bond

The U.S. can continue to detain immigrants without bond, an appeals court ruled on Wednesday, handing a victory to the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

The opinion from a panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis overturned a lower court ruling that required that a native of Mexico arrested for lacking legal documents be given a bond hearing before an immigration judge.

It’s the second appeals court to rule in favor of the administration on this issue. The 5th Circuit in New Orleans ruled last month that the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to deny bond hearings to immigrants arrested across the country was consistent with the Constitution and federal immigration law.

Both appeals court opinions counter recent lower court decisions across the country that argued the practice is illegal.

In November, a district court decision in California granted detained immigrants with no criminal history the opportunity to request a bond hearing and had implications for noncitizens held in detention nationwide.

Under past administrations, most noncitizens with no criminal record who were arrested away from the border had an opportunity to request a bond hearing while their cases wound through immigration court. Historically, bond was often granted to those without criminal convictions who were not flight risks, and mandatory detention was limited to recent border crossers.

In the case before the 8th Circuit, Joaquin Herrera Avila of Mexico was apprehended in Minneapolis in August 2025 for lacking legal documents authorizing his admission into the United States. The Department of Homeland Security detained Avila without bond and began deportation proceedings.

He filed a petition seeking immediate release or a bond hearing. A federal judge in Minnesota granted the petition, saying the law authorized detention without bond when a person seeking admission is not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to being admitted. The judge found this was not the case for Avila because he had lived in the country for years without seeking naturalization, asylum or refugee status and thus wasn’t “seeking admission.”

Circuit Court Judge Bobby E. Shepherd wrote for the majority in a 2-1 opinion that the law was “clear that an ‘applicant for admission’ is also an alien who is ‘seeking admission,’” and so Avila couldn’t petition on these grounds.

Circuit Court Judge Ralph R. Erickson dissented, saying that Avila would have been entitled to a bond hearing during his deportation hearings if he had been arrested during the past 29 years. Now, he wrote, the Circuit Court has ruled that Avila and millions of others would be subject to mandatory detention under a novel interpretation of “alien seeking admission” that hasn’t been used by the courts or five previous presidential administrations.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Avila, didn’t immediately return an email message seeking comment.

Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi hailed the ruling, writing in a social media post: “MASSIVE COURT VICTORY against activist judges and for President Trump’s law and order agenda!”

At question is the issue of whether the government is required to ask a neutral judge to to determine whether it is legal to imprison someone.

It’s based on the habeas corpus, which is a Latin legal term referring to the constitutional right for people to legally challenge their detention by the government.

Immigrants have filed more than 30,000 habeas corpus petitions in federal court alleging illegal detention since Trump took office, according to a tally by the Associated Press. Many have succeeded.

McAvoy writes for the Associated Press.

Yields on government debt across European countries and the United States have been rising since the start of the Iran war.

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Investors are demanding higher yields as confidence in the global economy has cratered due to the severe negative impact of the conflict on energy markets, supply chains and Middle Eastern infrastructure.

The 2-year notes, sensitive to near-term rate expectations, have risen faster than their 10-year counterparts in a classic bear-flattening move, while longer-dated yields reflect worries over the economic drag caused by more expensive energy.

Speaking to Euronews, BCA Research’s Chief Fixed Income Strategist, Robert Timper, explained that “the aggressive bear flattening of yield curves reflects a hawkish monetary policy repricing in response to inflation fears stemming from the Iran war”.

“The front-end [2-year yields] is more sensitive to changes in monetary policy and has therefore risen more than the long-end [10-year yields] in response to investors’ anticipation of more hawkish central bank policy,” Timper added.

Historically, this specific curve behaviour often precedes an inverted yield curve, which is a well-recognised indicator of a potential economic recession.

European bonds bear the brunt of the sell-off

The repricing has been most pronounced in Europe, with the UK bond market feeling the biggest pressure.

Since the start of the conflict, the 10-year UK gilt yield has risen from 4.2% to a high of over 5% while the 2-year note yield jumped from 3.5% to a peak of 4.6%.

Timper explained to Euronews that past inflation experience has proved decisive, stating that “rate hikes in the UK are more likely than elsewhere because inflation has been more elevated than elsewhere, and the risk of inflation expectations unanchoring is therefore higher.”

On Wednesday, AJ Bell’s investment director Russ Mould highlighted the UK-specific implications in a detailed press release, noting that the 10-year gilt yield is hovering near 5% for only the third time since 2008 while the 2-year gilt yield comfortably exceeds the Bank of England base rate.

