As for lighting, it features a built-in LED bulb with three modes – warm, warm white and cool – plus a dinner mode, with five variable settings in each mode. All of these are selectable with a simple tap of the touch control pad, so users can select the best brightness to suit the mood whether working, reading or watching TV.

The Groov-e Ares lamp is designed with a folding arm that can be easily adjusted to angle the light where needed and a compact frame suitable for a range of desk sizes. It also boasts a one metre cable providing flexibility of placement.

Groov-e Ares LED Charging Desk Lamp

£40

Argos

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The Groov-e Ares LED Charging Desk Lamp can charge compatible wireless charging devices like Apple and Samsung smartphones.

A similar lamp is on sale at Amazon, where the BIENSER LED Desk Lamp with Wireless Charging costs £27.99. Despite its lower cost, this model offers a total of 50 lighting choices and can also charge compatible devices.

Elsewhere, more traditional lamps are available at Dusk, where the £49 Emer Scallop Edge Reactive Glaze Table Lamp has received a perfect five-star rating. As for the Groov-e Ares LED Charging Desk Lamp, Argos customers have awarded it a 4.6-star rating after more than 40 reviews, with some saying it goes ‘beyond expectations’.

“It goes above and beyond my expectations,” one shopper said. “The light features are brilliant as well as the temp readings and the fact it has wireless charging [is] a bonus.”

Another said: “Nice lamp with brightness and tone adjustment which is excellent when working late into the night. I have [an] iPhone 12 and there are no issues with charging, while charging a discreet red LED on the base will turn green when the phone is fully charged. I would recommend the light.”

However, the same buyer also highlighted one ‘bugbear’, adding: “One bugbear is the buttons at the back are flush and therefore difficult to find when adjusting the time/date.”

Nevertheless, another five-star review says: “Excellent bedside light, I bought two for my bedroom. Good variety of brightness, clear clock and temperature readout. The phone charger is very handy too – can’t find anything not to like.”

The Greater Cambridge Partnership wants to make the Riverside route safer and more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists – but not everyone agrees it’s the right priority

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Readers of Cambridgeshire Live have been weighing in on proposals to upgrade a well-loved riverside route in Cambridge. Many are in favour of creating a safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists, while others argue that the funding would be better spent repairing the roads.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) says Riverside is used daily by thousands of pedestrians and cyclists. The route forms part of the Bottisham Greenway.

A GCP spokesperson said: “The GCP wants to enhance Riverside to create a safer, more accessible and more enjoyable route into the city and surrounding areas.” Riverside runs from the Elizabeth Way bridge to Stourbridge Common. The GCP’s proposals include:

• Wider, more consistent footways;
• New resting spots with planting and accessible seating;
• Clearer signage and improved pedestrian crossings;
• Safe, secure cycle parking.

Jonathan Camp, GCP Project Manager, said: “Riverside is already enjoyed by many people. These proposals aim to make it safer, greener and more inviting – a place where you can move easily, meet friends or simply enjoy being by the river. We’re asking everyone who uses Riverside to tell us what they think so we can create something that reflects what the community needs.”

A public consultation on the proposals is open until Monday, 13 July, at 11.59pm. You can access the link HERE.

One reader, Nocyclinganywhere comments: “Another vanity project and complete waste of money. Another project for cyclists that will be like all the others and not get used, if cyclists want these vanity projects, they should pay for them.”

Garyblowpants writes: “A great project! More road funds should be funneled to cyclists instead of being wasted on motorists.”

Tartan53 asks: “Does the CGP have an overall plan to interfere and ‘improve’ every road in Cambridge, surprised there was no reference to the ‘millions’ of cyclists who use this route everyday.”

Bobbymcbobface says: “To be fair, when I pass through there, there are always loads of runners on the road; it may be safer if they had a proper pavement to use.”

Over on our Facebook page, Stephen R comments: “Another great development. Can’t wait.”

Frank G believes: “What a waste of money.”

Martin L-S writes: “Excellent scheme to benefit pedestrians, long overdue. As the picture shows, the pavement by the river just stops half-way along Riverside, forcing people to walk in the roadway.”

