calls

Trump slams Chicago mayor and Illinois governor resisting his mass deportation campaign as troops arrive in state.

United States President Donald Trump called for the jailing of Democratic officials in Illinois resisting his mass deportation campaign, a day after armed troops from Texas arrived in the state to bolster the operation.

Chicago, the largest city in Illinois and third-largest in the country, has become the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration’s drive to deport millions of immigrants, which has prompted allegations of rights abuses and myriad lawsuits.

The operation is being led by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), whose masked agents have surged into several Democratic-led cities to conduct raids, stoking outrage among many residents and protests outside federal facilities.

“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump posted Wednesday on his Truth Social platform.

Local officials argue that city and state law enforcement are sufficient to handle the protests, but Trump claims the military is needed to keep federal agents safe, heightening concerns among his critics of growing authoritarianism.

After National Guard deployments in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, 200 troops arrived in Illinois on Tuesday.

An immigration enforcement building outside Chicago has also been the site of clashes between federal agents and protesters.

“The federal government has not communicated with us in any way about their troop movements,” Pritzker told reporters in Chicago. “I can’t believe I have to say ‘troop movements’ in an American city, but that is what we’re talking about here.”

A judge will have a role in determining how many boots are on the streets: There’s a court hearing Thursday on a request by Illinois and Chicago to declare the National Guard deployment illegal.

‘Stand up and speak out’

Trump’s attacks on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, both Democrats, follow similar extraordinary public calls by the president for his political opponents to face legal charges.

They come on the same day that former FBI director James Comey was arraigned on charges of lying to Congress – an indictment which came just days after Trump urged his attorney general to take action against him and others.

Pritzker, seen as a potential Democratic candidate in the 2028 presidential election, has become one of Trump’s most fiery critics.

He pledged Wednesday to “not back down,” listing a litany of grievances against Trump’s immigration crackdown.

“Making people feel they need to carry citizenship papers. Invading our state with military troops. Sending in war helicopters in the middle of the night,” he wrote on X.

“What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?” he asked. “We must all stand up and speak out.”

By “war helicopters”, Pritzker was referring to a major raid last week in which Black Hawk helicopters descended on a Chicago housing complex.

Dozens of people were arrested in the surprise operation, according to the Trump administration, but US media reported that American citizens were detained for hours.

Mayor Johnson has since announced “ICE-free zones” where city-owned property will be declared off-limits to federal authorities.

Johnson accused Republicans of wanting “a rematch of the Civil War”.

Trump’s immigration crackdown is aimed at fulfilling a key election pledge to rid the country of what he called waves of foreign “criminals”.

Trump has nonetheless faced some legal setbacks, including a federal judge in Oregon blocking his bid to deploy troops in Portland, saying his descriptions of an emergency there were false and that the US is a “nation of Constitutional law, not martial law”.

Trump says he could invoke the rarely used Insurrection Act to force deployments of troops around the country if courts or local officials are “holding us up”.

Oct. 7 (UPI) — Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Tuesday called on President Emmanuel Macron to fix the country’s political crisis by appointing a new prime minister to get a budget passed for the coming year and bring forward the presidential election from 2027.

The intervention from Philippe, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2020 in Macron’s first term, came a day after Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu became the latest casualty in a revolving door of heads of France’s legislative branch that has seen five come and go in under two years.

Lecornu has, at Macron’s request, agreed to remain in post for 48 hours to “conduct final negotiations to define a platform for action and stability,” saying he would notify Macron if his efforts had been successful by the end of Wednesday.

Otherwise, Macron would “assume his responsibilities,” government sources told French media.

But even among Macron’s backers, support appeared to be ebbing away with the general secretary of his centrist Renaissance Party and former prime minister Gabriel Attal joining the chorus of criticism of the embattled president.

Attal said he “no longer understands the decisions made by the president of the republic,” that repeated attempts by Macron to reassert his authority had failed and that a power-sharing deal was the only option left.

“I think we should try something else,” said Attal.

Les Republicains’ David Lisnard, whose party was part of Macron’s ruling alliance, laid blame for the crisis squarely at the feet of Macron and called for him to go.

Executive Vice President Francois-Xavier Bellamy said LR would not allow Macron and his backers “a final lap.”

Marine Le Pen of the National Rally said Macron’s resignation would be a “wise decision,” saying fresh parliamentary elections were an “absolute necessity.”

RN President Jordan Bardella said he expected Macron to dissolve the legislature, the National Assembly, vowing that his party was ready to step in.

“There cannot be a return to stability without a return to the ballot box. It was very clearly Emmanuel Macron who decided this government himself. He has understood nothing of the political situation we are in,” said Bardella.

Lecornu resigned Monday, less than four weeks after being appointed by Macron, in response to a furious backlash from opposition parties over his newly announced government because it was stuffed with Macron allies.

They said Lecornu had reneged on his “profound break” with the status quo pledge that he made on Sept. 10 when he took the place of predecessor Francois Bayrou.

Bayrou was forced to quit after losing a confidence vote two days earlier that he called in a bid to force drastic government spending cuts of $51.6 billion through parliament.

SEOUL, Oct. 6 (UPI) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the country’s first 5,000-ton destroyer and called for bolstering naval power to “punish” threats to national sovereignty, state-run media reported Monday.

Kim visited the Choe Hyon destroyer on Sunday with high-ranking party and government officials as part of his tour of a military hardware exhibition, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

Pyongyang launched the Choe Hyon at the Nampo Shipyard in April. The vessel is armed with a wide range of weapons, including nuclear-capable cruise missiles, according to North Korean reports.

Kim called the destroyer the “remarkable latest success” of the North’s warship-building industry and a symbol of the “rapidly developing naval forces of the DPRK,” KCNA reported.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

The North Korean leader added that the country’s naval power “should be exercised in the vast ocean to thoroughly deter or counter and punish the enemy’s provocations for the sovereignty of the state and its security interests.”

The de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, known as the Northern Limit Line, has long been a source of tension between the two Koreas. North Korea does not officially recognize the NLL, which was drawn unilaterally by the U.S.-led United Nations Command after the Korean War.

The boundary area has been the location for a handful of naval skirmishes in the decades after the 1950-53 war, including the North’s 2010 torpedo attack on a South Korean warship that left 46 dead.

In January 2024, Kim called the line “illegal” and warned that even the slightest violation of the North’s territory would be considered a “war provocation.”

