car

Six police officers will face a misconduct process following an investigation into their action after three people died in a car crash.

Sophie Russon, 20, Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21, Rafel Jeanne, 24, and Shane Loughlin, 32, were last seen at about 02:00 GMT on 4 March 2023 after they went missing on a night out.

Two days after the crash, Gwent Police confirmed the car had been found on the A48 near Cardiff, with three of the five occupants tragically killed.

Somehow in Los Angeles, everything comes back to traffic.

While making their works featured in the Hammer Museum’s Made in L.A. biennial, artists Patrick Martinez, Freddy Villalobos and Gabriela Ruiz set out to capture the essence of the city’s crammed streets through different lenses.

For over a decade, the Hammer has curated its Made in L.A. series to feature artists who grapple with the realities of living and making art here. It’s an art show that simultaneously pays homage to legacy L.A. artists like Alonzo Davis and Judy Baca, and gives a platform to newer faces such as Lauren Halsey and Jackie Amezquita.

This year’s show, which opened last month, features 28 artists. As part of that cohort, Martinez, Villalobos and Ruiz bring their lived experiences as Latinos from L.A. to the West Side art institution, drawing inspiration from the landscapes of their upbringing.

While creating their displayed works, Martinez took note of the many neon signs hanging in stores’ windows, leading him to make “Hold the Ice,” an anti-ICE sign, and incorporate bright pink lights into his outdoor cinder block mural, “Battle of the City on Fire.” With flashing lights and a shuttered gate tacked onto a painted wooden panel, Ruiz drew on her experiences exploring the city at night and the over-surveillance of select neighborhoods in the interactive piece, “Collective Scream.” Villalobos filmed Figueroa Street from a driver’s perspective, observing the street’s nighttime activity and tracing the energy that surrounds the place where soul singer Sam Cooke was shot.

This year, Made in L.A. doesn’t belong to a specific theme or a title — but as always, the selected art remains interconnected. These three artists sat down with De Los to discuss how their L.A. upbringing has influenced their artistic practice and how their exhibited works are in conversation. Made in L.A. will be on view until March 1, 2026.

The following conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

All three of you seem to put a spotlight on various elements of L.A.’s public spaces. How is your art affected by your surroundings?

Ruiz: I really got to explore L.A. as a whole, through partying and going out at night. I prefer seeing this city at night, because there isn’t so much traffic. That’s how I started my art practice. I would perform in queer nightlife spaces and throw parties in cheap warehouses. With my commute from the Valley, I would notice so much. I wouldn’t speed through the freeway. I’d instead take different routes, so I’d learn to navigate the whole city without a GPS and see things differently.

Martinez: That’s also how I started seeing neons. I had a studio in 2006 in downtown, off 6th and Alameda. I would wait for traffic to fade because I was staying in Montebello at the time. I would drive down Whittier Boulevard at night. And you see all the neon signs that have a super saturated color and glow bright. I thought about its messaging. None of the businesses were open that late. They were just letting people know they were there.

Ruiz: Specifically in this piece [“Collective Scream”], there’s a blinking street lamp. It reminds me of when I would leave raves and would randomly see this flickering light. It’s this hypnotizing thing that I would observe and take note of whenever I was on the same route. There’s also a moving gate, [in my piece,] that resembles the ones you see when you’re driving late at night and everything’s gated up.

Villalobos: You do experience a lot of L.A. from your car. It’s a cliche. But f— it. It’s true. When I moved out of L.A., I felt a little odd. I missed the bubble of my car. You can have what seems to be a private moment in your car in a city that’s packed with traffic and so many people. It made me think about what that means, what kind of routes people are taking and how we cultivate community.

Patrick Martinez’s “Battle of the City on Fire,” made in 2025, was inspired by the work of the muralist collective, named the East Los Streetscapers.

(Sarah M Golonka / smg photography)

It’s interesting that you all found inspiration in the biggest complaints about L.A. Maybe there’s something to think about when it comes to the way those born here think of car culture and traffic.

Martinez: I see its effects even with the landscapes I make. I’ll work from left to right, and that’s how we all look at the world when we drive. I always think about Michael Mann movies when I’m making landscapes, especially at night. He has all those moments of quiet time of being in the car and just focusing on what’s going on.

Beyond surveying the streets, your works touch on elements of the past. There’s a common notion that L.A. tends to disregard its past, like when legacy restaurants shut down or when architectural feats get demolished. Does this idea play any role in your work?

Martinez: The idea of L.A. being ashamed of its past pushed me to work with cinder blocks [in “Battle of the City on Fire”]. One of the main reasons was to bring attention to the East Los Streetscapers, the muralists who painted in East L.A. [in the 1960s and ‘70s as a part of the Chicano Mural Movement]. There was this one mural in Boyle Heights that was painted at a Shell gas station. It was later knocked down and in the demolition pictures, the way the cinder blocks were on the floor looked like a sculptural painting. It prompted me to use cinder blocks as a form of sculpture and think about what kind of modern-day ruins we pass by.

Villalobos: Speaking about L.A. as a whole feels almost too grand for me. But if I think about my specific neighborhood, in South Central, what comes to my mind is Black Radical Tradition. It’s where people are able to make something out of what other people might perceive as nothing. There’s always something that’s being created and mixed and mashed together to make something that, to me, is beautiful. It’s maybe not as beautiful to other people, but it’s still a new and creative way to see things and understand what comes before us.

Ruiz: Seeing my parents, who migrated to this country, come from nothing and start from scratch ties into that idea too. Seeing what they’ve been able to attain, and understanding how immigrants can start up businesses and restaurants here, speaks so much to what L.A. is really about. It’s about providing an opportunity that everybody has.

So it’s less about disregarding the past and more about making something out of nothing?

Martinez: It ties back to necessity, for me. Across this city, people come together by doing what they need to do to pay rent. It’s a crazy amount of money to be here. People need to regularly adjust what they do to survive. Recently, I’ve been seeing that more rapidly. There are more food vendors and scrolling LED signs, advertising different things. Once you understand how expensive this backdrop can be, that stuff sits with me.

Freddy Villalobos’ “waiting for the stone to speak, for I know nothing of aventure,” is an immersive work in which viewers can feel loud vibrations pass as they, figuratively, travel down Figueroa Street.

(Sarah M Golonka / smg photography)

We’ve talked a lot about how the past affects L.A. and the role it plays in your art. Does a future L.A. ever cross your mind?

Villalobos: I feel very self-conscious about what I’m gonna say. But as much as I love L.A. and as much as it helped me become who I am, I wouldn’t be too mad with it falling apart. A lot of people from my neighborhood have already been moving to Lancaster, Palmdale and the Inland Empire. When I go to the IE, it feels a little like L.A. and I’m not necessarily mad at that.

Ruiz: It’s really difficult to see what the future holds for anybody. Even with art, what’s going to happen? I don’t know. It’s really challenging to see a future when there’s a constant cycle of bad news about censorship and lack of funding.

