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Aug. 29 (UPI) — A federal judge in California on Friday ruled that the Trump administration violated the Constitution’s First and Fifth Amendments when it sought to deport international students critical of Israel.

Judge Noël Wise, of the Northern District of California, sided with student journalists at the Stanford Daily, which sued because some of its noncitizen writers had been afraid of deportation for expressing opinions critical of the administration’s policies.

“Foundational to America’s enduring democracy are our freedoms of speech and the press embodied in the First Amendment,” Wise wrote in a 90-page ruling. “In the United States, free speech, including the freedom to criticize the government and its leaders, is not a sign of our democracy’s fragility. It is evidence of its strength.”

Wise ruled that it was unconstitutional for State Secretary Marco Rubio to use immigration law to deport students for their opinions.

Last year, Rubio sought the deportations of several student activists in the pro-Palestininan movement, including Columbia University’s Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University’s Rümeysa Öztürk.

Fearing similar repression, the Stanford Daily sued to stop the government from revoking the visas of other students with views critical of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Wise said the strength of the Constitution “is diminished when members of our society — citizens and noncitizens alike — must self-censor and ‘behave’ or suffer the government’s retaliation.”

“In March 2025, that retaliation was directed at those engaged in pro-Palestine and anti-Israel speech,” the judge continued. “In September 2025, caught in the government’s net were people critical of Charlie Kirk.

“In May 2026, it potentially included ‘weighing in on a peace deal that’s being negotiated’ in Iran regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Tomorrow, or perhaps even today, targets may include anyone in the United States who exercises their freedom of speech to simply express opinions the government does not like.”

Attorney Conor Fitzpatrick, whose Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sued the government on behalf of the students, said, “Today’s ruling proves that free speech isn’t a privilege, but the inalienable right of every man, woman, and child.”

“In America, free speech doesn’t just belong to the people who say things the government agrees with,” the attorney added in a statement.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is experiencing a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe largely driven by President Trump’s war with Iran, a U.S. defense official in Europe and a NATO official told the Associated Press, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in NATO countries to a potential Russian attack.

The U.S. defense official said the most concerning shortfall involves Patriot missile interceptors, which can shoot down Russia’s high-speed ballistic missiles. The NATO official confirmed the low inventories of Patriots among American and NATO forces in Europe. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.

In the event of a Russian ballistic missile assault on, for example, a military headquarters or power plant, NATO could be in a similar position to Patriot-starved Ukraine and be forced “to take punch after punch in the mouth,” the U.S. defense official said.

In Europe, the American military “definitely” does not have enough Patriots to stop any possible sustained ballistic missile attack and would have “very limited” capability to defend against a single ballistic missile strike or a stray Russian missile that goes off course, the U.S. official said.

It illustrates the cascading fallout from Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran, a conflict that reaches the six-month mark on Friday. U.S. missile stocks in Europe have been moved to the Middle East, where U.S. and Gulf allies have fired off significant numbers of interceptors, including Patriots, to thwart Iran’s drones and missiles. Some of those attacks have killed and wounded American troops.

Though a Russian ballistic missile attack against NATO countries is not imminently expected, CIA Director John Ratcliffe went to Moscow this week to warn Russia not to attack, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump played down the significance of the rare and secretive trip, saying it was “sort of semi-routine.”

European and NATO officials say Russia could be in a position to attack countries in the alliance by 2030. Patriot stockpiles are projected to rebound by then. In the meantime, Russia’s war in Ukraine could hinder its ability to carry out any missile attack on Europe as it would be a challenge for Moscow to fight an air war on two fronts.

U.S. Patriot transfers to Ukraine played a role in the drawdown, but the Iran war wasn’t expected

The Patriot missile shortage is most acutely felt in Ukraine, where officials are begging for more air defense support and where previous U.S. transfers also have drawn down some supply. Kyiv says only U.S.-made Patriots can stop Russia’s advanced ballistic missiles, which increasingly are getting through Ukrainian defenses, including as part of a barrage overnight into Thursday.

The U.S. supplied hundreds of Patriot missiles to Ukraine over the course of the 4 1/2-year-long conflict, but the Iran war was the tipping point for shrinking inventories, said Ed Arnold, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a military think tank in London.

The supply to Ukraine was planned for and reasonably measured, he said, whereas stocks in the Middle East have been unexpectedly and quickly drained, exposing supply chain constraints.

The U.S. military in Europe also is grappling with critical shortages of the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, a medium-range ballistic missile designed to strike behind enemy lines, the two officials said. But the overall munitions picture in Europe is less dire than on air defenses alone because some European militaries have their own offensive missiles, such as the Taurus and Storm Shadow, which are both long-range air-launched bunker-busting missiles.

U.S. Army Col. Martin O’Donnell, a senior NATO military spokesperson, said it is “simply not the case” that the number of Patriot missiles in Europe is beyond critical.

NATO, he said, is able to “block punches” and has enough air defense munitions available to defend itself as well as to donate to Ukraine.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Thursday that claims of U.S. munition shortages “are false.”

“We have everything required to strike at the time and place of the President’s choosing,” Parnell said. “Across multiple combatant commands, we have already executed successful operations while maintaining a deep, ready arsenal to defend our people and our interests.”

Europe has few alternatives while stocks are low

The dearth of Patriot interceptors in Europe would leave few alternatives for shooting down Russia’s more advanced ballistic missiles, which can be combined with swarms of inexpensive drones to overwhelm defenses, experts say.

Ukraine and some allies already use systems that can destroy slower-moving drones without expensive missiles. But ballistic missiles are a challenge because they dive steeply toward targets at more than five times the speed of sound, leaving little time to stop them.

The Patriot system tracks the missile, predicts its path and launches within minutes, all while carrying out complex calculations to ensure the interceptor finds its target. One Patriot battery can only cover a limited area: for example, a small military base but not a whole city.

One alternative could be France and Italy’s SAMP/T NG air defense system. France has promised to speed up the delivery of the system — the upgraded version of the current SAMP/T — to Ukraine, which the manufacturer says is better able to counter ballistics.

The new iteration, however, has not yet been battle tested and the current version of the SAMP/T has a smaller range than the Patriot.

While U.S. and European militaries have warships that can serve as mobile air defense, they may be too far from a target to protect it and could risk getting sunk.

