MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, was responsible for one-third of all U.S. “megagift” donations to charities last year, according to a new report.

Last year, the total amount of megagifts to charity — defined as donations that surpass 0.1 percent of total giving in a year — added up to $19.2 billion, according to a new Fortune report, which cites data from Giving USA and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Scott’s donations made up about one-third of that figure, with nearly $7 billion in megagifts, bringing her five-year total to $26.2 billion, the report said. Other top megagift donors included former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

“It was a positive year for charitable giving, with virtually all categories of recipient organizations achieving solid or better growth at the aggregate level,” Giving USA Foundation Vice Chair Gabe Cooper told Fortune.

Bezos married Scott in 1993, a year before he founded Amazon in their Bellevue, Washington, garage. The pair met while working at D.E. Shaw, a New York hedge fund. The couple had three sons and a daughter together before they split in 2019.

Scott, now 56, has since founded the charity Yield Giving, which has donated more than $26 billion to 2,700 non-profits.

According to Yield Giving’s website, its top donations in 2025 included $60 million for Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice, a group that supports clean energy initiatives; $63 million for Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C.; and $90 million for Forests, People, Climate, an anti-deforestation non-profit.

Yield Giving uses “quiet research” to identify the non-profits “working to advance the opportunities of people in underserved communities,” which includes evaluating the organizations “as privately and anonymously as we can in order to limit burden on non-profits and avoid diverting them from their work,” its website says.

Scott has vowed to continue giving away her fortune “until the safe is empty.”

“We each come by the gifts we have to offer by an infinite series of influences and lucky breaks we can never fully understand. In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share. My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait,” she wrote in 2019.

The Independent has contacted Yield Giving for comment.

A change of use planning application was submitted to Redcar and Cleveland Council earlier this year which proposed a deli/restaurant in a vacant ground floor unit which would open daily between 8am and 11pm.

Two full-time and four part-time staff would be employed.

The Guisborough unit previously housed Shorty’s Gin which moved into the grade two listed building in 2022 following a major restoration.

Listed building consent was also sought – and given – for the replacement of solid panels at the rear entrance to the unit with double glazing.

A design, access and heritage statement previously accompanying the application said food and drink would be offered both on site and for takeaway purposes.

It described how minor internal reconfiguration works were planned including the removal of modern plasterboard walls to expose the brickwork behind them and the replacement of a damaged door, along with the installation of fixtures, fittings and counters.

These would not impact the fabric or heritage of the building, the statement said, but would enhance its look.

Meanwhile, the change of active use would support the long-term preservation of the building and contribute “positively to the vitality and viability of the town centre”. 

A council planning officer’s report said the venture would serve “cold deli-style food” along with sandwiches and light meals.

It said a case officer visited the site in April when work had already begun.

The officer concluded that the application raised no issues in terms of neighbour amenity, nor would it have any adverse effect on the character and appearance of the area, while the proposal also complied with local planning policy.

The interior of Guisborough Town Hall was revamped thanks to funding from the National Lottery, the Tees Valley Combined Authority and the Sirius Mining Foundation with luxury visitor accommodation being created on the upper floors.

Redcar and Cleveland Council has maintained ownership of the building, which also hosts a tourist information centre, and leases the ground floor unit to occupiers.

England face Panama on Saturday in New Jersey, a state bordering New York, so supporters took to Times Square in the Big Apple to prepare for the massive match

England fans have descended on the Big Apple ready for the big World Cup clash against Panama.

Tens of thousands of supporters will be in New York by Friday, it is understood. Up to 25,000 are expected to be inside the stadium in New Jersey, a bordering state, and the rest will packing the FanFests and bars in the “city that never sleeps”.

Some of them have bought tickets to watch Luke Littler and Luke Humphries in a darts tournament at Madison Square Garden. The pair are expected to head out of Manhattan to watch Thomas Tuchel’s team play. Littler is a manchester-united-fc>Manchester United fanatic and Humphries supports Leeds United and both love big sporting events — they were even spotted at Cheltenham races together earlier this year.

Tuchel and his squad fly down from their Kansas City base on Friday. Weather for the match is expected to be around 23C, which is cool for this time of the year.

