Rally in Caracas in January demanding the release of Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. (AFP)
Mérida, October 16, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores have rejected a new indictment amid an ongoing prosecution by the US government.
I reject this document in its entirety,” Maduro told New York Judge Alvin Hellerstein in a hearing on Thursday. Similarly, Cilia Flores maintained her “absolute innocence” when asked to respond to the new charges, declaring: “I am completely innocent. I am not guilty.”
The judge entered formal not-guilty pleas on behalf of both defendants for all counts.
Maduro and Flores have been detained in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since being kidnapped by US special forces on January 3.
In the Manhattan federal court, US Attorney Jamie McDonald presented the superseding indictment that introduces a “conspiracy to commit torture” charge alongside the previous charges of “narco-terrorism” and drug trafficking conspiracy, as well as weapons possession.
The accusation claims Maduro personally oversaw purported torture of prisoners and held authority over whether detainees were released or prosecuted.
“Maduro, Flores, and other high-ranking members of their inner circle used a violent system of torture and repression to maintain their power,” McDonald stated to reporters outside the courthouse.
According to the legal filing, the prosecution alleges that Maduro and Flores oversaw a violent state “apparatus of repression” spanning from the former’s election in 2013.
The document claims methods like electric shocks, asphyxiation, and simulated drowning, among others, were allegedly deployed against political dissidents, state officials suspected of disloyalty, and US citizens detained inside Venezuela.
Defense attorneys have repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of the entire prosecution, framing it as an unprecedented overreach of U.S. extraterritorial jurisdiction. Maduro and Flores have consistently maintained that they are political prisoners and that their capture constituted a flagrant violation of Venezuelan sovereignty.
Legal counsel has filed pre-trial motions requesting the dismissal of the charges on grounds that Maduro and Flores, as a sitting president and legislator, respectively, possess sovereign immunity from foreign criminal prosecution.
Hellerstein recently rejected a request from Flores’ defense team that she be moved to house arrest due to severe health concerns, arguing that the first lady poses a “substantial flight risk.”
The updated indictment forced the judge to adjust the calendar of proceedings. The hearing on sovereign immunity arguments has been moved to January. The trial was pushed back two weeks and is now slated to commence on June 14, 2027, with a final pretrial conference scheduled for June 8.
In Venezuela, National Assembly Deputy Iris Varela blasted the new charges, arguing that Maduro and Flores remain victims of a forced kidnapping orchestrated by Washington.
“I wish to publicly express, once again, my absolute and total rejection of the despicable act that the U.S. government is brazenly carrying out against our president and our congresswoman,” Varela wrote on her X account.
She further described the latest charges as “a miserable ploy [and] a grotesque maneuver” and went on to label US President Donald Trump as a “pedophile pig.”
In contrast to Varela, the Venezuelan government has made no official statement regarding the latest developments in the legal case against Maduro and Flores.
Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.
Cameron Winter had one last knife to twist for the Dodger faithful in the audience at Hollywood Forever on Thursday night.
“My husband lost everything but the kitchen sink, because he spent it all on DraftKings,” Winter deadpanned during the band’s closing hit “Trinidad,” where he typically sneers ad-libs about domestic nihilism. “He bet everything on the Dodgers, and they f—ing lost.”
The crowd cracked up in grim commiseration (as a Mets fan, Winter could probably sympathize). It felt cathartic when he hit that song’s freaked-out chorus — “There’s a bomb in my car!” — in a hail of guitar noise.
Geese had an atypical, if kind of old-fashioned, run on the hype train for a young rock band. Structured around Winter’s twitchy, stentorian vocals with contortions of feedback and meditative jams, the New York City quartet is, to paraphrase something Brian Eno said about My Bloody Valentine, “The vaguest music ever to have been a hit.” A group rooted both in Sonic Youth’s avant-garde pedal squalling and haunted, pre-Beatles rock ’n’ roll, they can still play “Saturday Night Live” and get its frontman a luscious prestige concert doc filmed at Carnegie Hall directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
That sudden ascent, for a band spiritually in league with the Velvet Underground and Suicide, led some to wonder what exactly happened behind the social media scenes to get them there (one conspiratorial phrase got thrown around in particular). Geese were always an odd band to pin to anxieties about fabricated culture — if a label had resources and abilities to manufacture stars, why not do it for a 100x-hyperscaling pop act instead? But if they didn’t have the goods after three LPs so far, they’d fade out soon enough.
At Hollywood Forever, Geese showed they did indeed have the mettle to run their scabrous noise into arenas. Much has been made of Winter’s idiosyncratic star power, and as an extremely tall, wet-dog-handsome instrumental virtuoso with a one-of-a-kind voice and just enough self-aware wit and lacerating lyricism to keep it relatable, that’s indisputable.
Geese perform at Hollywood Forever on Oct. 15.
(Lewis Evans)
But Geese is also a band, in the sense that every musician matters to a distinct aesthetic. I was just as compelled by guitarist Emily Green’s swells of reversed reverbs and sad-eyed, contrapuntal melodies, or drummer Max Bassin’s patience in building moods before firing off a relentless, redlining backbeat halfway between outlaw country and krautrock. Bassist Dominic DiGesu brought gnarled ballast to everything, and even touring keyboardist Sam Revaz added texture and levity (what was up with that twenty-second, heavily filtered sample of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” halfway through “2122”?)
Last year’s LP “Getting Killed” raised the stakes formidably, both for the band’s fame and their songwriting prowess. From “Long Island City Here I Come” onward, the band were merciless but measured in their attack. The slinky, lurching “Husbands,” “Islands of Men” and frantic “Bow Down” sounded meaner and more electric than on the record. “Au Pays du Cocaine” hit even more mournful and lonesome in an actual cemetery — “You can stay with me, and just pretend I’m not there” never felt so apropos.
A few tracks from 2023’s “3D Country” like “Cowboy Nudes” and “Gravity Blues” showed their insouciant Americana streak — you can easily imagine Bruce Springsteen getting wind of another grimy New York noise-rock act to champion. To judge from the lines of young, very devoted fans snaking around the cemetery, Geese has already built the requisite subculture to thrive longer-term. In decades past, some greasy label dude would probably tell them to go write a real hit next. These days, what they’re doing now already feels like one.
