Los Angeles County Museum of Art management on Wednesday declined to voluntarily recognize the union its employees announced they were forming last week. This means LACMA United cannot move forward with collective bargaining efforts until it is formalized by a National Labor Relations Board election. Complicating matters further, NLRB activities — including elections — are on hold amid the federal government shutdown.
The disconnect between staff — a clear majority of whom signed union authorization cards — and management comes at a significant moment in the museum’s history as LACMA works tirelessly to open its $720-million David Geffen Galleries. The new home for its encyclopedic permanent collection, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor, contains 110,000 square feet of gallery space and is scheduled to open to the public in April after more than a decade of planning, fundraising and building.
In a news release, the union noted that organizing efforts — in the works for more than two years — have taken on added urgency as workloads have increased in the face of opening the new building.
“Staff across departments — many performing demanding physical labor — are stretched thin as deadlines accelerate,” LACMA United wrote. “Without adequate protections, this pace is unsustainable and has already contributed to burnout and turnover among dedicated employees who deserve better from an institution they’ve helped build.”
The union’s organizing committee added in a statement, “We are disappointed that LACMA leadership has chosen to delay rather than embrace the democratic will of its workers. While the museum reimagines itself as a more collaborative, less hierarchical institution in its new David Geffen Galleries, it has declined to extend that same vision to its relationship with the very people who bring LACMA’s mission to life every day.”
“LACMA’s leadership has great respect for our team and for everyone’s right to make their own choice on this important issue,” Michael Govan, the museum’s director and chief executive, said in an email. “No matter the outcome, my commitment to our employees — to listen, to support them, and to continue building a strong and respectful workplace — remains unchanged.”
Management’s decision stands counter to those made by other cultural institutions across the city, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Academy Museum and the Natural History Museum, all of which voluntarily recognized their unions over the last six years.
LACMA United represents more than 300 workers from across all departments, including curators, educators, art installers, conservators, registrars, visitor services staff, facilities workers, researchers and designers. The union is asking for improved wages, benefits and working conditions in what has proved to be a challenging climate for museum workers across the county.
The union did not demonstrate at last week’s celebrity-packed LACMA Art + Film Gala, which was co-hosted by Leonardo DiCaprio and fashion designer Eva Chow, and raised more than $6.5 million in support of the museum and its programs.
Kim Kardashian, long at the center of a few conspiracy theories herself, has cosigned one that’s a fan favorite — and also thoroughly debunked.
During the most recent episode of Hulu’s “The Kardashians,” the fashion and beauty mogul professed her belief that the 1969 moon landing, a watershed moment of great American pride, never really happened. She also tried to get her “All’s Fair” co-star Sarah Paulson to drink the Kool-Aid.
“I’m sending you, like, so far a million interviews with both Buzz Aldrin and the other one [Neil Armstrong],” Kardashian told Paulson on the show.
“Yes, do it,” Paulson told the Skims founder, promising to go on her own “massive deep dive.”
Kardashian then went on to cite an interview that’s made the rounds on TikTok wherein she alleged that Buzz Aldrin — who completed the Apollo 11 mission alongside Armstrong and capsule communicator Michael Collins — gave the hoax away. (The going theory, of course, is that famous footage of the mission was actually filmed on a sound stage.)
“So I think it didn’t happen,” Kardashian concluded, adding that Aldrin, 95, has “gotten old and now he, like, slurs.”
Hours after the episode dropped, NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy fact-checked the socialite.
“Yes, @KimKardashian, we’ve been to the Moon before… 6 times!” Duffy wrote Thursday on X. “And even better: @NASAArtemis is going back under the leadership of @POTUS.”
“We won the last space race and we will win this one too,” Duffy wrote.
As for Aldrin’s takes on the matter, a 2022 Reuters article debunked one of the most popular clips used to implicate the former astronaut, which was was taken out of very critical context.
In a shortened version of the clip, Conan O’Brien recounts to Aldrin a childhood memory of his family watching the astronauts walk on the moon.
“No, you didn’t,” Aldrin responds, seemingly contradicting O’Brien’s account. Later in the interview, however, Aldrin clarified that the moon landing itself was authentic, but the animated footage broadcast by TV stations at the time was not.
The National Air and Space Museum has explained that there was a $2.3-million camera on board to capture the real-life images that were sent back to Earth.
Nonetheless, Kardashian doubled down on her opinion when a producer on “The Kardashians” probed further.
“For the record, you think that we didn’t walk on the moon?” the producer asked.
“I don’t think we did. I think it was fake,” Kardashian said, adding that she’s seen several videos of Aldrin allegedly disputing the event.
“Why does Buzz Aldrin say it didn’t happen?” she said. “There’s no gravity on the moon. Why is the flag blowing? The shoes that they have in the museum that they wore on the moon is a different print in the photos. Why are there no stars?”
For what it’s worth, there is gravity on the moon, albeit about a sixth of what it is on Earth, give or take. Hence the footage of astronauts bouncing across the lunar surface but not flying off into space. As far as there being no breeze, NASA planned for the lack of one — a rod can be seen holding up the top of flag, because scientists knew the stars and stripes wouldn’t fly without one. And did we mention that Aldrin did not say it didn’t happen? Yes, we did. We did mention that.
To her credit, Kardashian was self-aware enough to add that people were “gonna say I’m crazy no matter what.”
She also encouraged viewers to look for themselves on Tiktok. Keep in mind, though, the accounts that regularly promote the moon-landing conspiracy theory are also fond of other mistaken notions, like saying the Earth is flat and aliens built the pyramids.
There you are, sitting in traffic in your car, listening to Taylor Swift on Spotify because it’s easier than subjecting yourself to a new, more challenging artist. An ad pops up in your stream. It’s serious stuff, evidenced by the dystopian tone of the narrator: “Join the mission to protect America,” the serious man’s voice commands, “with bonuses up to $50,000 and generous benefits. Apply now … and fulfill your mission.”
It’s an Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruitment ad, part of the Trump administration’s investment of $30 billion to add more than 10,000 deportation officers to its ranks by the end of the year. You would have been spared the outrage if only you had paid for Spotify’s ad-free tier of service, but there’s no way the audio streamer is getting your money now. You’ll be switching to, say, Apple Music. Maybe Tidal?
The experience of being subjected to recruitment ads for a domestic military force, assembled by a power-hungry president, has generated intense backlash that’s culminated this week in calls for boycotts of streaming services and platforms that have featured ICE spots. They include Pandora, ESPN, YouTube, Hulu and Fubo TV. Multiple HBO Max subscribers bemoaned on X that they were subjected to ICE recruitment videos while watching All Elite Wrestling: “Time to be force-fed ICE commercials against my will for two hours again #WWENXT,” @YKWrestling wrote.
Recruitment ads — Uncle Sam’s “I Want You” poster comes to mind — are an American staple, especially in times of war. But the current recruitment effort is aimed at sending forces into American cities, predicated on exaggerated claims that U.S. metro areas are under siege and in peril due to dangerous illegal immigrants, leftist protesters and out-of-control crime rates. The data, however, does not support those claims. The American Immigration Council found that from 1980 to 2022, while the immigrant share of the U.S. population more than doubled (from 6.2% to 13.9%), the total crime rate declined by over 60%.
Yet there’s a far scarier doomscape on the horizon if ICE’s recruitment efforts are successful: a mercenary army loyal only to Trump, weaponized to keep him on the throne. If that sounds more dystopian than the aforementioned Spotify ad, consider that the administration has spent more than $6.5 million over the past month on a slew of 30-second commercials aimed at luring in police officers.
The ads aired on TVs in more than a dozen cities including Chicago, Seattle and Atlanta and opened with images of each specific metro area’s skyline. Then came the commanding narration: “Attention, Miami law enforcement!” It’s followed by the same messaging that is used in ICE ads across the country: “You took an oath to protect and serve, to keep your family, your city, safe. But in sanctuary cities you’re ordered to stand down while dangerous illegals walk free — Join ICE and help us catch the worst of the worst. Drug traffickers. Gang members. Predators.”
But are the ads working? It’s hard to say since transparency isn’t a hallmark of the MAGA White House. For what it’s worth, a Sept. 16 press release from the DHS claimed that it had received more than 150,000 applications in response to its campaign and had extended 18,000 tentative job offers.
As for the power of consumer-led boycotts, there’s hope. More than 1.7 million Disney, Hulu and ESPN subscriptions were reportedly canceled between Sept. 17 and Sept. 23 during Jimmy Kimmel’s temporary suspension by ABC (Disney is ABC’s parent company). The network pulled the show after the host’s comments related to Charlie Kirk’s assassination angered MAGA supporters and the Trump-appointed FCC chair appeared to threaten the network. But after a week with a significant increase in cancellations — a 436% jump compared to a normal week — Kimmel was back on the air.
As of today, Spotify appears unmoved by the pressure to pull those intrusive ICE ads. “This advertisement is part of a broad campaign the US government is running across television, streaming, and online channels,” a Spotify spokesperson said in a statement this week. “The content does not violate our advertising policies. However, users can mark any ad with a thumbs up or thumbs down to help manage their ads preferences.”
Thumbs down. Frowny emoji. Cue the dystopian narrator for a counter ad: “Join the mission to protect America: Cancel Spotify.”
WASHINGTON — The Navy admiral who oversees military operations in the region where U.S. forces have been attacking alleged drug boats off Venezuela will retire in December, he and the Defense Secretary announced Thursday.
