emerges

A new video has emerged showing the final moments of a Minnesota woman’s encounter with an immigration officer before she was killed, as public uproar grows in the United States over the shooting and exclusion of local agencies from the investigation.

A Minnesota prosecutor on Friday called on the public to share with investigators any recordings and evidence connected to the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, 37, who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.

A new, 47-second video published online by a Minnesota-based conservative news site, Alpha News, on Friday, and later reposted on social media by the Department of Homeland Security, shows the shooting from the perspective of ICE officer Jonathan Ross, who fired the shots on Wednesday.

With sirens blaring in the background, Ross, 43, approaches and circles Good’s vehicle in the middle of the road while apparently filming on his cellphone. At the same time, Good’s wife was also recording the encounter and can be seen walking around the vehicle and approaching the officer.

A series of exchanges occurred.

“That’s fine, I’m not mad at you,” Good says as the officer passes by her door. She has one hand on the steering wheel and the other outside the open driver’s side window.

“US citizen, former f—ing veteran,” says her wife, standing outside the passenger side of the SUV holding up her phone. “You wanna come at us, you wanna come at us, I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy.”

Other officers approach the driver’s side of the car at about the same time, and one says, “Get out of the car, get out of the f—ing car.”

Ross is now at the front driver’s side of the vehicle. Good reverses briefly, then turns the steering wheel towards the passenger side as she drives ahead, and Ross opens fire. The camera becomes unsteady and points towards the sky, then returns to the street view showing Good’s SUV careening away.

“F—ing b—-,” someone at the scene says.

A crashing sound is heard as Good’s vehicle smashes into others parked on the street.

Minnesota officials slam federal agencies

President Donald Trump’s administration has defended the ICE agent who shot Good in her car, painting her as a “domestic terrorist” and claiming Ross – an Iraq War veteran – was protecting himself and the fellow agents. The White House insisted the video gave weight to the officer’s claim of self-defence – even though the clip does not show the moment the car moved away, or him opening fire.

Local officials in Minnesota have condemned federal agencies for excluding them from the probe, and a local prosecutor said on Friday that federal investigators had taken Good’s car and shell casings from the scene.

“This is not the time to bend the rules. This is a time to follow the law… The fact that Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice and this presidential administration has already come to a conclusion about those facts is deeply concerning,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, told a news briefing on Friday.

“We know that they’ve already determined much of the investigation,” he said, adding that the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, within its department of public safety, has consistently run such investigations.

“Why not include them in the process?” Frey said.

Good was the fourth person to be killed by ICE agencts since Trump launched his immigration crackdown last year.

Good’s wife, Becca Good, told local media that they had gone to the scene of immigration enforcement activity to “support our neighbours”. “We had whistles. They had guns,” she said.

The Minneapolis killing and a separate shooting in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday by the Border Patrol have set off protests in multiple US cities and denunciations of immigration enforcement tactics by the US government.

Protests in Minneapolis continued on Friday, with hundreds gathered at a federal facility that has become a focal point of anti-ICE demonstrations. Hundreds of weekend protests have been planned across the US over the killing, according to organisers.

THE daughter of Tommy Lee Jones was arrested over an alleged domestic violence dispute just six months before she was found dead in a hotel.

Emergency services were called to the Fairmont in San Francisco in the early hours of Thursday, where paramedics found Victoria Jones unresponsive and later pronounced her dead, TMZ reported.

It has now been revealed that Victoria was arrested in June for domestic battery and domestic violence involving elder abuse for an alleged incident that occurred at the Carneros Resort and Spa in Napa, California.

The mugshot from her arrest shows the 34-year-old former child actress red eyed and dishevelled.

She pleaded not guilty and was scheduled to appear in court later this month.

Victoria Kafka Jones was the daughter of the actor Tommy and his ex-wife Kimberlea Cloughley, who divorced in 1996. 

‘RIP DEAR FRIEND’

Finding Prince Charming contestant dies as Kelly Osbourne leads tributes

Sadly, Victoria was found lying on the ground of the 14th floor of the swanky hotel on New Year’s Day.