Patriot stocks have plunged during the Iran war

Ukraine has received Patriots from American and European stockpiles since Russia’s 2022 invasion, with the U.S. providing about 600 of the interceptors during the Biden administration, said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel who is now senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

But the greatest expenditure has been during the Iran conflict, which has used up 65% of U.S. Patriots, amounting to roughly 1,500 of the nation’s 2,330 interceptors, CSIS says. About 600 missiles, including those destined for Europe, should be made this year, with a production goal of 2,000 Patriot missiles a year set for 2030, Cancian said.

NATO says Europe’s first Patriot missile production facility is expected to open in Germany in September, with deliveries possibly beginning early next year. The first deliveries should go to countries that have already placed orders, including Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain, the U.S. defense official said.

But for now, that means some countries, such as Germany, have bought expensive Patriot systems but are in the “ridiculous” position of not having any ammunition to fire from them, said Arnold of the London think tank.

Germany’s defense ministry said it does not comment on stockpiles.

Russia also has limitations

Moscow likely cannot carry out a sustained air assault on a NATO target while it launches almost nightly attacks on Ukraine, Arnold said.

Ukraine’s recent strikes into Russia also have exposed weaknesses in Russia’s air defenses, which could prompt Putin to think twice about provoking a retaliatory attack.

“The uncomfortable truth is possibly the best air defense that we have is Russian constraints,” Arnold said.

Burrows and Finley write for the Associated Press. Burrows reported from London. AP writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) is repositioning one of its AH-64 Apache squadrons from Ramon Air Base in the Negev to Ramat David Air Base in northern Israel, bringing a portion of the service’s attack helicopter force significantly closer to the Lebanese and Syrian fronts. The AH-64 has been of central importance in recent IAF operations, and the shift makes the relatively small Apache fleet better positioned for rapid-response missions, including greater persistence over the northern battlefield.

The IAF announced today that 190 “Magic Touch” Squadron would be transferring its aircraft from Ramon to Ramat David, the northernmost IAF base. This would involve increased aircraft activity in the country’s skies, but that there was no security concern. The unit currently operates the older AH-64A, known locally as Peten (python), which the IAF began to receive in 1990.

The IAF began to establish an attack helicopter force in response to the lessons of the October 1973 Yom Kippur War, particularly the need to counter large-scale enemy armored formations. Over the following decades, its role evolved from that of a dedicated tank-hunting force into a precision-strike capability able to engage a much broader range of threats, including irregular and guerrilla forces operating among civilian populations.

In the past, the IAF attack helicopter force comprised three frontline squadrons: 160 “First Attack Helicopter” Squadron, operating the AH-1, was at Palmachim, near Tel Aviv, while Ramon hosted the “Magic Touch” Squadron and 113 “Hornet” Squadron operating the newer AH-64D Saraf (serpent), which arrived in 2005.

When it arrived in Israel, the AH-64D (sometimes designated AH-64D-I) was one of the most advanced attack helicopters in the world. It combined the mission system of the U.S. Army AH-64D Apache Longbow, including its mast-mounted AN/APG-78 Longbow radar, with Israeli avionics. Among these are a Rafael voice communications and data suite (RAVNET 300) and Elta 1891 satellite communications (with prominent bulbous antennas carried on the outer parts of the stub wings). The locally developed mission management system is the Elbit HELICOM suite which provides a real-time overview of the battlefield. Finally, the Elisra Seraph self-protection suite includes an SPS-65 missile warning receiver and an SPJ-40 radar jammer as well as Elbit Rokar countermeasures dispensers.

After the Saraf entered IAF service, the fleet was subsequently expanded through the conversion of older AH-64A airframes to a similar standard.

The AH-64A upgrade also added an optional under-fuselage avionics pod, something that you can read about in more detail here.

Located near Haifa, Ramat David Air Base is one of the most historic in Israel. It was formerly operated by the U.K. Royal Air Force and was involved in combat from the very beginning of Israeli independence. Flying a succession of different fighters and fighter-bombers, units operating from the base were active in every major conflict that followed, including the Sinai campaign, the June 1967 Six-Day War, and the October 1973 War, when its squadrons fought over the Syrian and Lebanese fronts. Due to its proximity to Lebanon, Ramat David has played a major role in different campaigns fought in that country, starting in 1982.

Before the arrival of the “Magic Touch” Squadron, Ramat David was primarily an F-16 hub, with three squadrons flying the F-16C/D. These units have played a central role in Israeli air operations on the northern front, including operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

As for Ramon Air Base in the south, its history dates back to the early 1980s, when it was established in the Negev as part of the reorganization of IAF infrastructure following the withdrawal from Sinai under the peace treaty with Egypt. Ramon has been home to fighters and attack jets, including F-16s and A-4s.

Since the 2000s, Ramon has been a principal base for some of the most advanced IAF combat aircraft. As well as the AH-64D, it is home to three of the four F-16I Sufa squadrons. It is also understood to be the home of the secretive Israeli drone, referred to as RA-01 and used for covert missions. You can read more about that here.

Moving an AH-64 squadron from Ramon to Ramat David reflects a shift in the IAF’s priorities toward the northern front. Ramat David places the helicopters significantly closer to Lebanon and Syria, reducing transit times and allowing more of their limited endurance to be spent over the battlefield. This is particularly valuable for rapid-response missions and close air support, where the Apache’s sensors and precision weapons can provide immediate support to ground forces.

As detailed in our deep dive on the IDF’s air defenses, Israeli AH-64s have also been extensively used in counter-drone operations. Their flexibility and ability to operate at low speeds make them well suited to engaging certain types of unmanned aircraft, while their Hellfire missiles can be employed in an unconventional air-to-air role for this mission. Bearing in mind the threat posed by drones launched from Lebanon and Syria, this factor may also have played into the relocation.

An IDF video purportedly showing an Israeli AH-64 intercepting an Iranian UAV that crossed into Israeli territory:

Iranian UAV Intercepted by an Israeli Helicopter

In fact, there is a historical precedent for the move. Ahead of the June 1982 Lebanon War, the “Magic Touch” Squadron was transferred from Ramon to Ramat David to reduce the distance to its principal operational theater along the Lebanese border. Once again, between 1990 and 1995, the same squadron again flew its MD500 Defenders from Ramat David.