Tom R adds: “This whole riverside has huge potential (and established use). It would benefit greatly from more ‘active transport’ facilities.”

Trevor P says: “Could widen the river here to allow floating restaurants and mooring for boat trips up the river to Ely, making a proper riverside promenade with coffee stands, snacks etc.”

Sue R thinks: “Here we go again, GCP, the ones that just pop into Cambridge now and again to see how they can spend more money on vanity projects. Yes, it would be nice, definitely Camcycle would be very happy, but wouldn’t it be better to improve some of the pavements and roads that are really in need of repair first around Cambridge?

“I walk along the river there, and never have I found it to be overcrowded with ‘thousands’ of pedestrians and cyclists. Never seen an accident with the cyclists and pedestrians, although I’m not saying there hasn’t been one with the speed some of the cyclists seem to think they need to go.”

Eco Nick writes: “I remember when they sorted it out not long ago. Again? Not needed. Sorry to bang on about it, but resurface the roads. For all road users. I am totally against this plan. It is fine. I cycle it a lot. Litterpick it too.”

Does the riverside need to be improved? Comment below or HERE to have your say.

From the 1984 York Rock Festival – Echo & The Bunnymen and The Sisters of Mercy shaking the Knavesmire to modern blockbuster crowds, the tradition runs deep.

Remembering the huge gigs that have rocked York Racecourse – including pictures and memories from the 1984 York Rock Festival on Knavesmire. (Image: Submitted)

Sir Tom Jones drew more than 30,000 in 2015, arriving just in time to deliver a masterclass under evening skies.

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There had been fears the then-septuagenarian sex bomb himself would be a non-runner after a respiratory infection had put paid to his earlier concerts at Saint Tropez and in Germany.

Sir Rod Stewart kept the sell-out momentum rolling, with his July 2019 concert at York Racecourse held on a specially-constructed pop-up venue on the Knavesmire.

STILL WEARING IT WELL Rod Stewart at York Racecourse in 2019. Picture Cuffe and Taylor Rhodes (Image: Cuffe and Taylor Rhodes)

There have been screams for Boyzone in 2018, club vibes as Craig David brought his TS5 set, and pop-punk revivals with Busted.

In July 2021, 30,000 thousand fans packed York Racecourse again for the first time in almost two years due to the Covid pandemic.

Racegoers watched a series of races followed by a concert by pop band McFly on the second day of the course’s Music Showcase weekend.

Races had been held behind closed doors the previous year while York’s capacity had been limited to 4,000 at meetings earlier that year.

Olly Murs charmed the crowds at York Racecourse Picture Jeremy Phillips Photographer (Image: Jeremy Phillips Photographer)

Those restrictions on numbers at race meetings had been removed under the Government’s recent relaxation of Covid rules.

In 2022, about 45,000 packed in for Madness and Sugababes, proving the appetite only grows.

As this season returns, memories of Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones lighting up 2012 remind us that the music is just as big as the racing.

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Wildlife enthusiast Timothy Treadwell spent 13 successive summers living among grizzly bears in Alaska’s Katmai National Park

A fearless wildlife enthusiast and his girlfriend spent their final moments crying out for help as a starving grizzly bear mauled them to death, leaving behind a horrific collection of remains and the “worst recording ever made”.

Timothy Treadwell, 46, was convinced he had developed a unique connection with Alaska’s most dangerous predators.

For 13 consecutive summers, he lived amongst grizzly bears in Katmai National Park, giving them names and engaging with them, despite constant warnings about the dangerous animals.

In October 2003, his conviction would claim both his life and that of his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard.

The couple had remained later than usual into the season, setting up their tent near Kaflia Bay as autumn approached and food grew scarce for the local wildlife, reports the Express.

They were awaiting a seaplane to transport them home when the horror unfolded.

Inside their tent while rain pounded down outside, the pair were making a meal. Apparently drawn by the smell of food, a grizzly bear came near.

Treadwell is thought to have pressed record on a videotape to capture the attack, though the audio it recorded was considered too harrowing to ever be made public.

Alaska state troopers who listened to the tape said Treadwell could be heard shouting, “get out of here, I’m getting killed.”