He later repeated the threats, saying the boundary was a “ghost … without any ground in the light of international law or legal justification.”

More recently, South Korea’s military fired warning shots after a North Korean merchant vessel crossed the border on Sep. 25.

Pyongyang unveiled a second 5,000-ton warship in May, named the Kang Kon, but the vessel suffered an accident at its launch ceremony that left it listing on its side.

Kim, who was in attendance at the launch, called the mishap a “criminal act” and warned of serious consequences for those found responsible. At least four officials were arrested in the aftermath.

The Kang Kon was repaired and relaunched in June, although analysts have questioned whether it is fully operational.

The North has vowed to build another 5,000-ton destroyer by October 2026.

Reflecting back on Van Bronckhorst’s demise, a large part of the support wanted him gone too, just not with the same ferocity Martin is experiencing.

How many might welcome him back now, or wish to go back to a time when European finals seemed achievable?

The Dutchman’s credentials clearly are valued by English Premier League-winning Liverpool boss Arne Slot, no less, who appointed him as assistant manager at Anfield this summer after a short-lived tenure at Besiktas.

High points under him, though, were balanced by uninspiring domestic displays and a failure to retain the long-awaited Scottish title that Steven Gerrard delivered.

A bruising Champions League campaign added to their woes, but, in truth, Rangers were ill-equipped to compete on that stage at that time and the financial boost was most welcome.

Former Heart of Midlothian and Dundee United head coach Robbie Neilson suggested on the Scottish Football Podcast: “Things start to spiral and we’re getting to that point now where the negativity towards the manager is definitely having an effect on the players – there’s no doubt about that.

“The only way to turn that is to win football matches. I don’t know if they’ve got the squad to win six, seven, eight in a row, but that’s the only way they’ll turn it.

“It looks like Russell Martin has taken as much pressure as he can on himself to try and get it away from the players.

“But I think at the moment it’s coming back on the players as well now because it’s got to quite an extreme stage.”

What Martin and the board are contending with are previously unseen levels of negativity, though. There’s an all-consuming crescendo of ill will stretching far and wide across the support.

Until now, those in charge have held firm, although the growing sentiment over the past weeks is that even an extended run of favourable results will not influence a support seemingly not for turning.

Might McCoist’s point add weight to the idea that sticking with Martin may bear longer-term fruits, despite the lack of evidence to support that right now?

We’ll soon find out.

SEOUL, Oct. 3 (UPI) — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday called for North Korea to allow families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War to hold reunions or exchange letters.

Lee made the remarks while meeting with elderly citizens who had relatives in the North ahead of Chuseok, the mid-autumn festival that is one of Korea’s most important holidays.

“I strongly urge the North to consider these unfortunate circumstances from a humanitarian perspective,” Lee said at the Ganghwa Peace Observatory in Incheon, which overlooks North Korea.

“I believe that it is the responsibility of all political leaders in both the South and the North to ensure that these tragically separated families can confirm the fate of their relatives and, at the very least, exchange letters,” he said, according to his office. He added that the families should ideally be able to meet again in person.

North and South Korea have held 21 family reunions since 2000, with the last one taking place in August 2018 during a period of inter-Korean detente.

Relations have frozen over for the past several years, however, and time is not on the side of the family members who are still hoping to connect with their long-lost relatives.

Over 134,000 South Koreans have registered to participate in family reunions since 1988, but only 35,311 were still alive as of August, according to data from the South’s Unification Ministry. Some two-thirds of people on the list are over the age of 80.

In February, North Korea began dismantling the facility used for family reunions at its Mount Kumgang tourist zone, a further sign of deteriorating relations.

Lee’s administration has made efforts to reduce tensions between the two Koreas since he took office in June, with conciliatory gestures such as removing propaganda loudspeakers from border areas.

In an address to the U.N. General Assembly last week, Lee unveiled a peace initiative that seeks engagement and normalization with the North.

It comes after an EasyJet flight was involved in an incredible near-miss incident last week

A French mayor has argued that air traffic controllers should be replaced with military personnel following a near-miss accident involving an EasyJet flight at Nice airport. On September 21, EasyJet flight 4706 to Nantes experienced a near-miss incident with a Tunisian Nouvelair jet.

Reportedly, the flight was forced to apply power in order to avoid a collision. According to preliminary findings from the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) investigation, the aircraft from Tunisia was preparing to land on the incorrect runway – as a result, the BEA is classifying the event as a ‘serious incident’.

While the investigation is ongoing, Nice mayor Christian Estrosi pledged that he would ask the French government to replace air traffic controllers with military personnel. The surprise announcement was made during a Nice City Council meeting on Wednesday, October 1, with the subject not initially being put on the meeting’s agenda.

‘We’ve had enough of air traffic controllers’

Instead, the city council was debating a survey of Nice airport users with the goal of improving expectations. However, during the debate Mr Estrosi said: “At our next city council meeting, I will propose that the French government replace our air traffic controllers with military personnel. We’ve had enough of air traffic controllers and the DGAC (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), which is incapable of keeping them in check.”

He later told the press: “‘We are increasingly penalised by the unacceptable behaviour of air traffic controllers in both Nice and Aix-en-Provence. This has economic and social consequences.”

At the time of the incident, an EasyJet spokesperson said: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is EasyJet’s highest priority and in line with procedures, we are fully cooperating with the safety investigation that has been launched in order to understand what happened.”

If full, the two aircrafts would have been carrying over 300 passengers and crew members between them. It has been reported that the EasyJet pilot said there was only three metres between the two planes.

The mayor’s request will be put to a vote at the next city council meeting.

Air traffic control in France is currently operated by civil servants. In order to get the job, they generally must have graduated from the French National Civil Aviation School (ENAC). While there is some airspace which is controlled by military air traffic controllers, this is currently not the case for Nice Airport.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, 72 air traffic controllers are currently active in Nice.

ADVERTISEMENT

The steel sector raised the alarm on Wednesday over the fate of Europe’s steel jobs due to the dual impact of Chinese surplus entering the EU market and punitive US tariffs targeting European steel production.

“Europeans have to do something. They have to find strong answers against these overcapacities because if they don’t we will lose all our jobs and all our confidence,” Manuel Bloemers, from the powerful German union IG Metall, told Euronews.