Mould also explained that the gap between the 10-year gilt yield and the FTSE 100 dividend yield has widened to more than one-and-a-half percentage points, making UK equities relatively less attractive.

Elsewhere in Europe, bond yields experienced similar surges.

Germany’s 10-year bund yield increased from 2.65% to around 3%, nearing 15-year highs, while the 2-year note yield climbed from roughly 2% to 2.65%.

In France, the 10-year OAT yield jumped from 3.2% to above 3.7%, approaching 17-year peaks, while the 2-year note yield has risen from 2.1% to over 2.8%.

As for Italy, the 10-year BTP yield was at around 3.3% before the Iran war and has now surpassed 3.9%, approaching two-year highs, while the 2-year note yield has increased from roughly 2.15% to 3%.

In every single one of these bond markets, the yield on the 2-year notes has risen faster than their 10-year counterparts.

The 30 and 20-year bond yields are also all trading higher which denotes deteriorating confidence in the long-term growth prospect of the respective European economies.

US Treasuries face comparable headwinds

Across the Atlantic, US Treasuries have followed a similar trajectory, though the sell-off has been less severe than in the UK for example.

The 10-year note yield has risen from around 3.9% to a peak of 4.4%, reached on Monday, and is currently trading at 4.37%.

Meanwhile, the 2-year note yield increased from 3.35% to a high of over 4%, and it is hovering 3.9% at the time of writing.

The yields on both notes have hit an 8-month high.

Timper’s analysis places US bond performance close to that of the euro area, reflecting broadly comparable inflation histories and policy outlooks. There is scant evidence of investors fleeing European bonds for US Treasuries as a safe-haven trade.

Speaking to Euronews, Timper explained that such shifting flows would be more visible in currency markets as the US dollar benefits from being the predominant denominator for energy exports.

For now the message from bond markets on either side of the Atlantic is consistent, the Middle East conflict has rewritten the near-term outlook for inflation, monetary policy and borrowing costs.

Riz Ahmed has created and stars in a marvelous new series, “Bait,” premiering Wednesday on Prime Video. There are no worms in it, though viral video plays a part, and fame — the pursuit of which is a subject — is a lure.

But what’s in a name? A comedy by any other name would be as funny — if it was funny, and this one very much is, in a way that’s crazy and serious and human, built around a character in crisis who refuses to believe his life is out of control and is so invested in putting up a front that he’s begun to believe his own lies. Almost. It’s a series in which hallucinations, dreams, magical realism and memories, which punctuate and interfere with the “normal” business of the story, all amount the same thing, and in which the style of the filming shifts with the action.

Ahmad plays Shah Latif, a British Pakistani actor, who, owing to the exertions of his faithful, often frustrated agent, Felicia (Weruche Opia), is improbably auditioning to be the next James Bond. But he repeatedly forgets his line when his scene partner, a girl with a gun, asks, “Tell me, when it’s just you all alone, how do you live with yourself? Do you even know who you are?” establishing a theme. (The line he can’t recall: “I don’t live with myself, I live with whoever you need me to be.” Spies and actors!)

Leaving the audition, he contrives to be photographed by one of the paparazzi lurking outside, sniffing for a Bond scoop; his picture is published, which creates a stir and some racist blowback, culminating in a package thrown through the front window of his parents’ home. (It is not a window that opens.) What’s inside the package I’ll leave for you to discover, but it will play a part through the rest of the show.

The recurring question of who will be the next James Bond generates a lot of pop cultural heat in our world; just type “next James Bond” into your search engine of choice. At one point, you may recall, Idris Elba was regularly bruited as a potential 007, which occasioned enough anti-Black reaction that he officially took himself out of the unofficial running. It may have been on Ahmed’s mind here — Shah claims high purpose for his Bondean aspirations, that he wants “to show them that this too is what British looks like.”

On the one hand, Shah has had enough of a career to have been made into a “limited edition collectible action figure,” starred in a well-regarded but underseen small film, played “the translator in ‘Homeland’ series seven” and earned a rising star award from some French festival; on the other, he is, professionally speaking, no Idris Elba — not a nobody, but not too many rungs above it. (He’s not Dev Patel, either, with whom he’s repeatedly confused.)