Adm. Alvin Holsey became the leader of U.S. Southern Command only in November, overseeing an area that encompasses the Caribbean Sea and waters off South America. These types of postings typically last between three and four years.
The news of Holsey’s upcoming retirement comes two days after the U.S. military’s fifth deadly strike in the Caribbean against a small boat accused of carrying drugs. The Trump administration has asserted it’s treating alleged drug traffickers as unlawful combatants who must be met with military force.
Frustration with the attacks has been growing on Capitol Hill. Some Republicans have been seeking more information from the White House on the legal justification and details of the strikes, while Democrats contend the strikes violate U.S. and international law.
Holsey said in a statement posted on the command’s Facebook page that it’s “been an honor to serve our nation, the American people and support and defend our Constitution for over 37 years.”
“The SOUTHCOM team has made lasting contributions to the defense of our nation and will continue to do so,” he said. “I am confident that you will forge ahead, focused on your mission that strengthens our nation and ensures its longevity as a beacon of freedom around the globe.”
U.S. Southern Command did not provide any more information beyond the admiral’s statement.
In a post on X on Thursday afternoon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth thanked Holsey for his “decades of service to our country, and we wish him and his family continued success and fulfillment in the years ahead.”
“Admiral Holsey has demonstrated unwavering commitment to mission, people, and nation,” Hegseth wrote.
Officials at the Pentagon did not provide any more information and referred the Associated Press to Hegseth’s statement on social media.
The New York Times first reported on Holsey’s plans to leave his position.
Toropin and Finley write for the Associated Press.
ED MILIBAND is a “walking, talking cost-of-living crisis”, according to shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho.
The senior MP — who will tomorrow unveil Tory plans for cheaper utilities — vowed to get her Labour arch-rival SACKED as gas and electricity costs rose again this week on his watch.
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Shadow Energy Secretary Claire CoutinhoCredit: Darren Fletcher
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Kemi Badenoch meets supporters as she arrives in Manchester for the Conservative party conferenceCredit: Getty
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Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net ZeroCredit: Getty
Experts have warned that Red Ed, who promised to cut energybills by up to £300 a year before the 2024 General Election, will only drive prices higher with his Net Zero obsession.
Already, £1billion has been spent this year switching off wind turbines when it got too blowy for the network to cope.
Other sources, such as gas-fired plants, then had to be paid to be used as a replacement. The shutdown has pushed household bills up by £15 a year.
In an interview with the Sun on Sunday, Ms Coutinho fumed: “Ed Miliband is a disaster.
“Every decision (he) has made in government is going to send people’s bills up.
“He promised people £300 off their bills, and so far they’re already £200 up. People are rightly furious.
“I don’t know what he’s on. He is a walking, talking cost-of-living crisis.
“I’m going to make it my mission in this parliament to get him sacked.”
She continues: “I think he can’t add up because if you look at what he’s doing, gas at the moment is about £55 a megawatt-hour.
“He said he’s willing to pay up to £117 for offshore wind this year, and then he talks about cutting people’s bills. You don’t need a calculator to see that is just total madness.”
The top Tory also slated Energy Secretary Mr Miliband for “signing up to 20-year contracts” for offshore wind, adding: “We’re going to be saddled with these incredibly high prices for decades.”
Ms Coutinho is the face of the Conservative Party’s scepticism over a move to Net Zero.
At their annual conference in Manchester tomorrow, she will outline proposals to cut bills by scrapping green levies.
She said: “The most important thing the country needs — and we’re unashamed about this — is lower energy bills.
“Our priority for energy policy going forward will be simple: Make electricity cheaper.
“It will be good for growth, it’s good for cost-of-living — something we know lots of families are still struggling with — and, most importantly, it will be good for the whole of the UK to have much cheaper energy bills.”
Levies funding environmental and social projects add around £140 to annual electricity bills and £50 to gas bills, says innovation agency Nesta.
It comes as the UK energy price cap rose again this week by two per cent, meaning the average household paying for gas and electricity by direct debit will see costs increase from £1,720 to £1,755 per year.
Ms Coutinho’s stance marks a much harder line on eco-policies as the Tories try to stave off Nigel Farage’s party.
Reform UK promised to scrap the Net Zero target and told wind and solar developers they will end green energy subsidies if they win power.
It has prompted Mr Miliband to liken the Tories to a “Reform tribute act”.
But Ms Coutinho said: “That’s absolute rubbish, If you look at Reform, they’ve got the economics of Jeremy Corbyn.”
She claimed there was a huge black hole in Reform’s spending plans, adding: “That simply isn’t going to work for a country where you’ve got interest rates high, inflation is high. We need to be bringing those things down. So we need to live within our means.”
Tories have pledged to scrap the restrictive Climate Change Act 2008 brought in by the last Labour government, and the target of Net Zero emissions by 2050 enshrined by Tory PM Theresa May in 2019.
Ms Coutinho said: “We’ve got new leadership now and both Kemi and I strongly feel that the biggest problem that this country faces is that we’ve got the highest industrial electricity prices in the world and the second highest domestic prices. Now that’s just not going to work for Britain.”
Tories would also abolish quango the Climate Change Committee, which advises the Government on Net Zero.
Ms Coutinho said: “For too long, energy policy has been in the hands of people who are unelected and unaccountable — and that’s just not right.”
Ms Coutinho added: “We’re a small dense island and it can be very disruptive. So it shouldn’t be done to communities without their say so.”
The shadow cabinet member admitted people are frustrated the Tories have taken their time to come up with policies after their disastrous loss at last year’s General Election.
But she insisted: “At conference, you’ll see a lot more from us. This is the moment where we’ll start telling people all the results of our work, and be able to explain what our plan is.
“The difference between us and Labour and Reform is our plans are real, they’re fully funded, they can be delivered tomorrow.”
She promised the Tories will bring forward plans the public can trust, adding: “People have really lost faith in government to be able to do the things that they want it to do. So we need to rebuild that trust.”
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Claire Coutinho speaks exclusively to the Sun on SundayCredit: Darren Fletcher
The crew of Artemis II will not land on the moon but will lay the groundwork for the first crewed missions to Mars.
Published On 23 Sep 202523 Sep 2025
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NASA may be headed back to the moon months sooner than originally planned, with the agency announcing that the first crewed flight in its Artemis programme could make the trip around the moon and back as early as February.
The space agency’s Artemis programme is the flagship effort by the United States to return humans to the moon, a multibillion-dollar series of missions that rivals a similar effort by China, which is aiming for a 2030 astronaut moon landing.
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In the first Artemis mission, an uncrewed spacecraft travelled around the moon and back in November 2022.
The goal of the Artemis II mission, a 10-day flight around the moon and back, is to “explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars”, according to NASA.
The crew of Artemis II will not land on the moon but will be the first to travel beyond low Earth orbit since 1972, the BBC reported.
The mission was originally planned for April, but it could be moved up to February.
“We together have a front row seat to history,” Lakiesha Hawkins, NASA’s acting deputy associate administrator, said in a news conference on Tuesday. “The launch window could open as early as the fifth of February, but we want to emphasise that safety is our top priority.”
Artemis II is meant to be a test for the agency’s more ambitious mission, Artemis III, currently planned for 2027, and will involve a moon lander variant of SpaceX’s Starship rocket. The goal for Artemis III is to land on the moon.
Artemis II involves NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and its Orion capsule. The Orion capsule will ride atop the giant, 98-metre-tall (322 feet) SLS rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the first time the spacecraft duo will fly with humans.
NASA’s most famous lunar excursion took place more than 50 years ago, when Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon in 1969 while acting as the commander of Apollo 11.
WASHINGTON — Early in his first term, President Trump held a modest ceremony directing NASA to return humans to the moon for the first time in 50 years. It was a goalpost set without a road map. Veterans of the space community reflected on the 2017 document, conspicuously silent on budgets and timelines, equivocating between excitement and concern.
Was Trump setting up a giveaway to special interests in the aerospace community? Or was he setting forth a real strategic vision for the coming decade, to secure American leadership in the heavens?
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It was a return to a plan first proposed by President George W. Bush in 2004, then abandoned by President Obama in 2010, asserting the moon as a vital part of American ambitions in space. Whether to return to the lunar surface at all — or skip it to focus on Mars — was a long-standing debate governing the division of resources at NASA, where every project is precious, holding extraordinary promise for the knowledge of mankind, yet requiring consistent, high-dollar funding commitments from a capricious Congress.
Eight years on, the debate is over. Trump’s policy shift has blazed a new American trail in space — and spawned an urgent race with China that is fast approaching the finish line.
Both nations are in a sprint toward manned missions to the lunar surface by the end of this decade, with sights on 2029 as a common deadline — marking the end of Trump’s presidency and, in China, the 80th anniversary of the People’s Republic.
A “What Will 2030 Look Like?” sign behind Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who chairs the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, during a confirmation hearing in April.
(Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
It is a far different race from the original, against the Soviet Union, when U.S. astronauts inspired the world with a televised landing in 1969. This time, Washington would not just plant a flag and return its astronauts home. Instead, the Americans plan to stay, establishing a lunar base that would test humanity’s ability to live beyond Earth.
China has similar plans. And with both countries aiming for the same strategic area of the surface — the south pole of the moon, where peaks of eternal light shine alongside crevices of permanent darkness, believed to store frozen water — the stakes of the race are grounded in national security. Whichever nation establishes a presence there first could lay claim to the region for themselves.