Winter will have some tough choices about how to balance both Geese and his regal piano-centric solo career (his late 2024 solo LP “Heavy Metal” is fantastic, and captivated no less an authority than PTA himself). You can see why Olivia Rodrigo wanted to get dinner with him. But for the next couple of nights in L.A., a genuinely beguiling and astringent new rock band is at the height of its powers and has captured the zeitgeist. Savor that.
Yoshiyoshi Hirokawa
Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham ready to commit his future to the Bernabeu, Arsenal and Liverpool told price of Brentford‘s Kevin Schade, Manchester United and Chelsea among clubs monitoring Jules Kounde’s future at Barcelona.
England midfielder Jude Bellingham, 23, has reached an agreement to extend his contract with Real Madrid until 2031. (AS – in Spanish), external
Arsenal and Liverpool would have to pay in excess of £60m to prise Germany winger Kevin Schade, 24, from Brentford. (Teamtalk), external
Leeds are keeping tabs on Brazil forward Igor Paixao’s situation at Marseille with the 26-year-old among players the French club may need to offload amid financial concerns. (Football Insider), external
Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Bayern Munich are monitoring French defender Jules Kounde’s situation at Barcelona, with the 27-year-old considering his future at the Catalan club. (4-4-2.ch – in German), external
Barcelona are unwilling to get involved in a bidding war for 16-year-old Manchester United attacking midfielder JJ Gabriel with Real Madrid and Paris St-Germain willing to offer more money. (Sport – in Spanish), external
Newcastle are no closer in tying 27-year-old English midfielder Joe Willock down to a new deal even though Magpies boss Matthias Jaissle is a fan of the player. (Newcastle Chronicle), external
Leeds boss Daniel Farke has reached agreement over a new contract which will keep the 49-year-old German at Elland Road until 2029. (The Athletic – subscription required), external
Bayern Munich sporting director Max Eberl says talks are going well with England striker Harry Kane over a new contract but there has been no formal commitment yet. (Sky Sports Germany – in German), external
AC Milan’s English defender Fikayo Tomori, 28, will leave the club at the end of the season when his contract expires with no scope for a new deal for the former Chelsea player at San Siro. (Calciomercato – in Italian), external
Real Madrid could allow Morocco forward Brahim Diaz, 27, out on loan in January after 20-year-old Brazil forward Endrick leapfrogged him in the pecking order at the Bernabeu. (Marca – in Spanish), external
Who: Leeds United vs Manchester United
What: English Premier League
Where: Elland Road, Leeds, United Kingdom
When: Sunday, October 18, at 2pm local time (13:00 GMT)
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will have all the build-up from 9:00 GMT ahead of our live text commentary stream
Manchester United against Leeds United has long been one of the fiercest rivalries in football.
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The former’s closest shot to ending their wait since 1967 for an English top flight title came in 1993 when Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were pipped to the title by the latter.
The following year United’s wait was over as Ferguson’s side – buoyed by the arrival of Eric Cantona from Leeds – lifted the inaugural Premier League crown.
The rest for United and Ferguson was history, but since the most successful manager in English football retired the Old Trafford club have been in decline.
The fortunes of Leeds, who have won three league titles, dipped dramatically after that last piece of domestic silverware. Ten years later, they were relegated and three years were even spent in League One, the third tier of English football.
Now the Elland Road club are back in the top flight, having won the Championship two seasons ago, and have an eye on the top four this weekend.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the match that for Leeds marks the arrival of their fiercest rivals, who have lurched to a 40-year low.
Leeds have lost only one of their six league games this season, a 2-1 reverse at Arsenal in their last match when the Premier League holders were second best for much of the match and were forced to come from behind.
Two wins and two draws in their first five league matches saw Leeds holding onto the coat-tails of Arsenal and City.
That run culminated with a stunning 4-1 home win against Newcastle United.
A disappointing home draw with Crystal Palace sat in between the defeat at Arsenal.
A 6-3 defeat at Chelsea ended their League Cup hopes, but the home side needed two goals in the last ten minutes to pull clear in the thrilling encounter.
United’s season – and Michael Carrick’s start as permanent manager – couldn’t have got off to a worse start with a 2-0 defeat at newly-promoted Hull City.
When the Red Devils fell a goal behind against another promoted side, Ipswich Town, at Old Trafford in their next match, the warning signs were there.
Carrick’s side came back to win 5-2 – and that remains United’s only league win of the season.
A contentious 1-0 home defeat by Manchester City – in which a controversial VAR decision separated the sides – has been one of United’s better performances with deflating draws against Everton, Fulham and Tottenham surrounding the derby.
United were also dumped out of the League Cup by Brighton, who overcame the home side’s early 2-0 first-half lead to the disbelief of Old Trafford.
Defender Lisandro Martinez will be available for Sunday’s game after United accepted his apology for criticising its transfer policy, Carrick told reporters on Friday.
Martinez met Carrick and senior club officials on Thursday, two days after suggesting United needed greater investment to compete at the highest level following their 2-0 Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid.
The centre back later apologised for his remarks and Carrick sought to downplay the episode when he spoke to reporters on Friday.
“We’ve moved on from that. It was one of those things. It’s really not a drama for the group,” Carrick said.
“The squad have trained really well and they are in good spirits. There is a freshness about the group…
“He’s part of the squad [for Sunday].”
Leeds were 2-1 winners at Old Trafford when the sides met in the Premier League in April.
Noah Okafor scored both goals for Leeds to inflict the only defeat of Carrick’s interim tenure, having replaced Ruben Amorim as manager.
Martinez was sent off early in the second half, but Casemiro offered United some hope just after the hour mark.
The teams shared a 1-1 draw in the Premier League match at Elland Road last season. Leeds’ Brenden Aaronson opened the scoring in the 62nd minute with Matheus Cunha levelling three minutes later.
United were 2-0 winners when the sides met at Elland Road in Leeds’ relegation season in 2022-23.
Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho netted the goals.
Leeds haven’t beaten United at home since Harry Kewell scored the only goal of the game in a Premier League match in 2002.
