El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has released a video highlight reel showing Kilmar Abrego Garcia apparently thriving during his imprisonment, in an attempt to refute the migrant’s claims that he was tortured while in custody.

Abrego Garcia, who was erroneously deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador and then returned after a court order, is seen in the video gardening, playing soccer, fishing and enjoying other leisurely activities while imprisoned in his home country.

The video appears at odds to Abrego Garcia's claims in legal filings that he was severely beaten, deprived of sleep and psychologically tortured while detained in the country’s Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, a notorious anti-terrorism prison.

According to court documents, Abrego Garcia’s physical condition deteriorated quickly upon arrival there and, within two weeks, he lost roughly 31 pounds. 

ABREGO GARCIA SAYS HE ENDURED BEATINGS, TORTURE IN SALVADORAN PRISON AHEAD OF CRIMINAL TRIAL

But Bukele pushed back against those claims on Thursday, claiming he actually put on weight and released video evidence to refute claims of torture. 

The video shows Abrego Garcia in seemingly good spirits, playing chess and soccer, working out with fellow inmates, doing gardening and relaxing while watching a widescreen television in his cell, among other leisurely activities. 

"If he’d been tortured, sleep-deprived, and starved, why does he look so well in every picture?" Bukele wrote on X. "Why would he gain weight? Why are there no bruises, or even dark circles under his eyes?"

"The man wasn’t tortured, nor did he lose weight. In fact, photos show he gained weight while in detention. There’s plenty of footage from different days, including his meeting with Senator Van Hollen, who himself confirmed the man seemed fine."

Bukele went on to rip the mainstream media for seemingly believing the claims.

TRUMP'S REMARKS COULD COME BACK TO BITE HIM IN ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION BATTLE

"Apparently, anything a criminal claims is accepted as truth by the mainstream media and the crumbling Western judiciary," Bukele wrote.

Under Bukele’s state of emergency, the government has detained more than 1% of the Central American nation’s population in its war on the country’s gangs. The president has turned what was once the most dangerous country in the world -- with a homicide rate of 103 per 100,000 people in 2015 -- into one of the safest in the Western Hemisphere, with 1.9 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024. The U.S. rate was 5.5 per 100,000 people in 2023, which are the most recent records available.

Hundreds of people have died in the El Salvador prisons, according to the Associated Press, citing human rights groups, which have also documented cases of torture and deteriorated conditions.

Abrego Garcia, who was living in Maryland after coming to the U.S. illegally, was deported to El Salvador in March 2025. He became a prominent face of the Democrats' resistance to the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans. 

The Trump administration accuses them of being an MS-13 gang member, a human trafficker and a serial domestic abuser amid police reports by his wife that he used violence against her. 

Abrego Garcia's lawyers claimed when he arrived at the prison he was immediately frog-marched to his cell by prison guards, who kicked him with boots and struck him with wooden batons along the way, leaving visible bumps and bruises across his body. 

He and other detainees in the cell slept on metal mattresses, with minimal access to food and satiation. They were also forced to kneel for approximately nine hours, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., "with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion," per the filings. 

They claim he was also psychologically tortured and received threats of violence during his time at CECOT where prison guards repeatedly told him they would transfer him to other prison cells housing violent gang members, whom they assured him would "tear" him apart.

Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

It comes after ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana said she was quitting the party to co-lead a new party with Corbyn.

Peter Kyle says the Alan Turing Institute should prioritise boosting the UK's AI capabilities.

The bill, proposed by Winchester MP Danny Chambers, is supported by the government.

President Donald Trump says that his sweeping domestic policy bill that squeaked through both houses of Congress this week along near-party-line votes is "very popular" with Americans.

Asked about a slew of national polls conducted last month which indicated that most Americans were far from thrilled with the massive spending and tax cut bill, the president told reporters early Friday morning, "I think it's very popular. It does many things, but one of them is the biggest tax cuts in our country's history. And that alone makes it very popular."

The president spoke as he returned home from a July 4th-eve event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds where he headlined a kickoff celebration of next year's 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

'BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL ON WAY TO WHITE HOUSE AFTER NARROWLY PASSING FINAL HURDLE IN CONGRESS

"There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago," Trump told the large crowd in Des Moines, Iowa, as he referred to the move by House Republicans in a 218-214 vote hours earlier to lift the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" to final congressional passage.

Earlier in the week, Vice President JD Vance broke a tie in the Senate to pass the measure 51-50.

WHAT'S ACTUALLY IN TRUMP'S ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’

Trump noted that "not one Democrat voted" for the bill in either chamber of Congress, adding that "they hate Trump. But I hate them too."

