Fishermen in Gaza are using dinghies made of reclaimed fiberglass, wood, and doorframes salvaged from rubble left by Israeli airstrikes to help revive the territory’s struggling fishing industry amid material shortages.
Published On 6 Jun 20266 Jun 2026
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VENEZUELA Fury looked incredible as she posed in gym and branded herself a “bad b***h” after moving into a lavish static home with her new husband.
The 16-year-old has skyrocketed to new heights of fame after fans were captivated by her lavish wedding in the Isle of Man last month.
Venezuela married her man Noah Price, 19, in a stunning handmade gown with imported Italian lace and a 50ft train.
The Netflix star has been keeping fans updated on her life over on her TikTok account.
Venezuela looked amazing in a new video, where she posed for fans in an Alo gym set.
The gym set, which costs a whopping £218, was a gorgeous bright red colour complete with white detailing.
Read more on Venezuela Fury
She danced around in the clip as she mimed the lyrics to Cardi B‘s ‘Pretty and Petty’.
They said: “I’m a bad b***h are you mad. You built like your dad.
“You damn near unemployed. They only book you when they can’t afford Coi, look.
“I got one album and I’m up still. Daughter cost more than your pub’ deal.”
Venezuela pouted her lips and threw up a peace sign as she ended the video.
Fans in the comments gushed over Venezuela.
One fan penned: “Diva Period!”
Another fan wrote: “This outfit is everything.”
A third person added: “OMG beautiful.”
The reality TV personality has over 1.3 million followers on the app with fans desperate to keep up with her whirlwind last few months.
Venezuela and Noah‘s wedding was one of the biggest events in May – the bash had 120 guests, a 12-tiered wedding cake, a surprise performance from Peter Andre and an all-night buffet.
Soon after their big day the loved-up pair moved into their posh new home.
The luxury caravan home boasts a stunning marble bathroom with a free-standing bath, a cream kitchen overlooking trees and greenery, and plenty of space throughout.
The living room has a huge built-in TV cabinet with a fireplace beneath.
And the bedroom has large wardrobes and plush grey carpet throughout.
Republic of Ireland striker Amber Barrett said the side “are going to give everything we have” in Tuesday’s match against France when they have the chance to secure automatic qualification for the World Cup.
Barrett came off the bench in the 76th minute and scored the winner against the Netherlands in the closing stages of the match in Cork in front of a crowd of more than 12,000.
Now, Carla Ward’s side have the opportunity to secure a spot in back-to-back World Cups when they travel to Grenoble to face France, who are top of the group.
Even if they draw or lose, they will have the fallback of a seeded play-off spot, but Barrett insists they are going out to get the job done on Tuesday.
“We do not have anything to lose,” Barrett told RTE after the game.
“When we started the group, what everyone was looking at was not finishing fourth. We avoided that tonight and we have nothing to lose on Tuesday, we are going to give everything we have.
“Whatever happens, we still have the play-offs in October and December.”
Laurent Bonadei’s side were the 2-1 victors against the Republic of Ireland at Tallaght Stadium in March.
Barrett added that despite the side coming into the “cup final” unbeaten in three matches, they will not underestimate the French.
“Before, if you were 2-2 against the Netherlands, you would probably be rubbing your hands together and saying’ we will take this’, but Carla [Ward] said from the start of the week, let everyone know we will be going to win the game.
“Tuesday is a cup final. Against the Netherlands, we were for it and we were trying to win that game, there was no doubt about it.
“It is a massive game on Tuesday, we will enjoy tonight but we are not taking for granted the French, they are an unbelievable side. Recover, get ready and let’s go again.”
Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo hit the training pitch as he readies for his sixth World Cup appearance. Portugal will play Chile in a friendly, before heading to the US for their first World Cup match on June 18. Punters say Portugal is a dark-horse contender to take the title.
Published On 6 Jun 20266 Jun 2026
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Accra, Ghana – Ghana has recorded 14 arrests linked to false news and offensive speech in less than 16 months, nearly double the number documented during the previous administration’s entire eight-year tenure, according to the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).
The rise has triggered a sharp debate in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies over whether authorities are simply enforcing long-standing laws in a new digital environment, or edging into a more restrictive approach to public speech.
The controversy carries added political weight because President John Mahama, while in opposition in 2022, warned that using state power to intimidate dissent was a “dangerous blueprint” for democracy.
A senior ruling party official dismissed allegations that the arrests amount to a crackdown.
“The opposition intentionally sponsors people to insult the President,” he told Al Jazeera. “When the law catches up with them, they cry persecution to score cheap political points.”
He pointed to the case of TikToker Prince Ofori, known as “Fante Comedy”, who was arrested last August over alleged threats to President Mahama.
Days after his arrest, Ofori appeared at a political rally alongside opposition figures, a development the official said showed how quickly such cases become politicised.
“They paraded him at an opposition rally,” he said.
Opposition leaders see something more troubling taking shape.
Minority leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has been among the most outspoken critics.
“The state-sponsored persecution must stop,” he told Al Jazeera. “Arresting citizens for words that do not constitute genuine threats is not justice. It is intimidation.”
![Members of Ghana security forces take part in a joint Show of Force Exercise in Accra, Ghana, 11 December 2025. The exercise featured the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Prisons Service, Ghana National Fire Service, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Immigration Service in collaboration with the Ghana Armed Forces, aimed at Police officers on security detail near a police vehicle, with the Ghana Black Star atop a building behind them. [FRANK KPORFOR/Epa]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/13574211-1780497934.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
He said free speech has limits, but argued that the state is increasingly crossing a line.
“Excessive use of state power risks undoing Ghana’s hard-won democratic gains,” he said.
At the centre of the debate are long-standing provisions in Ghana’s Criminal Code and Electronic Communications Act, which authorities say are now being applied to a fast-moving digital landscape.
Government supporters argue the increase in arrests reflects the explosion of anonymous and unregulated online content.
Critics say the problem is not the laws themselves, but how they are being used.
A legal consultant who reviewed recent cases said he counted at least 16 alleged misapplications of Section 208 in the past 18 months, compared with roughly a dozen in the previous eight years.
“The law has been abused beyond repair,” he said. “Repeal is the only remedy.”
Veteran journalist Ben Ephson said Ghana needs clearer guidance on where free expression ends and harm begins.
“The government must properly explain the arrests so people can draw the line between press freedom and responsible journalism,” he said.
He added that both journalists and state institutions risk overstepping if the rules remain unclear.
“When you compare the freedom of the media and the rights of the individual, we need to be careful that the media, in trying to do their work, don’t trample on people’s rights,” he said.
A wider global debate
Others say Ghana’s debate mirrors tensions playing out in other democracies.
Tegha King of the Universal Peace Federation Ghana said concerns about shrinking civic space are not unique to Ghana.
“The global civic space must cultivate more free speech, not less,” he told Al Jazeera.
He said stronger institutions, not more arrests, are needed to manage the pressures of the digital age.