His terrified girlfriend pleaded with him to play dead, then begged him to fight back. Shortly afterwards, Amie herself came under attack.

“You can hear him screaming,” state trooper Chris Hill later stated. “She’s screaming, ‘Is the bear still there?’ He says something to the effect that he’s dying. We really didn’t hear the bear at all.”

The recording was later described as so distressing that acclaimed director Werner Herzog, who featured Treadwell’s footage in his widely praised 2005 documentary Grizzly Man, refused to use a single second of it.

“You must never listen to this,” Herzog told Treadwell’s former partner and close friend Jewel Palovak after hearing part of the tape. She ultimately destroyed it, smashing it with a hammer and cutting it up with a knife.

“It felt freeing,” she said. “Very freeing.”

When rangers finally arrived at the campsite the following day, they were met with a truly horrific scene. The pair’s tents had been torn to shreds, with shoes still sitting by the entrance.

Nearby lay a mound of mud, grass and human limbs.

Investigators discovered what remained of Treadwell’s head, still attached to his spine, alongside several severed limbs.

Four bin bags of human remains were subsequently recovered from the stomach of a 28-year-old male grizzly weighing close to 1,000lb.

The bear, elderly and struggling to feed due to broken teeth, was shot dead after charging at officers.

Investigators concluded that Treadwell’s habitual practice of pitching camp in prime feeding grounds and allowing bears to come within touching distance most likely played a significant role in the fatal mauling.

Palovak, who co-founded the grassroots organisation Grizzly People alongside Treadwell, said “He didn’t have a death wish. He wasn’t stupid. He knew the dangers. He didn’t want to die.”

A former drug addict, Treadwell attributed his turnaround in life to the bears, crediting them with steering him towards sobriety.

He was completely dedicated to living amongst the animals, carefully recording their behaviour, speaking to schoolchildren about the remarkable creatures and seeing himself as a guardian of the bears he wholeheartedly believed were under threat from hunters and humans.

“His goal was to show people the secret life of grizzly bears,” Palovak said, “to inspire children to fight for what they believe in, no matter how big the challenge.

“He always told me, ‘If I die, make a kick-ass movie.’ I was like, ‘Oh sure, I’ll do that’.

“But that’s actually what ended up happening … I think [ Grizzly Man ] would have been the kick-ass movie that he wanted.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump celebrates turning 80 on Sunday with a showstopping birthday spectacle that once would have seemed unfathomable: a cage-fighting show on the storied South Lawn of the White House.

This week, the hard realities of the office have threatened to overshadow the ostentatious UFC mixed martial arts extravaganza, where combatants sealed inside a wire-mesh octagon try to punch, kick, chop and pummel each other into submission.

Trump has found himself boxed into an unpopular and costly war he helped start in Iran. An agreement to end the conflict could be close, but the crucial details are still to be negotiated. Meanwhile, about a mile from Trump’s birthday bash, crews pried the president’s name off the Kennedy Center after a judge ruled naming it after Trump had gone too far.

Regardless, the president will walk out of the White House and be surrounded by Cabinet leaders, top administration officials, Republican lawmakers and 4,000-plus spectators screaming themselves hoarse in a temporary arena under “ The Claw,” a spaceship-like metal arch fitted with lighting, sound equipment and large screens. Thousands more will be watching on big screens from the nearby Ellipse.

“This event is a one of one event, incredible event. I love it,” said UFC chief Dana White, a close friend of the president, during a Friday night hype session at the Lincoln Memorial where pairs of fighters shoved and scuffled for the cameras under the stoic gaze of Honest Abe’s marble likeness.

The president has sought to tie Sunday’s event — which features seven fights running past midnight — to larger, months-long celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

But it is much more geared toward feting himself, so much so that the G7 summit for leaders of industrialized nations pushed back their get-together so that the president could attend his cage-match party and then fly straight to France for the meetings.

The weather, though, could put a major damper on things. Strong thunderstorms and heavy lightning disrupted Friday’s Lincoln Memorial event, and the forecast for Sunday evening also looks threatening.

“I’m sick and tired of hearing about the weather,” White declared on Friday, before conceding that he’ll prefer to hold future UFC events inside arenas only.

