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Like most good stories, this one requires planning. Organizers with the L.A. Sports and Entertainment Commission spent nearly nine years preparing to bring the FIFA World Cup to L.A. The most popular sporting event in the world was just the start of a mega-event trilogy that turns the page to Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium and will culminate with the largest Olympics ever in 2028.

“We are on the international stage for three years,” said Kathryn Schloessman, president and chief executive officer of L.A. Sports and Entertainment Commission, or LASEC, said. “What story are we telling and how are we doing that?”

The World Cup was a riveting first chapter. The 39-day tournament brought more than 560,000 fans to SoFi Stadium for eight matches, 250,000 fans to 10 official fan zones and a projected $892 million in economic impact across L.A. County, according to LASEC.

The expanded World Cup, with 48 teams and 104 matches over 16 venues in three countries, is only a logistical qualifying match compared to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The first Olympics in L.A. in 44 years will welcome 11,198 athletes across 51 sports from more than 200 countries competing over 20 days. The 2028 Paralympics will come to L.A. for the first time with a 23-para sport schedule that will begin competition before the opening ceremony for the first time.

Despite the difference in scale, John Harper, chief operating officer of LA28, called the successful World Cup’s local matches “an immense learning opportunity for us in a lot of ways.”

Attending World Cup matches as a fan and behind-the-scenes observer, Harper was impressed by the transportation services provided by L.A. Metro. The agency said it provided more than 212,000 rides directly to and from SoFi Stadium and 15 parking and transit hubs in L.A. and Orange counties through an enhanced service. Harper was encouraged by the interagency work between different public partners that helped the eight matches go off without a major hitch.

But the biggest lesson was in the spirit of the fans who packed watch parties, streets and bars.

“It really demonstrated the power of sport,” Harper said. “Not only the energy in the stadium, but the energy in the city and L.A. being such a diverse city, you really saw the world come to life on the streets of L.A.”

The World Cup exceeded expectations, Schloessman said, delivering economic effects, local supplier opportunity and community engagement. LASEC hosted fan areas at 10 different locations, highlighted by the tournament-opening festival at the Coliseum. The City of L.A. hosted seven free “Kick It In the Park” watch parties. Sports bars and restaurants overflowed with customers who drank beer taps dry.

“It was just this six-week interlude of time when people liked each other and people were having fun together,” Schloessman said.

LA28 hopes to create a similar, harmonious energy during the Games with sports parks at major sports zones. Areas where multiple venues are clustered together, such as L.A. Live, Exposition Park, Long Beach, Inglewood and Carson, will have dedicated areas for pin trading, sport trials, entertainment zones and sponsorship activations.

Fans cheer during a watch party at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes during a World Cup match between Mexico and Ecuador on June 30.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

While LA28 will be responsible for hosting official live sites for the Games, local communities can organize their own Games-time activities. LASEC worked with local organizations and businesses leading up to the World Cup to promote opportunities, including watch parties, meetups or themed decorations while still adhering to strict rules regarding FIFA broadcasts and logos. LA28 will provide similar guidance leading up to the Olympic and Paralympics Games.

“It is our responsibility, with the organizers, with the authorities, to create an Olympic experience for as many people as possible,” said Pierre Ducrey, International Olympic Committee sports director, who was impressed by the atmosphere of a FIFA fan event in Kansas City where he attended a match featuring his native Switzerland facing off against Argentina. “Whether they have a ticket to be in the stadium or they don’t, we want to create special moments for them that they can remember.”

LA28 sold more than 4 million tickets in its first ticket drop, and after last week’s presale, the second drop will resume Aug. 10. With 14 million tickets available, the 2028 Games could break the sales record set by Paris 2024, which sold 12 million tickets between the Olympics and Paralympics.

The biggest World Cup ever also boasted the highest attendance, but some of the tournament’s best parties came outside of stadiums.

Santa Monica put screens on every block of the Third Street Promenade for World Cup watch parties where patrons were allowed to carry alcoholic beverages within a specific area of the open-air mall. More than 40,000 people walked through a fan hub on the Santa Monica Pier. The city closed down more than a mile of downtown Santa Monica during the World Cup final for a block party that attracted 20,000 people.

And, Santa Monica Mayor Caroline Torosis proudly emphasized, it was free.

“I think major global events have an extractive history,” Torosis said. “We are trying to change that. We are also trying to use it as an opportunity to showcase the city itself. So how do we benefit our local community but also reintroduce Santa Monica to the region?”

Santa Monica balked at the chance to host competitions for the 2028 Games. Talks to host beach volleyball near the iconic pier broke down in 2025, six months after a study indicated that being a venue city could result in a net loss of $1.45 million, while not hosting the competition could still generate $10.65 million in profit because of the city’s status as a popular tourist destination.

Santa Monica already has deals in place to host hospitality houses for several countries in 2028, including France and Switzerland. Broadcast partners will set up studios on the city’s iconic pier. With plans for watch parties and other accessible celebrations for fans, Torosis envisions Santa Monica being “the place to be” during the Games.

“We are prepared for the influx of people that are going to be in the city,” Torosis said. “I think that FIFA was a great dry run.”

Inglewood was at the center of the World Cup with eight matches at SoFi Stadium. The city got an economic boost from an estimated 625,000 fans, including thousands who traveled to support their national teams without a match ticket, Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. said.

Fans from all over the world, sporting their country’s colors, flooded Market Street for the city-hosted Wood Cup festival to begin the tournament. Packed prematch marches stunned organizers who were unfamiliar with the tradition. While SoFi Stadium’s name was changed to “Los Angeles Stadium” per FIFA’s sponsorship rules, broadcasters still emphasized they were in Inglewood.

“It really gave a boost to community pride that Inglewood is now an international city,” Butts said.

Inglewood will remain the setting for the mega-event story. SoFi Stadium, in addition to hosting a second Super Bowl in five years, is the scene for the 2028 Olympic opening ceremony — which will be shared with the Coliseum — as well as Olympic swimming and the Paralympic opening ceremony. Neighboring Intuit Dome will host the Olympic basketball tournament.

The consistent stream of global events doesn’t faze Butts. In a city that will have hosted an NBA All-Star Game, eight World Cup matches and another Super Bowl in less than a calendar year, the Olympic chapter is already written.

“We do it time and time again,” Butts said. “This is what we do.”

McALLEN, Texas — A Texas mother deported to Mexico despite having legal permission to stay in the U.S. has filed a lawsuit against the federal government after it notified her it would be terminating her permission because of “unauthorized travel” stemming from her deportation.

Jessica Treviño, 34, filed a lawsuit through her attorney this week asking a federal judge to intervene.

Treviño and her husband were arrested in December after federal agents followed them and two of their daughters into a Home Depot parking lot in South Texas. Both were deported and are living in Matamoros, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas. Their three children, all U.S. citizens, are living with family on the U.S. side near the border.

After being brought to the country as a child at the age of 7, Treviño subsequently received legal permission at 20 to remain in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Introduced in 2012, DACA does not confer legal status but has allowed hundreds of thousands of people who had come to the U.S. as children to temporarily remain and obtain work permits.

As a DACA recipient, she must maintain a clean criminal record and is not allowed to travel outside the United States.

Her attorney, David Rozas, filed the lawsuit. He noted her status and work permit were most recently authorized until April 2027.

Notice to terminate DACA cites ‘unauthorized travel’

Last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sent her a notice of intent to terminate her status for “unauthorized travel outside of the United States on or about March 25, 2026,” the same day she was deported from the country by the Department of Homeland Security.

In a statement, DHS said Treviño’s husband was in the country without permission and driving at the time of the arrest. After a collision between the couple’s vehicle and an unmarked Homeland Security Investigations vehicle, the couple was arrested. DHS claimed she “knowingly accepted voluntary departure and waived appeal. She left the U.S. on March 25, 2026, and will NOT return.”

In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Treviño said she did not sign any forms at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility and did not want to be deported.

Lawsuit seeks restitution of status

Rozas filed a petition asking a federal judge in Brownsville to declare the woman’s expulsion was unlawful, order the government to facilitate Treviño’s return to the U.S. and allow her DACA status to remain valid.

“The government had no lawful basis to remove her, and we filed this petition to demand she be brought back home,” her attorney added.

An immigration judge under the Justice Department had issued a voluntary departure order for Treviño in February while she was in ICE custody, but a valid DACA status prevents the Department of Homeland Security from deporting her.

“I would be so blessed to be able to go back home, because that’s what I long for most right now. I’m really desperate. It’s been seven months since I’ve been home,” Treviño said Thursday. Her three children are set to start school next month and Treviño said she would like to be there.

The current Trump administration has deported 86 DACA recipients and arrested 241 others, according to a DHS letter sent in February to Democratic Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois.

Advocates for DACA recipients say Treviño’s deportation is part of a pattern.

“This is what a deliberate, systematic effort to destroy DACA looks like in practice: target recipients one by one, manufacture justifications after the fact and leave their children to grow up without them,” said Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, a policy organization defending immigration rights.

Gonzalez writes for the Associated Press.

The country is a hidden gem in Europe and travellers say it’s less crowded than Spain, Greece and Portugal

Greece, Spain and Portugal remain firm favourites for countless holidaymakers, celebrated for their spectacular scenery and abundant attractions. Yet these hotspots can transform into tourist traps during the height of summer, leaving peace-seekers somewhat disappointed.

Fortunately, there’s a lesser-known destination that some experienced travellers believe could actually surpass them all. Nestled along the Adriatic Sea and sharing borders with Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Albania, Montenegro remains a treasure trove that’s yet to be swamped by mass tourism.

Its spectacular coastline, pristine waters and perfectly preserved towns have earned praise from visitors who believe it matches its more famous neighbours, without the overwhelming crowds.

The Bay of Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site resembling a fjord, stands as one of Montenegro’s finest attractions. Cradled by mountains, this bay features historic treasures such as Kotor and Perast, captivating visitors with their enchanting character.

TripAdvisor reviews overflow with glowing accounts of Montenegro’s appeal, with numerous visitors finding it a refreshing alternative to the heaving Greek islands or packed Spanish coastlines.

One visitor remarked: “Montenegro stole my heart, even more than Greece!” while praising the exceptional seafood and stunning panoramas.

