invade

The dinosaurs are coming this holiday season. The South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes Estates will host “Dinosaurs Around the World,” bringing 13 lifelike animatronic figures to the green space.

Running Nov. 1 to Jan. 31, the exhibit will feature a broad array of reptiles, ranging from the 6-foot-long Australovenator to a nearly 30-foot-long Tyrannosaurus rex. Guests can see the dinosaurs on two walking trails. One is a short loop designed primarily for young children, which will feature a little more than half of the dinosaurs, while the other is a full jaunt around the garden.

All the dinosaurs will move, some will roar and none will bite.

The South Coast Botanic Garden host 13 animatronic dinosaurs this winter, including a Neovenator.

(Imagine Exhibitions)

On weekends, South Coast will run a separately ticketed, eight-passenger tram dubbed the “Pangaea Express” that will include a tour of the exhibit with dinosaur and garden facts. The goal, in part, is to highlight the so-called “living fossils” of the South Coast Botanic Gardens.

“Specifically, we have a Dawn Redwood that we’re going to be talking about a bit,” says Claire Griswold, the garden’s learning and engagement manager. “We have a really great collection of Ginkgo trees as well, and Sago palm cycads.” A living fossil is a term for a species that was once known only from its fossil record and was later discovered in living form, apparently preserving the physical features from long-gone ancestors.

“Dinosaurs Around the World” is a touring exhibit from creative experiential firm Imagine Exhibitions. It was developed in conjunction with paleontologist Gregory M. Erickson, currently a member of the faculty of Florida State University.

Griswold hopes the exhibit is a way to marry some of the wonder and technology of a theme park with the natural awe of an 87-acre botanical garden.

“Whether or not you learn something, you still get to have a great experience in nature and do something outside of the ordinary,” Griswold says. “And what’s more fun than dinosaurs, really?”

The Los Angeles area is blessed with numerous gardens that will host seasonal events this fall and winter. Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge, for instance, will be bringing back its Halloween-focused Carved, while the Huntington in San Marino will host its otherworldly-focused Strange Science for a weekend in late October.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says ready to defend ‘sovereignty’ as US military deploys warships near country’s territorial waters.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said there was “no way” United States troops could invade his country as tension rises with Washington and a US naval force builds up in the Southern Caribbean near Venezuela’s territorial waters.

“There’s no way they can enter Venezuela,” Maduro said on Thursday, stating that his country was well prepared to defend its sovereignty as US warships arrive in the region in a so-called operation against Latin American drug cartels.

“Today, we are stronger than yesterday. Today, we are more prepared to defend peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Maduro said in a speech to troops, according to the state-run Venezuela News Agency.

Maduro made his comment as Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to protest the US military build-up.

“It’s a massive propaganda operation to justify what the experts call kinetic action – meaning military intervention in a country which is a sovereign and independent country and is no threat to anyone,” Moncada told reporters after meeting with Guterres.

“They are saying that they are sending a nuclear submarine … I mean, it’s ridiculous to think that they’re fighting drug trafficking with nuclear submarines,” the ambassador said.

Earlier on Thursday, Admiral Daryl Claude, the US Navy’s chief of naval operations, confirmed that US warships were deployed to waters off South America, citing concerns that some Venezuelans were participating in large-scale drug operations.

Seven US warships, along with one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, were either in the region or were expected to be there in the coming week, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency.

More than 4,500 US service members, including some 2,200 Marines, were also reported to be on board the ships in an operation that was launched after the Trump administration accused Maduro and other members of his government of links to cocaine trafficking.

Venezuela has responded to the US threats by sending warships and drones to patrol its coastline and launching a drive to recruit thousands of militia members to bolster domestic defences.

Caracas has also deployed 15,000 troops to its borders with Colombia to crack down on drug trafficking and other criminal gangs.

On Thursday, Maduro thanked Colombia for sending an additional 25,000 military personnel to the Colombia-Venezuela frontier to tackle “narco-terrorist gangs”, the Venezuela News Agency reported.

While the US has made no public threats to invade Venezuela, Trump’s threats against the country have focused chiefly on its powerful criminal gangs, particularly the cocaine trafficking Cartel de los Soles, which the Trump administration has designated a terrorist organisation and accused Maduro of leading.