“In Germany, the steel industry is heavily impacted from these imports. Thyssenkrupp has a lot of layoffs planned,” he added.

European Commission Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné convened an emergency summit in Brussels with both steel industry leaders and unions to explore urgent solutions.

The European steel industry currently supports around 2.5 million direct and indirect jobs across the EU, with Germany, Italy and France being the main producers in 2024, according to data by EUROFER, a lobby that represents Europe’s leading steel producers.

Thyssenkrupp Steel alone has announced plans to cut up to 11,000 jobs — around 40% of its German workforce — by 2030. Across Europe, thousands of jobs are also under threat at ArcelorMittal, the world’s second-largest steel producer.

The past year was a challenging one for the sector, which saw a loss of 18,000 jobs in the EU, according to IndustriAll, the European steel union.

The situation may worsen with the new trade policy implemented by US President Donald Trump, industry representatives believe.

Since June, the US has imposed 50% tariffs on steel imports and an influx of heavily subsidised Chinese steel is diverted from the US to the EU market, lowering prices and revenues of the EU industry.

EUROFER has called for measures to slash foreign steel imports by half.

“The big risks we have as Europeans is that not only our exports into the US are being limited, but also the imports which are directed to the US usually are landing in an unprotected Europe,” Henrik Adam, president of EUROFER said.

After weeks of transatlantic trade tensions, the EU and the US reached a trade deal in July, which includes a 15% US tariff on all EU imports, while maintaining 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium — a bitter setback for the sector.

The Commission has told Euronews it will unveil new measures of protection for the market at next week’s European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg.

‘Time is running out’

“Time is running out,” warned German MEP Jens Geier (S&D), describing the outlook as “anxious” for workers across the continent.

“This is a worthwhile timely initiative by the commission to propose this defence instruments since we all are eager to see action from the Commission,” the MEP said.

To respond to the crisis, the steel industry is proposing a tariff rate quota system: imports above a certain threshold would be subject to a 50% tariff. The threshold remains to be determined.

The quota aligns with a proposal launched in July by France, backed by 10 other EU member states, which notes that the new system “must apply to all third countries without exception.”

Since 2019, the European Commission has implemented safeguard measures to limit imports of foreign steel. However, those are set to expire in 2026, and EUROFER argues the current rules have already proven insufficient, with foreign steel imports doubling over that period.

The OECD published data in April showing that global steel overcapacities stood at 600 million tonnes in 2023 and are expected to rise to 720 million tonnes next year.

To stand its ground, the EU hopes the US will agree to lower its tariffs.

Negotiations between Brussels and Washington are expected to resume once the Commission has finalised its approach to protecting the sector.

The White House will then assess what it is willing to grant the Europeans. But talks are expected to be difficult, as Trump is pushing to bring production capacity back to US soil.

“Our steel and aluminum industries are coming back like never before. This will be yet another big jolt of great news for our wonderful steel and aluminum workers. Make America great again,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform in May.

Sept. 28 (UPI) — Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called a policy that could lead to the indefinite deportation of thousands of people from the country “racist” and “immoral.”

Currently, migrants can apply for indefinite leave from other countries for five years, and allow them to live, study and work in Britain permanently, according to the BBC.

But a plan by Reform UK would abolish the status quo and require migrants to apply for new visas with more stringent guidelines. Right now, indefinite leave gives people more rights and access to benefits

Starmer said he did not think supporters of Reform UK are racist, but said he remains “frustrated” following 14 years of “Tory failure.” Starmer said he needed “space” to pursue and fulfill pledges he made during last year’s general election, which the Labor party won with a large majority.

“I do think it’s a racist policy, I do think it’s immoral,” Starmer said in an interview with the BBC. “It needs to be called out for what it is. It’s one thing to say we’re going to remove illegal immigrants, people who have no right to be here. I’m up for that. It’s a completely different thing to say we’re going to reach people who are here lawfully here and start removing them.”

Starmer called people in Britain under the current policy “neighbors” who contribute to the economy and changing the policy will “rip this country apart.”

A YouGov poll published Saturday shows that 58% of Britons oppose removing indefinite leave from those who already hold it. More than 44% say they support ending the policy, while 43% are opposed.

Kim Jong Un references ‘new important nuclear strategy’ in high-level meeting with scientists and military officials.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has directed top officials to strengthen the nation’s “nuclear shield and sword”, saying only a “nuclear counteraction” could safeguard his country’s security.

In a meeting with nuclear scientists and technicians on Friday, including Hong Sung-mu, a senior official believed to have spearheaded North Korea’s nuclear programme, Kim said the production of nuclear materials and weapons was an “essential top priority”, according to state media.

“The powerful deterrent, namely, the logic of peacekeeping and security by force with nuclear forces as its backbone is the invariable stand of the DPRK,” Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is North Korea’s official name.

Kim also made reference to “main tasks” that had been carried out by the country’s nuclear weapons research institute with regard to “a new important nuclear strategy”, South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency reported.

The North Korean leader did not provide details regarding that new strategy.

“Comrade Kim Jong Un said we must constantly sharpen and renew the nuclear shield and sword that can reliably guarantee national sovereignty, security and interests and the right to development,” KCNA added.

Kim’s meeting with his nuclear scientists and military officials follows just days after South Korea said Pyongyang was presumed to possess as much as 2,000kg (2 tonnes) of highly-enriched uranium.

South Korea’s Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said on Thursday that just 10-12kg (22-26lbs) of enriched uranium was adequate to build a nuclear bomb.

“Even at this very hour, uranium centrifuges at four locations (in North Korea) are running, probably accumulating nuclear materials,” Chung said, according to Yonhap.

The minister also said it was now impossible to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme through the forces of sanctions, but the resumption of talks between Pyongyang and Washington could offer a “breakthrough” to denuclearisation efforts.

“It will be desirable for [talks] to take place as soon as possible,” the minister said.

Kim said recently there was no reason to avoid dialogue with the US if Washington ceased insisting that his country give up nuclear weapons.

“Personally, I still have fond memories of US President Trump,” Kim said, according to KCNA, referring to meeting Trump three times during the United States president’s first administration.

“If the United States drops the absurd obsession with denuclearising us and accepts reality, and wants genuine peaceful coexistence, there is no reason for us not to sit down with the United States,” Kim was quoted as saying.