Martinez: It’s murky. It’s clouded. This whole year has been so heavy, and everyone talking about it adds to it, right? We’re facing economic despair, and it’s all kind of heavy. Who knows what the future will hold? But there are definitely moves being made by the ruling class to make it into something.

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Larson denied Denny Hamlin his first career championship when a late caution at Phoenix Raceway sent the title-deciding finale into overtime.

Hamlin was three laps from shedding the label as the greatest NASCAR driver to never win a championship when fellow title contender William Byron got a flat tire and hit the wall to bring out the caution.

Hamlin led the field down pit road and got four new tires on his Toyota; Larson only took two tires on his Chevrolet. It meant Larson was fifth for the two-lap sprint to the finish, with Hamlin back in 10th.

With so little time to run down Larson, Hamlin came up short with a sixth-place finish as Larson finished third. Ryan Blaney, who was eliminated from title contention last week, won the race.

It is the second championship for Larson, who won his first title in 2021 when he joined Hendrick Motorsports.

As Larson celebrated, Hamlin sat in his car motionless for several seconds, then wiped his face with a white towel, never showing any emotion.

“I’m just numb,” Hamlin said after consoling his crying daughters on pit road. “We were 40 seconds away from a championship. This sport can drive you absolutely crazy because sometimes speed, talent, none of that matters.”

Larson, who has been in a slump since his disastrous Memorial Day attempt to race both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, was also in shock.

“I really can’t believe it. We didn’t lead a lap and won the championship,” Larson said. “We had an average car at best and had the right front [tire] go down, lost a lap and got the wave around, saved by the caution with the wave around. It’s just unbelievable. What a year by this motorsports team.”

When Hamlin finally got out of his car he embraced his crew members but it was a scene of disbelief among the Joe Gibbs Racing crowd. Team members were crying, some sitting in shock on the pavement, Gibbs himself stood silent, one hand on his hip and a look of disbelief on his face.

It is the sixth shot at a title to slip away from Hamlin in his 20 years driving for Gibbs. He led 208 of the 319 laps and started from the pole.

“Nothing I could do different. I mean, prepared as good as I could coming into the weekend and my team gave me a fantastic car,” Hamlin said. “Just didn’t work out. I was just praying ‘no caution’ and we had one there. What can you do? It’s just not meant to be.”

He said crew chief Chris Gayle made the correct call with four tires, but too many others only took two, which created too big of a gap for Hamlin to close on Larson in so little time.

“Just numb. Feel like there’s still some racing left. I can’t believe it’s over but there’s nothing I can do but just suck it up,” Hamlin said. “I just needed 40 more seconds of green flag.”

Larson was OK during the race, but hasn’t won since early May, a slump that has now extended to 24 consecutive races.

Hamlin teammate Chase Briscoe finished 18th in his debut in the championship finale, while Larson teammate Byron was 33rd after his late issue. He felt awful for ruining Hamlin’s chance even though his Hendrick Motorsports teammate won the championship.

“I’m just super bummed that it was a caution obviously. I hate that. Hate it for Denny. I hate it for the 11 team,” Byron said. “I mean, Denny was on his way to it. I hate that. There’s a lot of respect there. I obviously do not want to cause a caution. If I had known what tire it was, known that a tire was going down before I got to the corner, I would have done something different.”

Fryer writes for the Associated Press.

On an overcast morning in September, Hector Alessandro Negrete left his beloved Los Angeles — the city he was brought to at 3 months old — and headed down Interstate 5 to Mexico, the only country where he held a passport.

It was a place that, to him, had “always felt like both a wound and a possibility.”

Negrete, 43, sat in the passenger seat as a friend steered the car south and two more friends in another car followed. He had condensed his life to three full suitcases and his dachshund mix, Lorca.

They pulled over at the beach in San Clemente. Angel Martinez, his soon-to-be former roommate, is deeply spiritual, and his favorite prayer spot is the ocean, so he prayed that Negrete would be blessed and protected — and Lorca too — as they began a new stage in their lives.

On the near-empty beach, the friends embraced and wiped away tears. Martinez handed Negrete a small watermelon.

As instructed, Negrete walked to the edge of the water, said his own prayer and, as a gift of thanks to the cosmos, plopped it into a crashing wave.

Negrete, holding a drink, embraces his friend Angel Martinez as they visit a drag club in Tijuana after leaving Los Angeles a day earlier.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Negrete doesn’t call it self-deportation.

“Self-repatriation,” he said. “I refuse to use this administration’s language.”

President Trump had been in office just over a month when Negrete decided he would return to Mexico. Methodical by nature, he approached the decision like any other — by researching, organizing and planning.

Negrete secured three forms of Mexican identification: his voter credential, a renewed passport and a card akin to a Social Security ID.

He registered Lorca as an emotional support animal, paid for a vaccine card and a certificate of good health, and crate-trained her in a TSA-approved carrier.

He announced his decision to leave in June on his Substack newsletter: “If you’re thinking, ‘Alessandro’s giving up,’ look deeper. I am choosing freedom. For the first time, I feel unshackled from the expectations of waiting.”

Negrete walks the streets of Boyle Heights while shopping for moving supplies after deciding he would leave the U.S. on his own terms.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Negrete had grown tired of wishing for immigration reform. He had built his career advocating for immigrants such as himself, including stints as statewide coordinator for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, and as executive director for the California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance.

He said his work had helped legalize street vending in Los Angeles and he assisted the office of then-California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris in securing the release of a young woman from immigration detention. He was the first openly undocumented and LGBTQ+ person on the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council.

Under previous administrations, Negrete’s political work had felt like a shield against deportation. Even during Trump’s first term, Negrete had marched at rallies denouncing his immigration policies.

But that was before the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement patrols that tore into Southern California during Trump’s second term. On June 6, as anti-ICE protesters took to the streets, Negrete rushed to downtown Los Angeles when fellow activists told him street medics were needed.

“One of my homies said, ‘Hey fool, what are you doing here?’” he recalled. Seeing Los Angeles police officers advancing on the crowd, he realized that no amount of public support could protect him.

He fled. “Thank God I left.”

Negrete, in red, with his friends and colleagues at a farewell party and yard sale in August.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

In mid-August, Negrete hosted a yard sale and going away party. The flier was tongue-in-cheek: “Everything must go! Including me!”

His red T-shirt stated plainly, “I AM UNDOCUMENTED,” and his aviator sunglasses hid the occasional tears. Tattoos dotted his extremities, including an anchor on his right leg with the words “I refuse to sink.”

“I think it hit me when I started packing my stuff today,” he told a former colleague, Shruti Garg, who had arrived early.

“But the way you’ve invited everyone to join you is so beautiful,” she replied.

One table held American pop-culture knickknacks — sippy cups with Ghostface from the movie “Scream,” collectible Mickey Mouse ears, a Detective Batman purse shaped like a comic book, another purse shaped like the locker from the ‘90s cartoon “Daria.”