The new relocation also disperses the IAF’s relatively small Apache fleet between its northern and southern fronts, improving readiness at the cost of concentrating fewer helicopters at Ramon. It is worth noting that, at the time of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, only four Israeli AH-64s were actually on standby across the entire country. Two of these were on so-called short standby for potential deployment to the northern border within minutes, with the other two on long standby for the same area, meaning they would take longer to get into action. In total, the IAF has a fleet of around 48 AH-64s of both versions.

As of now, Israeli forces are no longer involved in a full-scale ground offensive on the northern front. However, they maintain a very active forward-defense posture, still hold positions in southern Lebanon, and limited ground operations continue. So, too, do airtrikes against Hezbollah infrastructure.

Separately, Israel maintains positions in Syria, in the former UN buffer zone and parts of Quneitra and western Daraa, while continuing raids and airstrikes in southern Syria. Only today, Israel reportedly struck Syria’s Abu al-Duhur airbase in the northwest, reportedly damaging the runway and storage facilities.

Time will tell how the long-term IAF Apache force looks. In January of this year, the U.S. State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Israel of 30 of the latest AH-64E Apaches and related equipment for an estimated cost of $3.8 billion. Israel might not take up all of those aircraft, but the Apache is currently central to its future plans.

Even before October 7, the IAF had been pushing to acquire another 40 of the AH-64E versions, after apparently concluding that an earlier plan to bolster its attack fleet by replacing the older AH-64As with armed drones was not feasible. This is a notably interesting development at a time in which other AH-64 customers are rethinking the value of the attack helicopter in general, due to questions about their survivability on the modern battlefield.

The transfer of an AH-64 squadron to Ramat David underscores the IAF’s growing emphasis on the northern front and the Apache’s expanding role beyond traditional anti-armor missions. By positioning the helicopters closer to Lebanon and Syria, the move should improve their responsiveness and endurance over the battlefield while giving the IAF greater flexibility in addressing a wider range of emerging threats.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

During a holiday in the Dominican Republic in 2022, Freddie Bentley suffered liver failure – his health scare led to him being diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC)

TOWIE star Freddie Bentley has opened up on a horrifying health ordeal that left him fearing for his life.

The TV personality, who left the ITV reality show in February, was hospitalised after suffering liver failure during a boozy holiday in the Dominican Republic in 2022. Freddie, who was 24 at the time, experienced critical symptoms, including severe vomiting and his skin and eyes turning yellow from jaundice.

The health ordeal left him in hospital for six weeks. Sharing details of the incident on the official TOWIE podcast, You Alright, Hun?, Freddie said: “When I was 24, my liver failed. My bile ducts and my liver stopped working properly.

“I got jaundice, so I was in hospital for six weeks. A normal liver function level is meant to be, like, 125. Mine was 980. So, wow, I was critical, I was in a really, really bad… wow.”

Freddie’s condition meant he was “so poorly” and “couldn’t hold anything down, both ways” during the holiday. He explained: “The doctors were worried. They were like, ‘You’re 24 years of age, your liver shouldn’t be failing.'”

The reality sar, who has also appeared on The Circle, said the ordeal led to the discovery that he suffers from a rare liver disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), a condition causing chronic inflammation and scarring of the bile ducts.

Although his medical team clarified that PSC is a genetic condition completely unrelated to alcohol abuse, Freddie acknowledged that heavy drinking aggravated his symptoms.

As explained by the Mayo Clinic, PSC, which affects up to one in 10,000 people, is a rare, long-term disease of the liver caused by inflammation of tubes in the liver called bile ducts. “Scarring and narrowing of bile ducts leads to liver damage,” the website explains. “Over time, the liver loses its ability to filter blood and support digestion.”

Freddie decided to completely change his lifestyle after his health scare – and he decided to quit drinking completely. “So I have to look after my liver now obviously,” he said. “So I don’t drink.” He added: “I’m actually a nicer person without a drink. I don’t need to have a drink to have a good time.”

Last year, the TV star celebrated three years of sobriety on TOWIE, which he said made him feel “honoured”. Speaking to OK!, he said: “It was amazing to be able to speak my truth about my sobriety journey on TOWIE. I think a lot of people don’t know about me being sober.

“It’s something I’ve really worked on and had my own personal journey with. It was a surreal moment to watch myself back, talking about it on the show. I feel honoured that they dedicated that segment to it.”

Opening up on the process of giving up alcohol, he explained: “The first year was the hardest. You grieve your old life – the nights out, the social side, especially in this industry where you’re handed a glass of prosecco the minute you arrive at an event. I barely went out at first, I didn’t feel ready. But over time, I became comfortable in my own skin and now I enjoy everything even more.”

He added: “Also, in hospital, I felt judged for being a gay man. The doctors immediately jumped to assumptions about unprotected sex and it was the first time I felt truly belittled for my sexuality. That was difficult, but it also pushed me to become stronger.”

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On July 10, almost exactly a year after the Pentagon announced it was becoming the largest shareholder in MP Materials, the International Energy Agency put a number on what that deal was designed to prevent: $6.5 trillion in global downstream production now sits exposed to China’s rare-earth export curbs — restrictions currently suspended under an October 2025 truce that lapses again around October 2026. In the year between those two dates, Washington did not simply subsidize its way out of dependency on Chinese processing. It bought in: $400 million for 15 percent of MP Materials, a decade-long price floor for neodymium-praseodymium set nearly double the market rate, and a ten-year promise to buy everything a new Texas magnet plant produces. The Pentagon is now, functionally, a mining shareholder. The interesting question is not whether that has worked — MP’s private financing round attracted $1 billion from J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs within weeks — but what it costs to win a state-capitalist contest by becoming a state capitalist.