Fans travelled down from the previous England game in Boston by plane, train, car and bus. At the Port Authority bus terminal, and both Penn and Grand Central stations England fans were arriving in numbers.

At the popular “Football Factory” pub – located right underneath the Empire State Building – fans gathered to watch other World Cup matches on the TV. The bar is the HQ for many Premiership clubs and sees hundreds of English fans visiting every Saturday. Mark Harrison, 63, from Bedford said: “I’ve got a ticket for the game. I’m staying with a mate who lives in Connecticut so I’ve got no extra hotel costs.

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“I’m in and out for this game but very much looking forward to it. I really hope we win so we top the group. I know we then potentially meet Mexico and Brazil before the semi-finals but we can beat both of them on our day.”

Mark Trigg, 52, from Derby, has been to the friendlies in Florida, the victory over Croatia in Dallas and the 0-0 draw with Ghana in Foxborough.

His arrival in New York with fellow Derby fan Garford Beck, 64, from London, and Portsmouth fans Ian Dendy, 56, and Ian Holland, 73, was delayed when their coach broke down.

They are on an epic World Cup adventure across America, having already visited Miami and Tampa for the friendlies.

Chef Mark said: “It has been a lot of travelling around but we have had a really good time and it has been interesting to see so much of America.

“We flew between venues for the first two matches but the coach broke down on the way from Boston, so a four-hour journey turned into seven hours. I dread to think how much the trip has cost – I am trying not to think about it.

“But I want to stay as long as England are here and we have tickets for all the knock out rounds.”

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England fan Ian Henderson, 60, originally from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear and now living in Princeton, New Jersey, said the Three Lions supporters would enjoy the Big Apple.

He said the MetLife venue, named the New York New Jersey Stadium for the World Cup, will provide a great atmosphere, as it was the most expensive ever built at £1bn when it opened in 2010.

“They said the Dallas stadium had a hole in the roof which was called ‘God’s peephole’ so that God could watch his favourite team play,” said Ian, a retired medical researcher and Newcastle Utd fan.

“This one is home to the New York Giants even though it is in New Jersey, and the New York Jets also use it. With a capacity of 87,000, it is going to be great for England fans.”

If England win they will top their group and know exactly their potential route to the final – which will be played in the same stadium as tomorrow’s match.

Brain changes that can eventually lead to dementia may begin many years before anyone notices symptoms such as memory problems, missed appointments or difficulty finding words.

This is where blood biomarkers are becoming important. Biomarkers are measurable signs of biological activity in the body. In dementia research, some blood biomarkers can give clues about biological processes related to brain changes. These can include Alzheimer’s-related protein alterations, damage to nerve cells or changes in cells that support and protect nerve cells.

But these cannot predict with certainty whether an individual will develop dementia. Higher levels may suggest increased risk, but some people with biological signs never develop dementia, while others do. That raises an important question: once early brain-related changes have begun, can lifestyle still influence dementia risk?

Diet and dementia

Our research suggests diet may still be relevant. We followed nearly 1,900 adults aged 60 and older in Sweden for up to 15 years. None had dementia at the start. During that time, 240 developed dementia.

Participants’ diets were assessed several times. We then looked at whether healthier eating patterns were linked to lower dementia risk among people with different levels of blood markers related to Alzheimer’s disease, nerve cell damage and biological stress in the brain.

We found that people with healthier dietary patterns generally had a lower risk of dementia. Importantly, this pattern was also seen among people whose blood markers suggested higher biological risk, including Alzheimer’s-related changes.

Rather than focusing on single foods or nutrients, we studied overall dietary patterns. This is useful because people eat combinations of foods, rather than isolated nutrients. Previous work from our group has also linked diet quality with blood markers related to Alzheimer’s disease in cognitively healthy older adults.

We examined three ways of describing diet quality: how closely people followed a Mediterranean-style diet, how closely their diet matched general healthy eating guidelines, and how likely their diet was to promote inflammation in the body. This allowed us to ask whether different aspects of diet quality were more relevant for people with different biological profiles.

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This Mediterranean-style diet could keep your brain sharp as you age – new study

The strongest and most consistent finding among people at higher biological risk involved the inflammatory potential of the diet. Among people with higher levels of these risk-related biomarkers, diets with lower inflammatory potential were associated with up to a 30% lower relative risk of dementia. A relative reduction describes a difference between groups. It cannot tell any individual person whether they will avoid dementia.