“There must be independent courts, transparent enforcement, media self-regulation and digital literacy,” he said.
Some analysts point to gaps in public understanding of constitutional rights.
“There is a lack of constitutional education among many Ghanaians,” said David Adofo of the African Chamber of Content Producers. “People must know the consequences of their actions before they act, not after.”
Concerns are also being voiced outside the country.
“We have had many concerns from diasporans about perceived erosion of press and political freedoms, especially news of blogger arrests,” said Nana Kofi Opoku-Agyemang of the NuGhana Expat Center. “Negative news sells fast. The government must be cautious so it does not project a negative image of Ghana in the diasporan community.”
Officials insist there is no coordinated effort to silence dissent.
An NDC communicator said the legal framework in question predates the current administration and defended the approach.
“Ghana’s laws, Section 208 of the Criminal Code and Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, have been on the books for decades,” he said. “What has changed is the sheer volume of reckless, anonymous and sometimes dangerous content on social media. There is no systematic crackdown. There is simply enforcement of existing law.”
![Personnel of Ghana's Police Service stands guard during a Show of Force Exercise in Accra, Ghana, December 11, 2025. [Francis Kokoroko/Reuters]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2025-12-12T002056Z_86881175_RC2DEIA7WL6K_RTRMADP_3_GHANA-SECURITY-1780497947.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
A political irony at the centre of it all
Ghana remains one of West Africa’s more open democracies, with a competitive political system and active media landscape.
But the rise in speech-related arrests has sharpened scrutiny of how far the state can go in policing online expression without undermining the democratic culture that helped define its reputation.
The debate is also politically charged because of Mahama’s own past warnings.
As opposition leader, he described the use of state power against dissent as a “dangerous blueprint.” Today, critics say his government faces accusations it once condemned.
For Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the moment calls for restraint — and reflection.
“We should not continue to say that because it happened yesterday, it should happen today and tomorrow. That cycle must end,” he said. “President Mahama has an opportunity to leave a legacy of tolerance and free speech. I hope he takes it.”
This story includes spoilers for “Masters of the Universe.”
He-Man has made his way back to the big screen thanks to the power of Grayskull — and Hollywood’s love of nostalgia.
Now in theaters, “Masters of the Universe” stars Nicholas Galitzine as Eternia’s long-lost Prince Adam. Working a menial HR job after getting stranded on Earth as a child, Adam “(he/him)” dreams of reuniting with his Sword of Power in order to make his way back home.
Spoiler: He does (with a little help from his friends).
Helmed by “Bumblebee” and “Kubo and the Two Strings” director Travis Knight, the movie is “a dopey, friendly comedy about modern masculinity in crisis with a He-Man who openly wonders what kind of a man to be,” according to a review by Times film critic Amy Nicholson.
Much like the first live-action film around the popular 1980s toyline, the new “Masters of the Universe” features a couple of post-credits scenes that tease what could come in the franchise’s future. But for now, fans will have to wait to learn whether a sequel is forthcoming.
Fans of the He-Man franchise can rejoice because everyone’s favorite floating wizard (and court jester) does make an appearance after the main “Masters of the Universe” story ends. In a nod to the animated Filmation series in which the character originated, Orko appears in a brief stinger after the conclusion of the film in order to share what lessons audiences could learn from the story they just watched.
Has He-Man seen the last of Skeletor (Jared Leto)?
(Amazon MGM Studios / Prime)
The most significant of the bonus scenes comes in the middle of the credits. The scene opens with Prince Adam’s mother, Queen Marlena (Charlotte Riley), sharing a moment with Duncan (Idris Elba).
After the queen mentions she had given up hope for reuniting with “both of them,” Man-At-Arms replies “perhaps one day she’ll come back to us too.”
The scene then cuts to the “she” in question, wearing a red cape and holding a familiar sword.
“Force Captain… Adora?” calls out a voice.
“No, not anymore,” she replies.
Those familiar with the lore of the “Masters of the Universe” franchise will recognize that the mysterious woman is Adam’s long-lost twin sister, Adora. The most common backstory is that Adora was kidnapped by Hordak as an infant and raised on the planet Etheria as a member of his Evil Horde. She eventually learns the truth about her heritage and defects to fight for good.
The Sword of Protection gives her the power to transform into the hero She-Ra.
Nope. The final stinger shown after the credits are done rolling involves Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie) and Skeletor (Jared Leto). It appears He-Man has not seen the last of his nemesis — as long as a sequel is greenlit.
Since election night in California, a single theory of election fraud has taken root like no other — not just among online conspiracy theorists or bot accounts, but among major conservative influencers and people close to President Trump.
Late on election night, an update of vote counts in the Los Angeles mayor’s race appeared on election results pages of various media outlets including the Los Angeles Times.
It showed leading Democrats Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman receiving tens of thousands of new votes, and leading Republican former reality TV star Spencer Pratt receiving no new votes.
Close observers of the vote tally immediately took screenshots, with some shouting fraud. Others ran statistical analyses that showed it would be impossible for a candidate such as Pratt — running second in the race — to receive zero votes in such a large batch of ballots.
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“They’re not even trying to hide the fraud anymore,” wrote Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and one-time member of Trump’s inner circle.
The claim fit into the broader narrative being pushed relentlessly by Trump and other Republicans in recent days, that California Democrats were cheating.
But the discrepancy in the Tuesday vote count in the mayor’s race was not fraud.
What attracted far less attention than the update with zero Pratt votes was another update one minute later that showed tens of thousands of votes for Pratt, and none for Bass or Raman.
There was no batch of votes that included zero votes for any candidate, as Los Angeles County’s own data show plainly.
But voting data pushed out by the Associated Press came as two separate updates one minute apart, with Bass’ and Raman’s votes in the first and Pratt’s in the second.
“The AP vote count receives updates as provided by election officials and adds them to our vote count. What happened in this case is that there was a lag in an automated update such that some candidates’ votes were added in one update and the other candidates followed about a minute later,” the Associated Press said in a statement to The Times.
“Specifically, an electronic update from the Los Angeles County website pulled in votes for only one group of candidates, including Karen Bass and Nithya Raman. Exactly one minute later, the electronic update picked up the votes for another group of candidates including Spencer Pratt. Taken together, the updates included 21,870 votes for Pratt, 12,850 votes for Bass and 9,521 votes for Raman, along with votes for other candidates.”
The Times’ election results page relies on the AP’s data feed, and checks for updates once a minute.
According to a Times review of election night results data, The Times pulled data from the AP’s feed at approximately 8:35 p.m. that included 0 new votes for Pratt and eight other candidates. When The Times’ system next checked for new numbers a minute later, there was an update with votes for Pratt but no new votes for Raman, Bass and others.
Michael Sanchez, a spokesperson for Dean Logan, head of the L.A. County registrar-recorder/county clerk’s office, said he could not speak for how news outlets report county data, but that he could confirm there were no batches of votes that included zero votes for Pratt.
“It is false,” he said of that narrative. “In every single result update that we released on election night and since election night, he has received votes,” Sanchez said.