The stakes are structural, not cyclical. China controls roughly 70 percent of the world’s rare-earth and critical-mineral refining capacity, a chokepoint built over three decades while Western producers treated minerals as ordinary commodities rather than strategic assets. Beijing’s October 2025 tariff-war truce with Washington postponed, rather than cancelled, an expanded licensing regime that already cut U.S. yttrium imports from 333 tonnes to 17 tonnes in eight months — a squeeze aerospace manufacturers say could force production pauses. Washington’s answer has three parts: Project Vault, a $12 billion public-private stockpile signed by executive order on February 2, 2026, covering all 60 minerals on the USGS critical list; a fast-growing portfolio of direct government equity stakes in miners and processors; and a parallel push to sign allied-supply agreements with eight partners, including Australia, Japan, the UK and the UAE. Europe, meanwhile, is running a different playbook: a €3 billion RESourceEU plan, a joint-purchasing platform, and a stockpiling pilot — procurement and coordination, not ownership.

The MP Materials deal is the template, and its mechanics matter more than its headline. The Department of Defense’s July 2025 investment made it MP’s largest shareholder, attached a $150 million loan for expanding the Mountain Pass mine, and guaranteed a $110-per-kilogram floor price for NdPr oxide — a level industry analysts put at nearly double the prevailing market price — alongside a ten-year offtake covering the full output of a planned magnet facility in Fort Worth. Private capital followed the government’s signal almost immediately, which is precisely the point: Washington concluded that a guarantee was worth more to investors than a grant. That logic has since scaled. The administration has taken a $670 million stake in magnet producer Vulcan Elements, a 10 percent, $35.6 million position in Trilogy Metals, converted a renegotiated Energy Department loan into equity in Lithium Americas, and expanded the official critical-minerals list to include copper and metallurgical coal. Total direct equity commitments now exceed $1 billion, on top of Project Vault’s $12 billion stockpile.

The backlash has been immediate and specific, and it is worth taking seriously rather than waving off as sour grapes. Rival producers argue the price floor lets MP “undercut commercial bids, using federal subsidies to shield its margins,” while former White House and Pentagon officials warn the arrangement could “distort global NdPr pricing, crowd out innovation, and deter private investment in alternative supply chains” — in effect, recreating the very state-directed monopoly the policy exists to counter. That is the strongest objection, and it does not fully land: a government willing to take equity risk, rather than hand out grants, at least has an incentive to see the investment succeed and can in principle profit from the upside, which is the argument the Treasury and National Energy Dominance Council make for why this is smarter policy than Cold War-style stockpiling alone. But the objection identifies a real cost even if it doesn’t defeat the policy: an above-market, government-guaranteed price for one company makes every unsubsidized competitor in the same commodity harder to finance, which narrows rather than widens the eventual supplier base — the opposite of the diversification the strategy claims to deliver.

There is a second problem the price-floor logic obscures: capital committed is not the same as metal produced. The Center for Strategic and International Studies frames this as the difference between “distance” — how much progress has been announced — and “displacement” — how far supply chains have actually moved from their starting point. Japan’s experience with Lynas Rare Earths is the sobering comparison: fifteen years and $250 million of patient, low-drama investment before Lynas achieved the first commercial dysprosium production outside China, in 2025. Washington’s approach substitutes speed and scale for that patience, which may be the correct trade given the urgency, but it means the MP deal’s real test has not yet arrived — it arrives when the Fort Worth facility is supposed to reach full commercial output, not when Wall Street decides to match the Pentagon’s bet.

None of this is happening in a China-versus-America vacuum, either. The Democratic Republic of Congo has extended its cobalt export suspension specifically to tighten leverage over Chinese refiners, and Indonesia has repeatedly resisted pressure to loosen nickel export quotas, forcing processing onshore on its own terms. Producer states, not only the two superpowers, are now treating minerals as instruments of strategic leverage rather than commodities to be sold at whatever price clears the market. That reframes the whole contest: this is not simply Washington racing to catch Beijing, but a broader shift in which every government that sits on a mineral deposit is deciding whether to sell it or wield it.

Which is where Europe’s exposure becomes concrete. RESourceEU gives Brussels coordination and buying power, but no board seats and no offtake priority — and Chatham House’s own assessment is blunt that the UK and EU “cannot match the scale of what the US is attempting” and risk being “left behind” without equity of their own. That matters because Washington’s price floors do not stay domestic: a guaranteed $110/kg for MP’s output resets the benchmark every other buyer, including European manufacturers, has to price against, while offtake agreements tied to U.S. defense production can put European buyers behind the queue when supply tightens. The diversification Europe wants — away from dependence on Beijing — is real, but the replacement supply chain now runs increasingly through companies Washington part-owns and whose output is pre-committed to American industry first. Substituting one chokepoint for another is not the same as building a market.

What Happens Next

Base case (our estimate: roughly 55 percent probability). Washington’s equity-and-price-floor model extends to more minerals — copper and metallurgical coal are already on the list — and more companies, Project Vault’s stockpile builds through 2026–27, and the October 2025 China truce holds past its lapse date. Europe continues a purchasing-only strategy, remaining a price-taker on a benchmark increasingly set in Washington rather than Shanghai. This depends on Congress and private markets continuing to treat government equity as a credible signal rather than a fiscal liability, and on China preferring managed leverage over an open rupture.

Downside case. China allows the truce to lapse on schedule around October 2026 and resumes full licensing enforcement — already quietly restarting, according to recent customs-audit reports — before Vault-funded and MP-style projects reach meaningful output. Aerospace and defense manufacturers, already forced to ration yttrium and dysprosium at a fraction of pre-2025 volumes, face renewed production pauses in the exact window (2026–2028) when domestic capacity is still years from scale, exposing the gap between announced investment and actual tonnage.

Upside case. Government stakes prove to be a bridge rather than a permanent structure: MP, Vulcan Elements and Lithium Americas hit production targets on schedule, price floors become unnecessary as Japan’s Lynas eventually showed is possible after fifteen years of patient investment, and the eight-nation allied-supply framework matures into a genuinely plural, competitively priced market that Europe can buy into on equal terms rather than through Washington’s balance sheet.

The Pentagon’s bet on MP Materials shows that the fastest way to out-compete a state-directed rival was to become one — and by the only metric available so far, capital raised, that gamble is working. But capital raised is not resilience, and every mineral now being withheld or weaponized elsewhere, from Congolese cobalt to Indonesian nickel, shows the world’s supply chains are being redrawn along political lines everywhere, not simply rerouted away from Beijing.