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Negrete said the items reminded him of his youth and represented the gothic, quirky aspects of his personality.

“I was born in Mexico, but I don’t know Mexico,” he said. “So I’m leaving the American parts of me that are no longer going to serve me.”

The back yard slowly filled with loved ones from Negrete’s various social circles. There was his mostly queer softball team — the Peacocks — his running group, his chosen family and his blood family.

Negrete’s close friend Joel Menjivar looked solemn.

“I’m scared it’s going to start a movement,” he said. “Undocumented or DACA friends who are talented and integral to the fabric of L.A. might get ideas to leave.”

Another friend, Mario Mariscal, said he took Negrete’s decision the hardest, though at first he didn’t believe Negrete was serious. More than once he asked, “You really want to give up everything you’ve built here for a new start in Mexico?”

Eventually, Negrete had to tell Mariscal that his questions weren’t helpful. During a deeper conversation about his decision, Negrete shared that he was tired of living with the constant fear of getting picked up, herded into an unmarked van and taken away.

“I just kept telling him, ‘That’s not going to happen to you,’” Mariscal said. “But the more this administration keeps doing it, the more it’s in our face, the more we’re seeing every horror story about that, it became clear that, you know what, you do have a point. You do have to do what’s right for you.”

Negrete continues packing for his move to Mexico as roommate Martinez works at their Boyle Heights home.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Negrete is cognizant of the privilege that makes his departure different from that of many other immigrants. He is white-passing, fluent in Spanish and English, and moved with $10,000 in savings.

In June, he was hired as executive director of a U.S.-based nonprofit, Old School Hub, that works to combat ageism around the world. The role allowed him to live wherever he wanted.

He decided to settle in Guadalajara, a growing technology hub, with historic buildings featuring Gothic architecture that he found beautiful. It also helped that Guadalajara has one of the country’s most vibrant LGBTQ+ scenes and is a four-hour drive from Puerto Vallarta, a renowned queer resort destination.

As Negrete began his new job while still in L.A., he picked a moving date — Sept. 4 — and booked a two-week Airbnb near the baseball stadium.

That Guadalajara’s team, the Charros de Jalisco, wore Dodger blue felt like a good omen.

On the day he left the United States, Negrete and Martinez hold a prayer at the beach in San Clemente in which Negrete offers thanks to the universe with an offering of a watermelon.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

On the drive toward the border, messages poured into Negrete’s phone.

“I’m sending you all my love Alessandro,” one read. “Cuídate. [Take care.] Know that even though you’re far away from home, you carry us with you.”

“Todo te va a salir bien,” read another. Everything will go well for you, it said. “Spread your wings and flyyyyy.”

Afraid of being stopped and detained at the airport, as has happened to other immigrants attempting to leave the country, Negrete preferred to drive to Tijuana and then fly to Guadalajara.

Negrete’s driver, his friend Jorge Leonardo, turned into a parking lot at the sign reading “LAST USA EXIT.”

Negrete put on his black felt tejana hat and called Iris Rodriguez, who was in the companion car. He asked her to cross on foot with him.

Negrete walks his last few steps on American soil as he enters Mexico en route to Guadalajara, his new home.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I don’t want to go alone,” he said.

“We’re still on American soil,” Leonardo said. “You can still change your mind.”

Negrete ignored him.

“See y’all on the other side,” he said as he hopped out of the car.

He and Rodriguez stopped for photos in front of a sign with an arrow pointing “To Mexico.” Around a corner, the border came into full view — a metal turnstile with layers of concertina wire above it.

The line for Mexicanos was unceremoniously quick. The immigration agent barely glanced at Negrete’s passport before waving him through.

On the other side, a busker sang “Piano Man” by Billy Joel in perfect English.

“Welcome to the motherland,” Rodriguez told him. Negrete let out a deep breath.

Negrete tours downtown Guadalajara, where he now lives.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Negrete’s immediate family members, and almost all of his extended family, live in the U.S.

He was born in Manzanillo, Colima, in 1982. Three months later, the family relocated to Los Angeles, where his parents had two more children.

At 17, Negrete was one of two students in his graduating class at Roosevelt High School to get into UC Berkeley. That’s when he found out he didn’t have papers.

His parents had divorced and his father married a U.S. citizen, obtaining a green card when Negrete was at Roosevelt. They began the legalization process for Negrete in 1999, he said, but two years later he came out to his family as gay.

His father was unsupportive and refused to continue seeking to adjust his immigration status. By the time they mended their relationship, it was too late. Negrete had aged out of the pathway at 21.

In 2008, Negrete said, he was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Four years later, President Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program to protect immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Negrete failed to qualify because of the DUI.

He said he got his record expunged in 2016, but — again — it was too late.

The following year, Trump began unwinding DACA, shutting out new generations of would-be recipients, including Negrete.

Negrete waited until his last night in the U.S. to tell his mother, who now lives in Colorado, that he was leaving. He had grown tired of friends and other family members begging him to change his mind.

He had partially hinged his decision on the fact that his mom was in remission from her third bout with cancer and had just obtained legal residency. With life more stable for her, he could finally seek stability for himself.

“You taught me to dream,” Negrete recalled telling her. “This is me dreaming. I want to see the world.”

She cried and scolded him, promising to visit and repeating what she had said when he came out to her all those years before: “I wish you told me sooner.”

At a hotel in Tijuana, Negrete’s emotions finally caught up with him.

The day after Negrete and his three friends left L.A., three more friends surprised him by arriving in Tijuana for a final Friday night out together. One of them presented a gift he had put together with help from Negrete’s entire social circle — a video with loved ones sharing messages of encouragement.

Negrete shares a tearful moment with his friend Joel Menjivar, who gifted him a self-produced video of friends and colleagues offering good wishes.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

In Negrete’s hotel room, as he and his friends watched, the mood grew sentimental.

“You’re basically the one that formed the family friend tree,” one friend said in her clip. “Friendships do not die out in distance.”

Negrete sobbed. “Yes! Friendships don’t have borders,” he said.

“Every single one of you has said this hasn’t hit y’all, like it’s a mini vacation,” he said. “I want to think of it as an extended vacation.”

“This isn’t goodbye, this is we’ll see each other soon,” he continued.

Off his soapbox, Negrete then chided his friends for making him cry before heading to a drag show.

Negrete had a habit of leaving social gatherings abruptly. His friends joked that they would refer to him as “catch me on the 101” because every time he disappeared during a night out, they would open Apple’s Find My app and see him on the freeway heading home.

“We’re not gonna catch him on the 101 no more,” Martinez said.

The last few flights of stairs lead Iris Rodriguez and Negrete to his Airbnb apartment in Guadalajara.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

On the flight to Guadalajara, Negrete’s heart raced and he began to hyperventilate. The anxiety attack caught him off guard.

Negrete had worked hard to show his friends and family that he was happy, because he didn’t want them to think he had doubts — and he had none. But he began to worry about the unknown and to mourn his former dreams of gaining legal status and running for public office.