There have been seven matches between the sides at Leeds since then, with United winning five of those.
The Opta supercomputer has given Leeds a 42 percent chance of victory, while offering United a 32 percent chance of winning.
This will be the 116th meeting between the sides, with United winning 50 and Leeds claiming the spoils on 27 occasions. Another 38 matches were draws.
Joe Rodon and Mateo Joseph will both miss the game due to injury, while former United winger Daniel James is a doubt with a back problem.
Trafford, Justin, Elvedi, Muharemovic; Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson; Stach, Okafor, Calvert-Lewin
Patrick Dorgu, Manuel Ugarte and Benjamin Sesko all remain sidelined by injury, while Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo face late fitness tests. Matthijs de Ligt is nearing a return to action following his long-term back injury.
Lammens; Dalot, Martinez, Maguire, Shaw; Baleba, Mainoo; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Diallo; Cunha
8. Daniel Sturridge
There’s a good case for Danny Welbeck, who as the only current player in the top three, with 19 goals, still has time to catch those above him.
Welbeck was a goalscoring sub at Manchester United and Arsenal but perfected the art on the south coast, with 12 of his tally coming during six years with Brighton.
The 35-year-old is now at Chelsea but – with apologies to Danny – there is another former Blue whose stats demand a place on this list.
Daniel Sturridge has two fewer substitute goals then Welbeck but has scored a slightly higher percentage of his overall Premier League tally as a sub – 22%.
The former England man, who played for Manchester City, Chelsea, Bolton, Liverpool and West Brom in the top flight, was good for an assist, too.
In fact, when you take his total goal contributions of 24, he provided at a more prolific rate than every substitute in Premier League history – bar Edin Dzeko and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Richarlison matches Sturridge for minutes per goal contribution, but with eight fewer the Brazilian, perhaps harshly, misses out.
21:27, 16 Oct 2026Updated 21:27, 16 Oct 2026
Miranda Hart broke down in tears on the latest episode of Celebrity Traitors(Image: BBC)
Miranda Hart broke down in tears on the latest episode of Celebrity Traitors following the exit of Joe Lycett.
The comedienne, 53, had a hugely successful career in the 2010s with her eponymous sitcom but had to take time out of the spotlight after struggling with chronic fatigue. She had struck up such a close bond with fellow Faithful Joe that when he was banished from the castle, she was visibly moved.
She said: “I can’t believe how emotional I’m getting. Wow. Connection and laughter and joy are bigger than this game and to meet someone and just play and laugh – it’s all us humans need.
“I’ve had times in my life when I haven’t had that through illness and it’s brought up that in a silly sensitive soul.”
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Speaking to Traitor James Acaster, who comforted her with a hug, she said: “I haven’t played like that in so long. The floodgates just opened i guess, it suddenly wasn’t about a silly Faithful or Traitor.”
The TV star previously told how she had suffered a “tick-borne illness” while living in the USA as a teenager. At one point, she was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, before eventually being diagnosed with Lyme Disease in 2020.
The Celebrity Traitors will mark Miranda’s first mainstream television appearance in six years, and she has now explained that she jumped at the chance to take part.
She said: “My decision making in life generally, and certainly work, is follow the joy. I haven’t done much TV work for a long time, having only recently come out of long-term ill health issues and when I was offered this, my whole body sort of relaxed, I smiled, and I just wanted to jump about like a schoolgirl with joy.
“It’s just fun. It’s outdoors, it’s games. All the stuff I love. It’s play basically. And I’m passionate about encouraging people to play more generally, and this game is that in spades.
“It’s a brilliant television show – the only flaw in taking part is that as a fan of the show it will be less fun to watch it with myself in it!”
Despite her new lease of life, the former Call the Midwife star, who secretly got married in late 2024, is still living with elements of her illness and is struggling to a point but has been able to manage her symptoms and insisted she felt well enough to join Claudia Winkleman’s hit BBC game show.
She added: “I’m still living with elements of ME, and that brings fatigue and pain to manage, but I have come to a point where I feel well enough to step out, and that’s also partly why I’m doing this.
“The joy of mucking about on television again will hopefully outweigh some of the challenges. And I think it will be challenging on my body, so it’ll be interesting, and it’ll take some courage as this is a big next step.
“When you live with a chronic illness, it’s invisible, so people don’t know that you’re sitting there in pain. But then it reminds you that everybody’s got their thing. So, I’m also really looking forward to making friends and looking after each other and hopefully they can carry me up a hill or whatever we’re going to have to do!”
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For his part, Gary Haveron was left disappointed as his side let a two-goal lead slip on home turf and described the defending from his players as “pathetic”.
Before Friday’s game, Larne had only conceded three goals in their opening seven league matches.
But Coleraine’s fightback – led by Cooper, Shevlin and Doherty – meant that tally doubled in a devastating 21-minute burst.
Despite that, Haveron dismissed any notion of it being a statement win for the Bannsiders.
“We’ve still got to play them down there,” Haveron said.
“We drew the first one, they’ve won this one. There’s still a lot of games for us to play against them, and there’s lots of football between now and the end of the season.”
Larne, missing influential midfielder Chris Gallagher, will have to lick their wounds, and quickly, when they welcome fellow title challengers Linfield to Inver Park on Tuesday.
Friday’s defeat marks a disappointing week for Larne after they lost on penalties to Championship side Dundela in a penalty shooutout in the County Antrim Shield, after conceding a controversial injury-time penalty at Wilgar Park.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to bounce back from what is a disappointing week,” Haveron said about the trip to Linfield.
“I’m not bothered about Tuesday night [against Dundela], truth be told, I don’t have anything else to say about that.
“But today was bitterly disappointing because we had that game won and we should have killed it off.”
Attack comes as Yemeni gov’t forces claim advances in Marib province and say they ‘neutralised’ 430 Houthi fighters in 24 hours.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government says the Houthis have launched missiles at the airport in Aden, a day after carrying out a deadly attack targeting the presidential palace in the port city.
Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said two missiles landed near the runway at Aden International Airport on Friday, 500 metres (1,640 feet) from an aircraft that was preparing to take off.
