NEW YORK (AP) — In a deal that ends a criminal investigation, a prestigious New York City medical institution agreed to boost its sexual abuse prevention program after one of its star doctors was convicted of abusing patients during a decade-long span and was sentenced to life behind bars, authorities said Monday.

Weill Cornell Medicine, whose faculty treats patients at several New York-area hospitals, reached a voluntary compliance agreement with the federal government that calls for it to spend $30 million to create the Institute for Safe Patient Care and Patient Empowerment.

Weill Cornell Medicine had previously agreed to pay victims over $1 billion to settle civil claims.

The deal comes after Darius Paduch, 59, was sentenced in 2024 to life in prison for sexually abusing patients from at least 2009 to 2019, including boys as young as 13. His victims, authorities said, suffered from certain genetic conditions, along with sexual and erectile dysfunction.

The doctor had claimed some of his methods of touching patients were medically necessary, though the indictment said they were intended for his own sexual gratification. The sentencing judge said his crimes were so horrific that it was the first time she’d ever sentenced someone to life in prison when it was not required.

In a statement, Weill Cornell Medicine called the institute “the first-of-its kind” for the early identification and prevention of sexual misconduct.

“This resolution is a significant step forward for us in addressing our former faculty member’s misconduct. Today, Weill Cornell Medicine is a safer organization,” it said. “Under new executive leadership, we have enacted significant reforms in patient safety and reporting protocols to ensure we provide the very best care to all those who place their trust in us.”

It added: “There is no place in our community — or in any medical institution — for the type of misconduct that occurred.”

In a release, Criminal Division Chief Amanda Houle from the Southern District of New York prosecutor’s office said Weill Cornell Medicine under the agreement will maintain an industry-leading sexual-abuse prevention program and will self-report future federal crimes involving sexual misconduct.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said the agreement sends a “strong, clear message to all healthcare institutions” that patients should never be sexually abused and that they must devote the necessary resources to build and maintain programs that detect, report and prevent sexual abuse.

Adam Ramsay-Peaty dunked his head under the water, looked up at the scoreboard and smiled. His time, 26.94 seconds, was only enough for bronze but he did not beat himself up about it.

Throughout his career, Ramsay-Peaty has swum with the spirit of the giant lion tattooed on his bulging bicep. These Glaswegian waters will duly confess that age can tame the most vicious of animals.

‘My superpower looks very different now,’ said the 31-year-old, who was slow off the blocks and needed every dose of muscle memory to pull his way back into third.

‘Juggling babies with milk and having a toddler around is a different superpower. As a professional athlete, yeah, I’m still committed. I’ve been that person that wins all the time and it costs you pretty much everything. I wouldn’t say it’s worth it now.’

The killer instinct has been replaced by parenthood.

Peaty remains Britain’s best breaststroker but he does not fill international opponents with fear like he used to. The sands of time catch up with everyone.

Most swimmers peak in their early 20s. Even the great Michael Phelps, with his 6ft7in wingspan and size 14 feet, did not win another Olympic medal after the age of 31.

His wife Holly was seen watching on as Ramsay-Peaty secured his second medal of the Games

Ramsay-Peaty, pictured with wife Holly, had earlier labelled sport ‘cruel’ in an emotional statement

Ariane Titmus won four Olympic golds and here, aged 25, she is standing poolside with a microphone, carrying out post-race interviews for Australia’s national broadcaster.

Ramsay-Peaty’s finish time was almost a whole second off his world record. He accepted his bronze medal with grace, waving to his adoring Glaswegian audience, and he was more interested in taking home the cuddly unicorn for his son.

‘For me, that period of time when I was undefeated for eight years, or whatever it was, it was athlete first and then human,’ he said. ‘Now it’s human first and then athlete. That’s a good gamble. We don’t really know what the outcome’s going to be. We obviously need to switch up what we’re doing in training to a certain extent. I’ve been in my new training base 12 weeks so let’s keep it in perspective.’

Two lanes to his right, Scoland’s Archie Goodburn was swimming with terminal cancer. Doctors found three inoperable brain tumours two years ago and his presence offered a dose of perspective for the man whose life has turned into a swimming pool soap opera.