“Greece was great, but Kotor Bay’s cliffs and medieval walls blew me away. Wandering through Kotor Old Town, I loved how peaceful Montenegro felt, far less tourist chaos than Athens or Santorini.”

Another traveller who had recently explored Portugal’s Algarve wrote: “Last summer, I toured Portugal’s Algarve coast. Lovely beaches, bustling towns, but Montenegro left a far bigger mark.

“Its Adriatic coastline is stunning, yet totally uncrowded compared to Portugal in summertime. Jaz and Mogren beaches felt like private retreats.”

A third globetrotter declared that Montenegro surpassed even Spain in their eyes, saying: “I’ve been to Spain’s Costa del Sol several times (think sun, sea, sangria), but Montenegro feels more authentic and affordable. Beach days in Budva and Tivat cost a fraction of Spanish resorts, yet the scenery is just as spectacular.”

The coastal town of Budva attracts hordes of visitors to Montenegro each year, celebrated for its sandy shores, buzzing nightlife, and its charming historic Old Town.

Venture deeper inland, and destinations such as Durmitor National Park offer breath-taking mountain scenery, hiking trails, and exhilarating white-water rafting along the spectacular Tara River Canyon.

One adventurer revealed: “In just a few hours, I went from pebbled beaches on the Budva Riviera to the snow-capped peaks of Durmitor National Park.”

Numerous visitors are keen to flag Montenegro’s budget-friendly credentials when stacked up against other well-loved European getaways.

One tourist noted: “Beach days in Budva and Tivat cost a fraction of Spanish resorts, yet the scenery is just as spectacular.”

Montenegro’s small size makes it especially appealing for holidaymakers, as the country is remarkably easy to get around. Travellers have said that you can fit in a morning trek, an afternoon on the sand, and dinner by the waterfront.

It’s also frequently mentioned as one of the few places in Europe where you can experience both mountain scenery and seaside panoramas within a single day.

BUENOS AIRES — After a bruising World Cup defeat gave way to what many Argentines saw as a sweeping wave of hatred against their country, Argentine President Javier Milei on Thursday signed an emergency decree empowering the government to deny entry to or expel foreigners who incite discrimination or violence against Argentines because of their nationality.

The measure adds new grounds to Argentina’s immigration law, allowing authorities to bar, deport and revoke visas of people found to have promoted hatred against Argentines in spoken or written statements or who have desecrated national symbols.

“In light of recent displays of hostility toward the Argentine Republic and Argentines, the national government reaffirms that the defense of the nation, its citizens and its symbols is non-negotiable,” the president’s office said. “Anyone who attacks the Argentine Republic is not welcome in our country.”

The move marks a sharp shift for a country that has long prided itself on welcoming immigrants. Argentina’s Constitution explicitly encourages immigration, and for decades the country has offered foreigners broad civil rights and relatively easy access to legal residency, public education and healthcare.

Milei’s office cast the decree as a response to weeks of criticism from celebrities, opposing fans and social media users after controversial refereeing decisions fueled speculation that FIFA had tilted the tournament in favor of the reigning champions and superstar Lionel Messi.

Condemnations of occasionally aggressive Argentine fans and the team’s roughhousing on the pitch soon broadened into attacks on Argentine society as a whole, amplifying long-standing criticism that Argentines view themselves as culturally and economically superior to their Latin American neighbors. Online petitions to expel Argentina from the World Cup drew hundreds of thousands of signatures.

The backlash intensified when Argentina players and staff became involved in a post-match brawl with Spanish opponents after the World Cup final.

FIFA, global soccer’s governing body, on Wednesday opened disciplinary proceedings against the Argentine Football Assn. over the scuffle, as well as over alleged racist abuse and fan misconduct. Players also faced a FIFA investigation into their parading of a banner that asserted Argentina’s claim to the British-controlled Falkland Islands after the team’s semifinal victory over England.

Milei, a close ally of President Trump’s, has described the torrent of criticism as an “anti-Argentina campaign.” He alleged without evidence last week that the left-wing governments of Brazil and Mexico and the U.S. Democratic Party had financed the effort to stigmatize Argentina to discredit his libertarian government.

His accusations and insults triggered a diplomatic crisis with neighbor Brazil, which recalled its ambassador to Argentina last weekend.

Thursday’s decree says the punishments don’t apply to ideological disagreement or political, academic or civic criticism protected under Argentina’s Constitution.

But it leaves unanswered how officials will distinguish protected speech from prohibited hate speech, whether immigration authorities will review foreigners’ social media activity and how aggressively the new powers will be enforced against tourists and longtime residents.

Debre writes for the Associated Press.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters is facing backlash after telling a Chinese-born MP to ‘go back to your own country’ during a parliamentary debate. The remarks drew criticism at home, while China urged New Zealand politicians not to invoke Beijing in domestic disputes.

A mum-of-three who left the UK three years ago and moved her family across the world has said the biggest reason for moving abroad was how expensive things are at home

A mum-of-three has claimed her “life is better” after taking her family across the world to escape the cost-of-living crisis. Many Brits have been feeling the pinch over the past few years, with the cost of everything from food to energy bills and petrol costs skyrocketing and leaving everyone with less money in their pockets.

But while many of us look at ways we can cut our spending by being more frugal with our food shopping or cutting back on family holidays, one mum has taken matters into her own hands – by moving somewhere more affordable. Lucy Richardson shared a video on social media in which she said rising costs were one of the biggest factors in deciding to move her family abroad for a new life.

In a video shared on TikTok, Lucy explained that she, her husband, and their three young children decided to leave the UK in 2023. They now live in Bali, Indonesia, where prices are so low that she can completely fill her moped for just £4 – and the tropical weather and gorgeous views are just a bonus.

She said in her video: “The cost of living in the UK was completely out of control, and that’s why we left. We left nearly three years ago because two full-time working parents were not enough for us to sustain the life that we had in the UK.”

Lucy revealed that she and her husband were working full-time to try and support their family and pay their rent, but were finding that they were barely getting by and described their situation as “surviving” and not “living”.

She continued: “We just felt like we were constantly chasing our tail and constantly paying stuff out. Then we had this tiny little pot left over to actually enjoy ourselves and do things that we wanted to do. Then, because there wasn’t enough money, we would put it on a credit card, and then we were in this massive circle of debt.”

The mum-of-three said she could see her family being in this cycle for years, potentially never being able to live their lives until they were retired, by which point they could be “too ill or too old” to enjoy it.

What’s more, Lucy felt like she was missing out on spending time with her three children, as they were growing up without her while she worked full-time to support them. So, the family made the decision to leave the UK and move to Bali.

She said: “It was a crazy, vicious circle that I didn’t want to be a part of. So we left. We now have a much simpler life.

“Today, we just filled up our moped for £4. The same petrol that you have in the UK, and that’s a full tank that’s going to last me for two weeks. Four quid. It’s absolutely crazy.

“Now, we have a much simpler life. We don’t have to go to a nine-to-five [job], and I get to see my kids’ childhoods. So I know what I would rather pick, and that’s why we left the UK. So many people ask, and it’s the cost of living. It was just too high.”

Many commenters on the post praised the mum for having the courage to take her family across the world for a better life, with many saying they wish they could do the same.

One person said: “Well done, you, for taking that step and leaving the UK to better your lives. We are a family of five and totally understand where you are coming from. We class ourselves as the working poor. Working but have nothing to show for it because everything goes on paying taxes and bills.”

Another added: “Agree totally, Britain is a rip off. You did right in getting out.”

A third posted: “Same here. We left six years ago for Spain and it’s so liberating. Our relatives can’t believe how much less we pay month to month here and can now appreciate why we left.”

AMMAN, Jordan — When Iranian ballistic missiles repeatedly struck Jordan last week, killing three American service members and wounding dozens of others, it brought the spotlight on a U.S. military presence the government of this desert kingdom has long worked to downplay.

Jordan has been a decades-long military and counterterrorism partner with the United States, opening its territory over the years to U.S. and other Western troops in their engagements throughout the region. But faced with a population that is overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian and suspicious of the U.S. for its all-out support of Israel, the government had kept those relationships at a low profile.

But now, Jordan’s growing role in the United States’ war with Iran — and the intensifying Iranian retaliation that role invites — is spurring uncomfortable conversations for the government.

“Jordanians are trapped in a dilemma: They’re being dragged into a war they didn’t want, but the cause of that war is ironically the ally they bargained with to protect them in the first place,” said Sean Yom, a professor of political science and Jordan expert at Temple University who wrote the book “Jordan: Politics in an Accidental Crucible.”

“So they’re asking what’s the wisdom of having this geopolitical bargain with a patron like the U.S. when one of the sources of our instability is the relationship that’s supposed to guarantee our security.”

Since the ceasefire broke down July 8 and the U.S. began launching near-daily waves of strikes on Iran, Jordan has been targeted on nine occasions, with ballistic missiles and drones hitting U.S. assets and facilities and endangering some 4,000 service members at a number of Jordanian military bases across the country.

One of those salvos, on July 17, hit a housing unit in Muwaffaq Al-Salti, a Jordanian base in the country’s east, killing three U.S. service members and wounding at least four others. Also attacked were King Faisal Airbase, Prince Hassan Airbase and the airport in Aqaba.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed the strikes not only killed and wounded dozens of U.S. military personnel, but also damaged drones, helicopters, F-15 preparation hangars, radar sites, missile defense systems and munitions depots.

More worryingly for Jordan, the IRGC issued statements thanking “honorable people” in Jordan for providing “sincere cooperation and precise information,” which it said enabled it to target and kill “dozens of American terrorist forces.”

“Seize every opportunity to dismantle American institutions and expel the American occupation army from Jordan,” one of the statements said.

As word of the attacks spread, Jordan’s government, normally reticent about foreign military deployments in the country, embarked on damage control.

Officials and members of parliament swiftly condemned Tehran for violating the country’s sovereignty, while the foreign ministry summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires in Amman, the Jordanian capital, and demanded Iran cease attacks on the kingdom. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, meanwhile, rejected Iran’s claim that the U.S. has bases in the country.