The president had repeatedly insisted to the Republicans who control Congress that the bill reach his desk by July 4th, and Trump got his way. He's expected to sign the measure at the White House at 5pm ET. 

The bill is stuffed full of Trump's 2024 campaign trail promises and second-term priorities on tax cuts, immigration, defense, energy and the debt limit. 

It includes extending his signature 2017 tax cuts and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay. 

By making his first-term tax rates permanent - they were set to expire later this year - the bill will cut taxes by nearly $4.4 trillion over the next decade, according to analysis by the Congressional Budget Office and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. 

HOW MUCH THE ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ WILL CUT YOUR TAXES

The measure also provides billions for border security and codifies the president's controversial immigration crackdown.

As Democrats criticize the bill, they’re highlighting the GOP’s restructuring of Medicaid — the nearly 60-year-old federal program that provides health coverage to roughly 71 million low-income Americans. Additionally, Senate Republicans increased cuts to Medicaid over what the House initially passed in late May.

The changes to Medicaid, as well as cuts to food stamps, another one of the nation's major safety net programs, were drafted in part as an offset to pay for extending Trump's tax cuts. The measure includes a slew of new rules and regulations, including work requirements for many of those seeking Medicaid coverage.

Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Commnitte, called the measure "one of the worst bills in our nation’s history." 

"Today, Donald Trump and the Republican party sent a message to America: if you are not a billionaire, we don’t give a damn about you," Martin argued.

Overall, the $3.4 trillion legislative package is projected to surge the national debt by $4 trillion over the next decade.

By a 21-point margin, voters questioned in the most recent Fox News national poll opposed the bill (38% favored vs. 59% opposed).

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING 

The bill was also underwater in other national surveys conducted last month by the Washington Post (minus 19 points), Pew Research (minus 20 points) and Quinnipiac University (minus 26 points).

About half of respondents questioned in the Fox News poll said the bill would hurt their family (49%), while one quarter thought it would help (23%), and another quarter didn't think it would make a difference (26%).

Sixty percent felt they had a good understanding of what is in the measure, formally known as the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, and while those voters were more likely to favor the legislation than those who are unfamiliar with it, more still think it will hurt rather than help their family (45% vs. 34%).

The latest surveys all indicated a wide partisan divide over the measure.

According to the Fox News poll, which was conducted June 13-16, nearly three-quarters of Republicans (73%) favored the bill, while nearly nine in ten Democrats (89%) and nearly three-quarters of independents (73%) opposed the measure.

But Republicans are shining a spotlight on a poll conducted by a GOP-aligned public policy group that indicates strong support for the bill due to the tax cut provisions.

A release earlier this week from the group, One Nation, argued that "polling shows that the public supports the Republican plan to cut taxes for families, eliminate taxes on Social Security, overtime, and tips, and reign in waste and abuse in the federal budget."

Fox News' Dana Blanton contributed to this report.

The bill, proposed by Winchester MP Danny Chambers, is supported by the government.

A farmer welcomes a new bill which aims to update the current laws on livestock attacks.

The chancellor draws a line under excruciating episode but still faces the same problems, writes Henry Zeffman.

The Labour minister has defended his government's benefits bill after backbenchers forces a major climbdown.

KCC says the move came after a "concerned member of the public" contacted them.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Iowa on Thursday night, President Donald Trump announced that the military flight team that launched the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities will be honored at the White House on Independence Day.

Trump said that he took issue with early media reports suggesting that the strikes on Iran only partially damaged the targets because he considered it an insult to the "great" American military members who executed the mission.

"Remember when CNN said it wasn't obliterated? It was maybe damaged or damaged badly, but obliterated is too strong a word. No, it was obliterated. That's now been proven," said Trump.

"They were trying to demean me by saying that, but they were really demeaning those great pilots and people and mechanics that got those planes over there and were able to shoot from high up in the air, going very, very fast, with potentially a lot of things being shot at them, and hit every single one," he said. "They're trying to demean me, but to me, they were demeaning them. And they got out of the plane, and they said, ‘What? We hit every single target.’ They know better than anybody."

TRUMP TOUTS CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF MAJOR BILL AHEAD OF WHITE HOUSE SIGNING

"These people did one of the greatest military hits and maneuvers in the history of our country, and I want them to be appreciated for it," the president went on. "So, they're coming. They're coming to the White House tomorrow night."

"They're going to be in Washington tomorrow at the White House, and we're going to be celebrating."

Trump said the White House will host not only the pilots, but the entire flight crew, including "the people that flew the other planes" and "the mechanics that had these planes going for 37 hours without a stop."