Maduro has, in turn, accused Washington, which is offering a $50m reward for his capture over alleged drug offences, of seeking to implement regime change in Venezuela.

Early this month, the U.S. military and masked federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and from Customs and Border Protection invaded a park near downtown Los Angeles — ironically, a park named after Gen. Douglas MacArthur. They came ready for battle, dressed in tactical gear and camouflage, with some arriving on horseback, while others rolled in on armored vehicles or patrolled above in Black Hawk helicopters. Although the invasion force failed to capture anyone, it did succeed in liberating the park from a group of children participating in a summer camp.

The MacArthur Park operation sounds like a scene from “South Park,” but it really did happen — and its implications are terrifying. As Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol agent in charge, said to Fox News: “Better get used to us now, ’cause this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles.” And President Trump is sending the same message to every Democratic governor and mayor in America who dares oppose him. He will send heavily armed federal forces wherever he wants, whenever he wants and for any reason.

The United States stands at the threshold of an authoritarian breakthrough, and Congress and the courts have given Trump a lot of tools. He’s learned from Jan. 6, 2021, that he needs tight control over the “guys with the guns,” as retired Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley put it. And that’s what he got when Congress dutifully confirmed Trump loyalists to lead all of the “power ministries” — the military, the FBI and the Department of Justice, the rest of the intelligence community and the Department of Homeland Security.

As commander in chief, the president can deploy troops and, under Title 10, he can also put National Guard troops under his command — even against the wishes of local officials. Gov. Gavin Newsom challenged the legality of Trump’s exercise of this authority in Los Angeles last month, and we will see what the courts say — but based on its initial rulings, the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit appears likely to defer to the president. Under the Posse Comitatus Act, the troops cannot currently enforce laws, but Trump could change that by invoking the Insurrection Act, and we have to assume that the current Supreme Court would defer to him on that as well, following long-standing precedents saying the president’s power under the act is “conclusive.”

Trump could send the military into other cities, but the most dangerous weapon in his authoritarian arsenal might be the newly empowered Department of Homeland Security, which has been given $170 billion by Congress to triple the size of ICE and double its detention capacity.

No doubt, this will put Trump’s “mass deportation” into overdrive, but this is not just about immigration. Remember Portland in 2020, when Trump sent Border Patrol agents into the city? Against the wishes of the Oregon governor and the Portland mayor, the president deployed agents to protect federal buildings and suppress unrest after the killing of George Floyd. Under the Homeland Security Act, the secretary can designate any employee of the department to assist the Federal Protective Service in safeguarding government property and carrying out “such other activities for the promotion of homeland security as the Secretary may prescribe.”

Under that law, DHS officers can also make arrests, on and off of federal property, for “any offense against the United States.” This is why, in 2020, Border Patrol agents — dressed like soldiers and equipped with M-4 semi-automatic rifles — were able to rove around Portland in unmarked black SUVs and arrest people off the streets anywhere in the city. Trump could do this again anywhere in the country, and with the billions Congress has given to immigration and border agencies, DHS could assemble and deploy a formidable federal paramilitary force wherever and whenever Trump wishes.

Of course, under the 4th Amendment, officers need to have at least reasonable suspicion based on specific, articulable facts before they can stop and question someone, and probable cause before they arrest. And on Friday, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a temporary restraining order blocking ICE and Customs and Border Protection from making such stops without reasonable suspicion, and further holding that this could not be based on apparent race or ethnicity; speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent; presence at a particular location, such as a Home Depot parking lot; or the type of work a person does. This ruling could end up providing an important constitutional restraint on these agencies, but we shall see. The Trump administration has appealed the ruling.

However, this litigation proceeds, it is important to note that the DHS agencies are not like the FBI, with its buttoned-down, by-the-book culture drilled into it historically and in response to the revelations of J. Edgar Hoover’s abuses of power. DHS and its agencies have no such baggage, and they clearly have been pushing the envelope in Los Angeles — sometimes brutally — over the last month. And even if Frimpong’s ruling stands up on appeal, ICE and Customs and Border Protection will no doubt adapt by training their officers to articulate other justifications for stopping people on the street or in workplaces. Ultimately, these agencies are used to operating near the border, where, in the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s words, the federal government’s power is “at its zenith,” and where there are far fewer constitutional constraints on their actions.