Justin Grimmer, a political science professor at Stanford University and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution who researches and evaluates claims of election fraud, conducted his own data analysis of the vote updates, and came to the same conclusion.
He said there was an initial update with no Pratt votes, but a second one 41 seconds later with no votes for Bass or Raman — leading him to believe the single batch of ballots was just reported in two back-to-back updates rather than one.
“Because they came so close together, it looks like it was just a sequence of updates,” he said.
Grimmer said news outlets are “thinking about speed” and the best way to get people the most accurate information as quickly as possible, but “haven’t quite adjusted to being in this world where there’s this group of people who monitor these data feeds as if they are official government reports.”
“It leads to these horrible tweets about there being evidence of fraud,” he said.
Grimmer said he operates under the “mantra” that such fraud claims can’t be dismissed “by mere assertion” that the fraud didn’t happen, but must be looked into — which is why he dived into the data in the first place. This claim, he said, was similar to claims about odd-seeming vote tallies that were made during and after the 2020 election of Joe Biden over Trump, so he was familiar with how to look into the data.
“You can just go to the source code for the page, and then you can find where the sort of feed is, and that’s all I did — just found the feed, downloaded it, and then just saw what the updates were,” he said.
Grimmer said it was not surprising to him that people were watching the data feeds come in closely enough to notice an apparent discrepancy in the data that lasted less than a minute.
“There is a group of individuals who are convinced that there’s lots of fraud going on in U.S. elections, and for whatever reason, this group is convinced that they’re gonna uncover this by careful monitoring of these data feeds and the data that is being reported,” he said.
Grimmer said he would not presume to tell news outlets how to do their job of delivering election results quickly in the future, but does hope they balance the need to move quickly with “this reality that their feeds are now being monitored by individuals who think that they’re able to discover instances of fraud from what’s happening in the feeds.”
Sanchez reiterated that the county’s own official results of votes have been accurate — saying that “at no point” did the county office “report an official results update in which Pratt received zero votes.”
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Dean Carpentier popped up with the biggest swing of his life, and the Trojans won their biggest game in more than two decades.
USC baseball stormed back to defeat No. 5 overall seed North Carolina 9-5 in Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional, a loud start to the program’s first appearance on this stage since 2005.
Carpentier smoked a go-ahead grand slam off North Carolina (48-12-1) reliever Walker McDuffie in the sixth inning, turning a 5-2 deficit into a 6-5 lead and shutting down a previously charged-up Boshamer Stadium. The swing was Carpentier’s first career grand slam and just his 10th home run in his 132-game collegiate career, the defining moment of the day as USC (48-16) tied its largest comeback victory of the season.
“I was sitting on a slider,” Carpentier said. “He’s a slider guy. I got a good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it and it found a way out of here.”
Ace Mason Edwards struggled through his shortest outing of the season, yielding three earned runs in just three innings with four walks. But the Trojan bullpen picked him up, and kept the game close enough for the offense to rally. Chase Herrell, Ben Cushnie and Andrew Johnson gave up just one run over six innings, with Johnson retiring the first eight batters he faced.
USC’s Adrian Lopez (5) celebrates during Game 1 of an NCAA super regional against North Carolina on Friday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
(Laura Wolff/For The Times)
“He’s done that now a couple of times with the bases loaded where he strikes out the side and gets out of it,” USC coach Andy Stankiewicz said of Edwards’ first inning. “It’s in there. That was huge. It was a big momentum swing to get out of that. Unfortunately it’s taxing though; it made him jump up in his pitch count a little bit.”
His successful but ultimately draining first inning led to UNC scoring four in the next two innings, knocking the Trojans into a huge hole and forcing its bullpen to stem the tide. But eventual winning pitcher Herrell picked up two innings with just one earned run given up. Cushnie retired the only batter he faced and the offense went to work from there.
“The job that Chase Herrell did, the job he did in College Station, it’s two back-to-back outings where he has been tremendous for us,” Stankiewicz said. “It’s always Mason and Grant [Govel] — which is great, they deserve all the recognition — but there’s more guys down there that are doing it.”
With the lead and all of the momentum after Carpentier’s grand slam, Stankiewicz pushed his chips to the middle of the table knowing the importance of winning the opener of a best-of-three series. He brought usual Game 3 starter Johnson in out of the bullpen, and he delivered a sensational performance.
Johnson retired the first eight batters he faced and ended up getting the final 11 outs of the game with just two singles allowed, slamming the door shut for his first save of the season.
“You saw the job that he did over in College Station,” Stankiewicz said of Johnson. “It was a big moment, and we needed that again today. He throws strikes, he’s unafraid, he attacks the strike zone and we felt like he was going to make the pitches.”
Johnson’s dominance meant the go-ahead grand slam would have been enough, but USC added three more runs in the seventh. Isaac Cadena drove one in with an RBI groundout, Jack Basseer plated one on on a fielder’s choice and Andrew Lamb — who started the scoring for USC with a solo home run off Ryan Lynch back in the third inning — tacked on one more with a perfectly executed squeeze bunt.
The Trojans have outscored opponents 64-19 during their five-game NCAA tournament winning streak. And are one win away from advancing to the College World Series for the first time since 2001. Game 2 is set for 11 a.m. PDT Saturday on ESPN.
June 5 (UPI) — The attorneys general of several states are preparing to file a lawsuit in the coming weeks to prevent the $111 billion merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.
As many as 10 states are involved in a California-led antitrust investigation of the merger, which would create an entertainment monolith comprised of two of the biggest major players in television, film and streaming globally, the Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg and The Wrap reported.
Officials in the states have started working on the lawsuit and where to file it, the news organizations confirmed, and the litigation could potentially be filed before the end of June.
Although California Attorney General Rob Bonta told The Wrap in early April that “red flags are everywhere when you have a merger of this type,” his office did not confirm that the lawsuit was taking shape and could be filed soon.
“The Paramount acquisition of Warner Brothers remains an active investigation, and we do have any updates to share at this time,” Bonta’s office told the news organizations in a statement.
The states that have been involved in Bonta’s investigation and may join the lawsuit, aside from California, are Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
Paramount and Netflix competed for months to win the right to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, with Warner’s shareholders voting to approve selling the company to Paramount for $31 per share.
The merger has been controversial because Paramount Chairman David Ellison has said that after the company receives regulatory approval, he plans to make $6 billion in cuts between both companies.
Although Ellison said that the Paramount and Warner Bros. film studios will maintain their current pace of 15 theatrical releases per year, the deal has drawn sharp rebukes from across Hollywood and some parts of the federal government because the downsizing will most likely include job cuts.
Washington has extracted major concessions from Caracas since the Jan.3 strikes and kidnapping of President Maduro. (Archive)
Between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s, amid the terminal crisis and collapse of the so-called European socialist bloc, the era of struggle that had begun following the triumph of the Cuban Revolution came to a close in Latin America. A new phase began, during which the leftist and progressive social and political organizations and movements of the subcontinent went through phases of accumulation and de-accumulation of forces.