A harrowing 911 call has revealed a possible cause of death as an overdose.

Dispatch logs indicate that the call came in at 2.52 am on Thursday, prompting crews to rush to the hotel.

After assessing Victoria, medics pronounced her dead at the hotel, officials said.

Dispatch audio from Broadcastify, obtained by TMZ, described it as a “code 3 for the overdose, color change.”

TMZ reported the call was also logged as an overdose response.

A San Francisco cop who had previously dealt with Victoria told The Post she had struggled with substance abuse issues and suspected her death was “fentanyl-related.”

It remains unclear whether Victoria was staying at the hotel or why she was on the 14th floor.

Page Six has reported a string of other run-ins Victoria had with the law.

In April this year, Victoria was arrested for obstructing a peace officer, using/being under the influence of a controlled substance and possession of a narcotic controlled substance, for which she also pleaded not guilty.

The earliest criminal encounter is thought to be 2011 when she was arrested for theft in the amount of $50 to $500 in San Antonio, Texas — though the charges ended up being dismissed.

DAD’S ‘FIRING’

Victoria acted as a child, appearing in Men in Black II and later The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. 

She also made a one-episode appearance on One Tree Hill.

Speaking about his daughter while promoting The Three Burials, Tommy said, “She’s a good actress, has her SAG [Screen Actors Guild] card, speaks impeccable Spanish. 

“When she was a baby, I told Leticia, her nurse, to speak to her in Spanish,” he said.

He also recalled a clash over an early call time on set in a resurfaced interview in which he joked that he had to fire his young daughter.

“She had to get up at 5 am for her part. One morning, she wouldn’t get out of bed,” he said.

“I said, ‘Honey, this is work.’ But she wouldn’t budge. So I fired her. Then, without telling me, the production staff went over and woke her and rushed her out to the set just in time.”

Although she stepped away from acting, Victoria still appeared with her father at public events, including the premiere of Just Getting Started in 2017 and the opening ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival that same year.

Fans also flooded social media with condolences, with one writing, “Condolences. Really sad way to lose someone, especially a family member, on the first day of the year as well.”

“No father should ever have to bury their daughter. I hope Tom has a lot of love around him during this tough time,” another fan added.

“Heartbreaking. 34 is far too young. Condolences to the family.”

In a major follow-up to three of our recent stories on China’s weapons developments, we can now report that what appeared to be a modular, road-mobile, electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) catapult capable of flinging advanced fixed-wing combat drones into the air is now set up on a ship. And not just any ship, but the same medium cargo vessel that was recently configured as an improvised surface combatant, with roughly 60 containerized missile launch cells, radars, and close-in defenses. The ship was rapidly reconfigured over a few days to go from an arsenal ship of sorts to a multi-role advanced combat drone carrier.

This is the latest news to come out of the Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard, where the converted cargo ship first appeared a week ago. Just down the dock from this vessel, the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) giant amphibious assault ship, the Type 076 Sichuan, sits in dry dock. That vessel features a built-in EMALS catapult for launching all types of drones.

Not long after the converted cargo ship was spotted, the stealthy collaborative combat aircraft (CCA)-like drones (which may very well be mockups) were spotted on the dock next to the ship. Then the modular, vehicle-based EMALS system appeared, with each truck locking into the next, creating what seemed like a scalable catapult track. You can read our full report and analysis on it here.

Such a capability would be a boon for land-based launch operations, but at the time of writing, we also stated:

“It is also worth noting that a modular electromagnetic catapult system might be usable on ships that do not have this capability built into their design. As mentioned, the drones and trucks seen at Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard were spotted near a cargo ship loaded with various containerized weapons and other systems. A drone launch capability of some kind would be a logical addition to a vessel with that configuration. At the same time, whether or not any catapult system made up of multiple segmented components would be stable enough for use on a ship rocking back and forth at sea is unclear.”