The world’s first full-scale model of the crewed pressurized lunar rover, to be used in the Artemis moon exploration program, is displayed during a press preview in July.
(Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images)
Advocates of the U.S. effort, called the Artemis program, increasingly fear that delays at NASA and its private sector partners, coupled with proposed funding cuts to NASA from the Trump administration, could ensure China’s victory in a race with broad consequences for U.S. interests.
So it is a race that Trump started. The question is whether he can finish it.
While U.S. intelligence officials have assessed that Beijing is on track to meet its goals, NASA veterans say that accomplishing a manned mission before the Chinese appears increasingly out of reach.
“It’s a stretch,” said G. Scott Hubbard, a leader in human space exploration for the last half-century who served as NASA’s first “Mars czar” and former director of the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. “Bottom line, yes, it is doable. It’ll take an intense effort by the best engineers, and appropriate funding.
“It’s not inconceivable,” he added.
Visitors take photos of a space suit during an event marking China’s Space Day at the Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin, capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang province.
(Wang Jianwei/Xinhua via Getty Images)
The White House said Trump is committed to making “American leadership in space great again,” noting his first-term push to return U.S. astronauts to the moon and his efforts to deregulate the U.S. space industry. But officials declined to comment on a timeline for the mission or on China’s steady progress.
“Being first and beating China to the moon matters because it sets the rules of the road,” Sean Duffy, Transportation secretary and acting NASA administrator, told The Times. “We’re committed to doing this right — safely, peacefully, and ahead of strategic competitors — because American leadership on the moon secures our future in space.”
The success of the Artemis program, Duffy said, is about ensuring the United States leads in space for generations to come. “Those who lead in space lead on Earth,” he added.
NASA officials, granted anonymity to speak candidly, expressed concern that while leadership on the Artemis program has remained relatively stable, talent on robotics and in other key areas has left the agency at a critical time in the race, with potentially less than two years to go before China launches its first robotic mission to the south pole — a scout, of sorts, for a manned landing to follow.
A proposal to cut NASA research funding by roughly 47% has gripped officials there with doubt, jeopardizing a sense of job security at the agency and destabilizing a talent pipeline that could prove critical to success.
In the 1960s, the federal government increased spending on NASA to 4.4% of GDP to secure victory in the first space race.
“There’s too much uncertainty,” one NASA official said, raising the specter of the Trump administration impounding funds for the agency even if Congress continues to fund it.
Inside NASA headquarters, Hubbard said, “the feeling right now is terrified uncertainty — everyone is walking on eggshells.”
“They’re treading water,” he added. “People want to be given clear direction, and they’re not getting it.”
A Chinese Smart Dragon-3 rocket carrying satellites lifts off from sea on Sept. 9.
(VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
China’s long march gets closer
Beijing conducted a series of tests over the last several weeks viewed in Washington as crucial milestones for China on its journey to the moon.
A launch of its Lanyue lander, equipped to carry two taikonauts to the lunar surface, “validated” its landing and takeoff system, state media reported. Two subsequent tests of China’s Long March 10, a super-heavy lift rocket designed to jump-start the mission, were a “complete success,” according to the China Manned Space Agency.
Unlike in the United States, China’s manned space flight program is housed within its military.
“We have seen them steadily progress on all of the various pieces that they are going to need,” said Dean Cheng, senior advisor to the China program at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
“You need a vehicle to launch, because current rockets simply don’t have enough throw-weight. They’re testing the lander to carry astronauts to the surface,” Cheng said. “These are key pieces, and significant advances — this is a brand new rocket and a lunar lander with new technology.”
China initially set a goal for its manned mission by 2035, but has since moved up its plans, an expression of confidence from Beijing and an unusual break from typical party protocol. Now, China aims not only to have completed that mission, but to begin establishing an International Lunar Research Station on its surface, in conjunction with Russia, by 2030.
They are expected to target the south pole.
“There’s room for two powers under schemes of coordination, but there’s not room in an uncoordinated environment. There can easily be a competition for resources,” said Thomas González Roberts, an assistant professor of international affairs and aerospace engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Landing and takeoff of spacecraft on the moon will kick up lunar dust and rocks, risking the safety of astronauts on the ground and sensitive equipment across a base site — considerations that are likely driving Beijing’s strategy to get there first. Those enjoying the benefits of first arrival could set up generous routes for rovers, equipment at dig sites for deposits, telecommunication assets, and even a nuclear reactor to assert a large area of domain.
Since his first term, Trump and his aides have sought to avoid a showdown on the lunar surface, drafting a new set of international rules to govern an otherwise untamed frontier. The Artemis Accords “set out a practical set of principles to guide space exploration,” according to the State Department. President Biden embraced and extended the initiative, growing the list of signatories to 56 nations.
But China is not one of them, prohibited by Congress during the Obama era from cooperating with the United States in space after attempting to steal U.S. technology on intercontinental ballistic missiles and thermonuclear weapons. Instead, Beijing has recruited a small list of countries to join its lunar base program, including Russia, Venezuela, Pakistan, Egypt, Nicaragua, Belarus and South Africa.
“I don’t think there will be extreme congestion on the moon, but if you really define an area of interest — and there is that, with these peaks of eternal light next to permanently shadowed regions — you could manufacture congestion,” Roberts added.
“How do you benefit from obfuscation?” he asked. “If you’re the first arrival, you spread yourself out.”
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, carrying Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft toward the International Space Station.
(Manuel Mazzanti/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The promise and burden of Musk’s Starship
Last month, Duffy warned NASA staff that the Trump administration suspects Beijing is planning to deliver a nuclear reactor to power a long-term presence at its lunar base by 2029.
The move, Duffy said, could allow China to “declare a keep-out zone, which would significantly inhibit the United States from establishing a planned Artemis presence if not there first.” He ordered the agency to collect proposals by October on delivering a U.S. reactor to the surface no later than that year.
The administration’s success relies on a man whose relationship with Trump has crashed spectacularly to Earth.
Starship, a super heavy-lift launch vehicle produced by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is the rocket Trump is relying on to accomplish the Artemis mission. Yet repeated setbacks in the Starship program have raised alarm at NASA over its fundamental constitution. A concerning series of tests have already delayed the U.S. manned launch, known as Artemis III, toward the end of Trump’s term.
Last month, in its 10th test flight, the rocket finally succeeded in a suborbital mission. But “Starship has yet to reach orbit,” Hubbard said, “and once it reaches orbit, they’ve got to demonstrate microgravity transfer of cryogenic propellant.”
“That’s something that’s never been done before,” he added. “So to say that they’ll be ready to do all of that in two years is a real stretch.”
Setbacks are common course in the history of the U.S. space program. But the success of China’s recent tests has shown the Trump administration that NASA and its partners have run out of time for further delays.
Duffy said that Artemis II, a manned mission to orbit the moon, will take place early next year, overcoming a separate set of design flaws that faced Lockheed Martin’s Orion spacecraft. Artemis III would keep astronauts on the surface for more than a week and deliver payloads to help begin the foundation of a base.
Whether the Trump administration will commit to the funding and leadership necessary for the mission is an open question. The White House declined to say who within the West Wing is leading the effort. Trump has not named a permanent NASA administrator for Senate confirmation.
Success on the moon is meant to provide a testing ground and a launching pad for more ambitious, challenging manned missions to Mars. But Trump’s commitment to those ventures are equally in doubt. The administration has proposed canceling funds for a landmark program decades in the making to return samples from the red planet, despite a NASA announcement last week revealed it had discovered signs of ancient Martian life.
“I’ve been on the inside of it — you waste enormous amounts of time just trying to find workarounds to get funding in to stay on schedule,” Hubbard said. “If you really, really want to beat the Chinese, give NASA the funding and some stability — because you’re not going to beat them if every day, week or month, there’s a different direction, a different budget, a different administrator.
“And China may still win,” he said, adding: “It would be another claim that they’re the dominant power in the world.”
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
The F-35B stealth fighters that landed in Puerto Rico on Saturday joined a growing U.S. military presence at the former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads. Though the Navy disposed of this sprawling facility more than two decades ago, it is now a major staging area for the Trump administration’s battle against narco traffickers and pressure campaign against Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. These counter-drug activities have some asking whether Roosevelt Roads, once considered surplus by the U.S. Navy, should be permanently reopened as a military installation.
Before the F-35s arrived, cargo aircraft like the C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III were seen at the facility, now known as José Aponte de la Torre Airport. There were also U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and USMC CH-53K King Stallion helicopters present.The Marine aircraft are part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG) and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, which began a training exercise on Puerto Rico on August 31.
A US Air Force Boeing C-5 Galaxy is parked at José Aponte de la Torre Airport, formerly Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, on September 13, 2025 in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. President Donald Trump is sending ten F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico as part of his war on drug cartels, sources familiar with the matter told AFP on September 5, as tensions mount with Venezuela over Washington’s military build-up in the Caribbean. The planes will join US warships already deployed to the southern Caribbean as Trump steps up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the United States accuses of leading a drug cartel. The Trump administration recently carried out a drone strike in the southern Caribbean against a boat that had left Venezuela and was suspected of transporting drugs. Eleven people died in the attack. The president claimed that the vessel was operated by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. (Photo by Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP) MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO
F-35 fighter jets taxi on the runway at the former Roosevelt Roads military base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, September 13, 2025. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo pic.twitter.com/9mlcnNOJbY
In addition to the aircraft, images showed U.S. Air Force personnel restoring the airport communications control tower, while others loaded and unloaded cargo and prepared for future operations.