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All passengers and crew were safe, he said on X, thanking “divine providence” for preventing a potential “horrific humanitarian catastrophe” and calling the attacks on the airport “a grave violation of international laws and norms”.
The Houthis, in a statement attributed to a military source, said on Friday that they launched an attack on “the Saudi forces’ command headquarters in the Badr camp in Aden province” as well as a weapons depot, the AFP news agency reported.
The latest attack in Aden, which is the seat of the internationally recognised government, comes amid continued heavy fighting in Yemen’s reignited civil war between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthis.
Yemeni government forces said earlier on Friday that troops had advanced in Marib province northeast of Sanaa.
Military spokesman Majed al-Nazili said Yemeni government forces, with air support, had made significant “territorial gains” in the eastern part of the province, securing “key positions”.
He also said Yemeni forces had “neutralised” more than 430 Houthi fighters in 24 hours, while destroying or disabling more than 100 of their vehicles and military assets.
Elsewhere, in Taiz governorate, which has emerged as a key battlefront in the war, Yemeni government forces claimed to have fended off several “large-scale” Houthi attacks, inflicting “heavy losses” on the group.
Yemeni government forces also claimed to have captured a specialised drone team affiliated with the Houthis in the Taiz area.
In recent weeks, Houthi forces have encircled the city of Taiz — Yemen’s third largest urban centre — by cutting its main road south to Aden, causing widespread displacement and worsening a humanitarian crisis.
Elsewhere on Friday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said it had downed missiles and drones over Riyadh and other parts of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of encouraging Houthi attacks against the kingdom, including by arming and training the group.
But Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday rejected the accusation, saying Tehran had not played a role in any Houthi operations. The ministry also reiterated a proposal to mediate between the Houthis and Riyadh.
The war in Yemen erupted in 2014 when the Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), seized the capital, Sanaa, and forced the government to flee.
An international military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in support of the internationally recognised government in 2015, leading to years of fighting between the warring sides.
A 2022 UN-backed truce halted most fighting, but tensions have been high in Yemen since the Houthis declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabian ports and shipping passing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in July.
In September, the Houthis carried out a lightning ground offensive on Mocha, pushing back forces loyal to Yemen’s government from the Red Sea port city.
The same month, the group’s forces again swept through and seized territory along the western coast and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, including the strategically located Mayyun Island in the strait.
The messages, reported by a Brazilian daily, say the platform recommended Bolsonaro’s profile and his WhatsApp channel.
Published On 16 Oct 202616 Oct 2026
Employees at Meta have acknowledged in internal communications that the Instagram accounts of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were negatively affected by restrictions during the country’s election, media reports say.
The messages, reported on Friday by Brazilian daily Folha de S Paulo, also acknowledged the platform recommended the profile of Lula challenger Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, as well as his WhatsApp channel. Folha, the Sao Paulo-based paper, cited messages it had reviewed.
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Meta told the Reuters news agency that the technical issues cited in the report were already public and the conversations it referenced related solely to the severity of the issues, not political interference.
“Any suggestion that Meta favors one side is false,” it added in a statement.
Lula, the left-wing incumbent, will face right-wing challenger Bolsonaro in a presidential runoff on October 25, following a stronger-than-expected performance by the senator in the first-round vote earlier this month.
Friday’s report came on the heels of a Brazilian court ruling on Thursday that ordered Meta to immediately adopt measures to provide equal treatment of the two candidates ahead of the runoff.
The ruling by a judge in Brazil’s top electoral court was made shortly after Lula filed a complaint that accused the tech giant – which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp – of using biased algorithms and AI restrictions to favour opposition candidate Bolsonaro ahead of the election.
Justice Marco Aurelio Bellizze ruled that Meta cannot reduce the distribution of political content, restrict searches or remove posts in a way that creates an imbalance between Lula and Bolsonaro. His ruling also orders the company to ensure its artificial intelligence tool applies identical criteria to both candidacies.
Bellizze said in his ruling that Meta must pay a fine of 500,000 reais ($98,700) per day if it fails to comply.
According to Lula’s party, some of his posts appeared without a share button and had reduced reach. Options for reactions, sharing, audio or accelerated speed were also missing.
Another housemate was forced to leave on Friday(Image: ITV)
Another housemate has been kicked out of the Big Brother house.
The hit ITV2 competition returned to screens on Friday night (October 16) for another live eviction. The housemates nominated earlier this week, leaving Twinks and Rob at risk of elimination.
Twinks received six nominations from Rochelle, Frankie, Rhianna, Philip, Yasmin and Omar. Rob also received six nominations from Philip, Rhianna, Omar, Frankie, Lynx and Rochelle. After receiving the most nominations, Twinks and Rob joined Yasmin in the eviction line-up, after she was handed a killer nomination at the end of a House of Power task.
This marked Rob’s second week being up for eviction. He was notably saved by the public last week, when Pauline bid her farewells to the house for the final time. But did he manage to survive another eviction?
After surviving last week’s eviction, Rob has now been voted out of the Big Brother house. “I’ve made five weeks!” Rob declared, after his exit was announced by hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best.
Fans were quick to react to the eviction, with many taking to social media to share their thoughts on who was sent packing. “Absolutely abysmal that Rob is the first man to get the boot considering who else is in there but hey, these were the cards we were dealt,” one person wrote on X.
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Another added: “I’M SCREAMING.” A third said: “I’m actually so upset. Why did they vote Rob out???? He was having such a good time.”
The frustration continued, as someone else commented: “Devastated but I would’ve been upset whatever happened.” A fifth viewer echoed the sentiment: “Rob is ROBBED! How people even booing him is WILD! He was the most himself of everyone in that house that got him evicted sadly. Rob you were a fantastic housemate.”
Meanwhile, other viewers predicted the winner of the series, after Yasmin received loud cheers at the eviction. “Yasmin is going to win surely after that reception?” one person wrote. Another added: “Aww Yasmin’s face when she heard the cheers.”
Elsewhere on tonight’s Big Brother, the housemates took part in a characteristic survey as part of this week’s shopping task. In the garden, the housemates had to select a random ball, take a seat on the “mood swing”, and throw it into the net of the housemate they believed received the most votes for a certain characteristic.