The finding also has an important caveat. Our study was observational, which means it can show links between diet, biomarkers and dementia risk, but it cannot prove cause and effect.

Still, the results suggest that inflammation may be one pathway through which diet remains relevant, even after disease-related changes have begun.

Lower-inflammatory diet

A lower-inflammatory diet is a broad way of eating rather than a special medical diet. In this kind of research, it generally means eating more foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, tea and coffee, and fewer foods such as red and processed meat, refined grains and sugary drinks. Similar work has linked lower dietary inflammatory potential with lower dementia risk in older adults with cardiometabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke.

Why might this affect the brain? Inflammation is part of the body’s normal defence system. It helps us respond to infection and injury. The concern is chronic, low-grade inflammation that remains active for years.

Scientists are increasingly interested in how this kind of long-term inflammation may contribute to brain ageing and dementia. It may affect the brain directly, through immune activity around brain cells, and indirectly, through blood vessels, insulin resistance and heart health.

Other dietary patterns showed a different picture. A Mediterranean-style diet and a healthy diet based on general nutrition guidelines were more strongly linked to lower dementia risk among people with lower biomarker levels.

Even so, these diets may still be relevant for people at higher biological risk. The results suggest that different aspects of diet quality may operate in different ways, depending on a person’s biological profile.

Our study had several strengths. We used repeated information on diet, followed people for many years, identified dementia cases carefully, and compared several dietary patterns in the same group of older adults.

There were limitations too. Diet was measured with questionnaires, which are useful but imperfect. The participants came from one urban area in Sweden and were, on average, relatively healthy and well educated, so the findings may not apply in the same way to all populations.

The message should be modest: a healthy diet cannot erase dementia risk. Age, genes, cardiovascular health, social conditions and chance all play a part.

But our findings suggest that diet may still be relevant for brain health even when early biological signs linked to higher risk are already present. The next task is to identify which foods and nutrients are driving these associations, so future advice on dementia prevention can become more precise and more useful.

Andy Burnham may be heading for Number 10, but new polling reveals he leaves a powerful regional legacy behind. Polling from FocalData for Hope Not Hate, shows that Mr Burnham departed the Greater Manchester mayoralty with an exceptionally strong personal mandate, retaining a massive 65% approval rating from residents who believe he did a ‘fairly well’ or ‘very well’ job in office.

The polling shows that Mr Burnham’s success in Greater Manchester has seemingly left a deep reservoir of local goodwill. His success in the city-region has been a springboard for his national ambitions.

Looking closer at his track record, Burnham’s signature public transport reforms emerge as his crowning achievement, with a staggering 77% of residents agreeing he did well, compared to just 17% who felt he did badly. He also held comfortable majorities for his handling of policing and fire services at 56%, and economic growth at 53%. The public gave him narrower margins of success on complex social issues, with healthcare drawing a tighter 50% to 35% split, and housing and homelessness landing at a more divisive 45% approval against 39% disapproval.

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The polling comes as the election campaign to replace Mr Burnham gets under way. Labour has selected Manchester council leader Bev Craig as its candidate for the July 30 contest.

Craig, who has led the council since 2021, is regarded as a close ally of Burnham and will seek to present herself as the candidate of continuity after nearly a decade of Labour control of the mayoralty.

Following the announcement Coun Craig said: “Greater Manchester is a special place – from the industrial revolution, the trade union and cooperative movements and the suffragettes – this place has always fought for progress. This place changed my life and I owe it everything. It gave me opportunities I could never have imagined, and I’ve spent my career trying to give something back.”

Reform UK is yet to formally announce its candidate, although party figures are increasingly confident they can mount a serious challenge after strong performances across Greater Manchester in recent elections. Dan Barker has emerged as a leading contender for the nomination.

The Green Party has selected Trafford councillor Geraldine Coggins, who is hoping to build on the party’s recent advances in Greater Manchester and position herself as an alternative to both Labour and Reform.

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The Liberal Democrats are also expected to contest the election, although their candidate had not been formally announced when this article was published.