“It hit me all at once,” he recounted. “I am three hours away from a whole new life that I don’t know. I left everything and I don’t know what’s next.”

Many deep breaths by Negrete later, the plane descended through the clouds, revealing vibrant green fields and a cantaloupe-hued sunset.

Negrete tests the bed at his temporary home in Guadalajara.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Inside the Airbnb, he was surprised to find a clothesline instead of a dryer. Noticing the blue 5-gallon jug of water in the kitchen, he remarked that he would have to remember tap water wasn’t safe to cook with. But alongside the new was something familiar: The view from his 11–story apartment showed off a sprawling metropolis dotted with trees, some of them palms.

The next day started off like any Sunday, with a trip to Walmart and drag brunch.

Negrete marveled at the cost of a large carton of egg whites ($1) and was shocked to see eggs stored at room temperature, liquid laundry detergent in bags and only single-ply toilet paper. He treated himself to a Darth Vader coffee mug and a teapot featuring characters from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

After brunch, it was time to play tourist. Negrete was accompanied by Rodriguez, who stayed with him for the first two weeks, and a new friend, Alejandro Preciado, whom he had met at Coachella in April and happened to be a Guadajalara local.

Negrete tours downtown Guadalajara. He was drawn to the city, in part, by its Gothic architecture.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Their first stop was the city’s Spanish Renaissance cathedral, where Negrete said a quick prayer to the Virgin Mary at his mother’s request. Negrete treated his friends to an electric carriage ride around the historic buildings, where he excitedly pointed out the Gothic architecture, then they bought aguas frescas and walked through an open-air market, chatting in an English-heavy Spanglish.

“I’m trying to look at how people dress,” Negrete said, suddenly self-conscious about his short shorts. “I’m pretty sure I stand out.”

After dinner, Negrete was booking an Uber back to his Airbnb when a message popped up: “We’ve detected unusual activity.”

The app didn’t know he had moved.

Before he arrived in Guadalajara, Negrete had already joined an intramural baseball team and a running club. Practices began days after his arrival.

Negrete enjoys a view of the sprawling hills of Guadalajara.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Within a month, he moved into an apartment, visited Mexico City and reconnected with aunts in Mexico City and Guadalajara he hadn’t seen in decades.

He reflected on the small joys of greeting neighborhood señoras on morning dog walks, discovering the depths of Mexican cuisine and the peace of mind that came with no longer feeling like a target — though he’ll still freeze at the sight of police lights.

Still, Negrete remained glued to U.S. politics. In late September, the federal government detailed plans to begin processing initial DACA applications for the first time in four years. Had Negrete stayed in the U.S., he would have finally qualified for a reprieve.

He isn’t regretful.

Lorca greets Negrete as he arrives home after touring Guadalajara.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

His new dreams are wide-ranging. He wants to buy a house in Rosarito, where friends and family from L.A. could visit him. He wants to travel the world, starting with a trip to Spain. And he wants to help U.S. organizations build resources for other immigrants who are considering repatriating.

The goal isn’t to encourage people to leave, he said, but to show them they have agency.

“I actually did it,” he said. “I did it, and I’m OK.”

Now, he said, Mexico feels like an estranged relative that he’s getting to know again.

Like a teenager armed with their first smartphone, President Trump’s masked immigration enforcers love nothing more than to mug for friendly cameras.

They gladly invite pseudo-filmmakers — some federal government workers, others conservative influencers or pro-Trump reporters — to embed during raids so they can capture every tamale lady agents slam onto the sidewalk, every protester they pelt with pepper balls, every tear gas canister used to clear away pesky activists. From that mayhem comes slickly produced videos that buttress the Trump administration’s claim that everyone involved in the push to boot illegal immigrants from the U.S. is a hero worthy of cinematic love.

But not everything that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and its sister agencies do shows up in their approved rivers of reels.

Their propagandists aren’t highlighting the story of Jaime Alanís García, a Mexican farmworker who fell 30 feet to his death in Camarillo this summer while trying to escape one of the largest immigration raids in Southern California in decades.

They’re not making videos about 39-year-old Ismael Ayala-Uribe, an Orange County resident who moved to this country from Mexico as a 4-year-old and died in a Victorville hospital in September after spending weeks in ICE custody complaining about his health.

They’re not addressing how ICE raids led to the deaths of Josué Castro Rivera and Carlos Roberto Montoya, Central American nationals run over and killed by highway traffic in Virginia and Monrovia while fleeing in terror. Or what happened to Silverio Villegas González, shot dead in his car as he tried to speed away from two ICE agents in suburban Chicago.

Those men are just some of the 20-plus people who have died in 2025 while caught up in ICE’s machine — the deadliest year for the agency in two decades, per NPR.

Publicly, the Department of Homeland Security has described those incidents as “tragic” while assigning blame to everything but itself. For instance, a Homeland Security official told the Associated Press that Castro Rivera’s death was “a direct result of every politician, activist and reporter who continue to spread propaganda and misinformation about ICE’s mission and ways to avoid detention” — whatever the hell that means.

An ICE spokesperson asked for more time to respond to my request for comment, said “Thank you Sir” when I extended my deadline, then never got back to me. Whatever the response would’ve been, Trump’s deportation Leviathan looks like it’s about to get deadlier.

As reported by my colleagues Andrea Castillo and Rachel Uranga, his administration plans to get rid of more than half of ICE’s field office directors due to grumblings from the White House that the deportations that have swamped large swaths of the United States all year haven’t happened faster and in larger numbers.

Asked for comment, Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs, described The Times’ questions as “sensationalism” and added “only the media would describe standard agency personnel changes as a ‘massive shakeup.’”

Agents are becoming more brazen as more of them get hired thanks to billions of dollars in new funds. In Oakland, one fired a chemical round into the face of a Christian pastor from just feet away. In Santa Ana, another pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at activists who had been trailing him from a distance in their car. In the Chicago area, a woman claimed a group of them fired pepper balls at her car even though her two young children were inside.

La migra knows they can act with impunity because they have the full-throated backing of the White House. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller crowed on Fox News recently, “To all ICE officers: You have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties.”

That’s not actually true, but when have facts mattered to this presidency if it gets in the way of its apocalyptic goals?

Greg Bovino, El Centro Border Patrol sector chief, center, walks with federal agents near an ICE detention facility in Broadview, Ill.

(Erin Hooley / Associated Press)

Tasked with turning up the terror dial to 11 is Gregory Bovino, a longtime Border Patrol sector chief based out of El Centro, Calif., who started the year with a raid in Kern County so egregious that a federal judge slammed it as agents “walk[ing] up to people with brown skin and say[ing], ‘Give me your papers.’” A federal judge ordered him to check in with her every day for the foreseeable future after the Border Patrol tear-gassed a neighborhood in a Chicago suburb that was about to host its annual Halloween children’s parade (an appeals court has temporarily blocked the move).