Phases of accumulation
From 1985 to 1998, these movements accumulated enough social power to topple neoliberal governments and enough political power to secure seats in local governments and national legislatures, but not enough to take control of the national government.
From 1998 to 2009, they accumulated enough social and political power to elect—and in some countries, to re-elect several times—leftist or progressive governments.
Phases of de-accumulation
From 2009 to 2012, there were no electoral defeats for leftist or progressive governments, but there were coups d’état of a “new type” in the “weakest links in the chain”: Honduras and Paraguay.
In 2013 and 2014, there were no electoral defeats, but the margin by which the left retained power in Venezuela and El Salvador was reduced to a bare minimum.
From 2015 to 2019, electoral defeats in Argentina, El Salvador, and Uruguay, coups of a “new type” in Brazil and Bolivia, along with Lenín Moreno’s betrayal in Ecuador, broke six of the “strongest links in the chain,” and the siege against Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba intensified.
Phase of partial recovery and subsequent acute loss of strength
Following the election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador as President of Mexico in 2018 and Alberto Fernández in Argentina in 2019 at the end of the phase of decline, between 2020 and 2024, the left and/or progressive movements regained power in Bolivia, Honduras, Brazil, and Uruguay, held power in Chile, Colombia, and Guatemala, and lost it again in Chile and Honduras in November and December 2025, respectively. In January 2026, President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were kidnapped by the US military and are currently being held illegally in that country.
Predominant factors in the phases of accumulation (1985–1998 and 1998–2009)
Predominant factors in the de-accumulation phases from 2009 onward
With the exception of Uruguay, the overthrow, defeat, or betrayal of left governments was followed by the criminalization, prosecution, and, in many cases, imprisonment of their leaders, most notably Lula in Brazil.
The transformative processes with the greatest capacity to remain in power have been those in Venezuela and Nicaragua, which set out to and succeeded in establishing control over all the institutions of state. It is this concentration of power that has guaranteed the survival of the Cuban Revolution over six and a half decades. However, in Venezuela and Nicaragua there is a contradiction between the formally prevailing liberal/bourgeois system and the actually prevailing institutional system, with characteristics of state socialism, in which a political party – not the only one, but certainly the dominant one – monopolizes control of the four branches of government, the armed forces, and the security services.
The incompatibility between the formally existing institutional system and the institutional system actually in place in Venezuela and Nicaragua remained latent as long as the leaders of their respective transformative processes enjoyed widespread popularity and maintained high levels of approval, or raised expectations regarding the fulfillment of social needs and interests. However, this concentration of power has both a positive and a negative aspect:
Given that external and/or internal forces are attempting to undermine or overthrow the established institutional systems in these countries, and given that neither of them has managed to make progress in building a new society – with this project becoming unattainable in the form and substance originally envisioned – the defense of power becomes an end in itself.
When evaluating any process of progressive social reform or revolutionary social transformation, it is necessary to consider the extent to which it has met or failed to meet its historical goals. In cases of failure to meet these goals, one must take into account the adverse and external factors that have influenced this outcome. However, it cannot be ignored that, even if resulting from such factors, the failure to meet historical goals erodes these processes. In essence, every transformative process is compelled to achieve its historical goals within a timeframe no longer than the moment society perceives it as an “eternal uphill battle.”
The kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores by the US military – along with the questions of how such an operation could have been carried out (no less than inside the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces!), how the kidnappers knew where they would be sleeping that night, and that they were indeed there, why there was no response, which had been assured would occur in the event of any aggression against Venezuela, and, on top of all that, that the outcome is a “normalization of relations” with the aggressor power agreed upon by the very government that Maduro headed – reveals the fragility of revolutionary processes that claim to have a solid base of popular power, but events like this reveal that, in reality, they lack it.
Twenty-seven years and five months after the start of the Bolivarian Revolution – the first link in a chain of elections and re-elections of leftist and progressive governments that has become increasingly fragmented since 2009–2019 and is now practically extinct – it is time to face reality and assess to what extent the parties, movements, fronts, or coalitions that have held and/or currently hold power in their respective countries are aware of the true relationship between their rhetorical utopias and their political realities.
Between every emancipatory utopia and its corresponding reality lies a “missing link.” The “missing link” between utopia and reality creates a “gap” between the project of revolutionary social transformation or progressive social reform and the transformative or reformist process intended to bring it about. The danger lies in failing to recognize the cumulative widening of the “gap” between utopia and reality and clinging to a utopia as the foundation of a process of revolutionary social transformation or progressive social reform that is increasingly deviating from and becoming disconnected from it.
The disconnect between utopia and reality has consequences, including most notably: the conversion of utopia into dogma; the social alienation that every reformist or revolutionary process is meant to eradicate; the divergence of interests and direction between “leaders” and “followers”; the drift of the process toward disillusionment and failure; and, in well-known historical experiences, such as that of the USSR (to mention only the most prominent), the absolute empowerment of a caste that creates and defends its own political and economic interests, leading to the negation of utopia: from the very pinnacle of “power” itself!
Utopia must be systematically grounded in reality through the active, genuine, and effective participation of society, and never reaffirmed or reformed from “above.” This reevaluation and renewal led by society is the only way to ensure that utopia not only serves as a guide, as Galeano says, but also serves to walk the path that turns it into a political, economic, and social reality that is as close as possible to the vision itself.
Based on experiences and studies conducted in previous decades, since the beginning of the chain of elections and re-elections of leftist and progressive governments in Latin America, attention has focused on denouncing media warfare, cognitive warfare, cultural warfare, and fourth- and fifth-generation warfare. In recent years, Caracas has been the main venue for events and the most active platform for denouncing this form of counterrevolutionary action. These analyses and denunciations must continue “at full speed,” but we must also recognize and accept that this is not the only threat facing leftist and progressive governments and political forces.
All forms of external and internal counterrevolutionary activity must be analyzed and combated, but with the knowledge and understanding that this is not the only battlefront. Another front, just as important or even more so, is the recognition and eradication of our own weaknesses and errors, which make transformative and/or revolutionary processes vulnerable to enemy strategies and tactics. What has happened in Venezuela is proof of this omission: plenty of denunciation of the enemy and little to no self-reflection.
The moral of the story is that yes, we must denounce and unmask the enemy. But no, we cannot focus attention on denouncing the enemy at the expense of recognizing and eradicating our own weaknesses and mistakes.
Roberto Regalado is a Cuban political scientist and PhD in Philosophy. He is a professor at the Center for Hemispheric and U.S. Studies at the University of Havana (CEHSEU) and a member of the Historical and Social Literature Section of the National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists.
He is the author of, among other essays, Latin America Between Centuries: Domination, Crisis, Social Struggle, and Political Alternatives of the Left (2006), Encounters and Disagreements of the Latin American Left: A View from the São Paulo Forum (2008), The Latin American Left in Government: Alternative or Recycling? (2012), and numerous articles in specialized journals.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Venezuelanalysis editorial staff.