The new poll also shows that Labour and Reform UK are separated by just three points in Greater Manchester. The survey, carried out by FocalData on behalf of campaign group Hope Not Hate, found Labour on 33.2 per cent of first preference support, with Reform UK close behind on 30.1 per cent. The Greens were third on 12.5 per cent, followed by the Conservatives on 11.1 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 7.6 per cent.

The poll of 1,143 people was conducted between May 22 and June 5 and weighted to be representative of Greater Manchester’s population. With a sample of 1,143, the poll carries a margin of error of approximately three percentage points, making it a potential dead-heat in the first round. The FocalData poll was conducted before all candidates have officially declared, which helps explain the volatile margins.

Following his decisive victory in the Ashton-in-Makerfield by-election Mr Burnham is now expected to be the next Prime Minister after Sir Keir Starmer announced he was stepping down this week. There are not expected to be any other challengers in the leadership election meaning a ‘coronation’ is expected in mid-July. The chancellor Rachel Reeves today told the BBC that she is “backing” Andy Burnham to be the UK’s next prime minister amid speculation she could be replaced as Chancellor if he takes office.

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Reeves, who is predicted to be replaced if Mr Burnham becomes prime minister, would not be drawn on reports she may accept another role. “I’m not going to pre-empt the decisions that the new prime minister will make,” she said. “I’m backing Andy. “I think he’d be a great prime minister, but those are his decisions, not mine to make.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — A liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a $16 million rehabilitation project, a top official at the National Park Service says.

The agency reported the June 9 incident to U.S. Park Police, said Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the park service. Lands made the statement in a court document filed late Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit organization to halt the Trump administration’s work on the project.

His statement does not say whether the damage is a suspected case of vandalism or identify anyone who might have been involved.

The police report indicates damage to the pool, “including a caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material,’’ Lands said. About 70 fence post tops also were thrown into the pool, he said.

The statements were the first time the Republican administration has offered specifics for when and how the Reflecting Pool may have been damaged after work on the project was substantially completed.

President Donald Trump and other officials have repeatedly blamed, without evidence, unidentified vandals for peeling paint as well as a “350-foot gash” in the liner and other problems. Six people have been arrested, Trump said this week, without providing details.

Trump pledged to beautify the century-old Reflecting Pool before the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations, draining its water and directing the bottom to be painted a color he called “American flag blue.” But since the site was restored, its water has been plagued by an algae bloom and pieces of the new coating have appeared to be peeling off the bottom.

His administration faces a self-imposed deadline to complete the renovation before July Fourth. Trump also has said the federal government would release images to substantiate his claim.

Trump said Wednesday that “sick people” had used razors and box cutters to slice portions of the lining.

The U.S. Park Police posted surveillance footage Wednesday evening and asked for help “identifying the individual depicted here in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation.” The grainy, 30-second video appears to show a person kneeling down, reaching into the reflecting pool and removing something from the water. Police said it was taken Friday afternoon.

In his statement to the court, Lands said the parks agency plans to begin draining the Reflecting Pool following Independence Day celebrations to conduct repairs, including assessing and repairing any damage to the lining.

The park service completed more than two months of renovations at the Reflecting Pool in early June. The 2,000-foot-long basin was drained and a tinted. A plastic-like rubber lining was installed to waterproof and protect the concrete pool surface, and the pool was refilled with water, Lands said.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation, an education and advocacy group that sued in May to halt work on the project, asked a federal judge to block further renovations.

“It is also not too late to correct course,” the group wrote in a filing Monday. It urged the administration to “engage with experts and the public, and make an informed decision about what is best based on the consultations mandated by the law, instead of once again rushing ahead with half-baked ideas.”

Congressional Democrats have called for formal investigations into the pool renovations, saying no-bid contracts for work on the project were awarded to vendors with previous relationships to Trump.

Ohio-based Green Water Solutions was given a $1.7 million contract to install a water-purification system in the Reflecting Pool, while Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate appropriations panel overseeing the Interior Department’s budget, said the pool renovation appears to be a waste of taxpayers’ dollars.

“After railing about waste, fraud and abuse, Donald Trump spent more than $16 million on a renovation of the Reflecting Pool that’s now peeling and chock full of algae,” Merkley said Thursday. He said this is a “massive waste” of tax dollars and the public deserves “swift answers — and a refund.”