When it was Rhianna’s turn for the red team, she retrieved the ball that said “most secretive”. As she made her decision, Rhianna said: “I feel like the most secretive in the house could be Frankie, only because you have a lot going on in your head and you’re just telling Yasmin something.”
Rochelle then described Yasmin as the “most flirty”, before Frankie had to identify who had been branded the “biggest headache”. Tensions later flared in the house, after Rob called Philip and Rochelle out for eating the red team’s basic rations.
“I f****** know I’m right, is what I’m saying,” Philip fumed. “If I want a cracker, I’ll have a f****** cracker and don’t tell me I can’t otherwise, okay?”
Big Brother is available to stream on ITVX
WASHINGTON — President Trump bypassed his White House chief of staff last week in selecting Katie Zacharia as his press secretary and chief messenger, triggering days of scathing headlines about her credentials and abilities before her ignominious resignation on Friday.
Susie Wiles, that senior-most aide ostensibly in charge of the president’s team, is facing his scrutiny over a different set of problems: widespread public anxiety over corruption in government under the Trump administration. The issue has surpassed the economy as the top concern of voters entering next month’s election, according a Fox News poll released this week.
Marco Rubio, the president’s secretary of State and national security advisor, has been silent on Trump’s decision to cut a deal with Moscow on diesel sales that could fuel Russia’s war against Ukraine. The president’s poll numbers have been below water across the board, but especially so on foreign policy, where over two-thirds of Americans disapprove of his job performance and support Kyiv’s fight for freedom.
Trump aides walk to board Air Force One on Tuesday: Natalie Harp, Trump’s executive assistant, left; Walt Nauta, director of Oval Office operations (in sunglasses); Chief of Staff Susie Wiles; and then-Press Secretary Katie Zacharia.
(Alex Wong / Getty Images)
And on Thursday, the president was forced to reverse a course set out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon to live-stream the execution of a convicted mass shooter by firing squad.
In the final stretch of the 2026 midterms, nearly two weeks out from election day, a White House that has enjoyed relative stability over the past two years has returned to the state of disarray that characterized much of Trump’s early political career, anticipating sweeping losses to Democrats in the House and Senate.
Staff upheaval is expected as officials brace for a blame game over Republican performance, with some distancing themselves from what they see as a fading political movement.
Polls suggest that Republicans are likely to lose control of the House, setting up two years of relentless congressional probes through the twilight of the Trump era, and that Democrats could even flip the Senate, winning in ruby red states from Ohio to Alaska.
It is historically a time for closing arguments, when politicians deliver their final pitches to voters in neat, disciplined packages.
Yet Trump’s campaign blitz across the country in recent weeks has generated a muddled message, dismissing the importance of the election itself at the risk of depressing Republican votes, overshadowing local candidates seeking distance from his record and touting an economy unrecognizable to most Americans.
President Trump walks ahead of Katie Zacharia at the White House.
(Win McNamee / Getty Images)
The president’s selection of Zacharia, who lasted just five days on the job, raised fresh questions about his message discipline in the final stretch.
And infighting within the White House has reinforced a narrative among political pundits that Democratic gains are a fait accompli, despite Zacharia, in her first and only press briefing, foretelling of Republican energy and excitement “never seen before in the history of midterms thanks to President Trump.”
Election officials across the country fear that, anticipating inevitable losses, Trump may be laying the ground to challenge the authenticity of the election results themselves.
“You know, this is the only guy that — it’s ‘promises made, promises kept,’ but he did more things than he promised,” Trump said Thursday, referring to himself in the third person. “I think we did. We did much more than we promised.”
The extent of the coming West Wing shakeup could be extensive, reaching into a Cabinet that has had far less turnover than Trump experienced in his first term.
Zacharia is the second senior official forced out by Trump in just three days, after Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former fiancée of one of Trump’s sons who served as U.S. ambassador to Greece, was revealed by the Wall Street Journal to have asked a Trump donor to pay off her $100,000 credit card bill.
Now, the president has begun asking political allies and donors about Wiles’ job performance, according to a recent Politico report, and several top administration officials are vying for her role, anticipating her resignation after the elections next month.
The conclusion of the midterms will also kick off the start of the 2028 presidential election season, when Republican hopefuls — including many from Trump’s Cabinet — are expected to launch exploratory committees.
British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stand for anthems at the Pentagon on Thursday.
(Finn Gomez / Getty Images)
“We have to get through the midterms first,” Trump said at the end of August, asked about Hegseth reportedly considering a run. “I bet there’s a lot of people considering it that you don’t know about. You have a lot of people.”
The party of incumbent presidents regularly loses seats in midterm elections, and it is common for presidents to shake up their staffs halfway through a term.
But the last time a term-limited Republican president faced voters in midterm elections, in 2006, Democrats swept into power in both houses of Congress — and President George W. Bush’s political capital never recovered.
That year, 37% of voters said they approved of Bush’s job performance. Polls published this month by AP and Reuters have found Trump already below that threshold.
In the GOP presidential primaries that followed, candidates jockeying to replace Bush distanced themselves from his legacy. He ultimately left office with an approval rating of 25%.
Ty Dieffenbach, a former Cal Poly and Pittsburgh signal caller, wasn’t well known among UCLA and national college football fans until last week.
Dieffenbach has been patiently waiting for his moment since he made the switch from wide receiver to quarterback as a sophomore at Agoura High.
And like subbing in to play quarterback at Autzen Stadium and leading UCLA to the biggest win of the season thus far, his football journey has never been a layup. But that’s what makes Dieffenbach’s first Football Bowl Subdivision start against Wisconsin Saturday at the Rose Bowl so special.
Dieffenbach was a wiry 6-foot-3 receiver preparing for his sophomore season in 2020 when coach Dustin Croick took over the Agoura football program.
Ty Dieffenbach switched from playing receiver to quarterback at Agoura High.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Teams had to wipe down the balls after using them during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once players were cleared to return to practice after a long break, Dieffenbach routinely ran a route, caught a pass and threw the ball back to the start of the drill.
Dieffenbach was throwing deep passes with perfect spiral in front of Croick, who lacked a starting quarterback.
Dieffenbach agreed to switch to quarterback and committed to intense training that move required.