Source: Blog América
DECEASED Friends actor Matthew Perry has sold two original Banksy artworks for nearly £1million – including the iconic Girl with Balloon.
The star tragically died in October 2023 after accidentally drowning in a jacuzzi while high on ketamine, with 127 items from his estate having now been sold at auction.
A pair of iconic Banksy artworks, Girl with Balloon and Nola, that Perry owned have been sold for £975,000.
The Hollywood actor, best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom Friends, died at the age of 54.
His estate has since been put up for auction with the money going to the Matthew Perry Foundation which helps substance users to recover.
The Girl with Balloon 2005 includes two spray-painted stencils on separate canvases of a child reaching for a red heart-shaped balloon.
Following an intense bidding war, it sold for a massive £709,674.
After including the 25 per cent buyers premium, it sold for £887,093.
The other iconic artwork, Nola 2008, is a screen print in colours on wove paper of a young girl holding an umbrella while sheltering from the rain.
It was the first Banksy Perry ever bought, according to Heritage Auctions.
The monochrome picture fetched £70,967.
Including the 25 per cent buyers premium, it sold for £88,709.
Both artworks have Banksy’s signature on them.
Other items sold at the auction included signed Friends episode scripts, TV guide displays, and a custom Chandler bobble head.
It also sold Batman memorabilia like a custom ping pong table and The Dark Knight Rises watch.
Perry’s cause of death was determined to be the acute effects of ketamine with drowning as a contributing factor.
A year after the celeb’s tragic passing, the street dealer who supplied the ketamine, Erik Fleming, was jailed for two years.
Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, was also jailed for more than three years after injecting the actor with the drug.
Both pleaded guilty to the charges during their court appearances.
Veteran Democratic politician Xavier Becerra won one of the top two spots in California’s primary election for governor, according to the Associated Press, a finish that puts him in a prime position to win in November and make history as California’s first elected Latino governor.
“The people of the great state of California, in the greatest nation on earth, have spoken — loudly and proudly,” Xavier Becerra said in a statement Friday. “We will not be bought. We will not be bullied. And we are never backing down. November, here we come.”
Former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a Republican, remains in a close second and appears on the cusp of securing the right to face off with Becerra in the November general election.
Tom Steyer, a hedge fund manager turned climate change activist, may be destined to finish in third place — which would be a disappointing end to a campaign that saturated California’s television screens, social media scrolls and mailboxes thanks to the progressive Democrat spending $216 million of his own wealth.
Becerra’s victory was declared by the Associated Press on Friday evening, three days after the June 2 election — an indication of the competitive race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom and California’s lengthy process of counting ballots. Still, Becerra and Hilton were within a percentage point of each other, though that could change as the vote tally continues. While his fate is not sealed, Steyer faces long odds to finish in the top two.
Under California’s primary system, only the two candidates who receive the most votes in the primary advance to the November general election, regardless of their party affiliation.
Becerra would enter the general election campaign with a significant edge over Hilton since Democratic voters in California outnumber Republicans by almost a 2-to-1 margin, a telltale reason why no GOP candidate has won a statewide race since 2006.
President Trump’s endorsement of Hilton helped consolidate support from Republican voters, which was pivotal to his success in the primary, but would likely hurt him in a face-off against Becerra. Nearly two-thirds of voters in the state want a governor who will fight Trump’s policies, according to the survey by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies that was co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.
Becerra could make history by becoming the first Latino to be elected governor — and the first to lead the state in more than 150 years. The last time a Latino held the office was in 1875, when then-Lt. Gov. Romualdo Pacheco was elevated to fill a vacancy and served for 10 months.
“California has made history. Xavier Becerra’s advancement to the general election is a defining moment both for the state, and for the millions of Latino families who have been instrumental in shaping the state’s future. … As home to the nation’s largest Latino population, California will once again demonstrate the decisive power of Latino voters,” said Voto Latino Executive Director Beatriz Lopez.
Though Latinos make up about 40% of the state’s population and are California’s largest ethnic group, they historically have lower turnout in elections and are underrepresented in government. Though Becerra often cites his upbringing as a child of working-class Mexican immigrants, he will still need to demonstrate he can deliver for those communities, said Christian Arana, vice president of civic power and policy at the California-based Latino Community Foundation.
“There’s a lot of excitement about the representation side,” Arana said. “You can have Latino representation, but whether or not that will actually lead to tangible outcomes for Latino communities, that’s what people want to know.”
Once stuck in the single-digits in public opinion polls with a handful of other Democratic candidates, Becerra rose quickly and unexpectedly following the political demise of former Rep. Eric Swalwell.
Becerra’s rise began days after Swalwell dropped out in April following allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, which he denies. Becerra quickly consolidated support from elected officials including Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and influential groups like Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the California Medical Assn.
But both supporters and critics of Becerra struggle to explain exactly how or why he became the main beneficiary of Swalwell’s downfall.
Becerra’s campaign credits the timing of a major television and digital advertising push. The political ads began running just before the allegations against Swalwell came out and depicted Becerra as a calm, experienced leader with a record pushing back against Trump and support from Young Democrat groups.
Steyer’s campaign hired an intelligence firm to look into the online surge favoring Becerra and found thousands of bot accounts had amplified Becerra on various social media platforms. Becerra’s campaign denied any involvement and dismissed the influence of the fake accounts.
Political experts describe it as the stars aligning for the longtime Democratic politician. In the aftermath of the scandal, voters were apparently drawn to Becerra’s long resume and calm, thoughtful demeanor.
“He just never overreacted. Even when attacked [during debates], he was calm,” said Fernando Guerra, professor of Chicano Studies at Loyola Marymount University. That “gave the sense of being a moderate, while he’s really a liberal, so he was able to appeal not only to Latinos, but to liberals and to moderates.”
After Swalwell’s campaign crumbled, members of the political brain trust — many with ties to Newsom — that had been advising the former congressman began working for Becerra, including digital strategist Alf LaMont and veteran consultants Courtni Pugh and Lindsey Cobia.
“There was nothing going for him for a long, long time,” said Jason McDaniel, associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University. “I do think it was just people looking for someone who had a lot of experience who could win.”
Becerra’s first election victory was to the state Assembly in 1990. He served one term before successfully running for a Los Angeles congressional seat, which he held for 24 years.
Then-Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Becerra as state attorney general in 2017, a post he used to challenge Trump administration policies in the courts more than a 100 times — with great success. Becerra helped craft the Affordable Care Act in Congress and defended it as attorney general, and Joe Biden nominated him to serve as Health and Human Services secretary.
The 68-year-old veteran elected official has faced criticism on the campaign trail for his record leading the massive federal agency, particularly over a New York Times investigation that found thousands of unaccompanied migrant children ended up working in dangerous jobs after they were released to sponsors.
Some former Biden administration officials, many of them anonymous, have also criticized Becerra’s leadership of the agency.