“There are no American bases in Jordan. We have American troops that are in Jordan as part of our long-standing military cooperation,” he said at the Aspen Security Forum earlier this month. Safadi was referring to the 2021 defense agreement that allows U.S. forces unfettered access to 12 facilities in Jordan, including five air bases; the agreement was approved via royal decree and bypassed parliament.

“Their presence is governed by a defense agreement that fully respects our sovereignty,” he said.

Yet government statements didn’t do much to allay concerns. Though many Jordanians have little love for Iran, more than 300 politicians, academics, lawyers, retired military officers and tribal leaders signed an open letter last week calling on the government to withdraw from the defense agreement and keep Jordanian installations neutral — a bold move in a country where opposition to government policies (especially in security matters) can be a red line.

“Jordan is not a party to this war. Its people should not have to bear the consequences or pay the price for policies that do not serve the nation’s supreme interests,” the letter said.

“We urge the avoidance of the dangers associated with aligning ourselves under the American umbrella; this requires adopting a policy of genuine neutrality, based on refraining from any military or logistical involvement that serves any party to the conflict.”

Another sign of popular anger came Sunday: When one member of parliament exhorted the body to send condolences to Congress for the killing of the U.S. service members, others shouted him down, saying the legislature wasn’t a funeral parlor to console “criminals” and “child killers,” in reference to the United States’ support for Israel in Gaza.

Jordan grapples with questions similar to those facing its gulf neighbors, all of which rely on the U.S. security umbrella that has exposed their nations to Iranian attack. But those countries’ oil riches afford them leverage to push back on the U.S. presence, while Jordan — a resource-poor nation of some 11 million people — cannot.

The conflict, meanwhile, has only compounded Jordan’s economic woes. Tourism, which official figures say accounts for almost 15% of the country’s GDP and had just begun to recover from the 2023 Gaza war, has cratered since the start of military operations against Iran. One month after the war, gas prices rose by 11%, a body blow for Jordan’s perpetually anemic economy.

All that has made the kingdom ever more reliant on U.S. largesse. Washington gives Amman roughly $1.45 billion annually, including around $800 million that go straight to government coffers for budgetary support. It would be hard pressed to substitute that level of support from Europe or elsewhere, experts say.

At the same time, Jordan has become a vital nerve center for U.S. forces. The U.S. military has since 2019 spent hundreds of millions of dollars on upgrades for Muwaffaq Al-Salti and other facilities, according to U.S. federal contracting documents, laying aircraft aprons, taxiways, munitions depots and other infrastructure.

Satellite imagery of those bases from 2019 onward show significant construction and an increasing presence of U.S. assets, including F-16s, F-18s, drones and helicopters.

Now, with U.S. troops deployed in gulf nations proving vulnerable to Iranian barrages, Pentagon planners have transferred assets to locations farther away from Iran, especially Jordan.

In recent days, despite a pause in operations against Iran, flight tracking sites showed brisk U.S. military traffic, with logistical aircraft — including the massive C-17 Globemaster and KC-35 fueling tankers — making repeated trips between Jordan and U.S. military hubs in Europe.

Cyprus continues to draw British holidaymakers and expats, helped by flights from £34 and a flight time of around 4hrs 43mins – and one couple are glad they “took the leap”

A British couple who uprooted from the UK and moved to a cheaper country less than five hours away have spotted two problems. With flights for as little as £34 and a 4-hour, 43-minute flight time, Cyprus is a firm favourite among British holidaymakers and expats alike; Donna Curley and husband Nick were similarly drawn to the eastern Mediterranean nation.

After building a life in Derbyshire, Donna Curley and her second husband, Nick, realised their future might be in Cyprus.

The turning point came in 2013, when they bought a one-bedroom holiday home in Kapparis. They returned two or three times a year and, each trip, the island’s slower pace — and the “tranquillity” they felt there — made quite the impression.

Donna, 49, worked as a fitness instructor, including roles at a Derby gym and as a Weight Watchers coach, before switching to online teaching during the Covid pandemic. Nick, who was born at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, served as an Army reservist.

When Nick’s children from his first marriage reached their twenties, the couple decided the time was right to start again. They sold their home in Holbrook, bought a base in Avgorou and began laying plans for a wellness retreat — although they admit the move hasn’t been without its challenges.

Donna told The Times: “A lot of the expats here have well-established friendship groups so it’s harder to make new friends than I thought, though there are a lot of British people moving out here now for the tax benefits as well as the lifestyle.”

She went on to say: “Our move to Cyprus was designed so we could spend more time together, which has happened but not quite as much as we hoped – yet.

“I think with any big move you have to adapt and accept that there might be a few hurdles – along with the Greek ‘siga siga’ [slowly slowly]. I am glad that we took the leap.”

The couple’s new base is a two-bedroom bungalow with a swimming pool and 3,000sqm of land. But while they lay the foundations for their wellness business, Nick and Donna have also been juggling other jobs to keep money coming in.

Donna says the cost of everyday life is usually lower in Cyprus, even if food can be surprisingly expensive. They’ve also cut out some major overheads by relying on solar power and using water from their own well, rather than paying standard utility bills.

The colder months are the main exception. When winter sets in, they turn to a wood-burner for heat and sometimes have to fire up a back-up generator.

Their experience follows another British family who recently spoke about relocating to Cyprus. Former educator Sarah and IT specialist James said they moved after becoming fed up with long working weeks, soaring bills and concerns about crime.

Sarah said: “In the UK schools, there is so much pressure on the kids and they were both unhappy. And James and I were working such long hours but life is so expensive in the UK. James applied for a job in Cyprus almost on a whim.

“We thought if it didn’t work out, we’d call it an adventure and then move back home. But everything is amazing and the place is absolutely beautiful. It’s a dream I never thought would be possible.”

He said the quiet part out loud. As the artistic director of New York’s Public Theater and one of the art form’s most prominent leaders, Oskar Eustis is known to do that. And as always, he got the art world talking.

When Eustis, 67, announced Wednesday that he would step down from his role at the Public in 2028 — after 23 years — he said in a New York Times interview that “the American nonprofit theater movement is over.” This has been whispered about and lamented since the COVID-19 pandemic led to temporary theater closures across the country that have since become permanent, but it is rare to hear it expressed so candidly.

Did Eustis, one of the key players in that vaunted movement — the man who helped foster “Hamilton” — really mean what he said? And if so, how does theater move on in the face of obstacles that at times feel as though they are scattered across an increasingly difficult course? In a wide-ranging follow-up interview with the Los Angeles Times, Eustis addressed the path forward.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Phillipa Soo portray Alexander and Eliza Hamilton in “Hamilton.” The megahit premiered off-Broadway at the Public Theater under Oskar Eustis in 2015.

(Disney+)

It’s not an easy one, but Los Angeles theater leaders working in the trenches, including Tarell Alvin McCraney at Geffen Playhouse, Danny Feldman at Pasadena Playhouse and Snehal Desai at Center Theatre Group, already knew that. They talked with the Los Angeles Times about their plans at the crossroads reached by American theater in light of Eustis’ imminent exit.

Eustis traces the rise of the American nonprofit theater movement to the late 1950s when W. McNeil “Mac” Lowry, director of the arts and humanities program at the Ford Foundation in New York, began organizing existing regional theaters into a national movement.

“What happened during that period was that a consensus emerged,” Eustis said, noting that it was expressed in the form of national endowments, state arts agencies, public policy institutes and corporate philanthropic departments. “An idea of the common good was held throughout the country, and there were many stakeholders. And part of that idea of the common good was a broadly held belief that Americans deserved serious, non-market-driven performing arts.”

With no feudal background, America lacked a capital city like London or Paris designed to showcase the arts, so the idea spread across all 50 states. This led to the proliferation of the regional theater movement, said Eustis, as well as that of symphony orchestras and ballet companies.

“The explosion of the regional theater movement is actually, in retrospect, astonishing,” Eustis said. “From a few scattered theaters in the 1950s, by the early ‘70s, there were over 400 professional nonprofit theaters in every state of the union. Tens of thousands of people were employed. Millions and millions of audience members every year. That’s the field that I walked into in the early ‘70s.”

Fifty years later, those stakeholders have “absolutely zero consensus on whether theater should exist as a nonprofit performing arts field or whether we should exist at all,” Eustis said. “It’s gone.”

“We’ve kind of been living, in a way, off inertia of this old idea,” he added.

The great pandemic pause, along with the racial reckoning in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the continued fracturing of a shared reality under President Trump, served to reveal how fragile that consensus was, Eustis said, and, “It’s not coming back.”

Where does that leave American theater in 2026?

“We’re faced with the need to prove to the people in our individual communities that we matter enough to them that they should support us,” Eustis said. “Now, that’s not a very bad demand to put on an art form.”

Except, as every theater that has lately dared put on a show created by new, experimental or unknown artists knows, it can feel like an insurmountable task.

Danny Feldman, artistic director of Pasadena Playhouse, said that the days of theaters underpaying talent are over.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Smaller theaters across the country, including many in L.A., have shuttered with staggering regularity in the last six years, which puts even greater pressure on the city’s most prominent nonprofits to shine a light on a sustainable model moving forward.

Feldman, Pasadena Playhouse’s artistic director, noted that Eustis represents the second generation of leaders of the “first chapter” of the nonprofit regional theater movement. “And that to me is what is now undeniably at the end.”

He said he and Eustis have discussed the subject at length. “We are now in a very different era. And the things that got us to this point are not the things that are going to get us to the next chapter.”

McCraney, Geffen Playhouse’s artistic director, said forging a path forward in nonprofit theater without succumbing to commercial pressure to produce only guaranteed hits requires the delicate balance of surfing.

“And there’s no better place to surf than in L.A.,” McCraney said over the phone from the Public, where he was meeting with Eustis and other theater leaders to share ideas. “I feel very connected to a bunch of folks who recognize that the regional theater model has always had to have radical vision, and that those radical visions need revision, because our most practical job is to make sure that communities have stories.”

Tarell Alvin McCraney, artistic director of Geffen Playhouse, compared the balancing act theater leaders must perform to surfing.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

It’s not just the way theater tells — and funds — stories that must evolve. It’s the entire business model, the leaders note.