Bovino now reports directly to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and is expected to pick most of the ICE field office directors from Customs and Border Protection, the arm of the federal government that the Border Patrol belongs to. It logged 180 immigrant deaths under its purview for the 2023 fiscal year, the last year for which stats are publicly available and the third straight year that the number had increased.

To put someone like Bovino in charge of executing Trump’s deportation plans is like gifting a gas refinery to an arsonist.

He’s constantly trying to channel the conquering ethos of Wild West, complete with a strutting posse of agents — some with cowboy hats — following him everywhere, white horses trailed by American flags for photo ops and constant shout-outs to “Ma and Pa America” when speaking to the media. When asked by a CBS News reporter recently when his self-titled “Mean Green Machine” would end its Chicago campaign — one that has seen armed troops march through downtown and man boats on the Chicago River like they were patrolling Baghdad — Bovino replied, “When all the illegal aliens [self-deport] and/or we arrest ‘em all.”

Such scorched-earth jibber-jabber underlines a deportation policy under which the possibility of death for those it pursues is baked into its foundation. ICE plans to hire dozens of healthcare workers — doctors, nurses, psychiatrists — in anticipation of Trump’s plans to build more detention camps, many slated for inhospitable locations like the so-called Alligator Alcatraz camp in the Florida Everglades. That was announced to the world on social media with an AI-generated image of grinning alligators wearing MAGA caps — as if the White House was salivating at the prospect of desperate people trying to escape only to find certain carnage.

In his CBS News interview, Bovino described the force his team has used in Chicago — where someone was shot and killed, a pastors got hit with pepper balls from high above and the sound of windshields broken by immigration agents looking to snatch someone from their cars is now part of the Windy City’s soundtrack — as “exemplary.” The Border Patrol’s peewee Patton added he felt his guys used “the least amount of force necessary to accomplish the mission. If someone strays into a pepper ball, then that’s on them.”

One shudders to think what Bovino thinks is excessive for la migra. With his powers now radically expanded, we’re about to find out.

AS the car turned, there it was – a towering island next to an isolated and ruined castle, emerging from the water – it truly was a real-life Neverland.

Located in the Inner Hebrides in Scotland is a tiny island with a population of just nine people.

Known as Eilean Shona, this tidal island is completely car-free and was the inspiration behind J.M Barrie’s creation of Neverland in Peter Pan.

As my boat approached the shores of the island, it was obvious why.

Towering green trees and serene still waters were both welcoming and peaceful.

Once I reached the island, the soft soil, earthy smells, chimes of birds and light breaking through the trees made it feel magical.

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The island is littered with a number of houses and cabins for visitors to stay in – for my stay, I was in the main manor house.

Stepping inside, I found myself in a Traitors-like castle, decked out with tartan features, roaring fireplaces and cosy corners with well-read books.

The feeling of being somewhere else continued when I found my room – a plush bed stood proud in the centre, and old-style windows looked out onto fresh green grass just as if I was in my own magical bubble.

The main house sleeps up to 18 people and inside has a number of spaces including nine bedrooms, six bathrooms, a dining room, library with a full-size billiards table, a drawing room, and a large kitchen.

Guests can either book the house as catered or self-catered, and for prices, you will need to contact the island (though split between 18 people it wouldn’t work out too expensive per night).

Whilst there isn’t much to do on the island, it is the perfect retreat away from the modern world and the stresses of day to day life.

Thanks to there being no shops, no restaurants and patchy phone signal, it really helps you disconnect from your mobile (and consequently social media).

This particularly hit me when I ran a bath, and the water ran yellow-brown.

Initially, I was disgusted, thinking it was dirt, and reached for my phone to do a quick Google search.

But I stopped myself.

Instead, I embraced it and later asked one of my hosts why it was that colour.

Turns out the water is in fact so clean – cleaner than most places in the UK – and the colour comes from the peat found in the surrounding landscape.

I was told it is perfectly safe to drink and bathe in, and in fact carries minerals that are good for you.

One of the activities to do on the island that is well worth experiencing, though, is taking a cold water plunge or swim – the scenery is stunning and the water is serenely calm.

Heading off the pier, I floated for a few minutes in the water, taking in the smell of the fresh, earthy air and noting the silence around me.

For those who aren’t too fond of a cold dip or want to warm up quickly afterwards, there is also a sauna near the water’s edge.

During the evening, I headed to the Village Hall, which is the island’s social hub.

Here you can enjoy a weekly pub night, table tennis, wildlife books and board games.

After enjoying my dinner, I snuggled up to the fire cocktail made from a Sapling Spirits – a climate-positive vodka brand that first started on the island.

For each bottle sold, the brand plants a tree, something I even got to do with my own tree sapling – perhaps it will be used by the Lost Boys to find their way home.

Obviously, the island has an endless amount of walks you can take, and a couple of mine included heading to the summit and to the opposite side of the island where I found Shoe Bay, with a white sand beach and crystal clear waters.

For guests who want to venture around the island’s shores, there are kayaks, canoes and paddleboards available for hire.

And whilst exploring the island, make sure to keep an eye out for wildlife as birds of prey often circle overhead.

In less than 24 hours I had completely fallen in love with the island.

It really did feel like Neverland for adults wanting to escape the modern world and I cannot wait to go back.

There are a few ways to get to the island, including via the Caledonian Sleeper to Fort William.

From there, Eilean Shona is about an hour’s drive or in a taxi.

Alternatively, you could fly to Glasgow Airport, then hire a car and make the three-hour trip to Eilean Shona.

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For more hidden UK islands, here are the best in the UK, and they look more like the Caribbean and Maldives.

Plus, five islands off the coast of the UK you can visit without needing your passport.

KEANU Reeves’ security team slammed a fan to the ground after she attempted to get into the actor’s car.

A woman could be heard screaming for the star’s attention before attempting to get inside his vehicle.

The shock footage came just seconds after the actor graciously waved and smiled at waiting fans and photographers outside of his hotel.

At one point, the lady in question could be heard insisting she was his “divine wife” during the altercation.

Having waved to the crowds, Keanu can be seen calmly getting into his car.

Just seconds later, the woman appears to shove past his security details as she heads for his car door.

With the bodyguards attempting to hold her back, the woman screeches: “Let go of me.”

She then shouts at the window: “Keanu, it’s your divine wife!”

After repeatedly saying the star’s name, she runs around the vehicle to the other side before shouting: “Don’t let them hurt me.”

As the car attempts to drive away, the woman manages to reach the car door handle.

The bodyguards then manage to get to the woman and forcibly pull her away from the car.

Latching onto her, two men appear to pull at her before she stumbles and falls onto her back on the road.

She can be heard branding the men “a*****es” before managing to get back up.

One of the men shouts: “Get her out of here. Get her out of here.”

Someone else can be heard shouting: “You guys need a restraining order on this one.”

Keanu is currently appearing on-stage in a Broadway play.

The 61-year-old star has been performing in Jamie Lloyd’s adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting For Godot.

The production has been entertaining guests at the Hudson Theater. 