"China, Russia, they were all watching. Everybody was watching," he said. "We have the greatest equipment anywhere in the world. We have the greatest people anywhere in the world, and we have the strongest military anywhere in the world."

TROOPS AT THE BORDER: HOW THE MILITARY’S ROLE IN IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT HAS EXPLODED UNDER TRUMP

During his address on Thursday, Trump also claimed that Iran called ahead of their retaliatory strike on the U.S. military base in Qatar to clear the attack with the White House.

"They called me to tell me they have to take a shot at us. This was Iran. Very respectful. That means they respect us because we dropped 14 bombs. They said we'd like to take 14 shots at you. I said, ‘Go ahead, I understand,’" he said.

"They said where they would do it. I said, ‘Good.’ We emptied out the fort. It was a beautiful military base in Qatar who treated us really fantastically well," he said.

SAUDI DEFENSE MINISTER SECRETLY MEETS WITH TRUMP TO DISCUSS IRAN DE-ESCALATION, ISRAEL: SOURCES

Trump claimed that Iran went so far as to ask what time of day would be acceptable for their retaliatory strike.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"They said, ‘Sir, is 1:00 okay?’ I said it was fine, [they said], ‘We could make it later.’ And we had nobody but four gunners," he said. "So, all of a sudden, they said, ‘We're ready.’ And they were a little nervous about doing it. I want to tell, you can you imagine, they were nice enough – this is Iran – to call me and tell me that they would like to shoot me at 14 times, so they want to shoot us. And I said, go ahead. And they shot 14 high grade, very fast missiles every single one of them was shot down routinely by these four unbelievable gunmen. And they did their job. And that was the end of that."

The Trump administration plans to implement a process whereby farmers in Iowa can vouch for hard-working, law-abiding migrant farmworkers who may be facing deportation, so that they can remain in the U.S.

The proposed process was shared by President Donald Trump during an event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Thursday night, kicking off a year of patriotic celebrations meant to honor the nation's 250th birthday. Trump said the new plan will take place in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security and that legislation for the measure is currently being drafted, while speaking Thursday evening from Iowa. 

"You know, they've had people working for them for years. And we're going to do something … we're going to sort of put the farmers in charge," Trump told the crowd of people in attendance. "If a farmer has been with one of these people that worked so hard – they bend over all day, we don't have too many people that can do that, but they work very hard, and they know him very well, and some of the farmers are literally, you know, they cry when they see this happen – if a farmer is willing to vouch for these people, in some way, Kristie, I think we're going to have to just say that's going to be good, right?"

TRUMP 'WORKING ON' DEPORTATION EXEMPTIONS FOR ILLEGAL FARM AND HOSPITALITY WORKERS 

"We don't want to do [border security] where we take all of the workers off the farms," Trump added. "We want the farms to do great."

According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Iowa is the nation's second-largest agricultural exporting state. 

While announcing the new plan, Trump cited cases he had heard of when migrants who have worked on farms for 15 years "get thrown out pretty viciously."

DAVID MARCUS: AMERICANS GET IT. TRUMP'S MOVES TO CLEAN UP BIDEN'S OPEN BORDER CHAOS WILL BE MESSY

"We can't do that," Trump added. "We got to work with the farmers and people that have hotels and leisure properties."

Earlier this week, when Trump previously hinted at the new immigration exemption for farmers, he also suggested the move could be implemented for workers in the hospitality industry, as well. 

While sharing the new immigration proposal with the crowd at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Thursday night, Trump spoke to potential criticisms of the move by "serious radical-right people" within the GOP, asking the crowd rhetorically if they think these folks "will understand."

After the president first brought up the proposal earlier this week, critics have already started sounding off.

"So, if I’m to understand this correctly, we should look the other way regarding illegal immigration as long as it’s in the construction, hotel, or restaurant industries? This is far beyond disappointing, it’s infuriating," California Republican state Sen. Melissa Melendez wrote on X.

The president noted Thursday evening that the move will put farmers "in charge" and ultimately the responsibility for any problems that arise will fall to their feet.  

"If the farmers don't do a good job, we'll throw them the hell out of the country. We'll let the guys – we'll let the illegals stay, and we'll throw the farmers the hell out," Trump said. "Okay, get ready, farmer, I'm telling you."

Rachel Reeves said she had had 'a tough day' in her first interview since teary PMQs.

Nick Robinson sits down with the prime minister to look back at his first year in Downing Street.

The BBC looks at what the government's 10-year NHS plan could mean in practice.

Watch: PM talks about his 'good personal relationship' with Trump

The prime minister says he found common ground with President Trump as both "really care about family".