At the top of the second episode, Shah is seemingly being interviewed on a podcast, “Sir Chatwick Stewart, with me, Sir Patrick Stewart” — played by the man himself, whom we hear but never see — about his ambitions, though it’s soon clear that Stewart is a mental projection, an inner critic and inquisitor. He’ll stick around through the series, offering barbed commentary and something like support: “If I humiliate you, it’s to save you from the bigger humiliation of remaining as you are.”

As a protagonist continually getting in his own way, Shah is a classic sort of comic character. He creates opportunities only to squander them; finds himself voiceless after forcing himself onstage at a black-tie gala or in an underground club (he was once a politically provocative MC). After a newsworthy mishap, his agent advises him to lie low, which is impossible for him to do; there is no itch he won’t scratch, and no good advice he’ll actually follow. Apart from a rival actor (Himesh Patel) he’s a protagonist without antagonists, excepting himself. He’s insufficiently grateful to the people he owes, and insufficiently apologetic to those he’s wronged.

Shah’s self-involvement will be challenged by ex-girlfriend Yasmin (Ritu Arya), encountered first by accident, then sought out — a writer, she has published an op-ed headlined, “No, Shah Latif, We Don’t Need a Brown Bond” — in which she accuses him of “exchanging his political art for vanilla distraction.” His family, whom he neglects to visit for months, includes warm-hearted cousin Zulfi (Guz Khan), who has started a Muslim ride share company; a no-nonsense sister (Aasiya Shah) — the name of her character is rendered as “Q” on IMDb and elsewhere, but in the series itself she’s called Ainy — doting mother Tahira (Sheeba Chaddha); and his skeptical father, Parvez (Sajid Hasan), who has not been keeping his doctor appointments and asks Shah, “What do you even do? I watch TV all day — you’re never on it.”

Appropriate to a character who lives for being onscreen, “Bait” plays with the language of film — gritty procedural, a burst of Bollywood, romantic comedy — though not necessarily to the usual ends. Frame-filling titles identify the London neighborhoods where the action takes place — Wembley, Kentish Town, Brick Lane, Ladbroke Grove — as Paris, Moscow and Mexico City might appear in an international thriller. The series is at once satirical and celebratory; “Bait” feels abundant, both in its presentation of a culture, which has the ring of documentary truth, and as a beautifully realized work of art.

Bond can wait.

WASHINGTON — The State Department says it is adding 12 countries to an expanding list of nations whose citizens must post bonds of up to $15,000 to apply for U.S. visas.

Effective April 2, passport holders from Cambodia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Tunisia will be required to pay the bond, which is refunded if the visa application is denied or, if granted, the person adheres to the terms of the visa.

That’s according to a notice posted to the State Department website on Wednesday.

After April 2, there will be 50 countries whose citizens are subject to the requirement, which was rolled out by the Trump administration last year as it cracked down on visa overstays and more broadly moved to curtail illegal migration.

Under the program, visa applicants from designated countries, many of which are in Africa, that have high overstay rates, have to post bonds of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 depending on their circumstances and the discretion of the consular officer processing the application.

“The visa bond program has already proven effective at drastically reducing the number of visa recipients who overstay their visas and illegally remain in the United States,” the department said, adding that almost 97% of the nearly 1,000 people to have posted the bond had not overstayed their visa.

The full list of countries is here.

Lee writes for the Associated Press.

AN unexpected Brit name has been thrown into the ring to play the next James Bond.

Bookmaker Coral has announced the surprising news about who is currently in the lead to scoop the iconic role.

It has been revealed that Jack O’Connell’s name is flying high after seeing support rise over the last 48 hours.

The SAS: Rogue Heroes star is a big contender to jump into James Bond‘s boots with odds to 8-1 (from 33-1).

“Jack O’Connell’s next James Bond odds have collapsed over the last couple of days, with the British actor now just single figures in our betting for the iconic role,” said Coral’s John Hill.

The new movie will be written by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Steven Knight – who was behind iconic TV show Peaky Blinders.

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Steven also wrote SAS: Rogue Heroes and worked with Jack on the feature.

The 28 Years Later actor has come a long way since his days in the Skins cast.

O’Connell has played a variety of roles since he starred in the TV teen drama as James Cook from 2009 to 2010 – and for the show’s final season in 2013.

Ever since Daniel Craig said goodbye to the role in 2021 release No Time To Die, the role of super spy 007 has been up for grabs, with speculation rife over who should take over. 

Coral stated the odds: 4-5 Callum Turner, 3-1 Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 3-1 Theo James, 6-1 Henry Cavill, 8-1 Jack O’Connell, 10-1 Anthony Boyle, 12-1 Harris Dickinson, 16-1 Jack Lowden, 16-1 James Norton.