There is nothing glamourous about competing in Glasgow. Events finish late and start early in what feels like a tarted-up leisure centre. Sleep is a luxury. Ramsay-Peaty has been catching the double decker bus to Tollcross with his fellow swimmers. Single fares on the local First Bus service normally cost £2.45. No VIP shuttles here. With no road closures, the traffic tends to bottleneck at the turning off Wellcross Road, allowing plenty of thinking time

After missing out on gold over 100m on Saturday night, Ramsey-Peaty questioned the sacrifices required for this life. “What’s the point of all the 5.30ams? What’s the point of all the metres every day? What’s the point of feeling exhausted all the time? What’s the point of saying, “No” to all the family events because of training?” Time will tell how strong his appetite remains for mouthfuls of chlorine.

Ramsay-Peaty spoke of the importance of fatherhood as he and Holly expect their first child

The legendary British swimmer took to social media with a lengthy statement on Monday

The 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, at least, offer a more glamorous proposition. The swimming meets will be staged at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which most recently hosted the World Cup quarter-final between Spain and Belgium. The 100,000-square-foot NFL field will be transformed into the largest swimming venue in Olympic history. Perhaps the idea of a family trip to the West Coast to watch dad’s final race will make it all worthwhile.

‘There’s been a lot of learning this week,’ he said. ‘

‘I said it in Birmingham but this is absolutely my last Commonwealths. I just went out there and enjoyed it – really enjoyed it – but we just weren’t fast enough, weren’t good enough. We have to look at why, because the data this season has been tracking on an upward trend.

‘I can’t really put my finger on it, where I just lost that power to the stroke. Something’s not kicking but I’ve got to learn from it. To get two bronzes, with a relay to go, I’d say that’s success. I’m not going to be too hard on myself, not anymore.’

Earlier, on TNT Sports, he admitted: ‘I don’t even know what tomorrow looks like really, there’s a lot of learning. I’ve felt ‘off’ this week and I don’t know why. We are trying new things.’

This is not the fastest pool on the swimming circuit. Most modern elite Olympic swimming pools are three metres deep but the waves in this shallower, two-metre basin can add a few tenths of a second to finish times.

Ramsay-Peaty’s comments after his 100m race on Saturday night raised eyebrows among some of his peers. He claimed he deserved more. He felt his input – physical and mental – warranted more than a third-place finish. Several athletes accused him of arrogance and entitlement. They wake up just as early and train just as hard, but last night it felt like he had been away for a reality check.

When the adrenaline is still pumping through his body after races, Ramsay-Peaty sometimes says things he regrets. He can be unfiltered. His post on Instagram before the race was perhaps more measured. ‘I know this story won’t be filled with glory, victory and gold,’ he wrote. ‘However I’ll keep fighting, learning, adapting and striving for excellence until I can no longer give anymore. Sport isn’t a fairytale if your happiness and self-worth are only validated by medals. But it can be, if you find value in the hardship, the struggle and the tough times which might ultimately lead you to what you seek.’

He spent Sunday morning scribbling notes in his hotel room in Glasgow. ‘Am I good enough? Am I not good enough?’ asked the monkey in the back of his mind. He is now chasing the pack – as well as his younger self – yet he remains one of sport’s greatest showman. When the Chinese, American, Dutch join him in the pool, the chase will not get any easier.

The vehicle has been lying in the river for years

The Green Party has stated the lack of action by a council regarding a dumped car in the River Lagan is “unacceptable.”

The party said Lisburn and Castlereagh Council “must stop passing the buck” on the dumped car, which lies in a part of the River Lagan covered by that council. It lies just minutes from the Lisburn and Castlereagh Council building, and has been there for a number of years.

The environmental impact of abandoned cars in waterways is significant, and lasts as long as the vehicle is in the water, causing a slow poison to the surrounding ecosystem. Just one litre of leaked motor oil can contaminate up to one million litres of water, creating films that cut off oxygen for fish and plants.

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Long after the internal fluid of the car has gone, iron, copper, and zinc from the frame and brakes continue to slowly dissolve into the water, disrupting the natural chemistry of the riverbed. Rubber tires, dashboard plastics, and interior fabrics slowly degrade into microplastics and release dangerous organic compounds into the current.

The physical bulk of the vehicle can alter water flow, cause localized erosion, and trap other organic debris.