These are the tools at Trump’s disposal — and as DHS rushes to hire thousands of agents and build the detention facilities Congress just paid for, these tools will only become more formidable. And one should anticipate that Trump will want to deploy the DHS paramilitary forces to “protect” the 2026 or 2028 elections, alongside federal troops, in the same way they worked together to capture MacArthur Park.

A fanciful, dystopian scenario? Maybe, but who or what would stop it from happening? Congress does not seem willing to stand up to the president — and while individual federal judges might, the Supreme Court seems more likely to defer to him, especially on issues concerning national security or immigration. So, in the words of Bruce Springsteen, “the last check on power, after the checks and balances of government have failed, are the people, you and me.” Suit up.

Seth Stodder served in the Obama administration as assistant secretary of Homeland Security for borders, immigration and trade and previously as assistant secretary for threat prevention and security. He teaches national security and counterterrorism law at USC Law School.

The nation’s priorities are now crystal clear.

We are adding ICE and Border Patrol agents, activating troops and invading American neighborhoods, including L.A.’s MacArthur Park on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, we are getting rid of medical researchers and weather forecasters, even as extreme and deadly weather events become more common.

Steve Lopez

Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001. He has won more than a dozen national journalism awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist.

You would think — based on the priorities in President Trump’s budget, tax and policy bill approved last week — that immigration is the greatest threat to our health and security.

It’s not.

But billions of dollars have been added for border and ICE agents while billions more have been trimmed from medical, climate and weather-related resources.

On Monday morning, federal agents on horseback and in armored vehicles descended on MacArthur Park in a show of force. Children playing in the park were ushered to safer ground, Mayor Karen Bass said at a news conference.

“Frankly it is outrageous and un-American that we have federal armed vehicles in our parks when nothing is going on in our parks,” Bass said, adding that she didn’t know if anyone was even detained.

“It’s a political agenda of provoking fear and terror,” she said.

The event “looked like a staging for a TikTok video,” said City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson.

MacArthur Park has a sizable undocumented immigrant population, and a lot of big problems to tackle — homelessness, a wide-open drug trade and gang activity. On some days areas of the park were unusable for families. First responders rolled out on overdose calls, addicts took over an alley, and merchants struggled to stay open amid all the mayhem.

In December, people sit at the corner of Alvarado Street and Wilshire Boulevard, an area known for illegal drug use in the Westlake neighborhood.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

As I found last year over the course of several months on the ground, local officials waited too long and moved too slowly in response to the long-festering crisis.

But a silly military parade isn’t going to help, unless they actually were going after undocumented drug lords — but there was no immediate evidence of that.

If the federal government wanted to help, L.A. could use more support for housing, drug interdiction and treatment. It could use a more stable and equitable economy that’s not undermined by tariff uncertainties and the president’s taunts of trading partners.

As we know in California, countless industries rely on undocumented laborers. It’s an open secret, and has been for decades, not just in the Golden State but across the nation, and yet Washington has been unable to put together a sensible immigration reform package over the years.

Congress got close last fall, but do I need to remind you what happened?

That’s right. Trump threatened lackey GOP Congressman, ordering the spineless ninnies to pull their support.

Every time I see a helicopter now in L.A. — and as we know, they’re like mosquitoes up there — I wonder if Trump has sent in the Air Force, with bombers coming in behind them.

My colleague Rachel Uranga recently reported that “ICE has not released data on criminal records of detainees booked into its custody.” But nonpublic data from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, “showed about 9 out of 10 had never been convicted of a violent or property crime, and 30% have no criminal record. The most frequent crimes are immigration and traffic offenses.”

It’s nothing to warrant the terrorizing of neighborhoods and communities, nothing to warrant armed, masked agents of unknown identities and agencies roaming our streets and nabbing workers at car washes, Home Depots and restaurants.

Federal immigration agents near MacArthur Park in the Westlake area on Monday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

It’s almost as terrifying as several other real and existential threats:

An anti-vax crackpot is in charge of the nation’s healthcare and medical research system.

Trump’s Big Bonehead Bill calls for an $18-billion cut for the National Institutes of Health.

Some of the leading researchers in medicine and science are leaving the country in a trend that could end up being a catastrophic brain drain.

I got an email the other day from the Social Security Administration informing me the “(SSA) is celebrating the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill.” I thought it was a joke at first — a satirical take on the rise of an authoritarian regime.