Actors thought to be in the running to play Bond include Spider-Man star Tom Holland, 28, Bridget Jones hunk Leo Woodall, 28, SAS Rogue Heroes leading man Connor Swindells, 28, plus Hero Fiennes Tiffin, 27, and Kit Connor, 21. 

Irishman Paul Mescal, 29, is also said to be in the frame along with Wuthering Heights heart-throb Jacob Elordi, 27.

Among the other names rumoured to be in the frame included Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Callum Turner and Henry Cavill.

The Sun recently revealed the latest 007 adventure — spearheaded by new owners Amazon Prime Video — will start filming before the end of the year.

Work has already begun on assembling the crew with a view to starting filming late autumn into early winter.

Amazon has yet to confirm anything about the new Bond movie and there’s no hint as to what it will be called.

But if the cameras start to roll this year it means it could wrap in 2027 and be on our screens by 2028.

The franchise was snapped up by the streaming giants after 2021’s No Time To Die featured the death of the super-spy, played by Daniel Craig.

Shia LaBeouf says he isn’t too keen on seeking treatment to manage his sobriety after his two arrests over a drunken brawl in New Orleans.

The “Megalopolis” and “Holes” actor, 39, denied struggling with alcohol abuse and seemingly took accountability for his violent Mardi Gras behavior in a rambling interview. He spoke with Andrew Callaghan, the journalist best known for his Channel 5 News YouTube page.

“My side is this: My behavior, b—. I got to deal with that,” the former Disney Channel child star said in the interview published Saturday. “Does that mean I got to go to rehab again? I’m just not into it, bro. I don’t think my answers are there.”

A New Orleans judge last week ordered LaBeouf to begin substance abuse treatment and undergo weekly drug testing after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting two men in the city’s French Quarter. The actor was initially charged with two counts of simple battery in the Feb. 17 brawl, but he racked up an additional charge for the same count on Saturday.

LaBeouf was released from jail shortly after his first arrest on Feb. 17 and posted $100,000 in bond. More than a week later, on Friday, New Orleans Police Department issued a warrant for LaBeouf’s second arrest in connection with the incident, a spokesperson confirmed. The actor turned himself in on Saturday and was released after posting bond again.

“No regular person would be required to post over $100,000 in bonds, and be jailed two separate times for one misdemeanor incident,” attorney Sarah Chervinsky said, according to the Associated Press. “Just as he does not deserve preferential treatment, Mr. LaBeouf also does not deserve to be treated more harshly by the police and courts just because he is a public figure.”

At the beginning of his chat with Callaghan, LaBeouf said he “1,000%” takes responsibility for the altercation and that he “had a great time” on Mardi Gras. A legal representative for LaBeouf — who has yet to enter a formal plea to the charges — did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

The New Orleans Police Department said its officers responded to a report of an assault on the 1400 block of Royal Street early on Feb. 17. The former “Even Stevens” child star was “causing a disturbance” at the business, leading staff to remove him from the premises, police said. The actor allegedly “used his closed fists” on one of the victims “several times.”

Authorities said LaBeouf left the business but returned, “acting even more aggressive.” According to the incident report, an unspecified number of people tried to subdue him and eventually let him go “in hope that he would leave.” Instead, police said, LaBeouf began assaulting the same man as before, hitting his upper body with closed fists. The actor is accused of punching the second man in the nose.

People held down LaBeouf until officials arrived. He was taken to a hospital, treated for unknown injuries and arrested and charged upon his release.

An additional police report identified a local entertainer as one of LaBeouf’s alleged victims. The “Disturbia” actor, whose history of violent behavior has led to previous arrests and other legal troubles, allegedly threatened the man’s life and shouted homophobic slurs.

LaBeouf told Callaghan that he was drunk and that, leading up to the incident, he “felt infringed upon.” Elsewhere in the conversation, he said, “big gay people are scary to me,” and said he was wary that “three gay dudes are next to me, touching my leg.” He subsequently apologized and owned up to his homophobic comment.

“I wasn’t in my right mind so it’s on me,” he said elsewhere in the interview. “I said words not OK. I’m wrong for what I did.”

“I am wrong for touching anyone, ever and that’s the end of my statement on this whole s—,” he also said.

Additionally, LaBeouf confirmed his separation from “Frankenstein” and “Pearl” star Mia Goth (they share a daughter), discussed his on-and-off sobriety over the years and stated plainly: “I don’t think I have a drinking problem.”