“The world already knows full well what the United States does after it makes a country give up its nuclear weapons and disarms,” Kim said.

“We will never give up our nuclear weapons,” he added.

New York City – Thousands of New Yorkers joined world diplomats in giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the cold shoulder as he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Protesters on Friday morning rallied against the Israeli prime minister on the streets of New York City as dozens of delegates marched out of the UN Assembly hall when he began his speech on the fourth day of the General Debate.

And blocks away, diplomats representing countries across the world were meeting as part of the Hague Group to discuss taking concrete measures against Israel, including sanctions, for its nearly two-year assault on Gaza.

Al-Sharif Nassef, who was participating in the New York protest, said it was a “shame” that Netanyahu was in the city instead of The Hague to answer to his alleged war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for him last year.

“All the New Yorkers who are here today support his arrest. He is not welcome here,” Nassef told Al Jazeera.

“And Inshallah [God willing], under the new mayorship, he will be arrested as soon as he steps forward in New York City.”

Earlier this month, New York Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamadani promised to enforce the ICC’s arrest warrant against Netanyahu. But the US is not a party to the tribunal, so it is not clear whether the New York Police Department has the legal power to detain the Israeli prime minister.

‘Is baby formula Hamas?’

After Netanyahu finished his speech, protesters marched from Times Square to a park near the UN complex on the East River.

They waved Palestinian flags and chanted “free Palestine” and “arms embargo now” as the demonstration snaked through the streets amid heavy police presence.

Some demonstrators also displayed the flags of Colombia and Ireland – two countries that have been vocal in their support for Palestinians.

Nasreen Issa, a member of the Palestine Youth Movement – NYC, which helped organise the march, said the large turnout sends a message that it is “unacceptable” for the US to roll out the red carpet for Netanyahu.

Issa said that demonstrations work even if their effects are not immediately felt.

“Protests play an important role in generating the political will that can make real change happen,” the activist told Al Jazeera.

Meagan Fredette held a cardboard sign that said, “Is baby formula Hamas???” to highlight the Israeli restrictions on basic food items in Gaza, which have plunged the territory into deadly famine, according to a UN-backed monitor.

Fredette said she feels “disgusted” as a New Yorker that Netanyahu is in her city.

“I feel angry. It’s embarrassing that he’s here. He doesn’t deserve to be here,” she told Al Jazeera. “He’s a literal, wanted criminal. New Yorkers were not happy that he’s here.”

As the demonstrators arrived outside the security perimeter at the UN, they encountered about a dozen counterprotesters waving Israeli flags.

But law enforcement officers separated the two sets of protesters and confined the small pro-Israel rally to a barricaded area.

When a man with an Israeli flag started shouting obscenities at the anti-Netanyahu demonstrators, the police quickly intervened and ordered him to move away from the protest.

Broadcasting Netanyahu’s speech through Palestinian phones

Inside the UN General Assembly hall earlier, Netanyahu addressed a room that was partly emptied by the walkout, and he received applause that came only from one area on the upper level of the room.

Asked whether the people clapping for Netanyahu were guests of the Israeli mission, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, only said, “Every delegation is allowed to bring in guests.”

Netanyahu’s office said on X that the prime minister had ordered the hacking of the phones of Palestinians in Gaza to stream his speech on the devices.

“In an unprecedented action, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu … has announced that the [Israeli military] took control of the telephones of Gaza residents and Hamas members, and that his speech is now being broadcast live via the telephones,” the post said.

His office also posted on social media that the Israeli military broadcast the address on a loudspeaker to the starving and beleaguered population of the territory.

Al Jazeera asked Dujarric for a reaction to a UN function being used as a tool to taunt an entire population, but he declined to respond.

“I have no specific comment on that,” the spokesperson said.

“I think the focus should be on alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people, getting more humanitarian aid in, and getting the hostages out,” Dujarric added.

Israel has killed more than 65,500 people in Gaza, including approximately 20,000 children, and turned nearly the entire territory into rubble.

The UNGA is meeting this year amid growing international anger at Israel’s conduct. Several Western countries that are traditionally allied with Israel recognised the state of Palestine during the assembly.

Hague group meeting

On Friday, diplomats from 24 countries – part of the Hague Group, which aims to halt the war on Gaza – called for action to stop the atrocities beyond statements and symbolism.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, urged tangible moves against Israel, including sanctions.

“We are out of time because if we fail to act, children are killed,” Mansour told a Hague Group meeting.

“Palestinian children are killed, starved, orphaned, burned and traumatised, families are shattered, life is destroyed, lands are stolen and territories are annexed.”

Mansour also called for international support for South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

The meeting included representatives from Colombia, South Africa, Qatar, Turkiye, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Ireland, Spain and Uruguay.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira warned against failing to stop Israeli atrocities.

“International law requires states not only to refrain from committing genocide, but also to prevent it. Failure to do so may give rise to state responsibility, including for complicity in genocide,” he said.

“Time has come for States to fulfil their obligations under the Genocide Convention by adopting effective measures to ensure that they do not, directly or indirectly, collaborate with its perpetrators.”

At least 85 Palestinians killed across the territory, including 12 at a makeshift shelter, as global leaders demand end to the war at UNGA.

At least 12 Palestinians, among them seven women and two children, have been killed in a strike on a stadium sheltering displaced families in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, as Israel pressed ahead with its relentless attacks despite calls for a ceasefire from world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.

The al-Ahli Stadium, which has been converted into a makeshift refuge for Palestinians fleeing the Israeli onslaught, became the site of another massacre on Wednesday.

“I only had what I had in my hand. I left with nothing,” Najwa, a displaced woman from Gaza City, told Al Jazeera. “We are frightened. Transportation is expensive. We can’t pay to bring our things.”

‘Inflicting terror’

Israel’s assault on Gaza intensified overnight, with at least 85 Palestinians killed across the territory on Wednesday – more than double the number of those killed yesterday.

As the UN warned that Israel’s military is “inflicting terror on the Palestinian population of Gaza City and forcing tens of thousands to flee”, Israeli military chief of staff Eyal Zamir claimed Palestinians were being pushed southward “for their safety”.

But UN investigators have rejected those claims. A commission of inquiry this week concluded that Israel’s actions are aimed at establishing permanent control over Gaza while ensuring a Jewish majority in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel.