The beauty and the founding of the original regional movement, said Feldman, was artists saying, “New York is not just where it’s at. We’re going to go to our communities. We’re going to make things with and for them, and really build these ecosystems that are deeply entrenched in these local communities around the country. … And I think the underbelly of that — that maybe has not been discussed as much — was always an element of subsidized labor involved.”

In L.A. and elsewhere that meant a lot of artists in the front and back of the house working for incredibly low wages. The pandemic effectively put an end to that, and as workers demanded fair compensation, the cost of producing shows skyrocketed. Most theater leaders agree that part is as it should be. Eustis points to the recent unionization of the Public’s production department as a case in point.

“For the first time in history, everybody who’s swinging a hammer on our productions has health insurance,” he said. “They have it through the union. That’s a good thing. And it’s put a shock wave through the whole industry, but you know what? We figured out how to pay development directors. We should figure out how to pay carpenters. That’s part of growing up.”

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Snehal Desai said Oskar Eustis’ departure from New York’s Public Theater represents a “pass the mantle” moment.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

Desai, CTG’s artistic director, said he views Eustis’ decision to step down as a “pass the mantle moment.”

“Oskar has been a huge mentor to so many of us,” Desai said. “It’s up to us, the next generation of leaders, to figure it out, just as his generation did in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s when they built these institutions for us.”

At CTG that means exploring a new way of doing things including touring shows, intensive work in various communities and site-specific productions, all of which “can change the financials and the model of how we’re doing business.”

As for Eustis? He plans to leave the Public in the best possible shape for the next generation of artists, and never wavers from its core mission. “This is a theater of democracy that believes that the culture belongs to everybody,” he said.

The budget airline has confirmed it’ll be cutting the number of aircraft from one of its city bases by five, and its schedule will have two million fewer seats to a popular city break destination as of winter 2026

Ryanair has slashed the number of seats from its schedule for a city break destination that’s famous for its Christmas market and historic sites, as well as being a major business hub.

The decision was made in response to the country’s decision to raise aviation taxes, with Ryanair releasing a strongly-worded statement to announce they would be cutting two million seats from two of the capital’s airports.

The Federal Government of Belgium announced plans to raise the country’s aviation tax from €5 (about £4.20) to €7 (about £6) as of January 2027. This was erroneously described by Ryanair in a statement as a “250% increase since 2025.”

As a result, the budget carrier plans to cut five aircraft from its base at Brussels South Charleroi Airport, and reduce capacity by two million seats overall from Belgium’s Charleroi and Zaventem airports. The reductions will be applied to the winter 2026 and summer 2027 schedule.

Brussels is not the first destination to see a cut in the number of Ryanair seats this year. Earlier this year it announced reductions in services to Spain and Portugal, with smaller regional airports the most affected.

Valladolid and Jerez saw cuts to their services, while scrapped routes included Asturias and Vigo. A service to Tenerife North was also scrapped as a result of a dispute over airport fee hikes, leaving the airport with no alternative direct UK routes. Ryanair also closed its two aircraft base at Santiago de Compostela which reduced capacity.

As a result over one million seats were taken from the winter 2025 routes, and 1.2 million cut from the summer 2026 schedule. Another cut was to a Portugal service, with Ryanair cutting six routes to and from the Azores, an emerging tourist destination. It was estimated the cuts affected around 400,000 passengers.

At the time, Ryanair blamed this cutback on growing airport charges set by Portuguese authorities and environmental taxes linked to the EU Emissions Trading System. John Paul II Ponta Delgada Airport, the islands’ main airport, now only has a single seasonal UK route from London Heathrow operated by British Airways.

Speaking about the cuts in Belgium, Ryanair CEO, Eddie Wilson, said in a statement: “It’s absurd that the Federal Govt have decided to increase Belgium’s aviation tax by 250% from Jan ’27, especially when competing EU countries, like Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, regional Italy, and Albania are abolishing aviation taxes to grow traffic, tourism and jobs.

“We warned Prime Minister De Wever that increasing Belgium’s aviation tax would result in traffic cuts, but he failed to listen. As a result, Ryanair will now remove 5 aircraft from our Charleroi base and 2m seats from our Brussels schedules (Charleroi and Zaventem) for Winter ’26/Summer ’27 and relocate to more competitive economies.”

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

RYANAIR is set to cancel hundreds of flights to and from a popular European country.

Two million seats will be axed from the winter season in Belgium and next summer due to rising air passenger tax.

The airline said today that it would be removing five aircraft from its base at Charleroi, according to local media.

Cuts will affect services at Charleroi and Brussels Airport in Zaventem starting later this year.

Ryanair said the axing of routes is a decision made as part of the Federal Government’s plan to increase the departure tax on air tickets.

Just a few days ago, the Belgian government announced it would raise the amount from €5 (£4.26) to €7 (£5.97) from January 1, 2027.

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Despite this being lower than expected, Ryanair said it is still too high.

When the tax increase was announced at the beginning of the year, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary slammed the plans, calling them “silly” and “damaging”.

He added: “Over the last 20 years, Ryanair has grown to be Belgium’s largest airline.

“This growth can easily be lost to tax abolishing countries like Sweden Hungary, Slovakia and Italy, and if Charleroi and Belgium don’t reverse these taxes.”

Ryanair currently carries 11.6million passengers to and from Belgium, making it the largest airline operating in the country.

It’s not yet clear whether the routes axed will be from the UK.

Current flights routes to Charleroi include from Manchester, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

Escape to the Country presenter Sonali Shah’s mystery house pick left a buyer facing a difficult decision

Escape to the Country’s latest buyer confessed he was “flummoxed” as he faced a difficult decision.

The series sees property experts helping people to find new homes, often miles from where they live. The presenters show potential buyers a series of houses plus a mystery pick.

And it was the mystery property that proved to be a problem for Andrew, when he fell in love with it after he had already come close to committing to a more affordable cottage, reports Leeds Live.

Andrew had decided to relocate from his city residence in the Netherlands to the countryside of the Peak District, where he’d spent childhood years and where his grandmother had lived.

The BBC show’s presenter Sonali Shah found him a cottage from 1850 that ticked all his boxes, but complications arose when she unveiled a mystery property that actually consisted of two distinct dwellings, each with its own bedroom, kitchen and outdoor area. The catch was its £400,000 price tag, exceeding his £375,000 budget.

Andrew was impressed with the position of Sonali’s mystery pick, saying the view was “definitely the best so far”. He went on: “It’s the kind of view of fields that I was asking for. That’s what I really like.”

He also liked the way the property had been finished, noting: “It has all the charm of an old cottage, and it’s completely renovated.”

His sister Sue said she thought they were going to have “a problem” and Andrew admitted that was the case.

“What have I done? What have I done?” exclaimed Sonali as she perched on the stairs listening to them.

She continued: “They really liked a house. They were probably going to make a move on that, and then I come in with this mystery house that is amazing. Oh, dear.”

Later, Andrew conceded that seeing the mystery house had made his decision “more difficult”.

And after deliberating with Sue, he remained uncertain about which property to pursue.

“I really like, obviously, house number one, but I really like the mystery house too so I’m flummoxed now,” he explained. “I have to do a lot of soul searching.”

Sue said: “I think this mystery house has definitely delivered something different for Andrew, something he certainly wasn’t expecting, and now he’s a bit flabbergasted, I think. I think that as Andrew’s sister I’ve now been put in a very, very difficult position, because I don’t really know what to advise him to do.”

Nevertheless, Andrew ultimately went back to the first cottage and submitted an offer, which was accepted.

Escape to the Country airs on BBC One.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The largest, longest and most complex World Cup in history came to a close Sunday, with Spain beating Argentina 1-0 in extra time. But FIFA president Gianni Infantino didn’t bother waiting for the final result before passing judgment on the tournament.

“By all means this World Cup has exceeded all expectations,” he said during a reception at Trump Tower two days before the final kicked off. “This has not just been the greatest FIFA World Cup of all time. It is the greatest human social and cultural event that mankind has ever witnessed.”

No, but it was pretty good, with FIFA emerging as the World Cup’s biggest winner, allowing Infantino to reportedly shore up support within the organization despite a number of norm-shattering decisions during the tournament.

Attendance topped 6.8 million, a World Cup record averaging more than 65,000 fans a game. FIFA estimated the cumulative global TV audience topped 5 billion people across linear television, digital streaming and social platforms while more than 1.8 billion people were expected to watch the final, according to the BusinessStats website, making it the most-viewed sporting event in history.

Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez reacts as Spain’s Ferran Torres scores during the World Cup final in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday.

(Julio Cortez / Ap Photo/julio Cortez)

Exact figures won’t be known for a few days.

Revenue for the four-year World Cup cycle is anticipated to reach $13 billion, making it the first $10-billion sporting event in history — bolstering Infantino’s case for reelection as FIFA’s president next year.

The final was among the most expensive U.S. sporting events of all time, with the get-in asking price for a single ticket on the secondary market peaking at about $7,400 three hours before kickoff and the average purchase price topping $10,800. One seat sold for $32,502, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether you’re buying the ticket or selling it.

Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium hosted eight games, including two of the U.S. team’s three group-stage games and Spain’s quarterfinal win over Belgium. The matches had a total attendance of 561,656 people, about 99.6% of capacity — that’s more than each of the first three World Cups drew for the entire tournaments.

U.S. and Paraguay oversized flags are featured on the pitch before a World Cup group stage match at SoFi Stadium on June 12.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Weather disrupted just a handful of matches, not the dozen or more that were feared, and the logistical nightmares of staging the 39-day tournament across three countries for the first time — the U.S. co-hosted the event with Mexico and Canada — never materialized. The expansion to 48 teams and 104 games, meanwhile, made room for a number of surprises that gave the tournament its life and sparkle.

Tiny Cape Verde, the second-smallest country to qualify for a World Cup, made a memorable debut, playing Spain to a scoreless draw in its opener, then taking Argentina to extra time before falling in the cruelest way possible, on an own goal, in the knockout rounds.

Norway, playing in the tournament for the first time this century, made it to the quarterfinals behind its hulking striker Erling Haaland, who quickly became a fan favorite while the team’s supporters saw their synchronized “Viking Row” celebration go viral.