Tenants will also face longer to qualify, under government plans for the social home discount scheme.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, identified as "Black or African American" on his 2009 Columbia University application even though he now says he does not consider himself Black, The New York Times reported Thursday.

According to The Times, the internal data came from a leaked database of past Columbia applications which was part of a recent hack targeting the Ivy League school.

Mamdani, then a high school senior, also checked "Asian" and reportedly wrote in "Ugandan" in the space for additional background. He was ultimately not accepted to Columbia even though his father is a professor at the elite school.

Now 33, Mamdani told The Times he identifies as "an American who was born in Africa," and said checking multiple boxes was an effort to reflect his "complex background," not to gain an edge in the competitive admissions process.

FORMER CLINTON ADVISOR SOUNDS '9-1-1' ALARM FOR DEMOCRATS AFTER SOCIALIST'S NYC MAYORAL VICTORY

But at the time, Columbia, like many elite universities, used race-conscious admissions, a system the Supreme Court struck down in 2023.

"Even though these boxes are constraining," Mamdani said, "I wanted my college application to reflect who I was."

Mamdani told The Times that aside from those college forms, he doesn’t recall ever identifying as Black or African American. 

SHARPTON URGES NYC MAYORAL HOPEFUL TO MEET JEWISH LEADERS, TAKE ANTI-ISRAEL RHETORIC 'OFF THE TABLE'

His parents are both of Indian descent. His father, Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani, has lived in East Africa for generations, but Mamdani said there had been no intermarriage in the family with native African groups.

Mamdani has leaned into his South Asian and Muslim identity on the campaign trail. During a June speech at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, he also stressed his African roots: "I was born in Kampala, Uganda... I was given my middle name, Kwame, by my father, who named me after the first Prime Minister of Ghana."

President Donald Trump brought up Mamdani at a rally Wednesday, saying if he interferes with immigration laws "we’ll have to arrest him." 

"Look, we don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I’m going to be watching over them very carefully on behalf of the nation," Trump added.

Mamdani, a self-identified democratic socialist, dismissed the remarks, accusing Trump of "an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you. We will not accept this intimidation."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons is calling out the hypocrisy of progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who said the agency is "acting like a terrorist force," pointing to an earlier attempt by the congresswoman to shift blame away from an actual terrorist.

In a social media post this week, Jayapal claimed "ICE is acting like a terrorist force" and that "people across the country of all legal statuses — including U.S. citizens — are being kidnapped and disappeared off the street by masked men."

Jayapal asserted that the federal operations are being carried out with "no oversight, no accountability" and are "completely lawless."

During an interview with Brianna Keilar on "CNN News Central," Jayapal doubled down on her statement, saying, "What is deranged and cruel and outrageous is that, literally, we are seeing ICE agents, I assume they’re ICE agents. They say they are. They don’t have any identification. They’re wearing masks. They’re in plain clothes. They are coming and kidnapping and disappearing people on the streets of the United States.

ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS TAKE OVER LOS ANGELES BRIDGE AS ACLU FILES LAWSUIT

"I never in a million years thought that that is something that I would see here in America," she added. "And so I think it is the administration that has to apologize to U.S. citizens that have been rounded up to legal, permanent residents, to people with legal statuses across the country who are getting swept up, people who have been here for 20 years and committed no crimes, getting swept up by masked men who are kidnaping them and deporting them."

LA OFFICIALS CHARGE OVER 40 ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS WHO ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTED OFFICERS, HORSES AND THREATENED CHILD

In response, Lyons said after "an actual Antifa terrorist tried to blow up ICE’s Northwest Processing Center in Rep. Jayapal’s home state of Washington in 2019," she "tried to blame the violent attack on rhetoric from the right, in defense of an actual terrorist who tried to murder detainees and employees alike!

"Now, she labels ICE officers enforcing immigration law set by Congress ‘terrorists,’" said Lyons. "This, at a time when officers are facing a nearly 700% increase in assaults, is in part due to the type of rhetoric she spews."

"Never in a million years did I think I would witness a sitting member of Congress prioritize regard for violent criminals over the law enforcement officers protecting her community from actual public safety threats," he said. "The only apology needed is from the congresswoman to the people who voted for her."

The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News earlier this week that assaults against ICE officers and federal agents conducting immigration enforcement are up 690% compared to the same time last year. 

In an interview with Fox News Digital, a special agent working deportations voiced concern about the escalating violence and the effect of Democrats pushing policies to de-mask officials, which they said threatens their families and communities.

ICE AGENT SHARES FEARS ABOUT FAMILY SAFETY AS ASSAULTS ON OFFICIALS SURGE

The agent said that "whatever happens to us, my family," Democratic leadership is "directly responsible for it."