Instead, LaBeouf said he has a “small man complex,” something akin to a Napoleon complex but more “to do with anger and ego more so than my drinking.” For reference, he stands 5 feet 9 inches.

Last week, Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Simone Levine shared a different take on LaBeouf’s habits. She alleged the actor “does not take his alcohol addiction seriously.”

Chervinsky said during her client’s court appearance that “being drunk on Mardi Gras is not a crime,” a sentiment LaBeouf echoed to Callaghan.

“I was drunk and it was Mardi Gras,” he said.

It started as a gift for their daughter’s 9th birthday. Jennifer and Michael Reese wanted to surprise their gymnast-in-training with a trip to Westwood to see the UCLA women’s gymnastics team.

From that moment on, they became fans. They were captivated by the choreography on the floor and the balance on the beam, by the work each gymnast puts into their routine and by the thrills of the best show in Los Angeles.

Ten years later, while their daughter cheers from a distance at Oregon State, the couple remain loyal to the Bruins and are a staple of Section 103 at Pauley Pavilion as season-ticket holders. And their devotion isn’t grounded in Southern California. When the team travels for meets away from home, the Reeses often follow to cheer on the Bruins.

“They just welcomed us with open arms just as if we were a part of them just because we became so faithful and true fans,” Jennifer said. “They called us their super fans.”

Michael and Jennifer Reese, from Victorville, join parents and friends of the gymnastics team at a rally before the Bruins’ meet against Michigan at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 14.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

That sense of belonging has been their favorite part of supporting UCLA women’s gymnastics. The Bruin Bubble — an affectionate term for the close-knit, insulated community, culture and social scene among UCLA students, alumni and sports fans — added them to their email chains, inviting them to banquets and fundraisers.

“We just love it,” Jennifer said.

With every pike in midair, every perfect landing, every Yurchenko off the vault, the Reeses’ connection with each gymnast grows and their commitment to the team becomes deeper.

Watching it from the comfort of their Victorville home is an option, but the energy in Pauley is unmatched, Michael said.

“You have tons of people doing the same thing and being on the same accord for that one athlete,” he said. “Whether it’s Jordan [Chiles] or whether it’s freshman Ashlee Sullivan or whether it’s, back in the day, Kyla Ross, it’s just amazing to feel that thrill there.”

But if they must watch from their living room, they make sure to bring the same energy as if they were watching in person.

UCLA super fan Michael Reese gives high-fives to members of the Bruins gymnastics team at a send-off before a meet against Michigan at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 14.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

“We’re hopping and hollering in our living rooms,” Michael said, “but it’s nothing like being in person.”

Before every meet, the Bruins and their family members convene outside the arena a few hours early for a send-off. Think of it as a pep rally where family members hype the gymnasts. They cheer as the team makes its way to the arena.

“It lets us go into competition with a lot of energy,” coach Janelle McDonald said.

In 2018, during a meet in Michigan, their Bruins’ previous coach, Valorie Kondos Field, started chanting “We’re ready,” which Michael gravitated toward. As a former military man, he picked up the cadence of the cheer and started to hype the team with the chant. Now, anytime he’s available, he makes sure to be there and send off his favorite team.

Throughout the years, he’s added his own flavor to it by adding the acronym W.I.N. to the end of the rallying cry — Work, Intensity and Never quit.

“We just have fun with it, whatever pops at the time,” he said.

When the Bruin Bubble gets together to send off the team, whether it’s with the UCLA eight-clap, silly wigs or pom-poms, the energy passed sets the gymnasts up to be the best they can be, junior Katelyn Rosen said.

“Gymnastics is really hard to make it go perfect every single time,” she said. “So if you can kind of get similar pieces of each day to anchor to, to make you feel calm, to remind yourself that it’s still you, and you’re still in your own body, and you still have control over it, is something really helpful.”

Having familiar faces of friends and family in the crowd, even when they are competing away from Pauley Pavilion, means a lot to the gymnasts, McDonald said. Fans like Jennifer and “Big Mike,” as the team calls him, are part of the consistency they have throughout the season.

With the help of the Reeses, UCLA is breaking records. So far, the Bruins have been a part of four meets with record attendances in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington. Their Feb. 22 meet at Illinois had to be moved to State Farm Center to accommodate the larger crowd.

Bruins fans don’t see the travel as a sacrifice.

It’s “the thrill of your life,” Jennifer Reese said.