Canada and Egypt both won World Cup games for the first time, advancing to the Round of 16, with Egypt becoming one of nine African teams to make it to the knockout rounds. Of FIFA’s six continental confederations, only UEFA, representing Europe, did better than Africa, sending 13 teams beyond the group stage.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi erased any doubt that he’s the greatest player in World Cup history — if not soccer history — by willing his team to the final and winning the Silver Ball, runner-up for the tournament’s most outstanding player. On Sunday, Messi was thwarted in his attempt to win a second straight World Cup and third Golden Ball, but he walked off the field at MetLife Stadium as only the second man to play in three World Cup finals.

And he finished his record-setting sixth tournament as the all-time leader in games (34), assists (12) and goal contributions (33), more than standing the test of time. Two of the players Spain started against Argentina in the final hadn’t even been born when Messi, 39, made his World Cup debut in 2006.

But if those were the highlights, there were also lowlights.

This was by far the most political World Cup in history and the first in which a host country, the U.S., was actively at war with a participating one, Iran.

Iran defender Ramin Rezaeian celebrates with teammates after scoring during a World Cup match against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium on June 15.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

That had all kinds of ramifications, starting with the State Department’s refusal to grant visas to more than a dozen members of Iran’s official delegation. Iran was also forced to move its base camp from Tucson to Tijuana, and though it played all its games in the U.S., it was denied permission to remain in the country after each match, an option granted to every other team.

Despite the harassment, Iran did not lose a game, playing to three draws despite having three goals — any of which would have sent it to the knockout rounds — erased by video reviews.

The State Department also denied entry to Omar Abdulkadir Artan, a decorated Somali referee, turning him away at Miami International Airport in June, citing “vetting concerns.” Artan, named Africa’s top referee last year, had a valid entry visa and was selected by FIFA to work the tournament last April.

Iran wasn’t the only team to have its World Cup ended early by technology. Although the video assistant referee (VAR) system was adopted primarily to alert the head official to potential clear and obvious errors or serious missed incidents, in this tournament it became intrusive, eliminating Croatia on evidence from a NASA-level ball sensor and costing Egypt what would have been a game-winning score for a perceived foul that took place nearly 100 yards from the goal.

Coaches and players are still allowed to make mistakes, but the technology now has referees making calls on things that are imperceptible to the naked eye, something critics say has removed any sense of judgment or nuance, robbing the game of much of its drama.

“Football is an art. That’s why we love it,” said Christina Unkel, a former FIFA referee and a rules of the game analyst for multiple TV networks. “When you do pursue black and white — objectivity is what they’re trying to get to, and I get it; they want to eliminate as much subjectivity as possible — what everyone is hating is this perfection thing.”

Then there was the official’s call that President Trump took credit for overruling from 2,800 miles away.

When striker Folarin Balogun, the U.S. team’s leading scorer, was given a red card in the second half of his team’s Round of 32 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, he was immediately suspended from the Americans’ next elimination game with Belgium. But Trump admitted he phoned Infantino three times, lobbying for the suspension to be rescinded.

U.S. forward Folarin Balogun stepped on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic’s foot during a World Cup match and received a red card at Levi’s Stadium on July 1.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Less than 30 hours before the Belgium game, the card penalty was suspended and Balogun was placed on one year’s probation by FIFA’s disciplinary committee, marking just the second time in World Cup history that a player who received a red card was allowed to play in his team’s next game. The international uproar that followed overwhelmed the U.S. team, which played its worst game of the tournament against Belgium.

“I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves,” Balogun said in an interview with CBS, “because it’s something that is so unique.”

Trump, who was booed as he saluted the national anthem Sunday from a luxury box before the game, was booed again by the crowd of 80,663 when he strode onto the pitch for the awards ceremony afterward.

UEFA, the FIFA confederation in which Belgium plays, protested the decision to let Balogun play, saying it had “crossed a red line.” It was far from the only bright red line Infantino crossed in this tournament. And some of that line crossing could set dangerous precedents.

Allowing the U.S. to turn away the Somali official and limit the Iranian team’s time in the country, for example, could embolden future World Cup hosts to do the same. What’s to stop Morocco, co-host of the 2030 tournament, from banning officials and players from Algeria over the two countries’ territorial dispute in the Western Sahara? And if a red card is handed to a player from Spain, another 2030 co-host, would the Spanish prime minister call Infantino to try to get it rescinded? Despite FIFA’s insistence that the disciplinary committee works independently, many believe Trump’s meddling worked.

But as always with FIFA, money speaks the loudest, so Infantino’s norm-shattering behavior over the last year doesn’t seem to have cost him much support. The Guardian reported last week that as the World Cup neared its successful conclusion, nearly 200 of FIFA’s 211 member associations are endorsing Infantino’s bid for reelection to a fourth term as president next March.

Which is why Spain wasn’t the only winner in this tournament.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — This summer’s World Cup will be remembered for a lot of things.

It was the first to be played in three countries, the first with 48 teams and the overall attendance nearly doubled the previous record. Norway’s Erling Haaland and Cape Verde’s Vozinha were captivating while Egypt and Canada both won World Cup games for the first time, advancing to the Round of 16.

And Spain, glorious Spain, gave up just one goal in eight games to dethrone the reigning champions and become the first nation in history to own both the men’s and women’s World Cup titles at the same time.

But the tournament will also be remembered for a classless and churlish Argentina, which forever stained itself with a thuggish performance in the game and an ungracious one afterward.

If La Albiceleste had simply kept its composure it would have secured a place next to Brazil and Germany, the only other countries to reach three finals in four World Cups, as one of the greatest teams of all time. Instead, some of its players turned the postgame handshakes into a brawl, with Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes drawing a red card for grabbing Spain’s Eric Garcia by the throat and shoving him to the turf.

It was believed to be the only red card ever handed out after a World Cup final, and the ignominy it brought was well-deserved. But the childishness was just beginning. When Spain assembled on the podium to accept the World Cup trophy, which had been Argentina’s moments earlier, the South Americans turned their backs.

More than an hour later Lionel Messi, who has cemented his stature as the greatest player in World Cup history, soiled that status by leading the players out of the locker room and through a back exit to the team bus, avoiding the media many had been so eager to speak with during the team’s unbeaten run to the final.

Argentina’s Nahuel Molina, top, reacts after Spain won the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J.

(Pamela Smith / Associated Press)

It was an attack on class and decorum as well as violation of FIFA rules, which require players to leave the stadium through a “mixed zone” accessible to media. They are not required to stop or speak, but certainly someone owed some accountability to the tens of thousands of fans in Argentine jerseys who packed Times Square and MetLife Stadium over the weekend and the millions in Argentine who filled plazas and town squares to watch the team play.

“We’ve been great in victory and we need to be great in defeat,” Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni said moments after Paredes was booked for assault. “We have shown today that we know how to lose, too. We lost the game and we accept that.”

Scaloni, who did address the media, later broke down in tears.

“I already cried all the tears I had in the dressing room,” he said in Spanish.

Scaloni, 48, may be out of a job when his contract expires in December, but his message for the fans was don’t cry for me, Argentina.

“It is hard to ask people to enjoy this equally. It is very hard to convince people that this is a triumph,” said Scaloni, who has lost just twice in 15 World Cup games.

“When you win, not everything is good. When you lose, not everything is bad.”

But while Argentina was being petty and petulant, Spain was practically perfect in every way. Not only did it concede just one goal in the tournament, it held Argentina without a shot into extra time Sunday — the first time that’s ever happened in a World Cup final — and ran its unbeaten streak to a record 38 games overall.

The win, which came on substitute Ferran Torres’ goal moments into the second extra-time period — and less than 20 minutes after Argentina was reduced to 10 men when Enzo Fernández was given a second yellow card for a foolish tackle — not only made Spain the first country to be the men’s and women’s world champion at the same time, it also made it the first to be the men’s world, European and Olympic champion at the same time.

No country in history has dominated the sport as Spain is dominating it now. And since Spain is the second-youngest team to win the World Cup in 56 years, La Roja could be on top for some time.

“After the match, some of the players who have been with us the longest asked me ‘coach, what is left for us win? We’ve won everything,’” said Spain’s manager Luis de la Fuente. “I told them, well the next match in September.”

That’s a UEFA Nations League match with England, which finished third in this World Cup. A little further down the road is the 2030 World Cup, which Spain will co-host, making it the first country in history to defend its title at home.

“When you arrive at a moment like today and think about the journey we’ve taken, you realize the importance of that process,” said De la Fuente, a former youth national team coach who managed many of the players on the World Cup team — among them Dani Olmo, Mikel Merino, Mikel Oyarzabal, Unai Simón, the tournament’s top goalkeeper, and Rodri, tournament’s top player — to U-19 and U-21 European titles.

“We certainly wouldn’t be here today — we wouldn’t have achieved anything — without the journey we’ve shared with these players,” the coach continued. “We have that raw material, those wonderful Spanish footballers. And they way they compete, that is what brought us here.

“That goes back many years.”

De la Fuente, soft-spoken and professorial, is also scrupulously polite, an example many of his players follow. And while it is undoubtedly easier to display grace and dignity in victory than it is in defeat, the difference in the way Argentina and Spain exited the World Cup was far greater than the gap that separated them on the scoreboard, something De la Fuente unwittingly highlighted in speaking about his team late Sunday.

“It seems people were surprised that, alongside talent and brilliance, good people can also play the game,” he said. “This proves that it is possible; that good, supportive, generous people with strong values can form a genuine team.

“We played against the best national teams in the world, yet we were the best team. We demonstrated that a team built on good people — supportive people, people who hold values and principles that prioritize the common good over individual interests. Traveling with people like that makes for a better, safer journey.”

In Spain’s case, it also makes a World Cup champion.

Staff writers Eduard Cauich and Jad El Reda contributed to this story.

BEIRUT  — President Trump long railed against forever wars.

For years, whether as president or candidate, he flayed electoral opponents and previous presidents with his signature barbs, calling their entanglements a “complete waste of time” (Afghanistan), “the worst single mistake ever made in the history of our country” (Iraq) and “stupid” (Ukraine).