Watch whether China lets its rare-earth export truce lapse on schedule around October 2026, and whether MP Materials’ Fort Worth magnet plant is producing at commercial scale when it does. If the truce holds and the plant delivers, Washington’s ownership model will keep expanding. If either fails, the U.S. will have discovered it bought a shareholding in a company, not a supply chain immune to the country it was built to out-manoeuvre.

WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday narrowly approved President Reagan’s request for $100 million in aid to the Nicaraguan guerrillas–the first affirmative vote by Congress in three years on an aid package for the rebels that includes military assistance.

The 53-47 vote was a significant victory for the President, who conducted a tireless lobbying drive for his request and saw it narrowly rejected only a week ago by the Democratic-controlled House. The White House hopes that the Senate vote will help stimulate a reversal in the House, where the proposal will be reconsidered in mid-April.

Not since 1983, when Congress approved covert aid as part of the fiscal 1984 defense budget, has either chamber voted for military aid to the contras, as the rebels are called. Sentiment against such assistance rose sharply in early 1984 after it was learned that the CIA had secretly mined Nicaraguan harbors.

A Reassuring Signal

En route to his mountaintop retreat near Santa Barbara at the time of the vote, the President declared that the Senate action would “send a profoundly reassuring signal to the freedom fighters in Nicaragua and to Nicaragua’s threatened neighbors.”

Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, hailed Thursday’s vote as a “good victory” for the President. “This is a very important issue for him–having spent two weeks turning heaven and earth to get this result,” he said.

But Democrats insisted that the narrow margin did not constitute an endorsement of Reagan’s Central American policy. “The vote was so close you can’t call it a victory for the Administration’s policy here in a body that his party controls,” Sen. Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.) said.

Eleven Senate Democrats voted with Reagan, but he lost 11 Republicans. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) voted with the majority; Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) voted against the measure. Among the Democrats supporting Reagan was Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey, who earlier had opposed contra aid and is believed to be preparing to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988.

Senate Democrats failed in their effort to withhold military aid for a brief period while forcing Reagan to seek bilateral negotiations with the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. A Democratic alternative authored by Sasser failed by a 67-33 vote, and another proposal by Cranston calling for bilateral talks was rejected, 66 to 34.

Warnings of Another Vietnam

Advocates of bilateral talks frequently warned that Reagan’s more belligerent approach was leading the nation into another Vietnam.

“It’s time to know where we are going in Central America before we find ourselves with U.S. troops on the battlefield and body bags coming home once again,” Sasser said. “We say negotiate first. This Administration owes that to the American people. This Administration owes that to our brave young men who will be called upon to fight and die in Nicaragua unless peace is achieved.”

Although the President was forced to make a few additional concessions to gain a majority, the package approved by the Senate was not significantly different from the compromise that Reagan offered voluntarily a week ago as an executive order in his unsuccessful effort to win House approval.

The measure would provide $25 million to the contras immediately and release $15 million every 90 days thereafter with the understanding that the President would search for a diplomatic solution during that period. With the first allotment of money, the contras would be permitted to buy surface-to-air missiles to use against Nicaraguan helicopters.

No offensive weapons for the contras would be funded until July 1, and then only after the President determines that the conflict cannot be solved by diplomacy. At least $30 million of the money would be used for humanitarian purposes, $3 million of it for human rights programs.

Direct Talks Not Required

Under the Senate plan, the President is not required to seek direct bilateral talks unless the Sandinistas are willing to negotiate with the contras as well–something the Nicaraguan government has declined to do. Reagan staunchly refused to agree to talks without contras involvement, even though it would have won him broad bipartisan support for the aid package.

Despite Reagan’s opposition, Lugar insisted that the Administration’s special envoy, Philip C. Habib, eventually would go to Managua seeking talks. But Democrats noted that Reagan never kept a pledge for bilateral negotiations that he made to the Senate in a letter last year to win approval of $27 million in humanitarian aid for the contras.

The rejected Democratic alternative proposed by Sasser would have withheld all military aid for six months to encourage negotiations. The President would have been required to enter into the talks if the Nicaraguans first agreed to a cease-fire.

Republicans said that Sasser’s proposal might have gained some GOP support if he had limited the waiting period to 90 days and provided some assistance for defensive weaponry during that period. “He went too far out to the left,” a top GOP aide said.

Cranston’s amendment would have withheld the money for only 90 days but, like Sasser’s proposal, it provided nothing but humanitarian aid during that period.

Amendments Defeated

The Senate also defeated amendments from the far left and far right. The vote was 74 to 24 against a proposal by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to eliminate all aid. A proposal by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.)–what he described as a “put up or shut up” provision–which would have released all aid on May 15 if the Sandinistas refused to adhere to democratic principles by then, was defeated by a 60-39 vote.

The only amendment that succeeded was one offered by Sen. Alan J. Dixon (D-Ill.) that would prohibit American trainers and advisers inside Nicaragua. It passed by voice vote.

Although the Administration seized upon the recent incursion of Nicaraguan troops into Honduras as evidence of the need for contras aid, Lugar insisted that the fighting along Nicaragua’s northern border had no impact on the outcome in the Senate. However, the Administration hopes that House Democrats will be swayed by the incursion.

Despite the narrow vote, it was apparent that the mood of Congress had changed significantly since last year when the President had to fight almost as hard to get congressional approval of $27 million in humanitarian aid for the contras. Many Democrats who opposed all aid last year voted for the Sasser proposal this time.

As a result, it was frequently compared during floor debate to the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that opened the way for U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.) predicted that the amount would continue to increase in the years ahead as it has since 1981 when the Administration first provided covert aid to the contras.

‘Tinkering With $100 Million’

“I don’t believe $100 million is going to do the trick, and I don’t think anybody does,” Bumpers said. “If Nicaragua represents a serious security threat to this hemisphere, why are we tinkering with $100 million?”

Wilson insisted that it was not a Gulf of Tonkin resolution for Central America. “We are asked not to send our sons, but to send a pittance,” the California Republican said.

But Sen. David Durenberger (R-Minn.), chairman of the Intelligence Committee, which has access to Administration intelligence reports from Central America, charged that Reagan had overstated the threat posed by the Sandinistas.

As it did in the House last week, Reagan’s highly partisan campaign on behalf of his contras aid request succeeded only in angering many senators, who resented White House efforts to portray their opponents as supporters of the Marxist regime in Managua.