Now that the catapult system is indeed on the ship, there have been major configuration changes to the vessel to accommodate it. Just 24 of the 60 vertical launch cells remain, with six missile containers still on the ship, providing room for the catapult system and possibly other drones. The Type 1130 30mm close-in weapon system (CIWS), large phased array radar and other sensor and communications systems mounted on containers are also retained. The container on the starboard side of the 30mm CIWS that had decoy launchers and life rafts mounted on it is gone. It isn’t clear if the one on the port side remains. Regardless, when taken at face value, in this drone launching configuration, the ship would still be able to defend itself well (at least conceptually).

As for the catapult setup, we see four vehicles connected in a ‘train’ to create the catapult track, with a ‘ready to launch’ drone mounted atop the rear one and another sitting on the deck behind it. This is exactly the same configuration we saw on the dock in previous pictures, aside from the addition of the fourth catapult vehicle, although satellite images showed the fourth sitting nearby but not connected to the catapult train while pier-side. As we discussed in our previous piece, the length of the catapult could be presumably tailored to the aircraft types being launched and dimensional constraints of the launch area, creating a highly adaptable and mobile catapult launch system.

What isn’t perfectly clear is how much room remains on the deck with so many containers removed and the catapult train installed. If the remaining missile launcher containers are situated on the edge of the opposite side of the ship, there should be some room in between. As you can see in satellite imagery, the swept-wing, stealthy, advanced combat drone designs seen at the dock are quite large with a considerable wingspan.

Now we get into clearances needed for launch. It’s hard to tell the margin that exists vertically between the bow of the ship and an aircraft that would be careening off the catapult. It certainly doesn’t look like much, depending on the speed of the aircraft and where it would ‘liftoff’ from the catapult track. The clearance between the CIWS canister and the wing of the aircraft is also in question, although the container could be scooted over, presumably. With the catapult train on the opposite edge of the deck, clearing the wingtip should not be a problem.

The question of how this system would work on a rolling, heaving ship and how it would hold up to the harsh maritime environment while exposed on the ship’s deck is a major question that is totally unanswered at this time. In addition, such a system would require a lot of power to launch a relatively heavy swept wing drone over such a short distance. The drone would have to be engineered to deal with such a violent catapult stroke as well. So how feasible that is also isn’t clear.

There are no provisions for recovering the drones once they have finished their missions. This is a launch-only concept. Unless they can land with parachutes and air bags and be fished out of the water, refurbished and reused, and this would be tough to do all on this one ship, they would be going on one-way missions from this vessel. This kind of split operational concept is relevant in many scenarios though.

And that brings us to the biggest question of all: what are we really seeing here? What is real and what is aspirational? From the drones to the catapult train to the improvised surface combatant configuration for the cargo ship, this all could be a proof of concept or something more mature. There are indications toward the latter, as we have discussed in our previous posts, but this could still be exploratory and even somewhat performative — meant just as much for foreign consumption as it is for testing real systems.

From the start, this arsenal ship of sorts appeared configured for our viewing pleasure, and China knows full well what will ‘leak’ out in terms of most of its major military technological developments, if the government doesn’t have a direct hand in it itself. Now we are seeing another configuration change for this vessel in a very short period of time with some very impressive technology (mobile modular EMALS and advanced drones) needed to underpin it. All this screams “we can rapidly turn our vast commercial fleet into surface combatants and advanced drone carriers.” That is a powerful message and a troubling one for the U.S. and its allies that are already struggling to confront China’s massive naval expansion. The timing is also worth highlighting. A year ago to the week, a crescendo of major Chinese military technological developments also ‘leaked,’ ushering in a new year of highly impressive developments for the PLA. So this would fit that pattern.

While it does appear there is real technology and developmental thought put into all this, just how mature the mobile EMALS catapult system for use on such a ship is isn’t clear. But considering how fast China has been moving on pushing forward its defense technology repertoire, especially over the last year, it would be unwise to disregard the possible existence of such a capability.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden has turned to one of his most trusted and long-serving foreign policy advisors as his choice for secretary of State.