Analysis of Reuters photographs indicates extensive activity at the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, which officially closed in 2004.
The images show heavy transport traffic and rapid efforts to restore key infrastructure to operational status.
Though images emerging on social media showed MQ-9 Reaper drones at Rafael Hernández Airport on the other side of the island, open-source flight tracking data points to at least one possibly operating out of Roosevelt Roads. It is believed that a Reaper was used to destroy what Trump said was a cartel drug boat with 11 people and a load of narcotics.
All this activity is taking place as the U.S. is once again turning to Roosevelt Roads, which had provided support for America’s invasions of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Grenada and Panama in decades past. While there are other facilities on the island also taking part, Roosevelt Roads has become a nexus of activity for this effort.
The 8,650-acre facility, located in the easternmost point of Puerto Rico’s main island in the town of Cieba, was opened in 1943. Its centerpiece is an 11,000-foot runway capable of supporting the U.S. military’s inventory of aircraft.
The 11,000-foot main runway at Roosevelt Roads. (Google Earth)
Roosevelt Roads also has a deep-water port enabling the Navy’s surface and subsurface vessels to dock.
The deep-water port facilities at Roosevelt Roads. (Google Earth) The 8,650-acre Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, once one of the U.S. Navy’s biggest bases, was disposed of in 2004. (Google Earth)
The concept of a military facility on the eastern part of Puerto Rico began in 1919, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then Assistant Navy Secretary, conducted a surveying trip to the area. The future president saw the location as a strategic asset in the Caribbean. But Roosevelt’s vision would not become a reality for another three decades.
The base was first built during World War II and named for Roosevelt, who came up with the concept. The initial plan was that it would become the keystone of U.S. defenses in the Caribbean, “with a well-protected anchorage, a major air station and an industrial establishment capable of supporting 60 percent of the Atlantic Fleet under wartime conditions,” according to GlobalSecurity.org. “There were even rumors that if the British Empire ever fell to Axis powers, Roosevelt Roads would become the new operating base for the British Fleet.”
However, with the U.S. military’s efforts focused on Europe and the Pacific, the Navy put expansion plans for the base on hold. In 1957, during the height of the Cold War, Roosevelt Roads was redesignated as a Naval Station. With the Soviet Union-aligned Cuba perceived as a growing threat, the facility’s footprint on the island began to grow. Its port facilities made the base a major support facility for the Sixth Fleet.
A U.S. Navy Grumman QF-9G Cougar drone (BuNo 128290) operated by Utility Squadron 8 (VU-8) “Redtails” being readied for a flight at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, on 17 June 1965. (USN)
After two terrorist attacks on the island damaged equipment at another location, the Naval Communications Station Puerto Rico was relocated to a new, state-of-the-art communications facility at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads because it was considered far more secure.
The station “would eventually become one of the largest naval facilities in the world, encompassing more than 100 miles of paved interior roads,” according to the Navy. However, in the early 2000s, its future grew cloudy.
A rightside view of two F-4D Phantom II aircraft during the reserve training Exercise PATRIOT PEARL. The exercise is a combined air operation of short duration designed to make maximum use of limited training. SSGT DAVID MCLEOD, USAF
The facility’s main mission was serving as a coordinating facility and mission staging point for the U.S. Navy’s bombing range on the island municipality of Vieques, about 10 miles to the southeast. The bombardments were carried out for six decades and generated massive protests over civilian deaths and environmental destruction.
The base was also home to Fleet Composite Squadron Eight (VC-8), the Navy’s last operator of the A-4 Skyhawk. The unit began operations there in 1965 and became the last Navy squadron based at Roosevelt Roads. The unit provided training assistance through acting as aggressors and towing targets, among other roles, for units visiting the Caribbean outpost. The Navy’s maritime patrol operations were also a major presence at the base.
The Navy finally ended the bombing in 2003. With the Vieques bombing range closed, the Navy also decided it no longer needed Roosevelt Roads or its units there. It was proposed to be closed under the Base Realignment & Closure (BRAC) process used to dispose of unwanted U.S. military installations. By that time, just two years after 9/11, the U.S. had rapidly shifted its focus to the global war on terror.
Without Vieques, Roosevelt Roads was considered obsolete,” Federico de Jesus, a former director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, told us.
After the base was shuttered, various parts of it were turned over to different Puerto Rican government organizations. Given its location, there have been efforts over the years to develop parts of Roosevelt Roads; however, those plans remain in flux.
Located on the water, Roosevelt Roads has been the focus of several development attempts over the years. (Government of Puerto Rico)
Despite the closure, the U.S. continued to use the installation for contingencies and relief efforts, like the November 2017 missions to provide much-needed aid in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island.
A Marine Corps V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft lands at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, Nov. 3, 2017. The military has been using various aviation assets to deliver much-needed aid to the island territory and the people living there. (US Army photo by Spc. Samuel D. Keenan) Sgt. Samuel Keenan
The U.S. Navy began reusing Roosevelt Roads at a much larger scale on Aug. 31 to support training operations by the Iwo Jima Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG)/22nd MEU. Operations at the base have since expanded.
Despite the facility’s ability to support the Trump administration’s current efforts, the Navy has no plans to permanently use Roosevelt Roads, a U.S. defense official told The War Zone.
However, there is an effort in Puerto Rico to re-establish the facility as a working military installation.
Two weeks ago, New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico Sens. Nitza Morán Trinidad and Carmelo Ríos Santiago “introduced Senate Resolution 286, which calls for an investigation into the current state of the former Roosevelt Roads naval base in Ceiba,” the San Juan Daily Star reported last week. “The measure aims to evaluate the feasibility and impact of potentially repurposing Roosevelt Roads for national security by the Army.”
“For decades, Roosevelt Roads represented an economic engine for the eastern region of the island,” Morán Trinidad said, according to the publication. “Today, we have a responsibility to seriously and strategically consider the possibility of its facilities once again playing a key role — not only in the defense of the Caribbean and the Americas but also in the economic revitalization of Ceiba and the surrounding municipalities.”
The future of that effort, however, remains unclear.
With the Trump administration giving no timeline for its Caribbean operation, it looks like Roosevelt Roads will continue to be a very active facility for the U.S. military in the short term. However, given the administration’s focus on Central and South America, it’s quite possible that larger plans for the installation could materialize. Regardless, at least for now, Roosevelt Roads has woken up from its long slumber.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
A U.K. Royal Air Force P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was noted today flying in Polish airspace along the border with Russia and Belarus, apparently highlighting a significant, if overlooked, overland surveillance mission for the type. The unusual flight comes amid rising tensions between NATO and Russia in the region, following the Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace last week. Since then, more Russian drones have entered Romanian airspace, while NATO has begun deploying additional fighter jets to bolster Poland’s air defenses.
Evidence of today’s Royal Air Force P-8 mission appeared on publicly available flight-tracking websites, which showed the Poseidon, serial number ZP809, flying up and down the Polish side of the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in the north and with Belarus in the south. The P-8 was operating from its home base of RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.
The P-8 may be generally described as a maritime patrol platform, but is more accurately a multi-mission type with extensive intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. These are equally relevant for missions over land or over water. Even without any specific modifications, the P-8’s standard electronic support measures (ESM) suite allows it to act in an electronic intelligence (ELINT) collection role, specifically on enemy air defenses and electronic order of battles. This is something we will come back to later in this story.
As its main operator, the U.S. Navy has further adapted a handful of P-8s for specialized ISR, with modifications such as a secretive radar system, the AN/APS-154 Advanced Airborne Sensor, or AAS. Even without AAS, the U.S. Navy regularly uses P-8s to execute intelligence-gathering duties, specifically ELINT, outside of its sea control/anti-submarine warfare/anti-surface warfare tasks.
Aircrew onboard a Royal Air Force Poseidon. According to the service, most missions have eight onboard: two pilots, two Weapons Systems Officers (WSOs), and four Weapons Systems Operators (WSOps) — two manipulating the EO/IR camera, two manipulating the complex series of acoustic sensors onboard. Crown Copyright
As for the Royal Air Force, however, the small fleet of just nine aircraft at Lossiemouth means that these have been primarily tasked with patrolling the North Atlantic, including the strategically vital Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom Gap, better known as the GIUK Gap. This includes defending against potential Russian aggression and tracking Russian submarine activity, which has been a growing area of concern for some time now, as well as protecting the U.K. Royal Navy’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) when they go out on deterrence patrol.
Indeed, the small size of the Royal Air Force P-8 fleet saw the United Kingdom discuss plans to team up with Norway to cooperate on Poseidon operations, and, in the future, Germany will be added to this group. This will provide a further boost to NATO’s ability to effectively patrol the North Atlantic.
As regards using its P-8s for overland ISR, the Royal Air Force has previously been lukewarm on this.
According to Gareth Jennings, the aviation desk editor at Janes, the Royal Air Force once planned to use the P-8 for overland surveillance, but shelved the idea due to the small number of aircraft being purchased
Was told not all that long ago that, although the RAF originally intended the P-8 to have an overland surveillance capability, this would not now be the case owing to the relatively few aircraft being procured and commitment to its core-carrier protection/MPA and ASW tasks. Seems… https://t.co/8iCZ3RshAP
Whether the mission over Poland today signals some kind of change is unclear, but we have reached out to the U.K. Ministry of Defense and NATO to try and find out more about this flight.