Local group Lagan Valley Greens are running a petition calling for its removal. Richard Gill of Lagan Valley Greens said the case “shows how historic neglect is allowed to become normal.”

He said: “It’s appalling to see the Lagan treated like this. If the Council and Stormont can’t deal with an obvious long-term pollution problem, how can people trust them to protect the river from bigger environmental threats?”

“We are calling for the car to be removed, responsibility to be agreed, and a proper clean-up plan for the Lagan.”

Belfast Councillor Anthony Flynn said the response so far has been “unacceptable.”

“This is a test of whether local agencies and Lisburn and Castlereagh Council will take responsibility for long-standing pollution in plain sight.

“This car has been left in the river for years, right in the heart of the community, and the public deserves better than excuses and buck-passing. If something like this can be ignored for so long, what message does that send about other fly-tipping sites?”

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva praised Argentine President Javier Milei’s austerity policies and reform agenda Monday, saying they have restored market confidence in a country long regarded as a serial defaulter on its sovereign debt.

Georgieva, the first IMF head to visit Buenos Aires in eight years, expressed confidence that Argentina could meet its debt obligations. As the fund’s largest debtor with about $58 billion in outstanding IMF loans, Argentina faces a key repayment period beginning next year, when Milei is expected to seek reelection.

“Argentina is in a much stronger position, and this is the result of the government’s hard work and the perseverance and sacrifice of the Argentine people,” Georgieva said at a news conference alongside Economy Minister Luis Caputo.

Georgieva recalled that Argentina’s debt was among the first issues discussed when she took over as IMF managing director in 2019.

“We were debating whether the country would be able to keep up with servicing its debt obligations to everyone. That is not the question we should be asking today,” she said.

Georgieva’s visit comes as Argentina’s economic outlook has improved, with bond prices rising, central bank reserves increasing and inflation falling. Annual inflation has slowed to 33%, down sharply from 210% when Milei took office in late 2023. Last week, Moody’s upgraded Argentina’s sovereign credit rating, months after similar upgrades by S&P and Fitch.

“What we have today is a much healthier picture,” Georgieva said. “Market confidence has returned.”

Georgieva is scheduled to visit Vaca Muerta on Tuesday, one of the world’s largest reserves of unconventional oil and natural gas. Its development is expected to become one of Argentina’s main sources of foreign-currency earnings in the coming years.

Georgieva also said she sees no need for additional IMF disbursements before the 2027 presidential election.

“We may be on a good track for Argentina to join the club of emerging markets that have borrowed from the Fund, reformed their economies and borrowed no more,” Georgieva said.

Investors are closely watching Argentina’s ability to meet its upcoming debt payments. The country will begin repaying principal on its IMF loans in September, adding to its interest payments, while its broader foreign-currency debt obligations are set to rise sharply in 2027.

By CHRISTOPHER STEVENS, TV CRITIC

Published: 22:16 BST, 27 July 2026 | Updated: 23:20 BST, 27 July 2026

A federal judge tossed out a lawsuit Monday from an interfaith group that challenged the legitimacy of President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, dismissing claims that its overwhelmingly conservative Christian makeup lacked a legally required balance of viewpoints.

Judge John P. Cronan said that although a federal law requires that advisory commissions have a balance of viewpoints, it didn’t specify how this should be done. The New York judge said Trump has wide discretion in picking members.

The lawsuit was filed by several plaintiffs, including the progressive Interfaith Alliance as well as Hindu, Muslim and Sikh groups. They argued that the commission was imbalanced because it consisted almost entirely of conservative Christians, along with one Orthodox Jewish rabbi, and that several commissioners were on record questioning church-state separation and supporting the idea of America as a Judeo-Christian country.

Critics of the the commission said such fears were borne out when it issued a draft report in June that challenged the understanding of a separation of church and state in recent generations, calling instead for “bridges” between the two.

But Cronan said the lawsuit, which sought a more ideologically and religious diverse commission, failed to meet legal criteria to proceed.

He also wrote that the commission is diverse in other ways, such as including both clergy and lay people. And he said the commission has “adherents of at least five different religions” — by citing the one Jewish member and then members of various Christian denominations and identities.