Biden is expected to nominate Antony Blinken, 58, a veteran diplomat and former senior official at the State Department and National Security Council, perhaps on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the Biden transition planning.

The Democratic president-elect has said he could announce his choices for several positions this week, as he moves to form a Cabinet and his administration more broadly despite President Trump’s refusal to concede his election defeat.

Blinken is seen as someone who could easily win Senate confirmation even if Republicans still control the chamber in the next Congress. Given the depth of his experience, he could hit the ground running, current and former diplomats said.

Blinken was a deputy national security advisor and deputy secretary of State in the Obama administration as well as national security advisor to Vice President Biden from 2009 to 2013.

The stepson of a Holocaust survivor, Blinken has leaned more toward intervention in world crises than some of his colleagues, but is also facile in readjusting his position to match that of the administration he serves. He is known as fiercely loyal to Biden.

Blinken has also advised Biden during his presidential campaigns, serving during the just-concluded campaign as Biden’s principal foreign policy advisor and spokesman.

“Joe Biden will benefit just by not being President Trump,” Blinken said in an interview with The Times during the summer. “That is the opening opportunity.”

Bloomberg, which first reported the likely Blinken nomination, also said Jake Sullivan, 43, formerly one of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides as well as an advisor to Biden, is likely to be named national security advisor, a White House staff position that does not require Senate confirmation.

Ron Klain, Biden’s incoming White House chief of staff, said Sunday that the president-elect would be making his initial cabinet announcements on Tuesday, but declined to specify which positions would be filled first. The people familiar with Biden’s selections asked not to be identified because he hasn’t yet made the announcements.

State is regarded as one of the most prestigious Cabinet posts. The secretary of State is the nation’s top diplomat, conducting meetings with foreign leaders across the globe.

The president’s national security advisor is one of the most important and powerful jobs in the White House, leading a staff of dozens of experts drawn from the government’s military, diplomatic and intelligence agencies who develop U.S. foreign and military policy.

Blinken and Sullivan didn’t respond to requests for comment. A Biden spokesman declined to comment.

When Biden was a senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Blinken served as his staff director before leaving to work on Biden’s short-lived 2008 presidential campaign. Blinken graduated from Harvard and from Columbia Law School.

After serving in the Obama administration, Blinken co-founded WestExec Advisors, a political strategy firm, with a top Obama-era Pentagon official, Michele Flournoy. She is a top candidate to be Biden’s Defense secretary; if named and confirmed, she would be the first woman to hold the job.

Biden met on Nov. 17 with defense and intelligence experts, including Blinken and others who worked for Obama when Biden was vice president. He gathered them together because the Trump administration has blocked him from getting the intelligence briefings traditionally granted the president-elect.

“We’ve been through a lot of damage done over the last four years, in my view. We need to rebuild our institutions and my workforce to reflect the full strength and diversity of our country,” Biden said at the briefing. “We need to focus on readiness for whatever may come.”

Times staff writer Evan Halper and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.

We had a feeling we would be in for another round of weapons ‘reveals’ out of China this Christmas, following last year’s ‘leaks’ of not just one, but two tailless stealth tactical jet designs, among other developments. It appears we are getting at least one installment of this in the form of a medium-sized cargo ship packed full of containerized vertical launchers, along with sensors and self defense systems. The message is clear, China is making it known that it could, and likely will, turn ships from its behemoth of a commercial fleet into not just shooters, but arsenal ships.

The vessel has containers packed on its deck, both used for containing weapons and for mounting them, along with sensors. In other words, the layout appears to be designed as something of an improvised superstructure in order to turn the cargo ship into a heavily-armed surface combatant of sorts. This includes the mounting of a large rotating phased-array radar forward of the bridge atop three containers, as well as another domed radar or communications system across the deck from it mounted on two containers.