Zamir added that “most of Gaza’s population has already left Gaza City” and that the army “will continue a systematic and thorough advance” into the enclave’s largest urban centre.

Since the war began on October 7, 2023, at least 65,419 Palestinians have been killed and 167,160 wounded, with thousands more believed to be buried beneath the rubble. Israel launched what campaigners say is a war of vengeance after 1,139 people were killed in Israel in a Hamas-led attack in October 2023. About 200 were taken captive by the Palestinian fighters, out of which more than 40 still remain in Gaza.

Condemnation at the United Nations

At the UN General Assembly in New York, Israel’s war on Gaza has dominated proceedings, drawing condemnation from leaders across the world.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told world leaders: “If you have no sympathy for human pain, the name of human you cannot pertain. Those criminals who bully by murdering children are not worthy of the name ‘human being’, and they shall never prove to be trustworthy partners.”

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa also demanded an immediate ceasefire: “We stand firmly with the people of Gaza, its children and women and all peoples facing violations and aggression. We call for an immediate end to the war.”

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Al Jazeera that quiet talks are taking place on ending the conflict, building on the “New York Declaration” roadmap endorsed by 142 states in July.

“Those of us who are closest to the Israeli position are beginning to understand that we cannot just continue with this endless, senseless war, and that includes the United States,” he said.

Meanwhile, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington was “hopeful … even confident that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough” and confirmed that President Donald Trump’s 21-point peace plan had been circulated among world leaders.

But previous peace proposals have been derailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier this month, Netanyahu ordered the assassination of Hamas leaders gathering in Doha to discuss a peace proposal by Trump.

The Israeli leader unilaterally pulled out of the last ceasefire agreement on March 18 and launched fierce air strikes and imposed a total aid blockade, resulting in famine and starvation deaths. He faces an arrest warrant for war crimes issued by the International Criminal Court.

As Israel becomes increasingly isolated, protests have erupted in Tel Aviv. Hundreds gathered at Ben Gurion airport to denounce Netanyahu as he departed for the UN meeting.

Before leaving, the Israeli prime minister once again rejected international calls for a Palestinian state. “The shameful surrender of some leaders to Palestinian terrorism will not bind Israel in any way,” his office said.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake says his country knows well the futility of war. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Estonian President Alar Karis says Russian fighter planes entering his country’s airspace is another sign that Russia is escalating its war on Ukraine. His comments come a day after US President Donald Trump said NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft that violate their airspace.

An emotional Jimmy Kimmel has criticised “anti-American” threats to free speech during his return to late-night US television – following a brief suspension after comments he made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The comedian said during Tuesday’s show – his first since the controversy – that “it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man”.

Kimmel also compared Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr to a mob boss, and poked fun at President Donald Trump’s appearance at the UN – including an escalator mishap.

But Tuesday’s episode was not viewable in all markets, due to resistance from many local stations affiliated with ABC.

It was, however, available on streaming service Hulu + Live TV, owned by Disney – which is also the parent of ABC.

Dozens of local TV stations in the US run by affiliates Nexstar and Sinclair said they would continue to replace Jimmy Kimmel Live! with alternate programming for now.

Carr – who leads the organisation that regulates American television – praised their decision in a post on X on Tuesday.

“We need to keep empowering local TV stations to serve their communities of license,” said Carr, a Trump appointee, who last week threatened action against Disney and ABC, the companies that produce and air Kimmel’s show.

Speaking on Tuesday’s programme, Kimmel said he had not wanted to blame any specific group for Kirk’s murder, and praised Erika Kirk for forgiving her husband’s alleged killer at a weekend memorial service.

“It was a selfless act of grace… that touched me deeply,” Kimmel said.

Kimmel was critical of Carr, who was one of the first to call for his suspension, saying that the FCC chair boss was once a free speech advocate, but flipped after Kimmel’s controversial show last week.

He also criticised Trump for calling for the axing of his fellow late-night hosts – all who are frequent critics of the president as they riff on the day’s biggest news stories.

“Our leader celebrates people losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke,” Kimmel said, adding that Trump openly rooting for people to lose their jobs was “un-American” and “dangerous”.

Kimmel also pretended to open a statement written for him to read aloud by Disney, before reading out the words: “How to reactivate your Disney+ subscription”. There had been calls to cancel streaming subscriptions over Kimmel’s brief suspension.

The comedian’s comeback was praised by celebrity supporters, including actor Ben Stiller, who lauded his “brilliant monologue”.

But Kimmel’s return was not universally applauded. About an hour before showtime, Trump said on his social media platform that he could not believe that ABC had reinstated the comedian, saying the White House was told the show was cancelled.

“Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there,” Trump wrote.

Trump also threatened to “test ABC out on this”.

Kimmel’s Tuesday night guests were Twisters and Chad Powers actor Glen Powell and musical guest Sarah McLachlan.

He was also joined by Hollywood legend and notable Trump critic Robert De Niro, who appeared in a skit in which he portrayed Carr. “Speech, it ain’t free no more,” De Niro quipped.

The comedian’s show was pulled after his 15 September monologue about the shooting of Kirk caused uproar.

He said that Trump and his allies were “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” and trying to “score political points from it”.

He also likened Trump’s reaction to the influencer’s murder to “how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish”.

The jokes raised the ire of Carr, who said Kimmel was “appearing to directly mislead the American public” with his comments about Kirk’s killer.

The FCC regulates radio, TV and satellite airwaves, giving it power over a range of matters, including mergers and decency complaints.

His remarks, coupled with concerns from local broadcasters that run ABC affiliates, prompted the network to “indefinitely” suspend Kimmel’s show.

The show’s suspension prompted strong backlash from lawmakers, labour unions, and free speech proponents. Celebrity campaigns and boycotts targeted Disney, ABC’s parent company.

Kimmel was also backed by his colleagues in late night, including CBS host Stephen Colbert – whose show will end in May – Jon Stewart and Seth Meyers.

Disney made its announcement on Monday that it would bring back the show after “having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy”.

Still, Nexstar, one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the US, said on Tuesday that it would continue to pre-empt Kimmel’s show “pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve”.

The media company is currently trying to close a $6.2bn (£4.86bn) deal to acquire its rival Tegna that needs FCC approval.

Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate group in the US, also said it would air alternate programming.

Nexstar and Sinclair together control more than 20% of ABC’s affiliated television stations, according to the New York Times.