Croick and Dieffenbach worked via Zoom to study schemes, installations and the skills it took to play under center. What would have been a grueling process for most, was an escape for Dieffenbach, who was struggling through the most adverse time in his life — his mother’s bout with breast cancer.
“He’s a sophomore. His mom was just diagnosed with breast cancer. So you have a kid that’s going through that, and the quarterback stuff was his outlet, going through the hardest thing that he’s been through off the field and something super personal,” Croick said. “Football was his medicine at that time, where it wasn’t as serious as what he was going through.”
Through it all, Dieffenbach learned how to be a quarterback and a leader. After going 7-3 and breaking the school’s single season touchdown passing record Croick once held, all of the team’s star players graduated.
And Dieffenbach, who was racking up college offers, was left with a depleted roster and a grim senior season outlook. But while top-tier high school programs tried to lure him away, it was never a question.
It was always Agoura.
“He’s getting calls left and right from other schools to transfer to big time schools that are in our area. And I remember the conversation with his dad and him. I told him if you’re going to leave, you’re still my boy. I still love you, and I get it,” Croick said. “And he’s like, absolutely not. I would never leave, because I’m Agoura. I’m A-Town, and I’m here. And to be honest, from my perspective, back then he should have left. But that’s the type of kid he is.”
Despite a 1-9 record and a knee injury sustained in Week 1 that kept him out of the rest of the season, Dieffenbach’s loyalty never wavered, and the Calabasas product was rewarded with a late offer from Pittsburgh, making him one of the first Power Four football players out of Agoura in more than a decade, Croick said.
After not seeing any action as a true freshman, he was frustrated by the lack of playing time but stayed the course, working to see the field the following season. However, after offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. was fired following a 3-9 season, his outlook at Pitt went from bad to worse.
New offensive coordinator Kade Bell wanted Dieffenbach to make another position switch, this time from quarterback to tight end.
UCLA quarterback Ty Dieffenbach helped lead the Bruins to a win at Oregon on Oct. 10.
(Lydia Ely / Associated Press)
Dieffenbach’s loyalty was tested a second time.
Take a leap of faith and leave Pitt after two seasons without playing, or stay at a program and a school where he felt comfortable.
“It was very hard for him to leave Pitt because he didn’t want to. He felt good there. He had really good friends there. But you can’t control a new offensive coordinator. You can’t control them wanting to do a position change or anything like that,” Croick said. “He just believed in himself to play quarterback. He said, ‘I want a shot at playing quarterback. If I don’t ever do that, I won’t know, so I need to do it.’”
Dieffenbach transferred to Cal Poly. After winning the starting job during preseason camp, he finally had the chance to see the field at the college level.
But injuries altered his season, consistently playing at less than 100%, missing time and never really finding a groove.
Cal Poly quarterback Ty Dieffenbach throws a pass against Utah on Sept. 6, 2025, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
(Chris Gardner / Getty Images)
“He got hit in the back, and there were some issues there, bruising and pain, and that was a lot to have to fight through,” former Cal Poly head coach Paul Wulff said. “When you have an injury and you’re playing and you’re sore, it affects you. It’s not that easy, so he had to overcome that, which was hard for him. But he kept plugging away at it, and he finally got a little bit better and got a little more confident, and the pain wasn’t as much, but it lingered all season for him.”
And after a 4-8 season, Wulff left Cal Poly and Dieffenbach faced another crossroads.
It was not until new UCLA coach Chesney and offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy took over the Bruins that a new opportunity arose. He decided to join the UCLA roster with no guarantee he would earn snaps at a school with an established starter and a returning backup.
He earned the respect of his UCLA coaches and teammates, who were not surprised by how Dieffenbach responded when Nico Iamaleava was injured during a top 25 game at Oregon.
After leading the Bruins to their first win at Autzen Stadium since 2004, Dieffenbach earned the right to replace injured Iamaleava in the starting lineup.
“He’s been able to withstand some difficult times of not playing at Pitt or getting injured at Cal Poly. At the end of the day, he believes in himself,” Croick said. “Even at Pitt, I told him you’re going to get your shot. You just got to stay locked in. He never wavered. If you go to his time at Pitt, it was super important for where he is right now.”
Violent unrest is gripping several countries across Europe, as student activists demand better education systems. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has blamed the demonstrations in his country on ‘foreign hands’.
Published On 16 Oct 202616 Oct 2026
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Merida, May 10th 2013 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s new Labour Law for Workers (Lottt) came into effect this week, guaranteeing shorter working hours, longer maternity leave and pensions for all Venezuelans.
Described by the Venezuelan government as the “most advanced labour law in the world”, the Lottt reduces the working week from 44 hours to 40, and requires that employers provide two consecutive days a week off.
When the law came into effect on Tuesday, labour minister Maria Iglesias stated that the new working hours are part of the process towards a “just distribution of wealth”.
The following day, Carabobo state labour affairs committee president Jose Joaquin Vargas hailed the law as an important part of the transition from “capitalism to socialism”, while last week vice president of the National Federation of Public Sector Workers Franklin Rondon described it as “historic”.
“We are in a historic moment, in 14 years the achievements we have obtained for workers are numerous; we have achieved much more than in the last forty years,” Rondon told VTV on 5 May.
Vargas also urged workers to ensure their employers and unions act in accordance with the Lottt.
For the next six weeks, the government will be inspecting workplaces to ensure employers adhere to the new requirements. Although employers were informed earlier in the year that they would need to make any necessary changes prior to 7 May, on Tuesday Iglesias stated that inspections over the next six weeks will be “corrective in nature”. The minister warned that penalties will be imposed on employers who fail to adhere to the Lottt after 15 June.
However, workers are already reporting breaches of the new laws. In Miranda state, employees of processed meat manufacturer Industrias Alimenticias de Corralito (Inacor) have denounced their employer. A worker spokesperson, Peggy Serrano, alleged that management made a series of surprise changes to the timetable that could result in employees being forced to work overtime.
A Decade in the Making
Along with establishing new working hours, the Lottt prohibits unfair dismissal, outsourcing, guarantees the right to work for both women and people with disabilities and increases maternity leave.