Near the bow of the vessel, high-up mounted on above two containers, we see an Type 1130 30mm close-in-weapon system (CIWS) for last-ditch defense against incoming threats, especially cruise missiles. One container lower, on both sides, we see Type 726 decoy launchers mounted on top of another pair of containers. The large cylindrical pods appear to be emergency life rafts, likely required because of the expanded crew size to make a concept like this work.

Then we get to the real eyebrow raiser, a deck literally covered with containerized vertical launchers. Installed five wide and three deep, each packing four large launch tubes, this arrangement gives the vessel a whopping 60 vertical large launch cells. This is two-thirds the VLS capacity of a Arleigh Burke class Flight I or II destroyer.

Due to the large radar installation, it appears this ship’s mission is something of a picket ship, rather than just an arsenal ship, providing area air defense, but that doesn’t mean its containerized launchers couldn’t pack other weapons. Still, something like this could be useful for persistently providing air defense over a given area.

Regardless, it’s an impressive display and there have been rumors about China going this route as it races to advance its goal of naval supremacy. We have already seen Chinese commercial ships leveraged at improvised helicopter carriers and ferries being shifted to the island invasion mission during exercises. It’s also worth noting that containerized weapon systems have moved from controversial oddity to the mainstream over the last decade, and it’s an area the U.S. continues to pursue heavily for all sorts of applications.

The images of China’s cargo ship turned floating missile farm offer a lot to look at, but the question has to be raised just how real this configuration is? It very much looks like it was made photo ready for these images. Is this a proof of concept demonstrator or just a mockup? How sturdy are the radar and CIWS installations, for instance? On closer examination of the images, the radar installation looks relatively robust, but takeaways are limited at this time. The radar would have an issue with being close to inline with the ship’s actual aft superstructure, although there are ways to mitigate this. And just because you can bolt all this to a commercial ship, it doesn’t mean it can employ these sensors and weapons effectively. What combat information system exists on the ship to integrate all these systems and effectively use them in combat?

We just don’t know at this time.

Dec. 19 (UPI) — Mexican low-cost airlines Volaris and Viva Aerobus announced an agreement to create a new holding company through a merger of equals — a deal aimed at expanding low-fare air travel and strengthening Mexico’s air connectivity with the United States and Latin America.

The transaction will combine the parent companies of Volaris and Viva into a single entity, while each airline will continue to operate independently under its own brand, air operator certificate, leadership structure and route network.

Once the deal closes, shareholders of each company will hold 50% of the new group on a fully diluted basis. Viva shareholders will receive newly issued shares of Volaris’ holding company, while Volaris shareholders will retain their existing shares, according to DF SUD.

The boards of both airlines unanimously approved the transaction. The deal is subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals and is expected to close in 2026. Shares of the holding company will continue to trade on the Mexican Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.

The new group would become Mexico’s largest low-cost airline platform and a regional player with growing relevance for travelers seeking cheaper options across North America and Latin America.

Volaris shares jumped more than 20% after the announcement, driven by expectations of operational efficiencies and cost reductions.

Volaris is a publicly traded company backed by U.S.-based Indigo Partners, which also controls Frontier Airlines in the United States and JetSmart in Chile.

Viva Aerobus is privately held and controlled by Mexican transportation group IAMSA, led by businessman Roberto Alcantara Rojas, who will serve as chairman of the new holding company

Both airlines operate all-Airbus fleets and focus on a low-cost, point-to-point business model. Their main competitor in Mexico’s domestic market is Aeromexico, the country’s flag carrier.

The agreement comes amid a complex period for Mexican aviation and air relations with the United States. In October, the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected more than a dozen routes proposed by Mexican airlines, citing disputes over slot management at Mexico City’s main airport and the relocation of cargo operations to a more distant terminal.

In November, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexican airlines would give up some airport slots to U.S. competitors. U.S. airlines currently account for more than half of international passenger traffic between the two countries, while Mexican carriers represent less than 30%.

Industry analysts say the creation of the new holding could strengthen Mexico’s position in the regional market without, for now, triggering a full operational merger that could face stronger regulatory opposition.