Still, Becerra’s supporters said the candidate’s experience, particularly when it comes to fighting the Trump administration, qualifies him for California’s top job.
“He’s had some very important positions in government,” labor leader Dolores Huerta said at Becerra’s election night party in downtown Los Angeles. “He is qualified. He doesn’t have to go into a learning mode.”
“He’s a legal scholar,” said David Dixon, a political science professor at Cal State Dominguez Hills and brother to a longtime Becerra aide. “When our Constitution is threatened, we need people like him to be in positions of power to reclaim things we are losing now.”
Times staff writers Seema Mehta, Dakota Smith and Andrew Khouri contributed to this report.
“Dumbo” might not sound like the most flattering nickname, but In Gee Chun has embraced it.
Years ago, her coach in South Korea gave her the moniker because of her exceptionally keen hearing, the ability to hear someone clearing their throat or opening a soda two holes away. She leaned into it ever since. The Disney character adorns her golf bag and is her driver headcover, and her fans refer to themselves as the “Flying Dumbos.”
At the U.S. Women’s Open on Friday, everyone heard Chun’s footsteps. She shot a three-under-par 68 to claim an early share of the lead at Riviera with Jennifer Kupcho and Japan’s Hinako Shibuno.
Many of the contenders were still on the course at press time, but Chun assured herself of a prime position heading into the weekend, in the hunt for her fourth major championship. She won the Open in 2015, Evian in 2016, and Women’s PGA in 2022.
Were Chun to win this tournament, she would be in rarefied air with bookend victories separated by 11 years. According to Elias Sports Bureau, among women with multiple U.S. Open titles, Meg Mallon had the longest gap (13 years apart), followed by Annika Sorenstam (10 years).
Of course, there’s a big difference between being at a logjam atop the leaderboard on Friday and lifting the Harton S. Semple Trophy on Sunday.
“Just stick to the game plan, nothing changes,” Chun said of her mindset heading into the weekend. “I don’t want to think about the future to put extra pressure on me.”
Speaking of extra pressure, Kupcho has an arrangement with her mom. They’ll talk before and after the tournament, but not during it.
“Me and my mom kind of have an understanding,” she said, “like, ‘Just don’t text me. I don’t want to hear from you if I play good. I don’t want to hear from you if I play bad. We’ll talk at the end of the tournament.’”
Jennifer Kupcho hits out of a fairway bunker on No. 9 during the second round of the 81st U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Kupcho, raised in Colorado, said she hasn’t banned her folks from attending, “But I don’t think they’re going to.”
Maybe she could have used some TLC on Friday. After leading outright Thursday with a 66, she came back to earth with a 73.
That was still enough to keep her squarely in the mix. The same could not be said for Michelle Wie West, who followed a 75 with a 74 — a deflating finish for the LPGA legend who came out of retirement to use her final year of exemption to play at Riviera.
“Obviously I would be lying to say I wasn’t disappointed. I would have loved to have made the cut today, granted all day,” Wie West said. “But I had a blast honestly, with playing here at Riv, such a special week to have played it, and to have family, friends, a lot of familiar faces coming out, it was a lot of fun.
“I hit some good shots, hit some good putts, and kind of felt that feeling again, which is awesome.”
Nelly Korda, ranked No. 1 in the world, was coming on strong Friday afternoon in the wake of a ho-hum 73 in the opening round. She had three birdies and six pars on the front nine in the second round.
Nelly Korda misses a birdie putt on No.3 during the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Likewise gathering momentum was Alison Lee who shot a 70 on Thursday, and Friday had four birdies through her first 12 holes. She grew up in Valencia and played at UCLA.
Lee had a son, Levi Todd Kidd, in April of last year and was back on the LPGA Tour within four months. She made her 2026 debut at the LET Saudi Ladies International in February and opened with a two-under 70 despite playing with rental clubs, as her regular set was stuck in Amsterdam.
Balancing a major championship and motherhood is no simple challenge.
“It’s been really tough trying to juggle everything,” she told reporters before the Open. “I feel like sometimes I’m drowning under water, but thankfully I have some great people and great help around me where I can get through it.”
She’s staying with her parents in Valencia so she won’t disrupt her son’s schedule, and has a backup room at Megan Khang’s nearby rental home for early tee times.
Recently, her baby had the kind of breakthrough every parent can appreciate.
“He’s sleeping a lot better,” she said. “Therefore, my life has been a lot easier. … I’ve been able to get a little more rest. I’ve been able to work out a little bit more and practice a little bit more.”
The Korean War began on June 25th 1950, when troops from Communist-ruled North Korea invaded South Korea.
There was a boycott of the United Nations by the Soviet Union at the time, and therefore, no veto, which allowed the UN to intervene when it became apparent that the superior North Korean forces would easily take over the entire country.
The Soviets and the Chinese backed North Korea, with the participation of millions of Chinese troops. After large advances on both sides, the war eventually reached a stalemate.
The 1953 armistice, never signed by South Korea, split the peninsula along the demilitarized zone near the original demarcation line.
No peace treaty has ever been signed and technically, the two countries are still at war.
The Korean War was the first war in which a world organization, the United Nations (UN), played a military role and a major challenge for the United Nations, which had come into existence only five years earlier.
Across South Korea, officials and citizens will pray and lay flowers at the graves of the war dead. It is common practice to display the flag of South Korea on the front doors of homes to commemorate the civilians and soldiers who died in war.
In 1956, South Korea held its first memorial ceremony for soldiers who died in the Korean War. Memorial Day was declared a public holiday on April 19th 1956, just three years after the war ended.
Published On 5 Jun 20265 Jun 2026
Italy’s Flavio Cobolli said he was “sad and happy at the same time” after reaching his first Grand Slam final at the French Open on Friday, following the last-minute withdrawal due to illness of his last-four opponent and compatriot Matteo Arnaldi.
The 24-year-old 10th seed will meet Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final, which will produce a new major champion, after the German second seed earlier moved past Jakub Mensik in the other semi-final.
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Just more than 20 minutes before Cobolli and Arnaldi were due to take to Court Philippe Chatrier, tournament organisers announced that the 104th-ranked Italian had been forced to pull out with a “virus”.
“When he came to me almost one hour ago, I almost cried. You know, it’s something that you don’t expect at all. I was ready to play this match,” Cobolli told reporters during a news conference he held with his close friend Arnaldi, as the pair sat three metres (10 feet) apart.
“When he came, I was completely sad for him. But, at the same time, of course, I’m really happy for the result that I reached this week.
“Yeah, now I’m sad and happy at the same time.”
For first-time major semifinalist Arnaldi, withdrawing was “not something that you wish to anybody”, but “the right decision for me to take”.
“It’s tough, because for how the tournament was, for how many hours I’ve been on the court, I was feeling actually very good,” Arnaldi, who had spent the most amount of time on court for a player en route to a Grand Slam semifinal, said.
The 25-year-old added that, on Thursday, he was “feeling OK” during practice, but after his dinner, he began to feel unwell during the night.