A dramatic departure from how the last president marked his 80th

When Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, turned 80 in November 2022, he celebrated with a private family brunch at the White House, laying bare just how much and how quickly things have changed.

Asked about the contrast, White House spokesperson Allison Schuster said that the fight “will be one of the most entertaining nights in American history” and said that the timing was appropriate. “Having this spectacle take place at the people’s house on Flag Day during our nations’ semiquincentennial anniversary is a fitting tribute,” Schuster said in a statement.

When he turned 80, Biden was the oldest president in U.S. history, and was months away from launching a reelection bid that he would ultimately abandon after a disastrous debate against Trump and mutiny among Democrats concerned he was too old to handle a second term.

Trump has now supplanted Biden as the oldest person to be elected U.S. president. He’s constitutionally barred from running again, yet constantly toys with the notion publicly. That’s despite polls showing rising public skepticism about Trump’s mental and physical health — recalling concerns Biden faced as he turned 80.

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in April found that less than half of U.S. adults think Trump has the mental sharpness or physical health to serve effectively as president.

The White House countered with a lengthy statement from Trump’s former White House physician, Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, saying Trump’s “stamina, focus, and strength are exceptional and on display every day. Claims to the contrary are pure fiction.” Jackson added that polling concerns were “being propagated by the same biased, liberal, Trump-hating press that completely ignored the absolute cognitive and physical disaster that was President Biden.”

Trump has nonetheless undergone four publicly announced physical examinations this term alone, with White House physician Dr. Sean Barbabella recently declaring him in “excellent health.”

‘Bread and circuses’ — Trump-style

The UFC event is an apt metaphor for Trump’s pugilistic political style. He is as big a fan of cage-match-style politics as he is of cage-fighting itself.

But Trump has also long been a master of political misdirection, purposely presenting people with something other than his presidency to focus on when things aren’t going well.

With the war in Iran grinding on despite weeks of assurances from Trump that its end is nigh, gas prices staying high, renewed concerns about inflation and plummeting job approval ratings for Trump — a White House birthday party unlike anything America has ever seen is definitely a diversion.

“This is all distraction,” said Mike Fontaine, a classics professor at Cornell University, who likened it to the gladiatorial games of Imperial Rome, when combatants brutalized each other for public entertainment meant to bolster rulers’ popularity and quell potential unrest.

“This is a classic strategy,” Fontaine said. “In ancient Rome, the phrase would be, ‘bread and circuses.’”

Trump says the UFC is paying for the event and while its full costs haven’t been divulged, the National Park Service said in a court filing that $60-plus million and tens of thousands of hours of labor have gone into it, while seven government agencies have “allocated significant resources and manpower.”

UFC also announced on Friday that it was adding as an official partner for the event World Liberty Financial to create a special $250,000 athlete bonus pool for Sunday night’s winners. The cryptocurrency company is co-owned by the Trump family, founded with the president’s special diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff and run by his son, Zach. The arrangement further blurs lines between the Trump family’s financial interests and the events and construction projects the president has prioritized and used government resources to pull off.

Still, Fontaine said that when it comes to a personal flair for pageantry, the president’s second-term tendency to lean into “hardcore masculinity and brute fighting” is marrying the UFC’s blood sport with Trump’s trademark humor and enduring sense of showmanship.

“President Trump has a once-in-a-generation talent for this stuff,” he said.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Jalen Brunson and the Comeback Knicks did it again. And now they’re the Champion Knicks.

For the first time in 53 years, New York rules the NBA. Brunson scored 45 points, including 13 straight for New York in the fourth quarter, and the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Saturday night.

The Knicks won the series 4-1, rallying from double-digit deficits in all four of those victories. The deficit was 16 on Saturday night. Brunson and the Knicks were never fazed.

“I have no words,” Brunson, the NBA Finals MVP, said during the on-court celebration. “It’s everything I ever dreamed of.”

Brunson, fittingly, closed with a flourish. He set a Knicks record for points in a finals game; it had been 38 by Willis Reed against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the 1970 series. It now belongs to the left-handed point guard who changed the franchise’s fortunes when he arrived four years ago.