The Interfaith Alliance argued that the commission lacked balance because members believed “the law should protect the exercise of religious beliefs over the civil rights of minority groups.” But Cronan wrote that because Trump’s executive order creating the commission rejected the idea of “religious liberty as inconsistent with civil rights,” he wasn’t obligated to appoint someone who disagreed with that founding premise.

The Interfaith Alliance has been vocal in criticizing the commission, saying its recent draft report failed to address crucial issues such as anti-Muslim attacks and saying it supports policies privileging some religious groups over others.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Singer D4vd has been formally ordered to stand trial for the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who was found dead and dismembered in a car last year.

After five days of preliminary hearings, the judge ruled that the singer, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, must stand trial on charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

‘The people have met their burden on all counts,’ Judge Charlaine Olmedo said before ordering that Burke, 21, continue to be held without bail. 

She then went on to emphasize that the probable cause standard for a preliminary hearing like this is lower than the threshold to prove guilt at trial. However, prosecutors asserted the evidence was overwhelming.

‘Based on the mountains of evidence presented,’ Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said, ‘all of the allegations have been proved way beyond the standard required.’

Burke remained emotionless as the judge handed down the ruling, and his attorneys declined to comment following the hearing on Monday.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said outside court that prosecutors are still weighing whether to seek the death penalty in the case. 

He will now stand trial for the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez

Prosecutors have claimed Burke first met Rivas Hernandez when she was just 13 years old and began sexually abusing her two years later, when she was 13 and he was 18.

When she then threatened to report him and ruin his career, Burke allegedly cut up her body in his garage with chainsaws.

Prosecutors said they have records showing Burke ordered the chainsaws and wading pools that he used to dismember her body in his garage, and that her DNA was found on blood stains when the police served a search warrant.

They said he then drove around for weeks and even months with the body in the trunk. Her decomposing body was found in the Tesla registered to Burke that was towed from the Hollywood Hills in September, a little more than four months later.

Prosecutors said the car was parked around the corner from his house, and surveillance video will show he was the last person to drive it.

Prosecutors claim Burke began a sexual relationship with Rivas Hernandez when she was 13 and he was 18 

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Her chopped up remains were found in the trunk of Burke’s Tesla last September 

Prosecutors on Monday wrapped up their case by giving a moment-by-moment account of Rivas Hernandez’s last night, showing that after a stream of text messages with Burke, her phone went permanently silent when she arrived at his home.

As she neared his Hollywood home shortly after 10am on April 23, 2025, in an Uber he had sent to pick her up, she sent her final text: ‘girly pop i´m almost there open ur door if ur home.’

Burke then allegedly stabbed her to death when she came through the door.

The night before, the two argued via text about his relationship with a woman. She sent him an angry and profane text saying she will tell her dad so many lies about him and ‘i will end ur career and ur life.’

But after the final witness on Monday, the defense argued that the evidence was insufficient and the murder charge should be dismissed.

‘There´s no evidence that Mr. Burke harbored a deliberate intent to kill Miss Hernandez,’ said Burke’s attorney, Marilyn Bednarski.

She said the communications between Burke and Rivas Hernandez showed ‘no threat, no evidence of a history of violence’ and that he had ‘the opposite of homicidal malice’ toward her.

The attorney further argued that a medical examiner ruling that her death was a homicide from two puncture wounds was too vague and inconclusive to be evidence of murder. The defense did not directly give an alternative theory on how she died and isn’t required to.

Burke did not react when the judge announced there was sufficient evidence to bring the murder case to trial

The defense showed several other texts from Rivas Hernandez threatening him about their relationship, and saying she would go to Burke’s mother, talk to his friends and ‘leak’ information about them.

Under questioning from defense attorney Blair Berk, Farrell said he saw no indication that she ever threatened to go to police or pursue any legal action against him.

The defense also established that she had asked seven times to come to see him in the days before her death, and he reluctantly agreed only after she demanded it, and that she had threatened to kill Burke and to mutilate him.

The defense argued that all of the malice had come from her.

Silverman told the judge that ‘the defense tried numerous times throughout these proceedings to dirty up the victim’ despite her being a child.

The detective also said under questioning from Berk that the parents of both Burke and Rivas Hernandez knew about their relationship, that he had attended church with members of her family and that her parents had given their consent for her to go to London with him for a week.