United States President Donald Trump has told the United Nations General Assembly that Israel’s war on Gaza must stop immediately as he called the recent recognition of Palestinian statehood by several Western countries a “reward” for Hamas.

“We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately,” Trump told world leaders in New York on Tuesday, adding that he has been “deeply engaged” in trying to secure a ceasefire.

He reiterated his call for the captives held in Gaza to be returned home. “We have to get it done. We have to negotiate peace. We have to get the hostages back. We want all 20 back,” he said, referring to the 20 of the 48 remaining captives still believed to be alive.

Those who support peace should be united in demanding the release of the captives, he told the leaders gathered for the General Assembly.

“As if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognise the Palestinian state. The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities,” he said.

In contrast, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a meeting on Sunday at the UN aimed at reviving the two-state solution that statehood for Palestinians “is a right, not a reward”.

Gaza truce offers

Trump called for an end to the war in Gaza, but had little criticism for Israel, instead blaming breakdowns in negotiations on Hamas. He insisted that Hamas, the Palestinian group that governed Gaza, “has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace”.

On the other side of the talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continually been accused of stalling the ceasefire negotiations since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023.

Israel targeted Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha, this month as the Palestinian leaders were meeting to discuss the latest truce proposal put forth by the US.

The Israeli prime minister broke the last ceasefire with Hamas in mid-March and imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, triggering famine and starvation deaths.

Hamas said it is ready for a truce that will lead to the release of captives and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and a withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, but Netanyahu has refused to commit to a full withdrawal. This month, Netanyahu decided to seize Gaza City, launching a ground invasion that has killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced thousands.

More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war. The US has been heavily criticised for continuing to arm Israel in a war that a UN commission described as amounting to genocide.

Trump also dedicated some of his speech to the General Assembly to Iran, describing Tehran as the “world’s number one sponsor of terror”. He promised Iran would “never possess a nuclear weapon”.

“Three months ago in Operation Midnight Hammer, seven American B-2 bombers dropped 30,000lb [13,600kg] each bombs on Iran’s key nuclear facilities, totally obliterating everything. No other country on Earth could have done what we did,” Trump said.

While the US president claimed the operation demolished Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, a US defence assessment later suggested the strike only delayed Iran’s nuclear progress by several months.

‘Nobel Peace Prize’

The US president delivered his remarks minutes after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had spoken, denouncing authoritarianism, environmental destruction and inequality, a contrast in tone to Trump’s focus on unilateral strength, nationalism and grievances.

Trump began his speech by taking aim at the teleprompter and a broken elevator he said he encountered at the UN headquarters before moving on to paint his administration as an economic success story.

At several points, Trump returned to his record on foreign policy, claiming to have brought an end to “seven different wars” and suggesting his achievements warranted the Nobel Peace Prize. “Everyone says I should get a Nobel Peace Prize for these achievements,” he said before adding that he did not care about awards, only “saving lives”.

Taking a dig at the UN, Trump said the world body was not coming close to living up to its potential. “I had to end wars instead of the United Nations,” he said.

As the Ukraine conflict rumbles on, Trump argued the war would “never have started if I was president”. He described his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “a good one” but said Moscow’s invasion is “not making Russia look good”.

He criticised Europe for continuing to buy Russian oil and gas despite sanctions, calling the practice “embarrassing”, and he singled out China and India as “primary funders” of Russia’s war effort.

“Everyone thought Russia would win in three days, but it didn’t,” Trump said while urging European Union nations to impose tariffs on Moscow.

Attacks on immigration and the UN

As the UN grapples with what experts describe as one of the most volatile periods in its 80-year history, Trump used the platform to attack the institution itself, accusing the body of “funding an assault on Western countries and their borders”. He claimed the organisation was helping “illegal aliens” enter the US by providing food, shelter, transportation and “debit cards”.

The International Organization for Migration, a UN agency, does provide assistance through disbursement cards and transport programmes but in coordination with governments – not to facilitate irregular border crossings.

On Europe, Trump warned of what he called an “invasion” of migrants and took aim at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, falsely claiming the Muslim politician wants to impose Islamic law.

The US president characterised migration and renewable energy as the biggest threat to the “free world”. He said some countries are “going to hell” over their border policies, while calling climate change “the greatest con job”.

“In closing, I just want to repeat that immigration and the high cost of so-called green renewable energy is destroying a large part of the free world and a large part of our planet,” he said.

He also renewed attacks on climate policies and accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of aiding drug smuggling.

Later on Tuesday, Trump is scheduled to meet Guterres as well as leaders from Ukraine, Argentina, the EU, and a group of Middle Eastern and Asian states. He will host a reception for more than 100 world leaders before returning to Washington, DC.

No official word yet on the killing of 24 people, including 14 fighters, in tribal area as opposition blames the military for explosions.

At least 24 people, including children, have been killed in explosions in a remote area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan, triggering calls for an investigation into the incident.

A local police official said bomb-making material allegedly stored at a compound run by Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, exploded in the Tirah Valley region early on Monday, killing fighters and civilians.

But many local opposition figures and other authorities accused the Pakistani military of carrying out night-time air raids as part of a “counterterror operation” to take out fighters in mountainous areas bordering Afghanistan.

An official statement has yet to be released by the Pakistani government or armed forces.

Local police officer Zafar Khan was quoted as saying by The Associated Press news agency that at least 10 civilians, including women and children, were killed, along with at least 14 fighters, two of whom were TTP commanders.

Security forces are carrying out operations against the Pakistan Taliban in Khyber, Bajaur and other parts of the northwest. The outlawed group has been waging an armed rebellion against Pakistan’s government since its emergence in 2007. It is different from the Taliban that has been in power in Afghanistan, though the organisations have common ideological roots.

‘An attack on unarmed civilians’

Iqbal Afridi – an opposition member of the National Assembly whose constituency covers Tirah, which sits near the border with Afghanistan – told the AFP news agency that warplanes of Pakistani forces conducted air strikes that caused the explosions.

Speaking in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly on Monday afternoon, lawmaker Sohail Khan Afridi also blamed the military for the attack.

“This assault by the security forces is nothing less than an attack on unarmed civilians,” he said.

Both politicians are members of the party led by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, which governs the province.

Babar Saleem Swati, the provincial assembly speaker, wrote in a post on X that civilians were killed and homes were destroyed “due to bombardment by jet aircraft” and said this will have negative consequences for the future of the country.