“I started to feel so-so with my stomach. I was, like, ‘All right, just didn’t digest very well,’” he recounted.
“But then I woke up at 1:00am, and I started vomiting, and I wasn’t feeling the best. Then I tried to sleep. I couldn’t sleep at all. At 6:00, 7:00am, I vomited again.
“We called the doctor into the room. He came, gave me some stuff. I was hoping that it would just be something from dinner or something like that, but then throughout the day, I couldn’t eat. Every time we did something or would drink, I would go back to the bathroom.”
Despite his best efforts, his state worsened throughout the day.
“I tried to get ready and tried to stay as much as I could here and tried to see if I could go on court, but every time I get up, I feel dizzy,” Arnaldi said.
“It’s a virus, I think, because I was feeling pretty cold. I think I had a fever, like, during the day. I don’t know, to be honest.
“I just know that I can’t move, and I can’t eat, and I can’t drink. So, there was really no way that I will be able to play.”
Cobolli paid tribute to a tearful Arnaldi.
“Matteo is a big inspiration for all of us. He’s an amazing player and amazing professional,” Cobolli said.
“He’s, I think, the best person outside the court for how his match preparation, focus, cool-down. He’s one of the best on the tour, for sure.”
After the conference, Cobolli took to centre court to have a hit watched on by a decent smattering of spectators that had come for the match but stayed to see the world number 14 keep his eye in.
After his quarterfinal victory over Canadian fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday, Cobolli will go into the weekend’s final with plenty of rest.
“Maybe having almost four days off is a lot, so you lose the rhythm,” he said.
“Now, I got practice again. I think I will be ready, for sure, for the final, but I also know that I will be fresh, for sure.
“Maybe [the extra time off] will help; maybe not. I’ll tell you after the final.”
US President Donald Trump hailed stronger-than-expected jobs growth before pivoting to Iran, saying negotiations with Tehran “seem to be going quite well”. Trump offered no further details on the talks as he arrived in Wisconsin for an agriculture event.
Published On 5 Jun 20265 Jun 2026
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THE heartbroken girlfriend of James Handy has spoken out in anguish after her own son was accused of brutally stabbing the veteran actor to death.
Wendy Gledhill, 76, fought back tears as she broke her silence outside her home, reeling from the horror of losing her partner and the devastating allegations against her son.
“I’m just trying to make it through one day at a time, a minute at a time,” she said.
“I loved James and my son. I still can’t believe it….I can’t believe my son did it. I’m just trying to …,” she added, before retreating inside, overcome with emotion.
Her son, Michael Gledhill, 44, stands accused of fatally stabbing the 81-year-old actor multiple times in the chest in a shocking attack at the family home in Tarzana, Los Angeles.
Authorities say the horror unfolded on Wednesday morning when police were called to the property on the 19200 block of Erwin Street following a disturbing 911 call.
A voice reportedly told dispatchers: “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin.”
When officers arrived at around 9:30am, they found Handy unconscious and bleeding out in the front yard, suffering from multiple stab wounds.
“We also need [a rescue ambulance] for a male, not conscious, not breathing, suffering from a stab wound,” a responding officer said in chilling dispatch audio.
The beloved actor was rushed to hospital but was later pronounced dead.
In a dramatic twist, Gledhill himself allegedly waved down officers as they approached, telling them he was the suspect they were looking for.
He was arrested at the scene and charged with murder. He is currently being held on a $2,000,000 bond.
Disturbing Ring doorbell footage later emerged showing a man believed to be Gledhill pacing near the home.
He was dressed in a purple or pink shirt and blue trousers, at times touching his face before returning to the property and flagging down police.
Another clip showed him walking back towards the house where Handy’s body was later found, with footage also appearing to capture him leading officers across the lawn.
Neighbours described Gledhill as acting erratically in the past, with one claiming his behaviour raised alarm.
“He looked really rugged … he looks like he doesn’t really change his clothes,” said neighbor Joheina Quibol.
She also recalled a bizarre encounter in which he allegedly questioned her father about cameras inside their home, describing him as “paranoid” and suggesting he may have struggled with mental health issues.
Other neighbours claimed the suspect and Handy had been overheard arguing overnight before the fatal attack.
Despite the brutal nature of the killing, the Los Angeles Police Department said they believe it to be an isolated incident, adding there is no ongoing danger to the public.
A motive for the attack has not yet been established.
Handy’s death has sent shockwaves through Hollywood, with his talent agent Pam Ellis-Evenas confirming the tragedy in a statement.
“With great sadness I can confirm that the gentleman who was attacked and killed on Wednesday in Tarzana was the actor James Handy.”
The New York City-born star enjoyed a glittering career spanning nearly five decades, racking up close to 150 screen credits across film and television.
He was most recently seen as bartender Jimmy in Top Gun: Maverick alongside Tom Cruise.
Handy also appeared in the 2017 superhero film Logan, starring Hugh Jackman, playing a doctor treating an ageing Wolverine.
One of his most memorable roles came in the 1995 classic Jumanji, where he starred alongside Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt and Kirsten Dunst.
His extensive television career included appearances in hit series such as The West Wing, 9-1-1, NCIS: Los Angeles, CSI: NY, The Young and the Restless, Castle, Criminal Minds, Cold Case, Without a Trace, ER and The X-Files.
He also had notable roles in Alias as Arthur Devlin, and recurring appearances in Melrose Place and NYPD Blue.
Handy’s brutal killing comes less than a year after another shocking Hollywood tragedy involving Rob Reiner, 78, who was found with his throat slit inside his Los Angeles home.
His son, Nick Reiner, 32, has been accused of killing both him and his mother Michelle, 68, while they were in bed on December 14, 2025. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
WASHINGTON — With virtually no strings attached, Congress is on the verge of providing a sizable infusion of cash to the Department of Homeland Security, powering President Trump’s mass deportation agenda for the remainder of his term in the White House.
The nearly $70-billion package, which cleared the Republican-held Senate in a middle of the night vote and now heads to the House, was declared a “rotten bill” by the Democratic leader and an “ATM for ICE” by pro-immigrant advocates.
But for those aligned with Trump’s campaign promise for the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, it all but guarantees an uninterrupted flow of money to carry out the administration’s immigration enforcement operations — and comes on top of some $170 billion Congress already approved for the department last summer, as part of Trump’s big tax breaks bill.
“We’re going to continue to arrest people, we’re going to continue to detain people and we’re going to keep deporting people,” Trump border advisor Tom Homan told CBS News on Friday.
He hinted at summer sweeps of enforcement actions coming next to New York City.
The work of Congress comes at a pivotal time for the Republican president and his party as they face restless voters before the midterm elections. About 1 in 3 U.S. adults know someone who has been affected by Trump’s immigration operations, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in April. And as America celebrates its 250th anniversary, most say it’s no longer a great place for immigrants.
The funding package from Congress is just a slim dozen-page bill that carries none of the usual guardrails or directives typically demanded in legislation. It turns loose $30 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, and billions for the Border Patrol, and others, prepaying the department’s operations into 2029.