Suffice it to say, activities in Kaliningrad and Belarus right now mean there are plenty of points of considerable interest to NATO.
Currently, the armed forces of Russia and Belarus are conducting the first iteration of their joint Zapad maneuvers since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Zapad drills — meaning ‘West’ — are widely seen as intimidation exercises directed against NATO’s eastern flank. Ahead of the exercise, Poland said it was deploying 40,000 troops along its borders with Belarus and Russia. Poland had previously closed most border crossings with Belarus, leaving only two in operation.
It’s also worth recalling that the Zapad-2021 exercise was used, in part, as cover for the westward movement of troops and equipment months before Moscow launched its all-out assault on Ukraine.
The scenario for Zapad-2025 involves an imagined Western invasion of Belarus. Although much smaller than in pre-2022 editions, the close coordination of Russian and Belarusian forces, including armor, crewed and uncrewed aircraft, air defense systems, and naval assets, provides an ideal opportunity for intelligence gathering.
Russian tanks move during the Zapad-2025 joint Russian-Belarusian military drills at a training ground near the town of Borisov, east of the capital Minsk, on September 15, 2025. Photo by Olesya KURPYAYEVA / AFP OLESYA KURPYAYEVA
🇷🇺⚡🇵🇱 Russia deployed nuclear capable SRBM “Iskander” on a highway in the Kaliningrad region near the Polish border, as part of #Zapad 2025 exercises with Belarus. pic.twitter.com/QOdODGfTaE
While we cannot know for sure at this point, today’s P-8 flight would appear to be entirely in line with that kind of intelligence-gathering mission.
Elsewhere in Poland, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski reiterated that, while the drones that entered Poland last week were capable of carrying warheads, they were not loaded with explosives.
Increasingly, NATO leaders in Europe are seeing the Russian drone incursions as a deliberate, incremental escalation directed against NATO. This kind of approach is very much in line with an escalating campaign of hostile activities short of all-out war across Europe, of which Russia has been accused. The tempo of the operations has stepped up since Moscow launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine. Even before then, Russia had a long history of so-called hybrid or gray-zone warfare operations that fit this same description.
The weekend saw another Russian drone incursion, this time in Romania and much smaller in scale than last week’s in Poland.
At least one Russian drone entered Romanian airspace at 6.05 p.m. local time on Saturday during a strike on neighboring Ukraine.
According to the Romanian Ministry of Defense, the drone was intercepted by two Romanian F-16s, which were carrying out an air patrol mission in northern Dobruja and which came close to downing it, after gaining both radar and visual contact.
Forțele Aeriene au interceptat o dronă în spațiul aerian 🇷🇴 2 aeronave F-16🇷🇴din Baza 86 Aeriană au decolat azi la ora 18:05, pentru monitorizarea situației aeriene la granița cu 🇺🇦, ca urmare a unor atacuri aeriene 🇷🇺asupra infrastructurii 🇺🇦 de la Dunărehttps://t.co/uGPjZVDt07pic.twitter.com/95XooGzfX5
The drone orbited for about 50 minutes, according to the defense ministry, before leaving Romanian airspace near the town of Pardina in northern Dobruja, heading toward Ukraine.
A library photo of a Romanian Air Force F-16. U.S. Air Force A Romanian Air Force F-16. Romania is another country that is part of the coalition of countries that have pledged to help train Ukraine’s future Viper pilots. USAF
The Romanian foreign minister summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the incident, which also drew further condemnation from European Union leaders.
In a statement, the Romanian Ministry of Defense said that the various drone incursions in recent days “represent a new challenge to regional security and stability in the Black Sea area.”
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “Russia’s incursion into Romanian airspace is once again a blatant violation of EU sovereignty and a serious threat to regional security.”
This morning, Russia attempted to deflect the blame, describing the drone incursion as “a provocation” by Kyiv, but providing no evidence to back this up.
The first additional NATO fighters have now arrived in Poland to help bolster air defenses on the alliance’s eastern flank. These are French Air and Space Force Rafales from Escadron de Chasse 2/4 “La Fayette,” which are now at Mińsk Mazowiecki Air Base in eastern Poland. While there has been some surprise in certain quarters that this is a unit with a nuclear tasking, it’s one of two units that have a nuclear mission alongside other roles, including air defense.
French Dassault Rafale fighter jet armed with MICA air-to-air missiles taking off from the Minsk Mazowiecki Air Base in eastern Poland.
A NATO spokesperson told TWZ today that the first activation of Eastern Sentry saw the alliance scramble fighters in both Poland and Romania over the weekend, including the newly arrived French Rafales, and also placed ground-based air defenses on alert. In related news, German Eurofighters are now under NATO control too, but they have, so far, not scrambled as part of this operation.
Today, the United Kingdom confirmed its plans to add Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters to Eastern Sentry, with the U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey writing on X that “Russia crossed a line with the reckless drone incursions into NATO airspace.” The deployment of Typhoons to help defend Polish airspace “is a message to Moscow: you tested NATO, we responded with strength and unity, Healey added.”
Russia crossed a line with the reckless drone incursions into @NATO airspace.
The UK will fly @RoyalAirForce Typhoons on NATO air defence missions over Poland, deterring Russian aggression.
This is a message to Moscow: you tested NATO, we responded with strength and unity.
Also now in Poland are the three Mi-17 Hip helicopters that the Czech Republic also pledged to help defend NATO’s eastern flank. The rotorcraft are assigned to the Special Operations Air Task Unit (SOATU).
“We are fulfilling the promise we made to our close ally. Our soldiers are already in Poland and are ready to participate in strengthening the protection of airspace on Poland’s eastern border,” said Czech Minister of Defense Jana Černochová.
As to what happens next in NATO’s response to the drone incursions, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has suggested that NATO should consider imposing a ‘no-fly’ zone over Ukraine to protect the alliance from Russian drones. As we have explored in the past, establishing something like this over Ukraine would be no easy task, and the alliance previously rejected such a proposal amid fears that it could lead to direct confrontation with Russian combat aircraft.
Speaking about extending such missions into Ukrainian airspace, Sikorski told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine: “We as NATO and the EU could be capable of doing this, but it is not a decision that Poland can make alone; it can only be made with its allies.” He continued: “Protection for our population — for example, from falling debris — would naturally be greater if we could combat drones and other flying objects beyond our national territory. If Ukraine were to ask us to shoot them down over its territory, that would be advantageous for us. If you ask me personally, we should consider it,” Sikorski added.
The potential risks involved in such an initiative were reinforced today by a statement from top Kremlin official Dmitry Medvedev, who warned that the establishment of a ‘no-fly’ zone in Ukraine and allowing NATO allies to shoot down Russian drones would amount to a “NATO war with Russia.”
It appears that the kind of ‘no-fly’ zone that Sikorski is proposing would only shoot down Russian drones that were understood to be heading toward NATO airspace, although determining this would also not always be straightforward, with plenty of potential for misunderstanding between the alliance, Russia, and Ukraine.
Mission Viejo coach Chad Johnson was surrounded by his players late Friday night after an exhilarating 7-3 victory over Santa Margarita at Trabuco Hills.
“Phenomenal job,” he shouted to his team’s defensive players.
In an opening game that resembled a Southern Section Division 1 playoff game with all the talent, intensity and coaching excellence on display, Mission Viejo placed its trust in perhaps the best quarterback in Southern California, Ohio State commit Luke Fahey, who delivered a 33-yard touchdown pass to Jack Junker late in the third quarter to wipe away a 3-0 deficit.
The Eagles, in the coaching debut of Carson Palmer, could never recover. Junker used to play at Santa Margarita. The touchdown pass came after Mission Viejo punter Isaiah Murgia booted a 54-yard punt that left Santa Margarita on its four-yard line. Then came a short punt giving Mission Viejo the ball at the 33.
Jack Junker catches 33-.yard TD pass from Luke Fahey. Junker used to play at Santa Margarita. 7-3 Mission Viejo with 1:31 left in third. pic.twitter.com/1MAx5shs2q
As he had been doing all night against Santa Margarita’s big, aggressive defensive line, Fahey rolled out and found Junker open in the end zone.
“It was a deep shot to the corner. See if we could make a play,” Junker said.
Luke Fahey celebrates with his Mission Viejo teammates after 7-3 win over Santa Margarita.
(Craig Weston)
Fahey was making plays, dodging and maneuvering, all night. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 188 yards. He suffered only one sack, which was tribute to his instincts and mobility.
“They had a really good game plan,” Fahey said. “That was a great defensive line, and we had to battle through adversity. It shows what kind of team we have.”
Mission Viejo clinched the win when Santa Margarita could not complete a pass on fourth down from the eight-yard line with 26 seconds left.
The Diablos kept coming up with defensive contributors, from lineman JD Hill to defensive backs Jordan Hicks and Jeron Jones. Their focus was making sure Santa Margarita’s gifted Trent Mosley didn’t break loose for any long touchdowns. It happened once for 67 yards when Mosley showed a memorable burst of speed in the first half, but the play was nullified by a penalty.
There was no scoring until the final play of the second quarter when Santa Margarita’s Tyler Wiegand made a 23-yard field goal. It was two good defenses shutting down offenses with enough pressure on the quarterbacks and fundamental tackling.
The Santa Margarita defensive line made up of transfer students Simote Katoanga, Manoah Faupusa and Isaia Vandermade rose up to stop Mission Viejo twice on goal-line situations from the one-yard line.