Oct. 20 (UPI) — An artillery shell fired during a Marine Corps demonstration on Saturday detonated prematurely over California’s Interstate 5, striking a California Highway Patrol vehicle with debris, authorities said.

No injuries were reported, but the vehicle was damaged, CHP said Sunday in a statement.

The live-fire event at Camp Pendleton was part of the U.S. Marine Corps’ 250th Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration at Red Beach.

The incident occurred over a stretch of the I-5 where CHP officers were supporting a traffic break during the live-fire training demonstration.

The live shell was said to have detonated prematurely mid-air.

The Marine Corps has been notified of the incident, and additional live-fire demonstrations were canceled, CHP said.

“This was an unusual and concerning situation,” CHP Border Division Chief Tony Coronado, who identified himself as an active Marine, said in a statement. “It is highly uncommon for any live-fire or explosive training activity to occur over an active freeway.”

The demonstration involved elements of I Marine Expeditionary Force and U.S. Third Fleet, highlighting the Navy-Marine Corps’ “ability to project combat power globally, from ship to shore, with speed and precision,” the I Marine Expeditionary Force said Saturday in a statement.

“The CHP has filed an internal report on the incident, with a recommendation to conduct an additional after-action review into the planning, communication and coordination between federal, state and local governments around the event on Saturday, October 18, to strengthen protocols for future demonstrations and training events near public roadways,” it said.

Spokesperson Capt. Gregory Dreibelbis told CNN in a statement that the Marine Corps was investigating.

“We are aware of the report of a possible airborne detonation of a 155mm artillery round outside the designated impact area during the U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration,” Dreibelbis said.

“The demonstration went through a rigorous safety evaluation, and deliberate layers of redundancy to ensure the safety of fellow citizens,” he added. “Following established safety protocols, firing was suspended.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom had closed the section of I-5 ahead of the event as a precaution.

Ahead of the event, the Democratic governor lambasted President Donald Trump for scheduling the demonstration over the civilian transportation route.

“This president is putting his ego over responsibility with this disregard for public safety,” he said in a statement. “Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous. Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength — it’s reckless.”

Newsom, a potential Democratic presidential candidate, and Trump have been in a very public feud for years. During Trump’s second term, Newsom has especially targeted Trump with criticism over his immigration policies and deployments of the military to Democratic-led states.

On Sunday, Newsom said, “this could have killed someone.”

“This is what the White House thought was fine to fly over civilians on a major freeway,” the California governor’s press office said in its own statement on X, which included a picture of a soldier carrying the large munition on his shoulder.

“Thankfully, the Governor closed it.”

According to Experian data, the average American driver pays roughly $2,328 per year for full coverage auto insurance in 2025. If you carry only the minimum coverage required by your state, that drops to about $1,546 annually.

Of course, those are just averages. Your actual rate might be far higher or much lower. It all depends on personal factors, like where you live, what kind of car you drive, and your claims history.

So how do you stack up?

My personal rate

For example, my current full-coverage policy runs about $1,047 a year here in California. I’ve got a clean driving record, great credit, a family minivan (yep, full dad mode), and I only rack up around 6,000 miles a year.

I pay less than half the national average — but it didn’t happen by luck. I make it a habit to compare quotes every so often and keep my profile in top shape.

If you haven’t checked your rates lately, it’s worth a look. Here’s a free tool to compare rates from the top insurance companies.

What impacts your premium

Insurance companies use dozens of factors to gauge your risk and determine your policy rate.

Some of these factors you can control, others not so much.

Here are the biggest ones that matter:

• Location: Rates differ wildly by state and even ZIP code. Drivers in Maryland, for instance, might pay more than double what drivers in Vermont do.
• Driving record: Tickets, accidents, and DUIs can raise your rate for years.
• Vehicle type: Minivans and sedans generally cost less to insure than luxury or sports cars.
• Credit score: In most states, a higher credit score can help lower your premium.
• Annual mileage: Driving less typically means less risk — and lower rates.
• Coverage level: Full coverage offers stronger protection but costs more.
• Deductible: Choosing a higher deductible can reduce your monthly premium.

Knowing which levers you can pull gives you real control over your rate.

Why it pays to compare

Every year, your car gets a little older, your driving record gets a little longer, and your situation changes. Maybe you’re driving less, moved somewhere safer, or finished paying off your car.

Meanwhile, most insurance companies raise your rate each renewal — even if nothing about your risk has changed. It’s just how the system works.

That’s why checking rates once a year can pay off big.

In fact, Consumer Reports found that nearly 1 in 3 drivers switched auto insurers in the past five years. And those who did saved an average of $461 a year.

Since it only takes a few minutes to shop around, it’s always worth checking if better rates are available out there.

Personally, I like to check insurance prices once a year. Most of the time, I find I’m already getting the best deal. But every so often, I stumble across a lower rate for the exact same coverage!

Bottom line: Don’t wait for your renewal date. Check out this free tool to compare rates from the top insurance companies. It only takes a few minutes, and you could save hundreds!

I haven’t had a car payment in a decade.

No lease, no financing, no $749 a month disappearing into a lender’s account. Just my old 2007 Honda Element, still rumbling down the road. She’s not the prettiest girl at the bar anymore, but she’s all I need.

At some point, I realized every “small” car payment my friends were making could have been a serious savings engine.

The power of redirecting that $749 a month

The average new car payment today is a jaw-dropping $749 a month. Skip that for 10 years, and you’ve kept nearly $90,000 in your pocket before even earning a cent in interest.

But that money doesn’t have to sit idle. Over the past few years, the first place I’ve been putting what would’ve been my “car payment” is straight into a high-yield savings account. At around 4.50% APY, that’s earned me thousands in interest while staying completely risk-free.

While I don’t want to keep all of my money in an HYSA, I keep my emergency fund with a few months of living expenses there and just make sure it’s always topped off. Beyond that, everything flows into my favorite tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

Why I park my money in a high-yield savings account

I treat my HYSA like a first stop for the money I used to waste on car payments. It’s my emergency and peace-of-mind fund, and here’s what makes high-yield savings accounts so easy to love:

• Safe and FDIC-insured up to $250,000
• Instant access when you need your cash
• Rates still around 4.00%, even as the Fed starts cutting

You can compare today’s top high-yield savings accounts here and find one that’s actually worth your money.

What you could do instead of sending money to a bank

Once I saw how quickly my savings grew, I realized it was really about peace of mind. I never worry about an unexpected bill or repair anymore. My high-yield savings account is my safety net, and every month I go without a car payment, that net gets stronger.

If you want that same feeling, start by opening a high-yield savings account that actually rewards you for saving. Rates around 4.00% APY won’t last forever, but getting started now could give you years of financial breathing room.

A car exploded outside a shopping mall in Ecuador’s largest city Guayaquil, killing at least one person and injuring several more. Authorities say the blast was a deliberate act by criminal groups as police hunt for those responsible.

The Qatari Embassy in Cairo says two others were also wounded in the ‘tragic traffic accident’ in Egypt.