Under the Lottt, Venezuela now has the world’s third longest maternity leave. Mothers are entitled to six weeks pre-natal leave, and twenty post-natal. Fathers are also entitled to two weeks paternal leave. Under the law, the same conditions apply to parents who adopt a child under three years of age.
All workers are also now entitled to retirement pensions, including full time mothers and the self employed.
The Lottt is the result of nearly a decade of discussions in both the national assembly and the labour movement.
When he approved the law last April, former president Hugo Chavez stated that, “In more than 200 years of republican history I am absolutely positive that there has never been a work law….that has been debated so much as this one.”
Steven Soderbergh is stepping in to help finish shooting “The Batman Part II” while director Matt Reeves continues to deal with a personal matter.
“As Matt Reeves continues to attend to an ongoing family matter, Steven Soderbergh, as an admirer of Matt’s work, approached Matt and will step in, with the full support of DC Studios, to help the writer-director complete the final weeks of principal photography on ‘The Batman Part 2,’” the studio said Thursday in a statement first reported by Deadline. “Matt and Steven will work closely together with the actors and crew to fulfill Matt’s vision of the film.”
DC Studios chief James Gunn confirmed the news on social media Thursday while reiterating that Reeves remains the director of “The Batman Part II.”
“Matt is still the director of The Batman 2 and always will be,” he wrote on Threads. “I can’t express how profoundly grateful and moved we are by Steven’s offer to help him complete his vision.”
The announcement follows news earlier this month that production on the film had been temporarily paused so Reeves could focus on dealing with the family matter.
“Matt has the full support of DC Studios and we look forward to continuing the journey soon,” the studio said in a statement at the time.
The writer-director also took to social media Thursday to express his gratitude and to confirm he would be continuing his work on “The Batman 2.”
“Just to be clear, I am not leaving The Batman Part II,” Reeves wrote in a post on X. “I am profoundly grateful to Steven for coming to my aid during this challenging time to help me finish principal photography. Thank you to all for your concern and well wishes.”
Soderbergh expressed his appreciation for Reeves’ work while addressing his new role Thursday in a widely reported statement.
“I thought Matt Reeves’ work on ‘The Batman’ was stunning; it was intentional, specific, and rigorously coherent,” he said in his statement, first reported by Deadline. “The goal here is to work with Matt and his team to generate footage that will integrate seamlessly with what’s already been shot so Matt can properly finish his film.”
A follow-up to Reeves’ 2022 reboot, “The Batman,” the upcoming film will once again star Robert Pattinson as Gotham’s iconic Caped Crusader. “The Batman Part II” began filming in London in June after a number of previous delays while Reeves and Mattson Tomlin wrote the script. The movie is slated to hit theaters on Feb. 18, 2028.
WASHINGTON — Investments in pharmaceutical companies made on behalf of President Trump increased significantly after he returned to the White House last year, with his portfolio adding millions of dollars in stock in firms that benefited from a Republican-backed law that shields certain medications from Medicare price negotiations, according to a report from congressional Democrats.
The report, released Friday by the Joint Economic Committee’s minority arm, found that Trump’s pharmaceutical stock holdings grew from a maximum reported value of $1.7 million in 2024 to as much as $56.2 million at the end of 2025. The report said that included up to $39.1 million worth of stock held in companies that benefited from exemptions to Medicare’s drug price negotiation program, which came through a provision in the Republicans’ 2025 tax and spending law.
Additional analysis of Trump’s financial disclosures provided by committee Democrats showed that his investment portfolio bought as much as $2.55 million in shares of pharmaceutical companies benefiting from the exemptions on three dates before he signed the legislation in July 2025. That included up to $950,000 in purchases on July 1, 2025, the day the Senate passed the bill. His portfolio also bought as much as $1 million in AbbVie stock in August 2025, after the bill became law.
The Republican president’s wealth has grown since he took office last year through a web of business interests, many of which have benefited from the policy moves of his administration. The White House has repeatedly denied any ethics issues and accused Democrats of “attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest.”
The report also noted that the exemptions policy could leave some Medicare beneficiaries paying thousands of dollars more for certain cancer treatments and other medications than they would have if Medicare had been allowed to negotiate lower prices.
The findings come as Trump has made lowering prescription drug costs a central part of his healthcare policy, striking deals with pharmaceutical companies that his administration says will make medications more affordable for Americans, although drug pricing is based on a complicated set of factors.
Recent polling from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that most Americans think Trump is profiting off the presidency in unethical or illegal ways and is focused more on his wealth than on helping people like them.
Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, who leads the Joint Economic Committee’s minority arm, called the report’s findings “outrageous and yet typical from this president, who makes the American people foot the bill again and again for his own gains.”
Davis Ingle, a White House spokesperson, said Trump’s stock and bond portfolio is independently managed by third-party financial institutions. He denied any conflict of interest.
“Neither President Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested or when investments are bought or sold,” Ingle said in a statement.
A law from President Biden’s Democratic administration allowed Medicare for the first time to negotiate prices for some of the costliest prescription drugs. Republicans’ 2025 tax and spending bill expanded an existing exemption for medications developed to treat rare diseases or conditions, delaying when certain costly drugs could become eligible for negotiations or excluding them entirely, according to healthcare research nonprofit KFF.
Also known as the orphan drug exclusion, the carve out allows drug companies to continue charging lucrative prices that might otherwise have been reduced through Medicare negotiations.
Supporters of the change argued that a broader exemption would encourage drug companies to develop treatments for rare diseases. Critics say it allows makers of blockbuster medications to avoid negotiations that could lower costs for Medicare and its recipients.
The report estimated that Medicare beneficiaries receiving the cancer drugs Keytruda, manufactured by Merck, and Opdivo, by Bristol Myers Squibb, could pay roughly $5,000 more annually than they would if Medicare negotiated prices for the medications. Trump’s portfolio includes stock in both firms.
The report also said that Trump’s portfolio continued to buy and sell pharma company stocks throughout the first eight months of 2026, adding as much as $3.5 million in stock wealth in the sector.
All recent U.S. presidents have dumped their stocks before assuming office, put their money in broadly diversified funds or set up a “blind” trust so they couldn’t even know what they owned.