“When the blood of our own people is made so cheap and bombs are dropped on them, it is a fire that can engulf everyone,” Swati said, calling on federal and provincial governments to conduct a transparent investigation and compensate affected families.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent monitor, said it was “deeply shocked” to learn that children and civilians were killed in the attack.

“We demand that the authorities carry out an immediate and impartial inquiry into the incident and hold to account those responsible. The state is constitutionally bound to protect all civilians’ right to life, which it has repeatedly failed to secure,” it said in a statement.

MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday called Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip a “genocide,” marking a decisive shift in her government’s stance on the conflict — and putting it at odds with the United States.

Sheinbaum, who is one of a handful Jewish heads of state, has come under increasing pressure from members of her leftist coalition to more forcefully condemn Israel’s assault on the small Palestinian enclave, where at least 65,000 people have died and more than half a million are trapped in famine.

Speaking to journalists at her daily news conference, Sheinbaum said Mexico stands “with the international community to stop this genocide in Gaza.”

Claudia Sheinbaum, 63, is the first Jewish leader of Mexico, a nation that is overwhelmingly Catholic.

Her comments came amid a meeting in New York of the United Nations General Assembly, where several countries, including France, Britain, Canada and Australia, have formally recognized Palestine as a state. Mexico has formally supported Palestinian statehood for years.

Sheinbaum, 63, is the first Jewish leader of Mexico, a nation that is overwhelmingly Catholic. She grew up in a secular household and rarely talks about her Jewish identity.

Sheinbaum, who entered politics from the world of leftist activism, has long supported the Palestinian cause. In 2009, she wrote a letter to Mexican newspaper La Jornada fiercely condemning Israel’s actions in an earlier war with Gaza, where 13 Israelis and more than 1,000 Palestinian civilians and militants had been killed.

Sheinbaum evoked the Holocaust, saying “many of my relatives … were exterminated in concentration camps.”

“I can only watch with horror the images of the Israeli bombing of Gaza,” she wrote. “Nothing justifies the murder of Palestinian civilians. Nothing, nothing, nothing, can justify the murder of a child.”

The latest conflict broke out in 2023 after Hamas fighters broke through a border fence encircling Gaza and killed more than 1,000 Israelis, most of them civilians.

Israel responded with a punishing assault on Gaza from air, land and sea, displacing nearly all of the strip’s 2 million people and damaging or destroying 90% of homes.

Since taking office last year, Sheinbaum has repeatedly called for a cease-fire and reiterated Mexico’s support for a two-state solution in the region, but until Monday she had refrained from categorizing what is unfolding in Gaza as a genocide.

That was possibly to avert conflict with the United States, which has given more foreign assistance to Israel than any other country globally in the decades since World War II, and which has supported the war on Gaza with billions of dollars in weapons and other military aid.

Sheinbaum, whose nation’s economy depends heavily on trade with the U.S., has spent much of her first year in office seeking to appease President Trump on the issues of security and migration in order to avoid the worst of his threatened tariffs on Mexican imports.

Her comments on Gaza come amid growing global consensus that Israel is committing genocide.

The world’s leading association of genocide scholars has declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

The International Assn. of Genocide Scholars recently passed a resolution that says Israel’s conduct meets the legal definition as spelled out in the United Nations convention on genocide.

And this month, a U.N. commission of inquiry also found Israel has committed genocide.

An Israeli flag waves over debris in an area of the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel last month. Israel’s assault on the Palestinian enclave has killed at least 65,000 people.

(Maya Levin / Associated Press)

“Explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities and the pattern of conduct of the Israeli security forces indicate that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group,” the commission wrote.

It added that under the Genocide Convention, other nations have an obligation to “prevent and punish the crime of genocide.”

Israeli officials dismissed the report as “baseless.”

The singer D4vd called off a series of upcoming tour dates, including a concert this weekend at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre, as police investigate his connection to the death of a teenage Inland Empire girl whose decomposed body was discovered this month in a car registered to the musician.

A representative for the Greek said the show, which was scheduled for Saturday night, had been canceled. Other tour dates in San Francisco and in Europe had either been removed from or were listed as canceled on Ticketmaster’s website by Friday afternoon.

An event at L.A.’s Grammy Museum scheduled for Wednesday — in which D4vd planned to perform and to take part in a conversation about his work — has also been called off. A representative for D4vd didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, D4vd, 20, announced that he would release a deluxe edition of his 2025 album, “Withered,” on Friday, but the project hadn’t appeared on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music by Friday morning.

Police are investigating the singer’s ties to Celeste Rivas, who was reported missing in April 2024 and whose whereabouts were a mystery until this week, when authorities identified her remains after they found a body in the trunk of a Tesla in a Hollywood tow lot on Sept. 8.

At the same time that federal immigration enforcement ramped up across the Los Angeles area this summer, calls for help to local police plummeted.

Emergency dispatch data reviewed by The Times show a major decrease in LAPD calls for service in June, during the weeks when sweeps by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies were met by large street protests in downtown Los Angeles.

In a city where roughly a third of the population is foreign-born, the steep decline in calls adds to long-standing concerns from advocates that aggressive immigration enforcement leads to domestic abuse and other crimes going unreported because victims fear triggering deportations.

In the two weeks after June 6, when the immigration raids kicked off, LAPD calls for service fell 28% compared with the same period last year — an average of roughly 1,200 fewer calls per day.

LAPD officers responded to roughly 44,000 calls for service in that two-week span — versus nearly 61,000 calls during the same days in June 2024.

The calls include reports of serious crimes, such as home break-ins and domestic disputes, along with instances when the public has sought help with noisy neighbors, loud parties and other routine matters.

The data analyzed by The Times do not include all 911 calls — only LAPD calls for service, which are typically registered when a squad car is dispatched. Though multiple people may call 911 in connection with a single incident, in most cases only one LAPD call for service is recorded.

The decrease was especially noticeable for LAPD calls responding to suspected domestic violence and other incidents related to family disputes, which fell this year by 7% and 16%, respectively, after the ICE activity increased. Although family-related calls later began to creep back to 2024 levels, those for domestic incidents kept declining.