After her phone went silent, Burke sent her several other messages that night asking where she was, and expressing concern. Prosecutors allege those messages were sent as cover after he had killed her.

In earlier testimony, Farrell recounted dozens of sexually explicit photos of Burke and Rivas Hernandez and years of text messages that described the same things, along with conversations that indicated she had gotten an abortion in 2024 at 13 after he got her pregnant.

Farrell described the photos that could not be shown in court, material so graphic that it left Rivas Hernandez’s mother in tears and prompted both parents to leave the courtroom on Friday. They were back in court Monday.

D4vd (pronounced ‘David’) became an online musical phenomenon as a teen with a blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He had huge followings on TikTok, Soundcloud and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 breakthrough ‘Romantic Homicide,’ have more than a billion plays.

In 2024 he played the Coachella music festival and released his first full-length album, ‘Withered,’ two days after authorities say Rivas Hernandez was killed.

Burke is to be arraigned August 31. 

This is a breaking news story.  

Taylor Swift getting married to Travis Kelce in New York this summer could easily be described as the ultimate celebrity event. There was hype, intrigue, tight media control and plenty of global attention.

Some described it as being the US’s version of a royal wedding. But there is a key difference.

A royal wedding is a celebration of a monarchy, a long-established institution in many countries. By contrast, the marriage of Swift and Kelce in Madison Square Gardens on July 3 2026 was the latest instalment of a very modern journey. For our research contends that Swift has transcended celebrity and become an institution in her own right, with her own global influence.

This is no mean feat for the 36-year-old from Pennsylvania. Institutions are the building blocks of our social world, providing us with meanings and roles that we embrace or inhabit as we navigate our lives.

The British monarchy, for example, can be one basis by which people in the UK understand the public realm and their role in it. The King has a well defined role in British society, because he is representing a well established institution that comes with a set of rules and expectations.

In a much shorter time, Swift has become an institution in and of herself. And we specifically use the word “institution” because she has become a focal point for rules, roles, relationships and meanings that are used to govern aspects of the lives of millions of people around the world.

For her fans, the values communicated through Swift’s work and actions include a deep sense of authenticity, community and inclusiveness. These then become principles that those fans draw on to navigate their lives.

The simple act of creating and giving friendship bracelets represents the social norms expected of her fans. That is how Swifties behave.

It is a cultural norm that is recognised around the world, and one that, along with several others, binds this group together. There are the shared online interactions about apparent clues from Swift regarding upcoming tours, songs or personal events, and even the language that is used by Swift and her followers. These help to define the relationships that Swifties form with one another, and their interactions with Swift herself.

The life of a showgirl

In a behind-the-scenes documentary Swift explained that the 3½ hour concerts that she delivered during her Eras concert tour (which ran from March 2023 to December 2024) were to “overserve” her fans. They featured rituals such as the giving of her iconic black fedora hat to a young fan during the song 22. Fans dressed up to reflect their own favourite Swift era as a way of reinforcing the meanings, roles and relationships that Swift and her fans have created.

In each concert’s city, donations were made to local charities. And before the couples’ wedding, US$26 million (£19.5 million) was pledged to good causes in places that hold special meaning for the couple.

These tangible demonstrations of kindness and respect help to reinforce the values and norms that Swift attempts to portray – and they may also have contributed to her ability to successfully manage her wedding.

Because from an organisational perspective, the management of the wedding was a masterclass in institutional control. To command a massive public venue, enforce iron clad non-disclosure agreements on famous guests, and then completely dictate the media narrative, required more than just a celebrity. It required infrastructure.

This is a clear demonstration that Swift has transcended mere celebrity to become an institution in her own right. Her empire doesn’t just navigate traditional industry rules. It has its own distinct set of norms and meanings that form the basis for defining new kinds of relationships within the entire music industry and beyond.

And if we think of Swift as an institution that sets outs roles and norms around relations and behaviour, the effects of her wedding may also be consequential.

Given that Swift’s life informs how young people in particular navigate their lives, then her marriage, and how it is expressed through her public persona and her work, may have a profound effect on how young people understand gender and relationships. Observing how the very modern institution that is Taylor Swift may influence some other long-established social institutions, including gender and marriage, will be fascinating.