The two quarterbacks were doing their best to avoid mistakes. Trace Johnson was 13-of-16 passing in the first half for 138 yards and finished with 208 yards. Fahey, under constant pressure, was nine-of-12 passing for 106 yards in the first half.
It was a night in which teams in the powerful Trinity League showed a chink in their armor. Besides the Eagles losing, JSerra suffered a 35-0 loss to Sierra Canyon with a running clock. Servite was beaten by Corona Centennial 42-14. St. John Bosco went to Bradenton, Fla., and came away with a 31-0 win over Manatee in a game halted at halftime because of lightning. Orange Lutheran and Mater Dei play Saturday in Florida.
The landing marks a successful end to their mission on board the International Space Station to help stranded pilots.
Four astronauts have returned to Earth after hurrying to the International Space Station (ISS) five months ago to relieve stranded test pilots of Boeing’s Starliner.
Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Pacific off the Southern California coast on Saturday, a day after departing the orbiting lab.
“Welcome home,” SpaceX Mission Control radioed.
Splashing down were NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov. They launched in March as replacements for the two NASA astronauts assigned to Starliner’s botched demo.
Starliner malfunctions kept Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams at the space station for more than nine months instead of a week.
NASA ordered Boeing’s new crew capsule to return empty and switched the pair to SpaceX. They left soon after McClain and her crew arrived to take their places. Wilmore has since retired from NASA.
Before leaving the space station on Friday, McClain made note of “some tumultuous times on Earth”, with people struggling.
“We want this mission, our mission, to be a reminder of what people can do when we work together, when we explore together,” she said.
McClain looked forward to “doing nothing for a couple of days” once back home in Houston. High on her crewmates’ wish list: Hot showers and juicy burgers.
It was SpaceX’s third Pacific splashdown with people on board, but the first for a NASA crew in 50 years. Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s company switched capsule returns from Florida to California’s coast earlier this year to reduce the risk of debris falling on populated areas. Back-to-back private crews were the first to experience Pacific homecomings.
The last time NASA astronauts returned to the Pacific from space was during the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission, a historic detente meet-up of Americans and Soviets in orbit during the Cold War years.
Nigeria claim their tenth WAFCON title, ‘Mission X’, as they come from behind to beat Morocco 3-2 in Rabat.
Substitute Jennifer Echegini scored the 88th-minute winner as Nigeria came from two goals behind to beat hosts Morocco 3-2 in a dramatic Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final.
The triumph in Rabat on Saturday confirmed the West Africans as the queens of women’s football in Africa as they pulled off a record-extending 10th title in 13 editions – “Mission X”, as they dubbed their efforts – to win the 2025 edition.
It was the second successive final loss for Morocco, who led by two goals after 24 minutes, only to concede three in the second half.
Esther Okoronkwo played a key role in the Super Falcons’ victory: scoring the first goal, creating the second and delivering the free-kick that Echegini finished to stun the home crowd.
Morocco, backed by a vibrant capacity crowd at the 21,000-seat Stade Olympique in the capital, took the lead on 12 minutes as Nigeria conceded for the first time in open play at the tournament.
Nigeria fluffed several chances to clear the ball, and it fell just outside the area to Chebbak, whose perfectly placed, rising shot gave goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie no chance.
Nigeria’s goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie fails to save a shot during the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final [Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP]
The lead doubled 12 minutes later as the ball flew across the Nigerian goalmouth to Sanaa Mssoudy, who ended a five-match goal drought by steering a low shot into the far corner of the net.
Nigeria had more possession in the opening half than the host nation, but managed only one shot on target, and it did not trouble goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi.
But the Moroccan lead halved after 64 minutes as Okoronkwo sent Er-Rmichi the wrong way from a penalty after a VAR review showed a Folashade Ijamilusi cross striking Nouhaila Benzina’s hand.
The goal lifted the spirits of increasingly assertive Nigeria, and they equalised seven minutes later, when Okoronkwo turned creator with a pull-back that Ijamilusi pushed into the net from close range.
On Friday, Ghana finished third, winning a penalty shootout 4-3 against outgoing champions South Africa after a 1-1 playoff draw in regular time in Casablanca.
After two weakly struck spot kicks in a row by South Africa were saved to give Ghana the advantage, 19-year-old Nancy Amoh converted the decisive penalty with a low shot into the corner of the net.
A blunder by Ghana goalkeeper Cynthia Konlan gifted South Africa the lead on 45 minutes as she lost control of the ball just outside the box, and Nonhlanhla Mthandi struck it into the net.
Persistent Ghanaian pressure finally paid off on 68 minutes when an Alice Kusi header came off the crossbar and long-serving South Africa shot-stopper Andile Dlamini conceded an own goal.
Victory was particularly sweet for the Black Queens as they were outplayed when losing 2-0 to Banyana Banyana (The Girls) in the group stage.
Ghana have won the four third-place playoffs they qualified for, while South Africa have lost four of five bronze medal matches.
The next Women’s Africa Cup of Nations is scheduled for March 2026, also in Morocco, and will double as a qualifying competition for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
July 22 (UPI) — NASA’s TRACERS mission is set to launch on Tuesday on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California.
The TRACERS mission aims to “help understand magnetic reconnection and its effects in Earth’s atmosphere.”
The mission’s launch window opens at 11:13 a.m. PDT with a 57-minute window from the Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Space Launch Complex 4 East.
“About eight minutes after liftoff, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on SpaceX’s Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California,” said a release from SpaceX. “There is the possibility that residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the landing, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.”
NASA will also send three payloads, the Athena EPIC, the Polylingual Experimental Terminal and the Relativistic Electron Atmospheric Loss with the mission.
There is also a backup opportunity for the launch on Wednesday at the same time.
More than a month after President Trump made the fiercely contentious decision to send about 700 U.S. Marines to Los Angeles, those troops will begin withdrawing from the city, Pentagon officials said Monday.
The decision comes a week after the Pentagon announced that half of the almost 4,000 National Guard soldiers deployed to the Los Angeles area would be released from duty. The Marines and National Guard were sent to the city in early June amid widespread federal immigration raids and fiery protests against the raids, with the Trump administration vowing to crack down on “rioters, looters and thugs.”
While the president contended that he had “saved Los Angeles,” local and state officials ferociously denounced the extraordinary deployment of military troops to the streets of an American city.
Advocates and California politicians also argued that the heavy-handed spectacle would be incendiary, potentially putting both the troops and protesters at risk.
The sometimes volatile protests, which erupted in downtown Los Angeles and other parts of the region in mid-June, have since wound down. The troops have been tasked with guarding federal buildings, and some have accompanied immigration agents on tense enforcement actions.
Speaking on behalf of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell seemed to acknowledge the quiet in a statement Monday.
“With stability returning to Los Angeles, the Secretary has directed the redeployment of the 700 Marines whose presence sent a clear message: lawlessness will not be tolerated,” Parnell said. “Their rapid response, unwavering discipline, and unmistakable presence were instrumental in restoring order and upholding the rule of law. We’re deeply grateful for their service, and for the strength and professionalism they brought to this mission.”
News of the Marines’ withdrawal, which was first reported by the New York Times, broke minutes after Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass finished a Monday morning public appearance with veterans’ groups, where she decried the “inappropriate” presence of military forces on L.A. streets.
“This is another win for Los Angeles. As we said this morning — the way to best support our troops is to have them do what they enlisted to do, not to protect two office buildings,” Bass said in response to the withdrawal.
Roughly 2,000 National Guard troops remain in the region, according to U.S. Northern Command.
Luke Fahey looked right, then passed left. He looked left, then passed right. Defensive backs told to read a quarterback’s eyes might have trouble with Fahey, Mission Viejo High’s senior quarterback and Ohio State commit whose instincts, strong arm and decision-making are separating him from others in the class of 2026.
Then there’s something called character. For the last two years, he agreed to share playing time with Draiden Trudeau. Others might have bailed. Not Fahey.
“I feel God has a plan for everybody,” he said. “That was my journey. Of course, everyone wants to be a full-time starter, but that was a good thing for me. There was a lot of adversity during those two years. I learned so much from Drai, and he pushed me to be an even better quarterback and better leader.”
Anyone watching Fahey on Saturday at Edison’s Battle of the Beach seven-on-seven passing tournament were getting a glimpse of a 6-foot-1 quarterback in an obvious comfort zone calling his own plays and showing chemistry with a new group of receivers (returner Vance Spafford was missing because of illness). It’s no wonder that Ohio State and coach Ryan Day identified him as a recruiting priority.
“It was a big decision,” Fahey said. “For me, it was a no-brainer. It was a dream of mine to be at a place like that since I was a little kid. I told myself when I got the opportunity I’d take full advantage of it and maximize my opportunity. The coaches are amazing, the people there are even better. One thing that stood out they showed me a picture of their practice. I think 18 of 22 were in the NFL or got drafted. It speaks volumes to their program and my goal is to be a draft pick one day and make it to the NFL.”
Despite missing Spafford and star defensive back Jeron Jones, the Diablos went 7-0 and defeated Mission Hills in the final. The toughest game was a 26-25 win over Cathedral in the semifinals on a winning touchdown catch by Davonte Curtis. It’s been quite a summer for Mission Viejo, which also won its own passing tournament by beating Mater Dei in the final.