“No one is more anti-Communist than I am,” Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) said. “I deeply resent the President’s sickening display of neo-McCarthyism in this debate.”

An upstate New York resident sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for sending federal officers to his house with a warning over an email he sent to the agency’s one-time head.

David Streever, who is a U.S. citizen, was on a trip to Finland when two officers showed up to his Rochester home in June and presented his wife with a warning notice informing him that the email he sent months earlier was considered a threat, his attorneys said. Streever sent the email in January to Todd Lyons, then the acting director of ICE, after an immigration officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good during an anti-ICE demonstration.

Streever’s email called Lyons “a monstrous human being” who “will never know peace.” In a lawsuit filed Monday in Washington, he said the agency violated his 1st Amendment rights.

Streever is one of at least two residents of upstate New York who was served with a federal warning in June in the wake of criticizing ICE online. The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is representing Streever, and said it filed the lawsuit because Streever’s right to free expression was violated.

“This is very clearly within the protection of the 1st Amendment,” said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the foundation. “It was in the context of political speech.”

Representatives for ICE previously declined to comment on the warning to Streever, citing an ongoing investigation, and the agency did not immediately comment Monday. The suit also names Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, whose office also did not immediately comment.

“ICE investigates all credible threats towards its employees and officers, including threats to the ICE Director,” the agency said in a statement last week.

The entirety of the three-paragraph email, which carried the subject line “What’s next,” and referenced a leader in Nazi Germany:

“You are a monstrous human being and will go down in history as America’s Reinhard Heydrich, the butcher.

“The way you are protecting the obvious execution in Minnesota, even as we see the videos, will lead to your downfall. Even Trump will turn on you before the end, and you will be a sad, despised man who eats himself alive with shame at your own pathetic weakness.

“You will never know peace. You will seek to lose yourself, to escape the burden of knowing the truth about yourself. But wherever you go, you will find yourself. You will torment yourself until your last day on Earth.”

Federal agents also attempted to confront Streever at a hotel in New York City when he returned from Finland, but they were turned away by hotel staff, Steinbaugh said.

Federal officials went to Streever’s house the same week that officials visited Paigelynne Gonyea, a poll worker, at a voting location during New York’s primaries to confront her about a social media post.

Gonyea believes the warning stemmed from writing “I think today is a great day for Jonathan to be indicted,” in a post with a picture of Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot and killed Good. She posted it in January, after Ross had already been identified by the news media.

Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shared an image of a different social media post from Gonyea in which she said Gonyea shared Ross’ address. Part of that post was redacted.

Bis said in a statement in June that Gonyea “committed a federal crime by posting the address of an ICE law enforcement officer online” and “if you doxx our officers, we will investigate you, and you will be brought to justice.”

A representative for the New York Attorney General’s Office has said the office is aware of the two residents’ contact with federal agents. The representative has said the office has been reviewing the interaction between Gonyea and federal agents that took place at the polls.

Whittle writes for the Associated Press.

U.S. advances to round of 16

From Kevin Baxter: Folarin Balogun was still learning to walk the last time the U.S. won a knockout round game in a World Cup. On Wednesday, he helped lead the Americans to another with his goal in the waning seconds of the first half, sparking a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina that sends the team on to the round of 16 of this summer’s tournament.

The other goal came from Malik Tillman in the 82nd minute. The Americans have scored multiple goals in every game of the tournament for the first time ever, also setting a national record with 10 goals overall in the tournament.

The U.S. will face Belgium in the next round Monday in Seattle. Belgium advanced with a 3-2 win over Senegal in extra time.

Balogun wasn’t around to see the finish though, drawing a straight red card for stomping on the right ankle of Bosnian center back Tarik Muharemovic in the 61st minute, a foul Brazilian referee Raphael Claus confirmed via a video review. That forced the Americans to see Wednesday’s game out with just 10 players.

“For me, never is this red card,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “Watching after on TV, never was [it] intention[al] to step up on the player. That was a normal action in football that happened by accident.

“That is why for me it’s never a red card.”

Continue reading here

U.S. Soccer cannot appeal Folarin Balogun’s World Cup red card suspension

Wednesday’s World Cup results

Round of 32
England 2, DR Congo 1
Belgium 3, Senegal 2
U.S. 2, Bosnia-Herzegovina 0

Today’s World Cup TV schedule

All times Pacific
Spain vs. Austria, noon, Fox, Telemundo
Portugal vs. Croatia, 4 p.m., Fox, Telemundo
Switzerland vs. Algeria, 8 p.m., FS1, Telemundo

World Cup round of 32 schedule, results

Round of 32 results
Canada 1, South Africa 0
Brazil 2, Japan 1
Paraguay 1, Germany 1 (Paraguay wins on PK’s, 4-3)
Morocco 1, Netherlands 1 (Morocco wins on PK’s, 3-2)
Norway 2, Ivory Coast 1
France 3, Sweden 0
Mexico 2, Ecuador 0
England 2, DR Congo 1
Belgium 3, Senegal 2
U.S. 2, Bosnia-Herzegovina 0

All times Pacific
Thursday
Spain vs. Austria, noon, Fox, Telemundo
Portugal vs. Croatia, 4 p.m., Fox, Telemundo
Switzerland vs. Algeria, 8 p.m., FS1, Telemundo

Friday
Australia vs. Egypt, 11 a.m., Fox, Telemundo
Argentina vs. Cape Verde, 3 p.m., Fox, Telemundo
Colombia vs. Ghana, 6:30 p.m., Fox, Telemundo

Round of 16 schedule

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Saturday
Canada vs. Morocco, 10 a.m.
Paraguay vs. France, 2 p.m.

Sunday
Brazil vs. Norway, 1 p.m.,
Mexico vs. England, 5 p.m.

Monday
Portugal or Croatia vs. Spain or Austria, noon
U.S. vs. Belgium, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, July 7
Argentina or Cape Verde vs. Australia or Egypt, 9 a.m.
Switzerland or Algeria vs. Colombia or Ghana, 1 p.m.

Dodgers lose to Athletics

From Bill Shaikin: The Dodgers welcome their bitter rivals to Dodger Stadium on Thursday for what should be a big four-game series, but the San Diego Padres are a mess. They trail the Dodgers by 12 games in the National League West. Their best batter by WAR, according to Baseball Reference, is journeyman infielder Ty France.