Trump has put his broader business interests in a trust managed by his sons. But the arrangement rejects the conflict of interest protections that his recent predecessors in office had instituted.
Hussein writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Bernard Condon in New York contributed to this report.
On Friday morning, with a power outage at Simi Valley High in effect out of concern that power lines could ignite a wildfire to erupt because of strong Santa Ana winds, Simi Valley football coach Jim Benkert was frantically checking locations available to help keep on schedule a homecoming game against Newbury Park on Friday night.
But with Ventura County facing increased outages, the Simi Valley home game has been moved to Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Another change involves St. Bonaventure hosting Oaks Christian at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Southern California Edison warned about possible shutoff of electricity because of the wind. Simi Valley students remained in classes on Friday because the school has emergency generators.
Westlake coach Rick Clausen said his team’s game at Ventura High remains on because the school has generators if power is cut off.
The Valencia-Canyon game has been moved to 4 p.m. at Canyon High on Friday due to possible power outages.
The United States calls for dialogue as regional East Africa tension escalates.
East African neighbours Ethiopia and Eritrea are once again perilously close to all-out war.
Territorial disputes have dogged their relations since Eritrea gained independence in 1993.
They fought a bitter war between 1998 and 2000. And despite a truce, they remained in a state of war for nearly 20 years.
The Jeddah accord in 2018 brought peace. But tensions have lingered.
Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of supporting rebels in its Tigray region, while Eritrea accuses landlocked Ethiopia of planning to capture one of its key Red Sea ports.
Can diplomacy end this deep-rooted conflict?
Presenter: James Bays
Guests:
Faisal Roble – Political analyst specialising in the Horn of Africa
Jervin Naidoo – Senior political analyst at Oxford Economics Africa
Matt Bryden – Strategic adviser at Sahan, a think tank focused on governance, politics and security in the Horn of Africa
Published On 16 Oct 202616 Oct 2026
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Al Jazeera has confirmed that White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is “transitioning out” of her role after less than a week on the job. President Donald Trump said he had told Zacharia she “should reconsider” her role, citing harsh media and public scrutiny.
Published On 16 Oct 202616 Oct 2026
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SHARON Osbourne has revealed she has a dent in her face from botched surgery and sworn off future operations.
The former X Factor judge, 74, said she can still feel the indentation in the right side of her face as she discussed surgical procedures.
Speaking on The Osbournes podcast with her son Jack, she explained: “I have an indentation left from it here, all the way down here.”
As she showed the damage above her mouth, Sharon said: “I think the surgeon left it to his mate to do.
“I think he took a phone call and then his mate was all, tap in.”
Sharon once joked that she was on her “third face” after multiple procedures to stay youthful.
Sharon did not identify which operation had left the dent but said: “You go and you complain and you go there.
“And then he starts injecting, and you go, ‘What is in this that you’re injecting me with?”
She said he replied: “Don’t worry, it’s my special concoction. It’ll work!”
However, she revealed that it didn’t f***ing work because she was still left with a dent.
On the podcast, the TV personality, whose husband Ozzy Osbourne died last year, spoke about a hugely famous actor she had met many years ago.
She said: “The actor came over to me and he said you know what? I couldn’t believe that Ozzy married somebody that looks like a Fraulein.”
Jack explained that a Fraulein was a German word used to describe a full figured woman.
Sharon continued: “I knew exactly what he was saying and I wanted to grab him by the throat and say, you motherf*****, and headbutt him.
“But I thought it wouldn’t go down well. So I just ignored it. But when you are not expecting it you just go f***.”
Sharon explained how remarks about her appearance could erode her confidence.
She said: “You go home and you think, I have got to do something. I have to. So if you’re with this all the time, it affects you mentally.”
She also explained that she believed people who had never struggled with how they look might find it difficult to understand why others had surgery.
She said: “Unless you’re unhappy with your body or your face, other people don’t realise what it’s like to walk around in our bodies having that face that every time you look in a mirror, you don’t like it.
“And it bothers you and how insecure it makes you feel.”
She added: “From the minute you’re born, people are mean about you and you feel uncomfortable in the body that you have.”
However Sharon revealed that she was no longer interested in having more work done.
Asked whether she was finished with surgery on her face, she replied: “Who am I doing it for now?”
NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani and top New York Democrats are calling on the owners of private parking lots to block federal immigration officers from using their properties as staging areas, days after immigration officers shot a man in the city.
In a Friday letter, Mamdani, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and dozens of state and local lawmakers told lot and garage owners that the city needs their “help at a critical juncture.”
“In solidarity with immigrant New Yorkers and in our shared commitment to the City we love, we ask that you do not rent, lend, or otherwise make your property available to ICE as a staging area for its enforcement operations,” the letter reads. “Make it known to ICE that it is not authorized to use your garages and lots.”
The plea came after immigration officers shot 28-year-old Dominican national Oscar Belgal during an arrest last week as he rode in a car with his young son. The shooting sparked protests and drew renewed attention to the federal government’s immigration crackdown.
The federal officers had been using a nearby private parking lot as a staging area before the shooting, according to Friday’s letter.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security slammed the letter in a statement that read: “Mayor Mamdani should be grateful to our brave law enforcement officers for cleaning up the streets of NYC since he won’t. Luckily, no terminated parking will stop ICE from deporting criminal illegal aliens to make New York safe again.”
Federal officials maintain the immigration officers believed their lives were in danger and opened fire only after Belgal smashed his car into two government vehicles and accelerated toward them.
New York City has previously barred outside law enforcement agencies such as DHS from setting up staging areas on city property unless they have a judicial warrant or qualify for certain “limited legal exceptions,” according to the letter. “But these laws govern City property, not the private lots and garages that you operate,” it adds.
Private businesses have at times found themselves in the middle of tense political fights over President) Trump’s administration’s immigration enforcement push.
In one instance, a Minnesota hotel that refused to let immigration officers stay there in January apologized after public criticism from DHS, saying the decision violated its internal policies. In another, protesters occupied the lobby of a Manhattan hotel they said was housing some immigration officers.
Izaguirre writes for the Associated Press.