Three Qatari officials have been killed in a car crash near the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, according to the Qatari Embassy in Cairo.

In a statement on Sunday, the diplomatic mission said that all three men worked for the Amiri Diwan, the administrative office of Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The embassy described the incident as a “tragic traffic accident” and said the three men were killed while performing their duties.

The accident also resulted in injuries to two others, it added.

Both of the injured officials are receiving medical care at a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh.

“The Embassy of the State of Qatar in Cairo extends its heartfelt condolences and sincere sympathies to the families of the deceased, praying that God envelops them in His vast mercy, accepts them in Paradise, and grants the injured a speedy recovery,” it added.

Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh was the venue for the negotiations for a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza earlier this week. It is also scheduled to host a global summit on Monday aimed at finalising the agreement.

Truly Adams of Moreno Valley is racing Formula 4 cars in France even though he’s not old enough to obtain a driver’s license in California.

The 15-year-old freshman who’s enrolled in online classes at Epic Charter School in Corona became the first American driver to finish on the podium at the Feed Racing Volant F4 finals last month, taking third place in a field of international contenders at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, one of France’s top F1 racetracks.

Truly Adams races in the Feed Racing Volant F4 Finals in France.

(Troy Adams Coaching)

Adams is bilingual in English and Spanish and learning French to help further his desired career in racing. He’s won kart races in Spain and was the fastest driver at the Mexico F4 Series test. He’s preparing for the 2026 French Formula 4 season next year, which is the path toward being a Formula 1 driver. Entry into the series requires $300,000 in funding, so he’s seeking sponsorships and partnerships.

“I love racing cars because of the thrill of it, passing cars, getting passed, going 130 mph in the straightaway,” he said.

His father, Troy, serves as his driving coach. His mother, Kara, is his driver when he’s in Southern California. In the last year, he’s traveled throughout the United States and to France, Portugal, Spain and Italy for competitions.

“I played every sport growing up — soccer, football, basketball, golf, tennis, rugby, swimming,” he said. “I tried to play the guitar. I tried to play piano. I tried to play everything.”

Racing cars turned out to be what he was most successful at. He has his own YouTube channel highlighting some of his early experiences. Now he uses Instagram @Truly_theTruth.

He said he has begun studying for his California driving test in September of 2026.

Asked what he might tell the instructor in the car, he said, “I’ll tell him I’m a professional race car driver and do you want to go more than the speed limit?”

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

THIS is the viral moment a woman douses her ex-lover’s car and apartment in heaps of colourful glitter – after catching him cheating.

Rafaela Justina, 28, staged her sparkly revenge in response to her boyfriend asking out another woman while they were still going out.

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The defiant act played out nearly three weeks after the couple, from Cuiaba, Brazil, split up over the outrage.

Rafaela told local media that when she confronted him about the betrayal, he encouraged her to take revenge.

She said: “Being with someone else didn’t make sense anymore, as we were no longer together.

“The only thing I could think of was glitter.”

She added: “I’d seen something similar online and laughed a lot.”

In the jawdropping footage recorded in late September, Rafaela’s ex-partner’s home is seen flooded with the tiny shards of sparkles.

With Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” playing over the viral clip, Rafaela tours the apartment while showing off her proud work.

Piles of glitter are seen scattered across the furniture and floors.

And the unlucky lad’s car was also left coated in a layer of shimmering dust.

The video caption read: “POV: your boyfriend cheated on you and told you to get revenge.”

The video of the glitter-filled payback has since amassed more than 12 million views on TikTok.

Emboldened social media users flooded the comments with jokes and more suggestions for their own glitter-based pranks.

Plotting viewers suggested adding the sparkles to air-conditioning vents so they would return even after cleaning.

Rafaela, who works as a body-piercer, said she usually used TikTok to promote her business.

But after discussing the matter with pals, she was persuaded to show her act of retribution to the world.

She said her relationship had lasted a year, but added that she had actually known him since they were both 13.

After a recent divorce, career change, and move to a new city, she said she had been emotionally vulnerable when the latest relationship began.

Reflecting on the viral success, Rafaela later wrote: “Glitter is eternal.”

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A government official in Ecuador has accused protesters of attempting to attack President Daniel Noboa, alleging that a group of approximately 500 people surrounded his vehicle and threw rocks.

The attack, which unfolded in the south-central province of Canar, took place as Noboa arrived in the canton of El Tambo for an event about water treatment and sewage.

Environment and Energy Minister Ines Manzano said Noboa’s car showed “signs of bullet damage”. In a statement to the press, she explained that she filed a report alleging an assassination attempt had taken place.

“Shooting at the president’s car, throwing stones, damaging state property — that’s just criminal,” Manzano said. “We will not allow this.”

The president’s office also issued a statement after the attack on Tuesday, pledging to pursue accountability against those involved.

“Obeying orders to radicalise, they attacked a presidential motorcade carrying civilians. They attempted to forcibly prevent the delivery of a project intended to improve the lives of a community,” the statement, published on social media, said.

“All those arrested will be prosecuted for terrorism and attempted murder,” it added.

Five people, according to Manzano, have been detained following the incident. Noboa was not injured.

Video published by the president’s office online shows Noboa’s motorcade navigating a roadway lined with protesters, some of whom picked up rocks and threw them at the vehicles, causing fractures to form on the glass.

A separate image showed a silver SUV with a shattered passenger window and a shattered windscreen. It is not clear from the images whether a bullet had been fired.

Noboa, Ecuador’s youngest-ever president, was re-elected in April after a heated run-off election against left-wing rival Luisa Gonzalez.

May marked the start of his first full term in office. Previously, Noboa, a conservative candidate who had only served a single term in the National Assembly, had been elected to serve the remainder of Guillermo Lasso’s term — a period of around 18 months — after the former president dissolved his government.

Combatting crime has been a centrepiece of Noboa’s pitch for the presidency. Ecuador, formerly considered an “island of peace” in South America, has seen a spike in homicide rates as criminal organisations seek to expand their drug trafficking routes through the country.

Ecuador’s economy has also struggled to recover following the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Noboa has faced multiple protests since taking office.

In recent weeks, for example, he has faced outcry over his decision to end a fuel subsidy that critics say helps lower-income families.

Noboa’s government, however, has argued that the subsidy drove up government costs without reaching those who need it. In a presidential statement on September 12, officials accused the subsidy of being “diverted to smuggling, illegal mining and undue benefits”.

The statement also said that the subsidies represented $1.1bn that could instead be used to compensate small farmers and transportation workers directly.

But the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), the country’s most powerful Indigenous advocacy organisation, launched a strike in response to the news of the subsidy’s end.

It called upon its supporters to lead protests and block roadways as a way of expressing their outrage.

Nevertheless, on Tuesday, the group denied that there had been an organised attack on Noboa’s motorcade. Instead, CONAIE argued that government violence had been “orchestrated” against the people who had gathered to protest Noboa.