Merkley is one of about 10 Democratic senators and House members investigating the pool project.

“Taxpayers deserve a full explanation of how these failures occurred and who will be held accountable for correcting them,’’ said another letter, signed by New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich and five other senators.

Heinrich is the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the Interior Department.

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Associated Press writer Michael Kunzelman contributed to this report.

One of his victims suffered a fractured cheekbone and a wound across his face which required approximately 20 staples.

A man will serve a year and a half in prison after being convicted of stabbing another man in the face and punching a woman.

Conor Carey, 36, from the Downpatrick area, received the sentence at Downpatrick Crown Court on Tuesday, June 23, following the incident that took place on May 2024. He was found guilty of Wounding, Criminal Damage and Common Assault.

The attack on the man left him with long-lasting trauma, a fractured cheekbone and a wound across his face which required approximately 20 staples.

He received a three year sentence, with half to be served in prison and half on licence and a Restraining Order.

Detective Sergeant Emerson from Newry CID said: “On Wednesday 15th May 2024, we received a report that a man had been stabbed to the face in the St John’s Mews area of Downpatrick.

“A woman was also punched and pushed, while another occupant of the apartment building was threatened with the knife before Carey made off. Later the same day, he returned to St John’s Mews and smashed a number of windows.

“Officers commenced a hunt for the suspect, and he was arrested on Monday 20th May.”

Detective Sergeant Emerson continued: “This horrific assault was a terrifying ordeal which will have caused long-lasting trauma to Carey’s victims. The man sustained life-changing injuries, including a fractured cheekbone and a wound across his face which required approximately 20 staples.

“This sentencing sends a clear message to anyone who thinks they can get away with violence, or intimidate victims into staying silent – we will work tirelessly to bring such offenders before the courts.”

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The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm warning from midnight until 10am tomorrow.

The alert covers all of North Yorkshire, with storms expected to move northeast in the early hours of Friday.

A spokesperson for the Met Office said: “There is a slight chance that power cuts could occur and other services to some homes and businesses could be lost

“Where lightning strikes or flooding occurs, there is a chance of delays and some cancellations to train and bus services

“There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds

“Spray and sudden flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures.”

The outlook for the next few days is:

Friday:

Still very warm with some hazy sunny spells, but with lengthier cloudier periods and some thundery showers, greatest early and late. Feeling humid. Mainly light winds, but gusty near showers. Maximum temperature 34 °C.

Outlook for Saturday to Monday:

Still very warm with some hazy sunshine Saturday, however successive showery and thundery outbreaks pushing eastwards will introduce fresher conditions over the weekend. Nearer normal temperatures Monday.

TPS recipients can legally live and work in the US for up to 18 months, subject to extensions. During this period, they can not be removed or detained by authorities on the basis of their immigration status.

The US first provided TPS to Haitians after a major earthquake in 2010 and to Syrians after their country descended into civil war in 2012.

Thursday’s decision is likely to have implications for TPS holders from other countries too.

In his ruling, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the law governing TPS clearly prevents courts from reviewing government decisions.

Justice Alito also said the Haitian migrants who sued were unlikely to prove that the administration’s actions were racially discriminatory and violated US constitution’s equal-protection rights under the Fifth Amendment.

The three liberal justices in the top court dissented.

Justice Elena Kagan said that the government’s decision to remove these protections were racially motivated.

“The statements fairly shout, in their racial undertones and overtones alike, that race entered into the President’s resolve to remove Haitians from this country,” she said.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump amplified false rumours about Haitian immigrants, including that they were abducting and eating house pets.

With this ruling, the court has now cleared the way for the Trump administration to remove legal protections for TPS recipients, meaning they could face deportation.

“Today’s decision puts hundreds of thousands of people at risk”, said Jill Habig, CEO and Founder of Public Rights Project, which filed amicus briefs on behalf of 47 local governments and leaders, urging the Supreme Court to preserve TPS for Haitian immigrants.

The local fallout of the ruling will result in a community crisis, she said.

“Families will be separated, local economies will take a hit and people will be forced back to countries in the grip of violence, instability and humanitarian collapse,” Habig said. “The human cost will be felt all across America.”