National experts said the findings reflect a crisis of public confidence that has followed other controversial incidents. Similar downturns in calls to local police occurred during the first Trump administration, after the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and following the fatal shooting six years earlier of Michael Brown, a Black 18-year-old, in Ferguson, Mo.

It’s hardly surprising that the same thing could happen even in a city where the police force is majority Latino and whose leaders have reaffirmed the city as a sanctuary for immigrants, said Vida Johnson, an associate law professor at Georgetown University.

“You’re going to see fear of law enforcement that is going to last generations,” Johnson said. “And that has the biggest impact on women, because women often are more likely to be victimized, and then more afraid to call for help than men.”

At least some of the decline during the initial two-week period can be explained in part by LAPD going on citywide tactical alert, which allowed the department to have more officers and resources at the ready to deploy to the front lines of the protests. During that time, the department prioritized responding to serious crimes such as shootings and robberies, leading to many other less urgent calls going unanswered.

But that doesn’t explain why calls for service remained down after the department returned to its normal operations. While police call levels began to rise again later in June and early July, they still remained down roughly 5% from the same period in 2024.

The decrease in calls was less pronounced in the nine police districts in South L.A., the San Fernando Valley and the Eastside where Latinos make up the majority of residents, but the data show a persistent dip in domestic violence calls in those areas that remained in the weeks after the immigration enforcement campaign began.

Police calls for service have been on a slow decline for years, a phenomenon that has coincided with a drop in overall crime. LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and other leaders have tried to emphasize in public remarks that local cops are not allowed to enforce civil immigration laws and only work with federal agents to arrest criminal suspects or quell unrest that threatens public safety.

But Carlos Montes, a longtime organizer with the Boyle Heights-based immigrant advocacy group Centro Community Service Organization, said the sight of LAPD officers standing alongside the feds during recent operations has ensured that even more Angelenos will think twice about calling the police for help.

“In general, in the neighborhood we don’t want to call the cops because they’re not going to solve anything or they’re going to arrest someone, or beat someone or shoot someone,” he said.

LAPD Assistant Chief German Hurtado, the department’s immigration coordinator, acknowledged that it has been a struggle to reassure the public it’s safe to call the police.

“Police are also the most visible form of government, and right now people are not trusting the government,” Hurtado said in an interview last month. “People [are] scared to be deported, and that’s totally understandable. That’s something that we’re going to have to deal with and figure out a way to heal with the community.”

In response to what he called “negative publicity” around the LAPD’s actions in recent weeks, he said the department was stepping up its outreach efforts in various immigrant neighborhoods, with a series of planned listening sessions and other events aimed at educating the public.

The department recently launched a citizens academy for Spanish speakers, and senior lead officers have been out meeting with faith and community leaders trying to get them to reinforce the message that police need victims to cooperate in order to solve crimes.

Marielle Coronel, 24, co-owner of a boxing gym in Sylmar, said she worries about being profiled while being out and about, which has also made her think twice about calling police.

Even though she believes that at least some police officers are trying to help, she said the last few months have been unnerving. She recalled how her parents recently gave her a version of “the talk” that many parents of color have with their children about how to deal with police. Their fears have grown to include unidentified masked men posing as ICE agents, Coronel said.

Her parents insisted that she start carrying her passport with her everywhere she goes and that she not lower her window to anyone unless they clearly identify themselves. Tending to her gym’s front desk one recent afternoon, she said she has taken the advice to heart.

“Even if I am a U.S. citizen, you just don’t know,” she said. “We don’t feel like we have backup from the government.”

Craig Revel Horwood has called for a former Strictly Come Dancing professional to make a comeback almost a decade on from when she left the BBC dancing programme

Craig Revel Horwood has called for a former Strictly Come Dancing professional to make a comeback almost a decade on from when she left. The TV star, 60, is gearing up to take his usual place on the panel alongside Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, and Anton Du Beke, where he will be no doubt unleashing his typically acerbic feedback onto contestants like Love Island winner Dani Dyer, Neighbours legend Stefan Dennis and rugby player Chris Robshaw, amongst a host of others.

But when asked if he had to take to the floor himself, Craig, who was a professional dancer himself before joining the BBC competition series and is no stranger to the stage, having directed musicals like Sister Act and starred in hit shows like Annie and The Wizard of Oz over the years, revealed he would dance a Charleston and want to be paired up with Natalie Lowe.

He said: It would be a Charleston because I love the energy and goofiness of the dance. I would dance to Fat Sam’s Grand Slam [from the musical Bugsy Malone] and if I could choose any pro to dance with, I’d bring back Natalie Lowe.”

READ MORE: Anton Du Beke reveals he didn’t know celebs in Strictly Come Dancing line-upREAD MORE: BBC Strictly’s 2025 pro line-up finally confirmed – but one major name is missing

Speaking about why he would choose Natalie, who left the show in 2017, he added: “She’s a blast from the past, she’s really tall, and I think she’s fantastic to dance with.

Natalie first found fame when she was a professional on Dancing with the Stars in Australia, and she won with footballer Anthony Koutoufides in 2004, and also made it to the final with boxer Danny Green and former Home and Away star Tim Campbell.

Following this success, she moved to the UK to compete in Strictly Come Dancing and joined the programme in its seventh series.

While Natalie never managed to win the programme, she did reach the final with former Hollyoaks star Ricky Whittle, and got considerably far into the competition with stars like TV chef Ainsley Harriott and EastEnders actor Scott Maslen. After competing alongside Olympian Greg Rutherford in 2016, she announced that she had quit.

“This was a very difficult decision for me not to accept the invitation to appear on this season of Strictly Come Dancing,” she told the Press Association at the time.

“It is with a very heavy heart that I have arrived at this decision. I’ll be forever grateful for the amazing time, opportunities and memories that Strictly has created for me. My time on the programme has been everything that I dreamed it would be and more.

“From the friendships I developed, the amazing dances I was able to perform in and the experiences that Strictly provided, it has been an incredible and extraordinary adventure.”

But amid all the scandals that have unfolded around Strictly in recent years, Greg had nothing but praise for his former dancing partner.

At the time, he said: “I was fortunate that I had a very experienced dancer in Natalie. We just tried to have as much fun as we could because it was her last season.”

Reflecting on the recent furore surrounding the professional dancers, which has marred the star-studded series, he concluded: “It works both ways. It’s a very intense show and you have dancers that have a very different view of the world to others.”

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday for its launch show.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.