As the summer passing season nears conclusion and official football practice begins at the end of this month, Saturday’s Battle at the Beach is always a good opportunity to see teams and players making progress.
First-year Santa Margarita head coach Carson Palmer.
(Craig Weston)
Santa Margarita, under new coach Carson Palmer and new quarterback Trace Johnson, a transfer from Florida, will have lots of weapons this fall. The Eagles defeated Long Beach Millikan in the championship game of the Silver Division.
Brothers Trent and Grant Mosley will be key receivers for Santa Margarita.
(Craig Weston)
USC commit Trent Mosley, who didn’t play because of an injury, said of the new coaching staff, “It’s real good. I’m excited for the season.” His brother Grant, is an impressive sophomore receiver. The best opening game of the 11-man season will be Mission Viejo playing Santa Margarita on Aug. 22.
St. John Bosco junior safety Isala Wily-Ava is part of a secondary filled with talent.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
St. John Bosco clearly is one of most talented teams in regard to skill-position players, sending in wave after wave of top defensive backs and receivers. The Braves were young at those positions last season, so all it’s going to take is strong line play to combine with the skill-position talent to make another run at Trinity League rival Mater Dei. After going 4-0 in the morning session, the Braves lost to Mission Hills in the quarterfinals.
Dylan Brown (left) celebrates an interception with quarterback Koa Smith-Mayall of JSerra.
(Craig Weston)
JSerra, which lost starting quarterback Ryan Hopkins to Mater Dei, has a capable replacement in junior Koa Smith-Mayall, who missed all of last season recovering from a knee injury. He’s only 5 feet 10 but has a powerful arm and considers himself a dual threat quarterback.
“I guess everyone outside of JSerra thought we’d be in trouble, but I knew I’d be ready,” he said.
Cathedral made it to the semifinals behind quarterback Jaden Jefferson, who will be aided by an improved offensive line this fall.
One of the most impressive quarterbacks was Troy Huhn of Mission Hills, a Penn State commit who got his team in the final with a win over Corona del Mar, which was a surprise team behind quarterback Brady Annett and receiver Dorsett Stecker.
Finally, let’s not end the summer without knowing the answer to the question: Why did Fahey stay for four years at Mission Viejo?
“It speaks to what my dad and mom have preached to me since I was a little kid,” he said. “That you can’t up and leave. Loyalty is one of the biggest things in my family. I’m going to stay true to those who stay true to me.”
Says Mission Viejo coach Chad Johnson of Fahey’s fortitude: “Amazing.”
In other tournaments on Saturday, Tustin defeated Bishop Amat in the final of the Clash in the Canyons tournament in Azusa. Mira Costa won the Culver City tournament. San Juan Hills won the Ocean View tournament over Downey. Quarterback Timmy Herr didn’t throw an interception in two games and relied on receivers Luke Frith, Ryan Matheson and Dean Kolasinski.
Astronauts from India, Poland, Hungary and the United States returned to Earth early Tuesday after the 20-day SpaceX Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station. They parachuted into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California.
Michelle Khare has mastered taekwondo, muscled through police academy and conquered Houdini’s deadliest trick. But now comes a different kind of challenge for the popular daredevil: proving to the Hollywood establishment that Emmy-worthy content arises from YouTube.
The host, known for her online reality series “Challenge Accepted,” is part of a group of YouTube creators with massive followings, producing high-caliber content, who are vying for Primetime Emmy Awards this year.
Although she won’t need to enlist the help of an Olympian or train for months this time around, she’s taking the challenge head-on. But while she’s been on the awards campaign, Khare said her top priority is letting her videos speak for themselves.
To that end, she’s taken on some high-profile challenges lately, including surprising Tom Cruise at the premiere of “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.” She got in by donning a mask a la the spy franchise, whipping it off for the big reveal. And she teased the process of training to take on Cruise’s infamous stunt of hanging off a plane as it’s taking off.
The video has garnered more than 800,000 views.
“My primary concern constantly is, ‘Is the show we’re making worth a nomination?’ and it needs to be, always,” she said.
Having a creator win an Emmy would be yet another milestone in YouTube’s quest for global dominance.
People now spend more time watching YouTube on TV screens than viewing subscription-based streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video, according to data from Nielsen. On average, there are more than 20 million videos uploaded daily to YouTube, according to the company.
Google-owned YouTube’s revenue last year was estimated to be $54.2 billion, which would make it the second-largest media company behind Walt Disney Co., according to a recent report from research firm MoffettNathanson.
Creators self-submitted for the awards, and YouTube has been supporting their campaigns to bring awareness to their content and sway Emmy voters. The creators and YouTube are jointly contributing to the campaigns. No matter what happens when nominations are announced Tuesday, this year’s push is a long time coming.
Traditional studios and networks have substantial budgets dedicated to awards campaigns because the trophies and the glamour of awards season are not just superficial. A major nomination or award serves as a signal of high quality and legitimacy. That would be all the more meaningful for online creators, who have traditionally been seen as on the outskirts of Hollywood.
For the individual creators and their companies, the investment in the Emmys race could lead to new or more fruitful relationships with advertisers and sponsors. The prestige recognition could also open the door for different opportunities for creators, like Lilly Singh’s late-night stint or MrBeast’s competition series on Prime Video.
Khare said when she met with YouTube Chief Executive Neal Mohan shortly after he was appointed in 2023, he asked her what the company could do for her. Helping a creator earn an Emmy was her request, she said.
“If it’s not me on July 15, if it’s anybody else, if it’s this year, next year, 10 years from now, I can’t wait,” she said.
Khare, who is hoping for a nomination in the hosted nonfiction series category, is in good company with two other YouTube shows in the running for awards this year.
“Good Mythical Morning,” a daily show hosted by YouTube personalities Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal, and Sean Evans’ talk show “Hot Ones,” where celebrity guests eat progressively spicier chicken wings, are also eligible for Emmys. Last year, “My Next Guest With David Letterman and John Mulaney,” an “Only Murders in the Building” aftershow and “The Daily Show” won in the respective categories these YouTubers are hoping for a spot in.
“There’s a reason traditional Hollywood cares about awards,” Khare said. “It attracts the crew who want to work on [the show]. It attracts the audience to bring viewership, and it also attracts advertisers to financially support and make the show continually sustainable, in addition to all of the other wonderful publicity things that it does to elevate us into this world against legacy television.”
Khare said she always wanted to work in television and gained experience at legacy studios before joining BuzzFeed, which she called “paid graduate school for content creation.”
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
In a 2024 guest column for the Hollywood Reporter, Mohan wrote that YouTube creators are not just vlogging from their bedrooms. They have writers’ rooms, production teams and business strategies. Mohan wrote that the Television Academy recognizing creators wouldn’t “detract from its storied history” but rather ensure the group is forward-looking.
“In order to maintain its relevance and emerge a leader in the digital age of entertainment, the Emmys should celebrate all kinds of content, especially the creators whose storytelling is pushing culture forward,” he wrote.
A 2025 report from the Television Academy released in February shows the members skew older. About 50% of the body reported their age, and of that group, roughly 68% are age 41 or older.
Much of the challenge in these creators’ quests to get nominated for or win an Emmy Award is making sure voters are familiar with their YouTube content. Although they each attract millions of viewers, Hollywood‘s more old-school folks might not have come across their videos before the awards push began.
Khare, who said she had always wanted to work in television, started off interning at legacy studios before she took on a role as a video producer for BuzzFeed in its heyday. She said her experience making YouTube videos for the media company was like going to “paid graduate school for content creation.” At the same time, she was “moonlighting” as a professional cyclist, she said.
Creating “Challenge Accepted,” where she often undertakes incredible physical tasks, was a marriage of her love for video content and athletics. And the extreme stunts she’s able to pull off make her particularly adept at getting attention online. Training like an Olympic boxer, for example. Or learning how to take hits like a superhero stunt performer.
Beyond what creators are doing and contributing to the campaigns themselves, YouTube is supporting the push for Emmys, most visibly by hosting its first formal For Your Consideration, or FYC, event in coordination with the Television Academy.
More than a decade ago, Bernie Su won an Emmy for a YouTube series he worked on. As far as he’s aware, his 2013 win marked the first time “the word YouTube has ever appeared on the trophy,” Su said. He went on to win two more Emmys, one for another YouTube series and one for a Twitch series.
The category for his YouTube wins, recognizing creative achievement in interactive media for an original interactive program, is judged by panels of industry professionals, rather than by popular vote.
But Su said his road to win the Emmys looked very different than the creators in the race today. YouTube wasn’t even aware he and his team were submitting their series for Emmy consideration in 2013, he said.
Still, Su said he’s rooting for Khare and the other creators in the running this year, especially since he’s seen firsthand how an Emmy Award helps to legitimize digital-native work.
“My parents are very much all about the three Emmy wins when they talk about their son,” he said. “Not about anything else. It starts there. That’s the nexus of the work that I do.”
YouTube declined to share how much money the company has spent to support the campaigns this year. Angela Courtin, a YouTube executive who’s helming the awards push, said the company is relying on “existing commitments” like billboard space and activations at film festivals to highlight the Emmy contenders.
“When they decided that they wanted to be seen among their peers equally, then it became our responsibility and our opportunity, as well as our privilege, to collaborate with them to do so,” Courtin said. “At the end of the day, the award sits on their mantle, not ours. It will never be in my office.”
Evans, left, Khare, McLaughlin and Neal each spoke to Television Academy members about their shows at YouTube’s For Your Consideration event in May.
