BRISTOL, England (AP) — Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit signed a long-term contract extension with Bristol Bears on Thursday.
The 24-year-old Rees-Zammit joined Bristol for the 2025-26 season after spending 18 months trying to earn an NFL roster spot — first with the Kansas City Chiefs and then the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Rees-Zammit has scored six tries in eight appearances for the English Premiership club since his return to rugby union and in October was recalled to the Welsh national team.
“The environment here allows me to express myself and play the game the way I love, and that brings out the best in me,” Rees-Zammit said in Bristol's announcement.
The club didn't specify the number of years on the contract.
Rees-Zammit had left English rugby club Gloucester in early 2024 to join the NFL’s international player pathway program. He spent five months working as a running back with Kansas City before switching to receiver with the Jaguars, but he never made an active roster.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
FILE - Wales' Louis Rees-Zammit runs with the ball during the Nation's Series rugby union international between Wales and New Zealand in Cardiff, Wales, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City on Thursday, beginning one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.
Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall just after midnight, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath as the city's first Muslim mayor.
“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said following the brief, private ceremony.
After working part of the night in his new office, Mamdani then returned to City Hall in a taxi cab around midday Thursday for a grander public ceremony at 1 p.m., where U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes, was to administer the oath for a second time.
New Yorkers turned out in the frigid cold for an inauguration viewing party just south of City Hall on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.
In addition to being the city's first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.
In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.
But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.
He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.
Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.
Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.
Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.
He’ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.
During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.
But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.
“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.
Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.
Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.
The new mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government.
That included persuading the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position — a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, left, prepare to administer the oath of office to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani takes the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony in the Old City Hall subway station, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Zohran Mamdani reacts after being sworn in as mayor of New York inside the the Old City Hall subway station, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks after taking the oath of office, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Attorney General Letitia James left, prepares to administer the oath of office to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as Rama Duwaji, looks on, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, arrives with his wife Rama Duwaji for a swearing-in ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Attorney General Letitia James, left, administers the oath of office to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, as his wife Rama Duwaji looks on, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