“Their options are limitless in terms of what they can do with this money,” said Vanessa Cardenas, the executive director at America’s Voice, a longtime advocacy organization for immigrants.
“That is such a hard thing to accept as a taxpaying citizen that our dollars are going to this massive, mass deportation machine, while Americans are struggling to meet healthcare costs, and have access to food and they’re paying so much in gas.”
The administration has sought to shift the debate over its immigration operations, installing new leadership at Homeland Security in the aftermath of violent scenes of immigration enforcement earlier this year and the shooting deaths of Americans Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Rather than the dramatic street sweeps, the administration is working behind the scenes on actions that are stripping immigrant groups of their ability to remain in the U.S., by doing away with Temporary Protected Status or making it more difficult to secure green cards.
The so-called Dreamers, young immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children, have reported delays in renewing their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, exposing them to potential deportation.
But protests on American streets continue, including over detention conditions at the Delaney Hall facility in New Jersey.
At the same time, Homeland Security continues to hire more ICE agents — it’s hosting an employment fair next month in Florida — build more detention facilities and partner with countries around the world to take people who are being deported from the U.S.
In a statement, the department said Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin are “laser focused on ensuring the hardworking men and women” of ICE and Customs and Border Patrol are fully funded. It said the package from Congress “will ensure our critical national security operations continue despite any Democrat attempts to hold our great patriotic employees hostage in the future.”
Typically a funding package from Congress would run hundreds pages or more, with a range of specific instructions about how the money can be spent and on what timelines.
Congress, after all, holds the power of the purse, and often uses that constitutional role to put checks on the administration.
But after Democrats refused to fund Homeland Security earlier this year following the violence in Minnesota, Republicans retaliated by using the congressional budget resolution process to muscle the package through on their own, outside the traditional appropriations channels.
It’s the same process both parties have used in the past, most recently on Trump’s 2025 tax cuts bill.
“All this important oversight doesn’t happen,” said Bobby Kogan, a former staff member of the Senate Budget Committee and now at the Center for American Progress, a think tank.
Overnight, Democrats in the Senate worked to exert that authority, offering amendments to ensure Congress had some say in the process. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, for example, sought to protect “Dreamers” from deportation as their DACA renewals are being delayed. But those efforts all failed.
Meanwhile the administration is under enormous pressure to deliver on its promise to boost deportations to some 1 million a year, after the Republican president’s first year numbers fell short.
Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, is a leader of the Mass Deportation Coalition that is pushing the Trump administration to stick to its promises.
“Everyone’s talking about it like ICE is about to get another massive cash injection, and that’s not how I see it at all,” he said. “They’re getting like life-support money.”
“We’re not asking them to keep going,” Howell said. “We’re asking them to start.”
Howell said there’s little chance the Trump administration will be able to reach the president’s deportation goals unless it drops its priority to go after what they call the “worst of the worst.”
His group put out a framework earlier this year that proposes more comprehensive sweeps to arrest immigrants, particularly in the workplace. He also wants to see the Trump administration make it more difficult for immigrants who are in the U.S. to use the banking system, get social services and obtain driver’s licenses. Republicans in Congress have offered bills tackling some of those issues.
The administration has been amping up its own rhetoric and recently posted a new website that characterizes immigrants as “aliens” — with outer-space themes — and suggests ways the White House is working to prevent people from staying in the U.S.
Mascaro writes for the Associated Press.
With a year to go until the World Cup starts in Brazil, this was a concerning scoreline that gives Wiegman plenty to ponder.
Facing world champions Spain away is arguably the toughest test in football, but to lose so comfortably was not an easy watch.
Former England midfielder Fran Kirby said Wiegman’s players looked “deflated” at full-time and she “hurt just watching it”.
“They will learn from it, and they have to rise up to put in a good performance against Ukraine,” Kirby told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Just the top team from their group automatically qualifies for the World Cup and even if England beat Ukraine on Tuesday they will likely miss out, with this defeat by Spain the only blotch on their otherwise solid campaign.
So what damage did the 4-0 defeat have on England?
“Of course, it’s not a great scoreline. It’s hard, it’s disappointing, and I think there was a difference – a big difference – between ourselves and Spain,” added Wiegman.
“We review this, recover, stick together, play a good game and then move forward.
“We know if we qualify [automatically] that there’s a different preparation than if we don’t qualify. Let’s first see what happens on Tuesday.”
England midfielder Keira Walsh, who captained the side in the absence of injured centre-back Leah Williamson, conceded they “just weren’t good enough”.
“Spain played incredibly well but I think there are a lot of things we could have done better. It felt like they had bodies everywhere,” said Walsh.
“It was very difficult to get out of our own box. I don’t have solutions right now. Obviously we’ll look back but right now the emotions are very high.
“It was a disappointing game. We’ve still got a small chance to qualify automatically. It’s out of our hands. We can hope Iceland do us a favour.”
This article outlines the historical significance of Sir Randol Fawkes, a pivotal civil rights activist and pioneer of the trade union movement in the Bahamas. Known as the “father of Labour,” Fawkes was instrumental in establishing Labour Day as a public holiday in 1961 to honor the achievements of the working class. The text notes that the holiday was officially renamed in his honor in 2013 and highlights his recognition as a National Hero. Modern celebrations of the day involve vibrant parades in Nassau featuring union members and political leaders. Furthermore, the source details how Fawkes’s lifelong dedication to justice earned him a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. Through this overview, the reader gains an understandin …
Russian President Vladimir Putin has turned down an offer for in-person talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he sees no point in meeting. Zelenskyy said Russia “has again chosen war” by rejecting his open letter appealing for a face-to-face meeting.
Published On 5 Jun 20265 Jun 2026
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An acclaimed biopic about Israeli lawyer Lea Tsemel, who has dedicated her life to representing Palestinian defendants charged by Israeli authorities, has been shortlisted for an Oscar.
“Advocate” is one of 15 films shortlisted in the Documentary Feature category, out of an original 159 submissions. The final five contenders will be announced next month.
The award-winning documentary, co-directed by Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche, has been vociferously attacked by right-wing Israeli groups and Israel’s Culture Minister Miri Regev.
READ: Israel’s flirtation with football stars won’t stop cultural boycott
When “Advocate” won Best Picture at the DocAviv festival in Tel Aviv, Regev condemned “the choice to make a movie focusing on a lawyer who represents, supports and speaks in the name of many who undermine the State of Israel’s existence, [and] use terrorism against its soldiers and people”.
In awarding the film, DocAviv judges wrote that “Advocate” is “a thought-provoking project that addresses an important subject and demonstrates impressive cinematic skills, especially the innovative and intelligent use of animation… [It] sketches out a complex portrait of a strong and inspiring woman who believes in the justness of her path with all her heart.”
The award was greeted with outrage, and following an organised campaign, Israel’s state lottery company subsequently announced “it would be pulling its funding for future grants given to best picture winners at Tel Aviv’s documentary film festival”.