But it was real, and so are the cuts to the National Weather Service, to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Meteorologists say extreme weather events like the rainstorms that led to a river surge and killed dozens of children and adults in Texas’ Hill Country over the holiday weekend are going to become more common.

Florida had a record-tying number of hurricanes in 2024 with 11 of them, and $130 billion in damage.

Wildfires destroyed thousands of homes in Southern California last year and are becoming ever-more common around the world.

Temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea smashed records for June, and scientists are warning of dire impacts on sea life and food chains.

To the president and his minions, the crisis is overblown.

It’s fake news.

And the federal government can’t be distracted from its core mission.

The week is young, and there’s no telling which L.A. neighborhood will be invaded next.

[email protected]

Fuengirola Beach in Fuengirola, south west of Malaga, Spain was the scene of an unpleasant cat-sized-rat situation earlier this week, with the hefty rodents filmed scampering across the sand

Rats the size of cats have been spotted scampering along the beach in a town popular with British tourists.

One of the huge rodents was seen scurrying across the sand of Fuengirola Beach in Fuengirola, south west of Malaga, Spain. An onlooker filmed the hefty rodent on their mobile phone and could be heard shrieking in fright as a second giant rat darted out from underneath a walkway.

The startling scenes unfolded on Tuesday. Local woman Susan claimed that the rats were not a new feature of the beach resort, and can often be seen moving between shops.

“Yes, it’s incredible how many there are – and not just on the beach at night, where I see loads of them. During the day, they stroll from shop to shop right in the town centre,” she said.

Equally perturbed, local Joha added: “And those ones are small – at dawn, some come out that are way bigger. That’s nothing compared to the ones I’ve seen.”

READ MORE: Chaos on popular Canary Island beach as tourists banned from swimming in the sea

This is far from the only rat related beach incident to befall Spain in recent weeks. Sunseekers were left horrified when dozens of dead rats ended up floating in the sea in May.

Following a heavy downpour, the bloated rodents began to bob off a beach in Spain’s Costa Blanca. The overburdened local sewage system has been blamed for the disgusting scenes facing beachgoers near Alicante’s Coco and Urbanova beaches.

Rats were pictured lying dead on the sand at Urbanova beach, three miles south of Alicante City Centre. Others were filmed floating lifeless in the water. Dead rats were also spotted near the sailing school at Alicante’s Real Club de Regatas.

The ugly scenes provoked the anger of an opposition councillor for the popular holiday resort, who worries that mixing tourists and dead rats is not a good idea. Trini Amoros, deputy spokesperson for Alicante City Council’s socialist group, said: “Alicante cannot allow rats floating off our beaches.”

A few days later, the sea off another popular Costa del Sol holiday resort turned an alarming brown colour, leaving tourists aghast.

Council officials quickly raised a yellow flag as a warning to sunbathers as the large brown blotch spread across the water. The bizarre incident occurred around midday yesterday at a stretch of beach in Benalmadena, near two hotels – the Globales Los Patos Park Hotel and Hotel Spa Benalmadena Palace.

A Spanish-speaking tourist watching from a beachfront balcony was seen pointing out the bubbles emerging from the centre of the discoloured water to a companion.

Council chiefs confirmed overnight that yellow warning flags had been raised when the sea started turning brown, attributing the discolouration to a broken water pipe and assuring the public that there was no danger to public health.

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to acknowledge that the Pentagon has developed plans to take over Greenland and Panama by force if necessary but refused to answer repeated questions at a hotly combative congressional hearing Thursday about his use of Signal chats to discuss military operations.

Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee repeatedly got into heated exchanges with Hegseth, with some of the toughest lines of questioning coming from military veterans as many demanded “yes” or “no” answers and he tried to avoid direct responses about his actions as Pentagon chief.

In one back-and-forth, Hegseth did provide an eyebrow-raising answer. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) asked whether the Pentagon has developed plans to take Greenland or Panama by force if necessary.

“Our job at the Defense Department is to have plans for any contingency,” Hegseth said several times.

It is not unusual for the Pentagon to draw up contingency plans for conflicts that have not arisen, but his handling of the questions prompted a Republican lawmaker to step in a few minutes later.

“It is not your testimony today that there are plans at the Pentagon for taking by force or invading Greenland, correct?” said Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio).