The Dodgers lost a game Wednesday by six runs, 7-1 to the Athletics. The Padres lost a game by 20 runs.

However, standings and statistics be damned, the Dodgers are coming for the Padres, their closest pursers in the division even if “close” is relative. The Dodgers didn’t have to say anything out loud, but you could see it on the field Wednesday.

Shohei Ohtani was the scheduled starting pitcher, but the Dodgers pushed him back so he could face the Padres this weekend. The Padres will face Roki Sasaki on Thursday, Ohtani on Friday and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Sunday.

“They’re all big for us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We try to take every series with the same importance, but obviously winning that series is the goal.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Lakers acquire Walker Kessler, three free agents

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen and Broderick Turner: A day after LeBron James told the Lakers he would take his talents elsewhere for an unprecedented 24th NBA season, the team started rebuilding its roster around Luka Doncic by delivering Doncic’s biggest wish: a new center.

The Lakers will pair Doncic with 24-year-old Walker Kessler after the team agreed to send two first-round picks (2031 and 2033) and two pick swaps (2028 and 2030) to the Utah Jazz, people with knowledge of the situation who are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed to The Times on Wednesday.

Kessler, who was limited to five games last season because of a shoulder injury, is expected to sign a four-year, $130-million contract with the Lakers, people with knowledge of the situation said.

After addressing their No. 1 position of concern with Kessler, the Lakers worked to fill in the margins with three free agents — center Sandro Mamukelashvili, guard Quentin Grimes and guard Collin Sexton.

Continue reading here

Lakers announce summer league schedule, roster

Celtics trade Jaylen Brown to the 76ers for Paul George, four draft picks

Fan loudly expresses unbridled enthusiasm for Mexico’s World Cup goal … at Dodgers-A’s game

This day in sports history

1921 — The Jack Dempsey-Georges Carpentier heavyweight match at Rickard’s Orchard in Jersey City, N.J., becomes the first million-dollar gate in boxing history. The receipts total $1,789,238 with $50 ringside seats. In front of 80,183, Dempsey knocks out Carpentier at 1:16 of the fourth round.

1927 — Helen Wills becomes the first American to win at Wimbledon since May Sutton in 1907, beating Lili de Alvar 6-2, 6-4 for the title.

1937 — Don Budge beats Gottfried von Cramm, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon. Budge sweeps the championships winning the singles, the men’s doubles title with Gene Mako and the mixed doubles crown with Alice Marble.

1938 — Helen Wills Moody wins her eighth and final singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Helen Jacobs 6-4, 6-0.

1966 — Billie Jean King wins the first of her six singles titles at Wimbledon, beating Maria Bueno of Brazil 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

1967 — Catherine Lacoste of France becomes the first foreigner and first amateur to win the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship. At age 22, she is also the youngest champion.

1976 — Chris Evert beats Evonne Goolagong, 6-3, 4-6, 8-6, to win the women’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1988 — Steffi Graf ends Martina Navratilova’s six-year reign as Wimbledon champion with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 victory. It is the first time in nine finals that Navratilova loses a Wimbledon singles match.

1989 — Jockey Steve Cauthen becomes the first rider in history to sweep the world’s four major derbies after winning the Irish Derby with Old Vic. He had previously won the Kentucky Derby with Affirmed (1978), the Epsom Derby with Slip Anchor (1985) and Reference Point (1987) and the French Derby with Old Vic (1989).

1994 — Colombian defender Andres Escobar, 27, is killed outside a bar in Colombia in retaliation for deflecting a ball into his own goal in a 2-1 loss to the United States in the World Cup.

1995 — Tom Weiskopf withstands a charge by Jack Nicklaus to win the U.S. Senior Open by four strokes.

1999 — Alexandra Stevenson becomes first qualifier in Wimbledon history to reach the women’s semis. She beats another qualifier, 16-year-old Jelena Dokic, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

2000 — UEFA European Championship Final, Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands: David Trezeguet scores in extra time to give France a 2-1 win over Italy.

2005 — Venus Williams overcomes an early deficit and a championship point to beat top-ranked Lindsay Davenport 4-6, 7-6 (4), 9-7 for her fifth major title and her first in nearly four years.

2010 — The United States beats Japan 7-2 to win its seventh consecutive world softball championship.

2010 — FIFA World Cup: Ghana, only African team remaining in last 8, are beaten 4-2 on penalties by Uruguay; Netherlands upset Brazil 2-1.

2011 — Wladimir Klitschko wins a lopsided unanimous decision over David Haye, adding the WBA title to his heavyweight haul. Klitschko and his older brother, Vitali, hold all three major heavyweight titles. Wladimir already had the IBF title (and minor WBO, IBO belts), while Vitali is the WBC champion.

2016 — Sam Querrey ends Novak Djokovic’s quest for a true Grand Slam in the third round at Wimbledon. In a match interrupted by three rain delays after being suspended in progress because of showers a night earlier, Querrey ousts Djokovic 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5) at the All England Club.

2017 — Home town underdog Jeff Horn upsets Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines on points in a highly controversial WBO welterweight title fight in Brisbane, Australia.

2018 — A wild brawl breaks out between Australia and the Philippines during the Basketball World Cup qualifying game in Manila. Thirteen players, including four Australians, are ejected for their part in the brawl. The game is won 79-48 by Australia.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1903 — Washington outfielder Ed Delahanty went over a railroad bridge at Niagara Falls and drowned. The exact circumstances of his death never were determined.

1909 — The Chicago White Sox stole 12 bases, including home plate three times, in a 15-3 rout of the St. Louis Browns.

1930 — Chicago outfielder Carl Reynolds homered in the first, second and third innings, leading the White Sox to a 15-4 win over the New York Yankees. Reynolds, the second player in history to hit home runs in three consecutive innings, had two inside-the-park homers.

1933 — Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0 in an 18-inning game. He gave up six hits and no walks. In the second game of the doubleheader, the Cardinals were blanked 1-0, with Roy Parmelee outdueling Dizzy Dean.