Yet he now appears to be stumbling into a forever war of his own.

From the first days of the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, Trump and his officials insisted their adventure abroad would be the exception, that the conflict would end in a matter of weeks.

Now, 4½ months later, after a torturous, start-stop vacillation between truce and war, the U.S. is pressing on with a fight that has no end in sight — or even a clear definition of what an acceptable end would be.

In the last week, the ceasefire collapsed, with the U.S. and Iran trading daily waves of strikes, leading to the deaths of two American servicemen on Friday when Iranian ballistic missiles struck Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, where U.S. assets and personnel are stationed.

On Sunday, as the U.S. and Iran launched more air assaults, the U.S. announced that a service member was killed Saturday in Iraq during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.

On March 9, the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Ky., then the seventh U.S. service member to die in combat during the Iran war, are transferred at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)

The deaths in Jordan were the first combat fatalities since the U.S. and Iran agreed to a ceasefire. One soldier remains missing, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.

Including the most recent casualties, 17 U.S. service members have been killed and more than 430 wounded since the war began, the Pentagon says.

In Iran, at least 57 people have been killed and more than 517 injured in U.S. attacks in the last three weeks, according to Iranian health authorities. The death toll since the beginning of the war has surpassed 3,500, and more than 27,000 have been wounded.

The U.S. and Israeli militaries have — in the telling of Trump and various officials — decimated Iran’s navy and air defenses, eviscerated multiple layers of its leadership and bombed tens of thousands of targets across the country.

Despite that military pressure, and Trump’s insistence that members of Iran’s leadership “want to make a deal” (he’s said that an accord was on hand no less than 46 times since the start of the war), Tehran has refused to surrender its nuclear and missile arsenals and continues to support its regional militia allies.

Iran has also created a new pressure point to use against adversaries by blockading the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas flowed before the war. And it has widened the war’s footprint by targeting countries hosting American military assets.

Trump has vowed to expand bombings to include civilian infrastructure such as power plants and bridges in what he says is a bid to force Iran into negotiations once more.

He has also brought additional forces to the Middle East. According to Centcom, there are now 50,000 troops in the region, along with 20 naval warships and hundreds of warplanes.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the region, declined to comment on the deployments, though on Sunday the New York Times reported that the U.S. was sending to the region F-16 fighter jets from Germany and stealthy F-35 jets from Britain.

For observers, those moves signal that Trump is falling into an escalation trap.

“From Trump’s perspective, the easiest way to demonstrate resolve and power is by just bombing Iran and seeing what that brings about,” said Andreas Boehm, a Middle East expert and lecturer on international law at University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Although those strikes seem tactically impressive, they have not helped him strategically, he said.

“In reality, it doesn’t change the situation because the Iranians won’t budge. And if you confuse tactical and strategic success, then you’re not going anywhere in any kind of war,” Boehm said.

An escalation on Washington’s part is also certain to spark a similar reaction from Tehran, said Vali Nasr, professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

“Iran gets a vote here,” Nasr said, adding Iran could up the ante by closing Bab al Mandab, the vital strait connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. It could also widen attacks on infrastructure in Persian Gulf countries — moves that would trigger an even bigger ripple effect across global markets.

“Trump thought wars in the Middle East would be like Venezuela: a big in-and-out without a prolonged war,” Nasr said, referring to the Trump administration’s strike that saw U.S. forces abduct Venezuelan leader Nicholás Maduro and force the remaining members of his government to submit to U.S. control.

“And the reality is that it’s backfired,” he said.

Trump is not the first American president to think a foreign engagement wouldn’t last long. Whether in Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq, U.S. leaders dispatched troops on operations they thought would last weeks or months, dismissing warnings that they would be bogged down in years-long occupations.

Iran would be an especially sticky quagmire if Trump were to commit ground troops.

The country’s area — about 636,000 square miles — is more than double the size of Afghanistan, almost four times the size of Iraq, and five times the size of Vietnam — all nations where the U.S. struggled to prevail against adversaries not as well equipped and arguably less ideologically motivated than its adversaries in Iran.

Meanwhile, for a president whose central foreign policy campaign promise was no more wars, the growing number of casualties, along with the escalating damage inflicted by Iran on U.S. assets and allies, has exposed cracks in the support the Teflon-like Trump has enjoyed from his advocates.

Onetime MAGA acolytes, including flagship conservative figures such as Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Alex Jones, have already turned on the president over the war and other issues. And Republican figures who had tied their star to Trump fear a drubbing in the midterms so long as the war continues.

If negotiations were to resume, it’s unclear whether Trump and his coterie of negotiators have the stamina or the foreign service expertise to bring about an accord.

After all, the 2015 Obama-era deal aimed at reining in Tehran’s nuclear program took 600 days and hundreds of diplomats and technical experts to negotiate.

With Trump relying on unconventional fixers such as his son-in-law Jared Kushner and real estate investor Steve Witkoff, not to mention his evisceration of the diplomatic corps, an agreement of that scale appears unlikely.

“Everything is dependent on the mood of one man,” Nasr said.

“It’s not the system that’s making the decision; it’s not the country making the decision,” he said. “It’s one man, and it depends how he feels like at one particular point in time.”

Tehran too may be less amenable to negotiations with Trump, given his history: During his first term, he pulled out of the nuclear deal and ordered the assassination of Qassem Suleimani, a leading Iranian general.

In his second term, he launched bombing campaigns on Iran during negotiations — twice. And Iran accused the U.S. of repeatedly violating the April ceasefire and the memorandum of understanding signed in June.

Asked on NewsNation on Sunday about Iran’s announcement that it would no longer abide by the memorandum, Trump said, “I couldn’t care less.”

Such factors, said Ali Vaez, the Iran project director for the International Crisis Group, lead to a formula for prolonged conflict.

“It’s a forever war in the making, and the reason why is that Trump has proven he’s impossible to negotiate with,” Vaez said.

If an agreement as superficial as the memorandum of understanding — which deferred thornier issues for late negotiations — was derailed, then there’s little option other than repeated cycles of violence.

“Once you’ve proven that diplomacy doesn’t work,” he said, “then there’s only war.”

MIAMI — Cuban dissident and Grammy-winning musical artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara arrived in Miami on Saturday after being released from a five-year prison sentence on condition that he leave his country.

Alcántara, 38, was greeted at the airport by a crowd that was cheering, singing and holding their phones high in the air to get a photo of him. They draped him in a Cuban flag, printed with the words “Patria y Vida” — Homeland and Life — the title of a song he shared a Grammy for that became an anthem for Cuba’s political opposition against repression.

The United States granted him parole into the country last week, according to a social media page maintained by his friends and supporters. They wrote that he accepted exile as the only way to escape persecution and continue his art and activism.

Alcántara co-founded a group of Havana artists, writers and musicians called the San Isidro Movement, named for the neighborhood where Alcántara lived.

He was arrested July 11, 2021, during a public protest. In 2022, a court sentenced him to five years in prison for public disorder, contempt and disrespect toward national symbols.

His arrest and incarceration had long been denounced by human rights organizations and the U.S. government. Groups including Amnesty International called him a political prisoner, a designation the Cuban government rejected.

Alcántara was held in a maximum-security prison, he said, and was expected to be released earlier this month. But for days, advocates said they still could not contact him and did not know where he was.

The organization Cubalex, which legally advises dissidents and reports human rights violations from outside of the country, filed a habeas corpus petition on his behalf Monday.

Until he boarded a plane Saturday, his advocates were unsure of his location or whether he truly had been released.

His said his first stop on American soil would be at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami to make an offering.

Other political prisoners remained behind bars in Cuba, including his fellow artist Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo Pérez, his advocates said, and they hoped Alcántara’s release would lead to Pérez also being freed.

Alcántara brought from Cuba a broken statue of the Virgin Mary, which he described as a symbol of hope and healing, a chance to put back together something from fragments.

A federal prosecutor in Texas has shared new details about the moments before an immigration officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo that cast doubt about the government’s claim that the man struck an ICE vehicle before he was shot.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer killed Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national and longtime American resident, on July 7 as he was driving to a Houston construction job site with three co-workers, including his brother. ICE has acknowledged he was not the target of the operation.

The shooting sparked protests in the nation’s fourth-largest city, echoing Salgado Araujo’s family’s calls for transparency. The family describes him as a hardworking father who was close to obtaining legal status in the U.S. after living in the country for 35 years.

The shooting came just days before two other men were killed, in Florida and Maine, in confrontations in President Trump’s federal immigration crackdown, renewing scrutiny on the Department of Homeland Security’s law enforcement tactics.

Aaron Reitz, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said for the first time Thursday that ICE officers were targeting two Guatemalan men who were potentially subject to deportation. He said they were driving a van similar to the one Salgado Araujo was driving when he was killed. In an earlier statement released the day Salgado Araujo was killed, Homeland Security said he was targeted in an immigration enforcement operation and he was living in the country without legal permission.

Reitz also said that the officers believed that Salgado Araujo and the passengers in his car fit the description of the Guatemalan men the agents were looking for.

Four officers driving two separate law enforcement vehicles attempted to pull over Salgado Araujo’s van using their police lights. Salgado Araujo then made a U-turn and drove over a median to evade getting pulled over, Reitz said.

Later that morning, the officers again encountered Salgado Araujo’s van and for the second time tried to pull him over, this time essentially surrounding the vehicle, Reitz said. Two of the four agents got out of their cars and told Salgado Araujo to put the vehicle in park. Just before he was shot, one of the agents was “partially inside the van or immediately next to it” when Salgado Araujo tried to reverse the van and then drive forward again, Reitz said.

An earlier Homeland Security statement accused Salgado Araujo of “weaponizing” his vehicle. The agency said he rammed his van into a law enforcement vehicle and said an officer opened fire in self-defense. The most recent statement from the U.S attorney’s office, however, didn’t mention any collision between Salgado Araujo’s van and a law enforcement vehicle. It also didn’t explicitly say that the officer feared for his life. There are no reported injuries among the officers involved.

The latest statement didn’t name the officer who killed Salgado Araujo, nor did it specify whether the officer who fired the shot was the same person who was next to, or partially inside, the van.