As Hegseth started to repeat his answer about contingency plans, Turner added emphatically, “I sure as hell hope that is not your testimony.”

“We look forward to working with Greenland to ensure that it is secured from any potential threats,” Hegseth responded.

Time and again, lawmakers pressed Hegseth to answer questions he has avoided for months, including during the two previous days of hearings on Capitol Hill. And frustration boiled over.

“You’re an embarrassment to this country. You’re unfit to lead,” Rep. Salud Carbajal snapped, the California Democrat’s voice rising. “You should just get the hell out.”

GOP lawmakers on several occasions apologized to Hegseth for the Democrats’ sharp remarks, saying he should not be subject to such “flagrant disrespect.” Hegseth said he was “happy to take the arrows” to make tough calls and do what’s best.

Questions emerge on Signal chats and if details Hegseth shared were classified

Hegseth’s use of two Signal chats to discuss details of the U.S. plans to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen with other U.S. leaders as well as members of his family prompted dizzying exchanges with lawmakers.

Hegseth was pressed multiple times over whether or not he shared classified information and if he should face accountability if he did.

Hegseth argued that the classification markings of any information about those military operations could not be discussed with lawmakers.

That became a quick trap, as Hegseth has asserted that nothing he posted — on strike times and munitions dropped in March — was classified. His questioner, Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat and Marine veteran, jumped on the disparity.

“You can very well disclose whether or not it was classified,” Moulton said.

“What’s not classified is that it was an incredible, successful mission,” Hegseth responded.

A Pentagon watchdog report on his Signal use is expected soon.

Moulton asked Hegseth whether he would hold himself accountable if the inspector general finds that he placed classified information on Signal, a commercially available app.

Hegseth would not directly say, only noting that he serves “at the pleasure of the president.”

He was asked if he would apologize to the mother of a pilot flying the strike mission for jeopardizing the operation and putting her son’s life at risk. Hegseth said, “I don’t apologize for success.”

Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg raises Democratic concerns about politics in the military

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who appeared along with Hegseth, was questioned about Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg this week and whether the military was becoming politicized.

The Defense Department has a doctrine that prohibits troops from participating in political activity while in uniform. Members of the 82nd Airborne Division were directed to stand behind Trump at Fort Bragg, and they booed and cheered during his incendiary remarks, including condemnation of his predecessor, Joe Biden.

There also was a pop-up MAGA merchandise stand selling souvenirs to troops in uniform.

Caine repeatedly said U.S. service members must be apolitical but that he was unaware of anything that happened at Fort Bragg.

Hegseth is pressed about policies on women in uniform and transgender troops

Hegseth got into a sharp debate about whether women and transgender service members should serve in the military or combat jobs.

He said he has worked to remove diversity programs and political correctness from the military. He said he has not politicized the military but simply wants the most capable troops.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) demanded to know if Hegseth believes that both men and women can pull a trigger, cause death, operate a drone or launch a missile.

“It depends on the context,” Hegseth said, adding that “women carry equipment differently, a 155 round differently, a rucksack differently.”

Hegseth, who has previously said women “straight up” should not serve in combat, asserted that women have joined the military in record numbers under the Trump administration. He said the military “standards should be high and equal.”

He also was asked about three female service members — now being forced out as part of the Pentagon’s move to ban transgender troops.

Hegseth agreed that their accomplishments — which Houlahan read out — were to be celebrated, until he learned they were transgender.

Republican lawmakers jumped to his defense, criticizing any Pentagon spending on gender transition surgery.

Democrats ask about plans for action against Greenland and Panama

President Trump has said multiple times that he wants to take control of the strategic, mineral-rich island nation of Greenland, long a U.S. ally. Those remarks have been met with flat rejections from Greenland’s leaders.

“Greenland is not for sale,” Jacob Isbosethsen, Greenland’s representative to the U.S., said Thursday at a forum in Washington sponsored by the Arctic Institute.

In an effort not to show the Pentagon’s hand on its routine effort to have plans for everything, Hegseth danced around the direct question from Smith, leading to the confusion.

“Speaking on behalf of the American people, I don’t think the American people voted for President Trump because they were hoping we would invade Greenland,” Smith said.

Baldor and Copp write for the Associated Press. AP writer David Klepper in Washington contributed to this report.