1933 — Jimmie Foxx of the Philadelphia Athletics set and American League record with 21 total bases in a doubleheader. Foxx hit two solo homers in the opener, a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Browns. In the nightcap, an 11-6 loss, Foxx had two homers, a double and a triple.

1941 — Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees hit a home run to extend his consecutive game hitting streak to 45 games, surpassing Willie Keeler’s record of 44 straight games for the Orioles in 1897.

1963 — Juan Marichal of San Francisco beat Warren Spahn and the Milwaukee Braves 1-0 in 16 innings on Willie Mays’ homer.

1986 — Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox fell short of a record-tying 15th consecutive winning decision when the Toronto Blue Jays scored three runs in the eighth inning for a 4-2 victory.

1995 — Hideo Nomo of the Dodgers became the first Japanese player picked for baseball’s All-Star game. Nomo was the NL’s leader in strikeouts and second in ERA.

2007 — Roger Clemens reached a rare milestone, pitching eight innings of two-hit ball to earn his 350th win and lead the New York Yankees past Minnesota 5-1. Clemens became the first major leaguer to win 350 games since Hall of Famer Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves accomplished the feat in 1963.

2009 — Houston Astros beat the Padres 7-2, but only after waiting out a 52-minute delay in the top of the ninth inning caused when a swarm of bees took over part of left field at San Diego’s Petco Park.

2013 — Homer Bailey pitched his second no-hitter in 10 months and the first in the majors this season, pitching the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-0 victory over the slumping San Francisco Giants. Bailey beat the Pirates 1-0 in Pittsburgh last Sept. 28.

2014 — Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz became the 36th player in major league history to collect 1,000 extra-base hits with a ground-rule double during a 16-9 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

2016 — Cleveland’s franchise-record 14-game winning streak was snapped by a 9-6 loss to Toronto, with the Blue Jays scoring three runs in the eighth to overcome a cycle by Rajai Davis.

2016 — C.J. Cron went 6 for 6 with two homers and five RBIs, Carlos Perez had five hits and drove in six and the Angels ended a four-game losing streak with 21-2 rout of the Boston Red Sox.

2019 — The New York Yankees record streak of consecutive games with at least one home run comes to an end at 31.

2022 — The Cardinals become the first team to hit four consecutive homers in the 1st inning when Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Juan Yepez and Dylan Carlson all go deep against Kyle Gibson of the Phillies. Gibson retires the first two batters before giving up a single to Paul Goldschmidt, followed by the homer barrage. Lars Nootbaar then hits a ball that is caught at the warning track to end the inning. It is the 11th time time this has been done in any inning, but the Cards need another homer by Arenado, this one in the 9th, to end up as 7-6 winners.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

An investigation by consumer group Which? claims Tripadvisor’s new summary AI tool has failed to include key information from its own reviews

Holidaymakers are in danger at being put at by travel review giant Tripadvisor’s new artificial intelligence tool, it has been claimed.

Tripadvisor’s hugely popular website now includes an AI generated summary of hotels and other businesses, designed to save potential guests having to scroll through all the other posted feedback. However, consumer group Which? says it found round-ups that masked reports of food poisoning, sexual harassment and serious hygiene failures.

They include a five-star hotel in Cape Verde now involved in a group legal action representing at least 412 holidaymakers who say they became ill after staying at the property.

Nicky Morley, 55, from Devon, holidayed at the five-star Riu Palace Santa Maria in May 2022, with her husband, when she became so ill that she says thought she was “going to die”. She told ITV News: “I was trying to get breath, but (the vomiting was) so strong and so violent, I started to choke, and I was really panicking.”

Yet, according to Which?, Tripadvisor’s AI summary of the Riu Palace described it as “popular with many travellers”, with “diverse restaurants” that earn ‘rave reviews’ and “spotless” cleanliness. The summary has since been removed.

Recent guest reviews on Tripadvisor also painted a very different picture. One described the Riu Palace as having “exceptionally poor hygiene”, while another said she was served raw chicken. Others shared photographs of flies and birds in the buffet food and another spotted “dead little roasted mice by the sitting area” on her “nightmare” holiday.

Which? checked in March this year and said there were 102 mentions of food poisoning at the Riu Palace. The consumer group also singled out a hotel in the popular Mexican resort of Cancun where several guests left reviews saying they fell ill, including a wedding party. Yet Tripadvisor’s AI overview once again gave a glowing summary, describing its “immaculate cleanliness”.

It also highlighted a hotel on the Antalya coast in Turkey where several reviewers who visited last summer wrote they felt unsafe due to repeated sexual harassment from male hotel staff, including inappropriate jokes and gestures, and repeated requests to connect on social media. Yet the Tripadvisor AI review summarised its service as “friendly”. The closest it comes to referring to the serious allegations is: “Lapses (in service) noted by a few”.

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel said: “Tripadvisor may insist users can still fact-check its summaries against real reviews, but this ignores the fact that it made the decision to push these summaries to the very top of the page. This failure to surface critical safety information is unacceptable and potentially life-threatening.

“The platform has a responsibility to revisit the accuracy of its AI summaries and AI chatbot. In the meantime, users should scroll past these summaries and look at guest reviews, particularly one-star ratings, and at reviews on other sites, to make sure their next stay is a safe one.”

A spokesperson for Tripadvisor said: “We fundamentally disagree with the premise of this investigation. Our AI Summaries have been designed to uphold the integrity and transparency that has made Tripadvisor trusted by millions of travelers for over 25 years. They provide snapshots based on high volumes of user generated content and explicitly are not intended to replace individual reviews. Users can easily click to see the traveller quotes behind each review element or access all reviews for that listing, eliminating any need to blindly trust AI-generated content.

“We also have comprehensive safeguards in place to ensure important safety information is properly reflected across our platform. Our AI systems are designed to capture all types of traveller feedback and we continuously monitor and refine our models. Our systems automatically suppress AI Summaries for listings that feature warnings from travellers about serious safety incidents such as death, drugging or sexual assault, helping ensure this content is highly visible to our community.

“No review content has been suppressed or hidden by the introduction of these tools, and the suggestion they pose danger to travellers is an unfounded claim that seems designed to generate controversy rather than inform readers. We believe our community understands that AI technology is still developing and has the common sense to check any AI advice against Tripadvisor’s billion-plus reviews and contributions.”