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The Los Angeles City Council will consider an ordinance that would prevent the LAPD from using crowd control weapons against peaceful protesters and journalists.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who represents District 13, is pushing for regulations that would prohibit the Los Angeles Police Department from using “kinetic energy projectiles” or “chemical agents” unless officers are threatened with physical violence.

The Public Safety Committee unanimously approved the proposal and forwarded a vote with all council members on Wednesday. The items would be considered by the council in November or December, said Nick Barnes-Batista, a communications director for District 13.

The ordinance would also require officers to give clear, audible warnings about safe exit routes during “kettling,” when crowds are pushed into designated areas by police.

After the first iteration of the “No Kings” protest over the summer that saw multiple journalists shot by nonlethal rounds, tear-gassed and detained, news organizations sued the city and Police Department, arguing officers had engaged in “continuing abuse” of members of the media.

U.S. District Judge Hernan D. Vera granted a temporary restraining order that restricted LAPD officers from using rubber projectiles, chemical irritants and flash bangs against journalists.

Under the court order, officers are allowed to use those weapons “only when the officer reasonably believes that a suspect is violently resisting arrest or poses an immediate threat of violence or physical harm.”

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell called the definition of journalist “ambiguous” in a news release Monday, raising concerns that the preliminary injunction could prevent the LAPD from addressing “people intent on unlawful and violent behavior.”

“The risk of harm to everyone involved increases substantially,” McDonnell wrote. “LAPD must declare an unlawful assembly, and issue dispersal orders, to ensure the safety of the public and restore order.”

The L.A. Press Club, plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to the injunction, has alleged journalists were detained and assaulted by officers during an immigration protest in August. The Press Club is also involved in a similar lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“This case is about LAPD, but if necessary, we are ready to take similar action to address misconduct toward journalists by other agencies,” the organization wrote in a news release from June.

Vera ruled in September that “any duly authorized representative of any news service, online news service, newspaper, or radio or television station or network” would be classified as a journalist and therefore protected under the court’s orders. Journalists who are impeding or physically interfering with law enforcement are not subject to the protections.

Any ordinance passed by the City Council would apply to the LAPD but not other agencies that could be responding to protests that turn chaotic, such as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department or California Highway Patrol, thereby complicating operational procedure.

Barnes-Batista, the District 13 spokesman, said the City Council would need to discuss how to craft the rules.

“There are definitely unanswered questions about [how] the city wouldn’t want the city to be liable for other agencies not following policy,” he said. “So that will have to be worked out.”

Last month, the City Council, led by Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, voted unanimously to deny a request by the city attorney, Hydee Feldstein Soto, to push for Vera’s injunction to be lifted.

“Journalism is under attack in this country — from the Trump Administration’s revocation of press access to the Pentagon to corporate consolidation of local newsrooms,” Hernandez said. “The answer cannot be for Los Angeles to join that assault by undermining court-ordered protections for journalists.”

The Israeli parliament has pushed forward an amendment proposing the death penalty for any Palestinian convicted of killing Jewish citizens. It must pass a second and third reading before becoming law.

Nov. 9 (UPI) — The U.S. Senate on Sunday night voted to advance a proposal that, if passed by Congress, would fund the federal government through the end of January, marking an important step toward ending the nation’s longest shutdown.

The Senate advanced the continuing appropriations bill in a 60-40 vote, with eight Democrats joining their Republican colleagues, after the Democratic caucus had maintained a strong resistance to passing a bill to reopen the government during 14 previous votes.

The bill was advanced as the 40-day government shutdown strained the United States, with many airports facing significant delays and flight reductions due to worker shortages and the food supplies of low-income households threatened by a lack of federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, who was among those who voted in favor of the resolution, said in a statement Sunday that the bill is not the same as the one Democrats rejected 14 previous times.

“Republicans finally woke up and realized their Groundhog Day needed to end. This bill is not perfect, but it takes important steps to reduce their shutdown’s hurt,” he said on X.

“Not only would it fully fund SNAP for the year ahead, but it would reverse the mass firings the Trump administration ordered throughout the shutdown.”

Along with Durbin, the other Democrats who voted in favor of the bill are: Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada.

Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine but who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted “yes” to the resolution.

Explaining his vote, King said the bill will “alleviate the crisis that is now occurring in SNAP, in food insecurity across the country.”

“Food pantries can’t do it by themselves,” he said in a video message published late Sunday to his X account.

The resolution still needs to be debated and passed by the Senate and House and then be signed by President Donald Trump for the government shutdown to end.

The resolution included a “minibus” package of legislation, which, if it is approved by the Senate, would then be amended to include a full year of government funding.

The deal also includes a vote on extending tax credits for people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act — agreement on which has been the linchpin in the 40-day federal government shutdown.

Durbin, in his statement, said it was now up to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to schedule the promised vote on the ACA tax credits for next month.

“And we will see to it that he makes good on his word for the millions of Americans worried they won’t be able to afford healthcare in January,” he said.

The resolution was advanced after it was reported Sunday afternoon that the Republicans had secured enough Democratic votes to advance it.

Some lawmakers had expressed hope that they might be able to end the shutdown after Senators discussed three bills that would fund the government for a full year.

Programs for veterans affairs and agriculture subsidies were released early Sunday, and a more complete funding measure for the legislative branch was released later in the day.

The extended shutdown has put SNAP benefits on hold and snarled air traffic at the nation’s busiest airports amid the ongoing impasse, which has stretched well into its second month.

Staffing shortages and flight cancellations have caused travel disruptions and forced many air traffic controllers to work without pay.

Senate Democrats have been holding out for a one-year extension of Biden-era subsidies for health insurance premiums for people who buy coverage on the federal Marketplace under the Affordable Care Act.

The shutdown also prompted the Trump administration to cancel scheduled military flyovers at a handful of NFL games, including at the Washington, D.C., area stadium that hosts the Washington Commanders, where Trump attended the game Sunday between the Commanders and Detroit Lions.

Trump has expressed wishes to have the Commanders rename the stadium after him. ESPN reported that it would be discussed between the president and team ownership during the contest.