Reitz also said in the statement that officers “saw in plain view several small bags of a white, crystal-like substance inside the van” and that the FBI later executed a search warrant to investigate for possible illicit substances.

Salgado Araujo’s brother, who was in the van when the shooting happened, has been in ICE detention since the incident. His attorney said the white substance was a salt mixture that the men used as electrolytes to stay hydrated while doing manual labor in the grueling Texas heat.

Few photos or videos surrounding the shooting in Houston have emerged on social media, unlike other deaths involving federal immigration officers.

Riddle writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — Democrats are making a growing effort to adopt a pragmatic focus as they campaign on affordability in the midterms, as some within the party push for moving away from ideological arguments.

Across the country, Democratic candidates are trying to win over voters by talking about real-life scenarios, framing other platform issues in economic terms and, strategists say, aiming to shift a perception that Democrats deal in the abstract.

They see an opening created by voters’ focus on the economy and their ability as the party not in power to leverage affordability as the key midterms issue as Trump’s economic approval remains low. Trump has dismissed the issue, calling affordability a “hoax” by Democrats while also promising economic improvements.

“There has been a learning process in being able to take what Trump and the Republicans are doing and make sure that [candidates] are coming back to the real-world economic implications of whatever that might be,” Democratic strategist Alex Jacquez, who served in the Biden White House. “That’s where maybe [Democrats] haven’t always, in the recent past, made the full connection all the way through.”

Now, “the moment is ripe,” he suggested, for the party to shift its image.

The Democrats’ concentration on affordability and the economy has defined their midterm messaging, playing off elevated inflation, the effects of Trump’s tariffs and high gas prices caused by the war in Iran. The party is attempting to capture enough swing voters to win a House majority in November, and some believe the Senate could also be within reach.

Polling shows pessimism about the economy has increased among all Americans and most believe the country is in an affordability crisis. Americans most frequently mention government leadership and economic issues as the country’s most important problems in Gallup polling.

Voters also increasingly disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, including working-class white voters who make up a key part of his base. In an NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll last month, Americans gave the president his lowest-ever approval rating on the economy at 33%.

Speaking in Pennsylvania on Thursday, Trump said of affordability: “That’s a fake word that they use. They caused the affordability problem. It’s called high prices.”

Rep. Adam Gray, a Democrat who represents a purple Central Valley district and is a member of the center-left Blue Dog Coalition in Congress, said he believes voters have grown frustrated by the failure of Washington lawmakers to pay attention to what the people want out from government.

He pointed to Central Valley growers whose business has been affected, he said, by the rising price of fuel and fertilizer, the squeeze on the labor market caused by immigration enforcement and changes to federal programs.

“How regular people experience politics, it’s not the kind of ideological debates we have in Washington,” Gray said. “It’s the experience of doing something, whether that’s shopping for groceries or going to the lake to go boating with your family and realizing the price of gas is through the roof or the road to the lake is in disrepair.”

At a time when Democrats have debated how to embrace a party identity beyond opposing Trump and intra-party fights between progressive and moderate candidates have drawn attention, some believe the “practical” tactic may offer one key to the party’s path forward.

In Texas, Democratic candidates are pointing to the impact of data centers on water supply or the consequences of the state’s abortion ban, said Matt Angle, director of Lone Star Project, a political research organization that works to help get Democrats elected.

“The fact that Corpus Christi is running out of water … [or] you have women who have died because they were denied abortion services,” Angle said. “It’s very important that those things not be talked about in ideological terms but in practical terms. I think Democrats are doing a better job of that than ever before.”

“Real life is happening on the ground,” Angle added. “I think Democrats see that.”

Republicans pursued a similar strategy successfully in 2024, and their attacks on Democrats for focusing on cultural issues may have been successful in pushing Democrats away from that messaging, said Republican strategist Brittany Martinez.

“They have made it clear that’s the direction in which they’re trying to go,” she said of Democrats. “I also think you have outliers of the party that sometimes suck all the oxygen out of the room and maybe derail that message.”

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Christian Martinez said Democrats’ economic record, including in California under Gov. Gavin Newsom, demonstrates a failure to prioritize working families.

“It’s laughable that Democrats are trying to make kitchen-table issues their brand,” he said. “It only proves their political brand is broken, while Californians continue living every day with the receipts from Democrats’ failed agenda.”

Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters said Thursday at a summit convened by the Washington-based news outlet the Hill that he was confident the party would retain the House and Senate and projected optimism about the economy.

“He’s going to bat for the American worker every single day,” Gruters said of Trump. “He’s going to continue to do everything he can to get the nose of the economy in this country up and to get prices down.”

But as Trump appears to prioritize other issues, Martinez said, Republicans are facing their own uphill battle to win over swing voters.

“When the president has mocked affordability, said it’s not a crisis, I don’t think that helps [Republicans],” Martinez said. “Democrats have an opportunity to capitalize on that right now.”

Both moderate and progressive Democrats see the moment as a chance to define what the party stands for beyond opposing Trump, and both have seized on real-life arguments, though the approaches differ.

Progressives have long framed a spectrum of issues in economic terms, said Usamah Andrabi, spokesperson for the progressive caucus Justice Democrats.

“That has always been the progressive economic playbook, and I think it’s about time that the other wings of the Democratic Party catch up to us,” Andrabi said.

That also means, he said, not backing away from other issues, such as abortion, foreign wars and healthcare.

“It has always been the right that has sought to divide our communities on these so-called culture war issues,” Andrabi said. “Our vision forward should be one that includes everyone… That does not mean simply ignoring some people’s most urgent crises to focus on something else, because these are interconnected.”

Climate advocates, for instance, are “effectively connecting” climate to top midterm issues, including including gas and utility costs, AI data centers and the Iran war, said Jamie Henn, executive director of nonprofit communications lab Fossil Fuel Media, and have encouraged Democratic candidates to do the same.

“Climate, like many issues, doesn’t win itself on its own merits. It’s in the ways that you talk about it and connect it to kitchen-table issues,” Henn said. “Do it in the right way – it’s not a science lecture on global warming, it’s a story about how clean energy can reduce your bills.”

Still, getting more candidates to pick up those messages can be a steep climb, he said. Advocates in some spaces, including climate, have worried about their issues being sidelined.

“There are Democrats that could be threading this needle who aren’t,” Henn said. “We know the issues that climate needs to be connected to, but [politicians] need… to do a better job to clearly articulate the messages.”

The Chinese leader called for more international cooperation in developing the technology at a conference in Shanghai.

Artificial intelligence should not be dominated by one country, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said, urging international cooperation on development at a major conference in Shanghai.

Xi also emphasised the importance of a “people-centred” approach to AI technology in his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference on Friday.

The conference showcases the cutting-edge technology Xi hopes will soon rival that of the United States.

Chinese AI models are gaining ground on the most powerful offerings from the US, attracting global users with lower costs.

But how to govern the booming sector has become a topic of debate amid concerns over the deployment of AI in military combat and its use by hackers or criminals.

In his address, Xi spoke of China’s role in ensuring equitable access to AI capacity-building for developing countries to prevent the creation of “new historical injustices”.

To that end, he announced China’s plans to cooperate with international bodies, including from Africa, Latin America, Asia and BRICS countries, to provide AI-related opportunities.

“AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation,” Xi said. “We should jointly oppose overstretching the national security concept in the field of AI or placing one country’s security over that of others.”

‘Ensure AI is always under human control’

The US and European Union have imposed restrictions on Chinese tech imports, citing national security concerns, while recent tussles between Washington and American AI labs have raised questions about who controls access to top technology.

In May, the US Commerce Department issued a notice affirming its restrictions on shipments of semiconductors to subsidiaries of Chinese companies located outside China amid concerns about loopholes in Washington’s export control regime.

The guidance said its licensing requirements for the export of advanced AI chips applied to all businesses with headquarters or a parent company in China.

At Friday’s conference, Xi also stressed the need for a “people-centred” approach to AI with humans at the wheel.

“We should put in place laws and regulations, technological monitoring, early warning, and emergency response systems, in order to … ensure AI is always under human control,” he said.

AI has become a strategic pillar of China’s industrial policy, driven by state investment aimed at building a domestic ecosystem, from chip production to consumer use.

Daily consumption in China of “tokens” – the industry unit of AI usage – has increased a thousandfold over the past two years, according to state media citing officials.

As Al Jazeera reported earlier, China, while lagging behind the US in access to the most cutting-edge semiconductors, holds the edge in powering the huge data centres that run on AI chips.

A typical data centre can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households, while next-generation “hyperscale” facilities can gobble up as much power as two million homes, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

China’s access to an abundant supply of cheap electricity places it in the ideal position to meet such colossal energy demands.

It already generates more than twice as much electricity as the US, a lead that is expected to widen amid an aggressive state-led investment in the country’s energy grid.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday convened leaders from more than 60 countries to take part in the Trump administration’s latest effort to quell what it calls “left-wing” political terrorism, a marquee issue for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

This focus comes even as studies show that there are very few reported cases of such incidents in the U.S., especially compared to historically higher levels of far-right violence.

With sweeping statements about the “alarming rise” of political violence by the left, Rubio and other U.S. officials painted a dark image of the future if the “communists and Marxists” perpetrating these supposed acts are not defeated. He urged officials in attendance — mostly from European and Latin American countries — to unite to address the issue, which he says has been a “blind spot” in counterterrorism doctrine.

“So many people in positions of power have repeatedly dismissed acts of violence and even terrorism as legitimate forms of political expression, so long as they served a left-wing cause,” Rubio said in opening remarks. “A bomb planted by a neo-Nazi group was ‘a nefarious and murderous act of evil.’ It is, but a bomb planted by a Marxist revolutionary, well, that’s just merely a tragic excess of idealism.”

A report published last year by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that left-wing terrorism attacks as of July 4, 2025, had surpassed those from the far right for the first time in more than 30 years. However, a closer look at the data reveals that the uptick reflects a very low starting level and a concurrent drop on the far right.

There was an average of 0.6 left-wing incidents annually from 1994 through 2000, compared with an average of 20.6 on the right, the report shows. From 2016 to 2024, there was an average of four per year on the left and 22.7 per year on the right. Those numbers had dropped dramatically on the right as of early July 2025, with only one incident. Meanwhile, there had been five from the left.