“We denounce that at least five comrades have been arbitrarily detained,” CONAIE posted on X. “Among the attacked are elderly women.”

It noted that Tuesday marked the 16th day of protest. “The people are not the enemy,” it added.

CONAIE had largely backed Noboa’s rival Gonzalez in the April election, though some of its affiliate groups splintered in favour of Noboa.

This is not the first time that Noboa’s government has claimed the president was the target of an assassination attempt.

In April, shortly after the run-off vote, it issued a “maximum alert” claiming that assassins had entered the country from Mexico to destabilise his administration.

At the time, the administration blamed “sore losers” from the election for fomenting the alleged plot.

Oct. 6 (UPI) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk made two posts on X that appear to tease a new car or relaunch of an existing car for “10/7.”

Because of the teasers, Tesla stock rose by 4.72%, on pace for its largest one-day percentage gain in a little over a week, MarketWatch said.

Theories about what the teasers mean include that it could be the next-generation Roadster that Musk has been touting for years, or that Tesla is going to release a mass-market model.

Musk teased the next-gen Roadster in 2017 and 2018. He has since hyped the vehicle repeatedly and, in September, said on X that “the new Roadster is something special beyond a car.” He didn’t elaborate.

Tesla has been saying a cheaper mass-market car will be released this year. But Musk has said this lower-cost vehicle will be a stripped down Model Y, NBC reported.

While Tesla stock has risen recently, it took a hit earlier this year when Musk began his moves into politics, which soured some on Tesla.

In mid-September, Musk invested about $1 billion into Tesla, which made the market jump by about $30 per share.

A THREE-year-old boy has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after a horror van crash.

The tot was walking in a car park in Bournemouth, when a blue Vauxhall Vivaro hit him on Saturday.

Dorset Police were called to the scene, in Landsdowne Road, at 12.35pm.

Paramedics rushed the three-year-old to hospital with serious injuries.

His family is being supported by specialist officers.

No arrests have been made and the van driver is assisting officers with the investigation, said the force.

Sergeant Richard Stroud, of the Roads Policing Team, said: “Our thoughts are with the young boy involved in this incident and his family.

“Our enquiries into what happened remain ongoing and I would urge anyone who witnessed the incident, or who has any information that might assist our investigation, to please contact us.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police online, via email at [email protected] or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55250147249.

Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online using its website or by calling Freephone 0800 555 111.

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Getty Images

Policy differences

Bloomberg via Getty Images

Russian mercenaries of the Wagner Security Group have been accused of shooting at farmers from the air in the Central African Republic (CAR). The air raid happened on Monday, Sept. 29, in Lakata, a village 69 kilometres from Bouar in the Djotoua Banguerem council area.

Sources privy to details of the attack told HumAngle that the Russian mercenaries hovering in two helicopters opened fire on defenceless civilians, killing four and seriously wounding nine others. The sources asked not to be named in this report over fear of retribution, but reiterated that the air raiders unleashed heavy weapons on local farms and artisanal mining sites, shooting sporadically at the civilian population.

The sudden assault plunged the village into chaos. Farmers abandoned their tools mid-harvest, and miners fled their sites in terror. Survivors described the attack as “death from heaven,” a chilling escalation in Wagner’s operational tactics, which have previously relied on ground patrols and motorbike raids.

“The question we are asking now is why? What military objective justifies shooting at farmers and local miners? What ‘rebels’ were neutralised by Wagner and how many ‘terrorists’ were eliminated?” a local witness queried, insisting that the Russians have no tangible answers to these questions because there were neither rebels nor terrorists in Lakata on that day. “Those who were there were just poor Central Africans working to survive. The lives lost were those of Central Africans, which the Wagner mercenaries consider are of no value.” 

The local also stressed that this aerial attack against civilians constitutes a war crime, according to international humanitarian law. The utilisation of combat helicopters against unarmed civilian populations violates the Geneva Conventions and all the fundamental principles of war law. 

These killings mark a terrifying escalation in the methods of the Wagner operatives. The mercenaries have only been operating on the ground from village to village, and most of the time, on motorbikes. The Central African Republic government has made no statement about the attack, but the disquieting silence by the Bangui authorities has caused concerns. 

“The nine wounded in Lakata will probably not benefit from medical attention paid by the government. If they survive, they will do so with their wounds,  trauma, and injuries while abandoned by a state that has chosen to work to the advantage of Russian mercenaries rather than for their own people,” said Severin Dougouguele, who identified himself as an activist.

He is also concerned by the international community’s silence over the matter. 

“The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), which is present in the country, seems overwhelmed to the point it hardly investigates reports of such killings, while international human rights organisations find it difficult to access the areas where such killings take place. The international media is also handicapped by a lack of the necessary means and resolve to penetrate the hinterlands where these atrocities take place,” Severin claimed. 

He also believes that the distance of these communities from civilisation makes news of these atrocities late reaching the authorities and international agencies that can intervene to curb their constant repetition.

The incident shows a broader pattern of abuse documented by Human Rights Watch (HRW). A 2022 report by the HRW details summary executions, torture, and arbitrary detentions by Russian-linked forces in CAR. Wagner operatives have been accused of targeting civilians under the guise of counterinsurgency, often with no accountability. As the crisis deepens, calls for independent investigations, medical aid, and international oversight grow louder.

Oct. 2 (UPI) — Police in Manchester have labeled a deadly attack on a synagogue during Yom Kippur services a terrorist incident. Two people were killed.

The attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue also injured three people who were in serious condition, the Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of counter-terrorism policing, said police know the attacker’s identity. The attacker was shot dead by police, but there have been two other arrests, he said.

Manchester police also have said that the device the man was wearing, believed to be an explosive device, was not viable.

Members of a bomb disposal unit were on the scene to investigate, and police advised the public to stay away from the area. They also held members of the congregation inside the synagogue temporarily while making the area safe and released them later.

A GMP spokesperson said police were in contact with all synagogues in the greater Manchester area “to provide reassurance.”

“We know today’s horrifying attack, on the Jewish community’s holiest day, will have caused significant shock and fear throughout all of our communities,” the spokesperson said.

“We are grateful to the member of the public whose quick response to what they witnessed allowed our swift action, and as a result, the offender was prevented from entering the synagogue.”

The Israeli Embassy in London condemned the attack, calling it “abhorrent and deeply distressing” in a statement on X.

“The safety and security of Jewish communities in the United Kingdom must be guaranteed,” the statement added.

Britain’s King Charles III offered his thoughts and prayers in the wake of the attack and thanked the work of emergency officials.

“My wife and I have been deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the horrific attack in Manchester, especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community,” he said.

Jewish communities in Britain were on heightened alert Thursday, with London’s Metropolitan Police increasing patrols new Jewish cultural sites, an unnamed source told The Guardian.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said additional police were being deployed to synagogues throughout the country.

“We will do everything we can to keep our Jewish community safe,” he said.

Starmer planned to fly back to Britain early from a summit he was leading in Denmark, the BBC reported.