“It’s surreal,” Knicks coach Mike Brown, who was hired a year ago — making him the franchise’s 24th coach since the franchise’s last championship in 1973. “I still can’t believe it’s happened.”

Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — the other two parts of the “Nova Knicks” trio that also includes Brunson, three players who were NCAA champions at Villanova and teamed up in New York to try to do the same — combined to score 27 points. Bridges had 14, Hart 13.

“I don’t know what I’m feeling,” Brunson said. “I’m in awe. Whenever someone counted us out, we found a way to come back and do something about it.”

Dylan Harper scored 25 for the Spurs, who got 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots from Victor Wembanyama.

“This is the biggest lesson of my life, the biggest learning moment,” Wembanyama said. “I can’t tell exactly what the lesson is, but we’re learning.”

The Knicks improved to 4-0 in closeout opportunities this season, winning them all on the road. It didn’t feel like the road, though — not with thousands of New York faithful having made the trip to Texas to see a moment 53 years in the making.

And back home, on the streets of the Big Apple, celebrations broke out everywhere. Fireworks lit up the night sky, people honked horns on jampacked streets and firefighters — from their trucks — slapped high-fives with delirious fans.

“HISTORY,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on social media, then added that the Knicks’ championship parade will be Thursday.

New York got to the brink of this title by rallying from 29 points down in Game 4 to win 107-106 on OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.2 seconds left on Wednesday night. It was the largest comeback in NBA Finals history and the biggest comeback in any game this season, regular season or playoffs.

By comparison, then, a 16-point rally in this one seemed easy. And San Antonio had to shuffle off into the offseason, listening to Knicks fans celebrating in their building.

“We weren’t ready to win an NBA championship,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “The better team won. We did a lot of good things, and we didn’t finish the job. That’s what it is.”

The game followed the same script in the opening minutes as all the others in the series, with the Spurs taking a double-digit lead in the first quarter and then frittering most of it away in the second quarter.

The Spurs became the first team in the play-by-play era, which started in the 1996-97 season, to lead five finals games by 10 points or more in first quarters.

The Knicks simply could not make a shot, missing on 16 of their first 18 tries and each of their first 11 two-point attempts. There even was a point in the second quarter when Wembanyama had more blocked shots (five) than the Knicks had made shots (four). San Antonio’s lead was as many as 10 in the first quarter, as many as 16 in the second.

Of course, none of it mattered much. As always, the Knicks came back.

A 22-9 run in the second quarter got New York within three, before Devin Vassell scored just before the halftime buzzer to give San Antonio a 42-37 edge at the break.

And that capped an opening 24 minutes of either offensive ineptitude or defensive prowess, depending on perspective. The 79 combined points in the first half were the lowest in a finals game since Game 7 of Lakers-Celtics in 2010, and the combined 31.8% field goals shooting by the Knicks and Spurs was the lowest in the first half of a finals game in the play-by-play era.

Brunson won NCAA crowns twice with Villanova — both in Texas, the 2016 one in Houston and the 2018 one in San Antonio, just a few miles away from the arena that the Spurs call home.

A Texas three-step of titles, and this one was surely the sweetest of all.

“It’s why I came to New York,” Brunson said.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Volodymyr Zelensky has said the Russia–Ukraine conflict will “determine the future of Europe” ahead of the anticipated G7 summit next week.

In a post online, the Ukrainian president said his country is making “the greatest sacrifices for Europe” as it fights for its independence.

He wrote: “We are not simply carrying out internal reforms, nor are we simply going through a transformation. We are fighting for our state, for our independence, and for our right to choose our own path and to be Europe.

“That is why the fate of Europe is being decided here – it is being decided in Ukraine, in this war, and in how this war ends – and whether Russia will still have the strength and the desire after this war to threaten the existence of Ukraine and its other neighbors, and the entirety of Europe.”

It comes as Ukraine has used AI-powered “terminator” drones to kill Russian soldiers without human oversight for the first time, a senior military general has claimed.

Alexander Kokhanovskyy, a senior figure in Ukraine’s defence industry, said that AI-controlled drones were used on the frontline in a one-off test.

It has not yet been implemented more widely after the test took place two years ago, he told the New Scientist.