But the report’s authors note that right-wing terrorism could easily return to elevated levels and that it is important to fight terrorism on both sides of the political spectrum.

President Trump and his allies have prioritized talking points against the far left ahead of the congressional elections this November. Trump has repeatedly stated that the Democratic Party’s ascendant left are communists who want to “completely destroy the traditional American way of life” and even engage in assassinations.

Vice President JD Vance has similarly called out communism as a political shift that is “something we haven’t seen in the U.S.” House Speaker Mike Johnson has decried “radical candidates” who are “self-described, self-identifying Marxists.”

For Rubio, his worldview on this issue has been largely shaped by his own history: he is the son of Cuban immigrants who arrived in Miami in May 1956, a few years before communist leader Fidel Castro rose to power in Havana. The former Florida senator said Thursday that it was that same government’s sprawling intelligence and ideological network that “helped to build the far left in our country and in our hemisphere.”

Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff and main architect of the administration’s immigration policy, followed Rubio’s remarks, aiming to drive home the immediacy of the perceived threats he saw to American institutions coming from the left, and what response is needed in return.

“If your civilization is your home, you must defend it with the same passion and force as if an enemy intruder is inside your own house where your family lives,” Miller said. “That is the level of dedication and urgency that is required.”

This ideological focus has repeatedly conflated democratic socialism — which often centers on securing universal healthcare, higher taxes on the wealthy and stricter corporate regulation — with communism, under which private ownership is largely eliminated.

It has only intensified in the last year, after the election of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani to become New York City mayor and several of his proteges who won their New York City congressional primaries last month, beating out incumbents.

One of the ways the administration has started to target left-wing efforts is through sanctions. In November, the State Department designated four antifa or anti-fascist groups in Europe as foreign terrorist organizations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in his remarks Thursday that targeting these entities’ financial networks is the best way to circumvent their efforts.

“We have spent decades developing the world’s most sophisticated financial counterterrorism capabilities, and now we are mobilizing some of the same tools that we have deployed against terrorists abroad to confront this emerging threat here at home,” he told the conference.

Amiri and Kinnard write for the Associated Press. Amiri reported from New York and Kinnard from Columbia, S.C. AP writer Melissa Goldin in New York contributed to this report.

SANTIAGO, Chile, July 16 (UPI) — Chile declared a preventive state of emergency across 10 of its 16 administrative regions as authorities warned that an exceptionally severe weather system linked to El Niño could bring life-threatening conditions, widespread flooding and significant property damage.

President José Antonio Kast’s government issued the emergency declaration ahead of a powerful frontal system expected to trigger flooding, overflowing rivers and landslides in the Andes foothills.

Chile’s Meteorological Directorate forecast that the system, which already has reached the country’s southern regions, will persist for five consecutive days, bringing heavy rainfall, strong winds, snowfall in the Andean foothills and hazardous coastal conditions.

Central and southern Chile are expected to face three consecutive frontal systems, including a Category 5 atmospheric river, the highest level on the scale used to measure these corridors of concentrated atmospheric moisture. In response to the multi-hazard event, authorities issued the country’s highest meteorological alert.

Meteorologists warned that Santiago alone could receive between 4 and 6 inches of rain during the event, more than half the precipitation the capital typically receives from four to six major winter storms.

According to records from Santiago’s main weather station, the city averages 11.27 inches of precipitation annually. The approaching system could deliver between 35% and 52% of the city’s average yearly rainfall within just a few days.

Metropolitan Gov. Claudio Orrego said the situation could become even more challenging because the region has experienced an unusually dry year.

“The metro area is expected to get [5.5 to 8 inches] of rain over four days, with winds reaching about [45 mph], and the freezing level has climbed above [11,500 feet]. That adds up to a difficult situation for the region. We expect the power companies to respond appropriately to what’s coming,” Orrego said.

Chile’s National Geology and Mining Service, known as Sernageomin, warned of a high probability of mudslides, landslides, rockfalls and flooding.

Kast said the Armed Forces had been placed on preventive standby to strengthen the government’s emergency response capabilities.

“The Armed Forces have ordered their personnel into preventive readiness so they will be available if a response is required,” Kast told Radio BioBio.

As an additional precaution, authorities suspended classes at preschools and schools in the affected areas.

Officials also urged residents to prepare for possible disruptions to essential services, including drinking water and electricity. One of the government’s main concerns is the resilience of the power grid after severe storms in August 2024.

During that event, wind gusts exceeding 74 mph damaged critical infrastructure, leaving more than 80,000 households without electricity for as long as six days.

Carolina Martínez, director of the Coastal Observatory at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, warned that the storm’s effects could continue even after rainfall subsides.

“We should not only be concerned about the rain, but also about the behavior of the ocean, the response of beaches, unstable coastal cliffs, hillsides reacting to higher river flows at river mouths and intense or concentrated rainfall,” she said.

Martínez said the storm could cause localized flooding, shoreline changes, wave overtopping, increased pressure on wetlands and river mouths, along with sinkhole risks in the most vulnerable areas.

The preventive state of emergency will remain in effect through Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — President Trump appeared poised to question the security of U.S. elections with a planned prime-time speech Thursday night, eliciting fears from Democrats and voting rights advocates that he is planning yet another play for federal control over voting in November’s midterms.

The exact reason for the speech has not been disclosed by the White House, with Trump only characterizing it to reporters this week as “really, really big news.” He confirmed it would have to do with “free and fair elections.”

The Washington Post reported, citing sources, that Trump planned to argue that there are vulnerabilities in the nation’s election infrastructure and claim that China had accessed U.S. voter data. The White House declined to confirm any such details Wednesday.

The announcement of the speech set off concerns among the president’s political opponents, as well as elections experts and voting rights advocates, that Trump could again escalate claims that the nation’s voting system is vulnerable to domestic fraud and foreign attacks.

He has previously said that Republicans should “nationalize” election administration, a job that falls to the states under the Constitution, and has pressured his party to tighten federal voting rules.

“We don’t know anything about what he might say … or what he might try to do with his very limited powers, as the president, over elections,” said David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research. “I expect we’re going to hear a lot of rehashed and debunked claims.”

The president could potentially use new claims to argue that the nation is facing an emergency in upcoming elections that necessitates further federal intervention into voting, Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Administration Committee, which has oversight of elections, said in an interview with The Times.

“This is going to be the rationale for declaring a national emergency,” Morelle said. “It’s transparent that he is creating the emergency and he’s creating the evidence out of whole cloth to suggest there is an emergency.”

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees federal elections, told The Times on Wednesday that Trump was using a known playbook to “[sow] doubt about the outcome before a single vote has been cast.”

“All signs show that tomorrow’s speech will be more of the same: debunked conspiracy theories offered up not because they’re true, but because chaos and doubt are the only cards he has left to play,” Padilla said.

The speech, which Trump announced on social media Monday, comes four months ahead of midterm elections that will determine whether his party retains legislative control in Washington.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt dismissed news reports about what Trump might say in the 6 p.m. PDT speech as speculation, and said “nobody knows yet what President Trump will ultimately say.”

The address also comes as Trump’s ceasefire with Iran has fallen apart, renewing expectations for increased gas prices, and his approval rating on the economy has steadily dropped. On Tuesday, it also became public that Trump had paid $5.6 million to the writer E. Jean Carroll, as ordered by a jury that in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her.

“What we’re going to be talking about Thursday is, it doesn’t get bigger,” Trump told reporters who asked Tuesday about the speech. “Because without free and fair elections you don’t have a country.”

Trump has spread baseless claims of widespread election fraud for years. But his prioritization of his claims about the voting system — even as much of the nation’s attention is on cost-of-living issues — has been on particularly clear display in recent days.

He has aggressively lobbied reluctant Republican senators to pass his voter ID legislation, refusing to sign a bipartisan housing bill over it; he fired all remaining members of the bipartisan U.S. Elections Assistance Commission; and his Justice Department said it would send election monitors to six states.

Since the midterm primaries began, Trump has also sown doubt about election security — chiefly in California, where he suggested Democrats had cheated or attempted to in the gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral primaries.

Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, whose state was often at the center of Trump’s 2020 fraud claims, said the president’s speech posed a threat to voting rights.

“I expect him to use whatever he puts out there on Thursday as a pretext, either for some attempted unconstitutional use of federal power to interfere in the election,” Ossoff said Tuesday on MS Now, “or to give his proxies and loyalists in state and local jurisdictions some cover for whatever they might attempt, or to lay the groundwork for challenging the result.”

Any effort to federalize or take over elections would face serious legal obstacles, said Nahal Kazemi, a Chapman University law professor. Although Congress can pass laws regarding election administration, as it did with the Voting Rights Act, the executive branch doesn’t play a role in running elections.

“You run into essentially a brick wall that is the Constitution, which makes very plain that states run elections,” Kazemi said.

When it comes to concerns about foreign interference, experts say there is little evidence of other countries attempting to hack systems or change votes. Instead, foreign actors have largely operated via disinformation campaigns, as the U.S. determined had occurred in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

“Of the information that is available to us now, there’s no reason to be alarmed about the possibility that a foreign adversary is going to take over election systems,” said Kazemi, who has studied foreign election interference.

One of the things that helps make American elections generally secure, she said, is that they are not centralized but are run by thousands of counties. Hacking into so many voting systems would be extraordinarily difficult for a foreign adversary, she said.

Jenny Farrell, executive director of the League of Women Voters of California, said California “takes elections security extremely seriously” and has one of the most secure systems in the country, subject to strict voter verification measures and intense chain of custody and auditing procedures.

Democrats have worked with elections experts in recent months on attempts to assure the public that U.S. elections are safe and secure. They have also tried to counter claims by Trump that mail ballots and voting machines are unreliable.

A slew of 2020 election reviews, including by Trump’s first administration, concluded that Trump lost and Biden won. Election experts say there is no evidence that widespread fraud determined the outcome of the election.

A judge also found that claims pushed by Trump and his attorneys that the company Dominion Voting Systems manipulated votes cast through its machines in favor of Biden were untrue.