(Araya Doheny / Getty Images for YouTube)
Offering this kind of support to creators serves YouTube too.
Beyond the benefits of recognition as a serious player in the traditional television world, and the potential boost in advertising dollars flowing to the company, YouTube putting both monetary and figurative weight behind creators is a worthwhile investment, said Jeremy Goldman, senior director of briefings at eMarketer. After all, YouTube doesn’t want to lose more of its talent roster to Instagram Reels and TikTok.
“YouTube creators can take their ideas elsewhere,” Goldman said. “The more you support them, the more likely they are to go to YouTube for future endeavors, which has been very valuable for YouTube, because it’s basically people creating [intellectual property].”
Brian Flanagan, the president of Mythical, the studio founded by YouTubers Rhett and Link, said seeking awards recognition is not about ego but about acknowledging the many people behind “Good Mythical Morning” and the other shows Mythical makes that draw audiences in the millions.
“GMM” is eligible in the category honoring short-form comedy, drama or variety series. Recent winners include “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” and “I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson.”
Mythical is also acutely aware of the business implications of a major award nomination or win.
“If you want to seek premium advertising, top-flight guests and other trappings of the best of the best of Hollywood television, it could really be a distinguishing mark, and we’d be excited to have that stamp on us,” Flanagan said.
Evans, who is vying for recognition in the talk series category with the likes of Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert, told The Times in June that he feels “Hot Ones” should be in the mix with these traditional television mainstays.
“I didn’t know that we’d be a part of the conversation, never dreamed of it,” he said. “But now that we are, I’ll say with my full chest that we belong.”
Khare would also be entering a storied category with legendary past winners like Anthony Bourdain and David Letterman. That prospect, perhaps unsurprisingly given her record of daunting feats, doesn’t intimidate her.
The list of past winners in this category and other television stars who have inspired Khare’s work are mostly men. “I would love to inspire young women to go out and be great too,” she said.
Despite the tough odds of securing not only a nomination but shooting for a win in a competitive field, Khare remains optimistic about her chances.
Washington, DC – The United States government has acknowledged its use of Canary Mission — a shadowy pro-Israel website — to identify pro-Palestine students for deportation, sparking anger and concern by rights advocates.
Activists have long suspected that the administration of US President Donald Trump is gathering information from the Canary Mission website to target students and professors.
But on Wednesday, that suspicion was confirmed when a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official testified in a court case challenging Trump’s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian student protesters.
Peter Hatch, an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said the department had assembled a specialised group — dubbed a “tiger team” — to work on removing pro-Palestine college students from the country.
He indicated to the court that some tips about students were communicated verbally, before explaining that the team had also combed through the nearly 5,000 profiles Canary Mission had compiled of Israel’s critics.
“You mean someone said, ‘Here is a list that the Canary Mission has put together?’” Judge William Young asked Hatch, according to court transcripts.
The official answered with a simple “yes”.
Heba Gowayed, a sociology professor at the City University of New York (CUNY), said the government’s reliance on an online blacklist that posts personal information to harm and intimidate activists is “absurd and fascist”.
“Canary Mission is a doxxing website that specifically targets people for language that they deem to be pro-Palestinian and therefore, they’ve decided, is anti-Semitic. Its sole purpose is to target and harass people,” Gowayed told Al Jazeera.
“How do you use a hate group … to identify people for whether or not they have the right to be present in the country?”
The crackdown
As demonstrations opposing the Israeli atrocities in Gaza swept college campuses last year, Israel’s advocates portrayed the protest movement as anti-Semitic and a threat to the safety of Jewish students.
While activists pushed back against the accusations, saying that the protests were aimed at combatting human rights abuses against Palestinians, conservative leaders called to crush the demonstrations and penalise the participants.
Shortly after returning to the White House in January, Trump himself signed a series of executive orders that laid the groundwork for targeting non-citizens who took part in the student protests for deportation.
“It shall be the policy of the United States to combat anti-Semitism vigorously,” one of the orders read.
It called on government officials to create systems to “monitor for and report activities by alien students and staff”.
In March, Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil — a permanent resident married to a US citizen — became the first prominent victim of Trump’s campaign.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio invoked a seldom-used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act to order Khalil’s removal, on the basis that the Columbia student’s presence has “adverse” effects on American foreign policy.
After Khalil, many other students were detained by immigration authorities. Some left the country voluntarily to avoid imprisonment. Others, like Khalil, continue to fight their deportation.
Free speech advocates decried the campaign as a blatant violation of constitutionally protected freedoms.
But the Trump administration asserted that the issue is an immigration matter that falls under its mandate.
Before last year’s presidential elections, the Heritage Foundation, a prominent right-wing think tank, released a policy document titled Project Esther designed to dismantle the Palestine solidarity movement in the US.
Project Esther called for identifying students and professors critical of Israel who are in violation of their visas, and it cited Canary Mission extensively.
A ‘witch hunt’ against students
For years, Palestinian rights advocates have condemned Canary Mission for publishing identifying information about activists — their names, photos and employment histories — while keeping its own staff anonymous.
In its ongoing deportation campaign against student activists, the Trump administration has said that it is targeting students who engaged in violent conduct, promoted anti-Semitism and had ties to “terrorist” groups.
But none of the prominent students detained by ICE have been charged with a crime, and some only engaged in mild criticism of Israel.
For example, the only accusation against Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish scholar at Tufts University, is that she co-authored an op-ed asking her school to honour a student resolution calling for divestment from Israeli companies.
That column, published in the university’s student newspaper, landed Ozturk on the Canary Mission’s blacklist, which appears to have led to the Trump administration’s push to deport her.
Andrew Ross, a New York University professor of social and cultural analysis, said the US administration’s use of Canary Mission’s data shows that the government’s push is “sloppy” and biased.
He added that while Canary Mission appears well funded, its content is curated to paint its targets in a certain light.
“They’re looking for material and content that they can manipulate and spin and present as if the person being profiled is anti-Semitic basically,” said Ross, who has his own Canary Mission profile for criticising Israel.
The professor accused the Trump administration of “fundamental dishonesty”, describing the deportation campaign as a “witch hunt”.
How does Canary Mission work?
While Canary Mission does not appear to fabricate data, it portrays criticism of Israel as bigoted and dangerous.
Some profiles denounce individuals for actions as innocuous as sharing materials from Amnesty International condemning Israeli abuses.
The profiles seem to be optimised for internet searches. So, even if the accusations lack merit, targeted individuals often report that their Canary Mission profiles sit at the top of online searches for their names.
Advocates say the tactic can have a detrimental impact on careers, mental health and safety.
“It has caused people to lose jobs. It has caused people all kinds of adverse effects,” Gowayed said.
For his part, Ross said he has received hate mail because of Canary Mission. He worries the website can be especially harmful for marginalised groups.
“Those, as we are seeing, who don’t have full citizenship status are particularly vulnerable at this point in time. But it could be anyone,” he said.
The website was founded in 2015, and it has been expanding since. Nevertheless, barring a few media leaks over the years, the operators and funders of Canary Mission remain anonymous.
In 2018, Haaretz reported that Israeli authorities have relied on the website to detain people and bar them from entering the country.
That same year, the outlet The Forward found that Canary Mission is linked to an Israel-based non-profit called Megamot Shalom. Since then, media reports have revealed the names of a few wealthy American donors who have made contributions to the website through a network of Jewish charities.
‘Silencing dissent’
On Thursday, Palestine Legal, an advocacy group, accused the Trump administration of racism for relying on the website.
“Under Trump, ICE has now publicly admitted they are abducting pro-Palestinian student activists based on an anonymously-run blacklist site,” Palestine Legal said in a social media post.
“Both the mass deportation machine, and these horrific blacklists, clearly run on racism.”
J Street, a group that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace, also decried the government’s use of the website.
“Canary Mission is feeding the Trump Administration’s agenda, weaponizing antisemitism to surveil and attempt to deport student activists,” it said. “This isn’t about protecting Jews — it’s about silencing dissent.”
The State Department did not respond to Al Jazeera’s query on the government’s use of Canary Mission. Instead, a department spokesperson referred to a statement by Secretary of State Rubio from May.
“The bottom line is, if you’re coming here to stir up trouble on our campuses, we will deny you a visa. And if you have a visa, and we find you, we will revoke it,” it said.
DHS did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
But the Trump administration may also be using more extreme sources than Canary Mission to deport students.
At Wednesday’s court hearing, Hatch was asked about other sources the government is using. He replied that there was one other website he could not recall.
The court asked Hatch if it might be Betar, a far-right, Islamophobic group with links to the violent Kahanist movement in Israel.
According to transcripts, Hatch replied, “That sounds right.”
Gowayed, the City University of New York professor, called the government’s approach an “egregious overstep and distortion of any kind of notion of justice or legality”.
But she added: “What is more troubling to me is they don’t know which hate group they used.”
Mission Viejo High’s offense is Luke Fahey’s now — and it might be one that’s hard to stop if Saturday was a sneak peak of what’s to come.
A drive into Mission Viejo’s first pool game of the 30th edition of its seven-on-seven passing tournament, the senior quarterback wasn’t satisfied. Mission Viejo failed to score against Oceanside, a drop causing Fahey, wearing a relaxed-fit shirt and shorts, to yell toward his team.
“Offense, over here,” Fahey called out to his teammates as he hustled off to the sidelines.
The next five drives ended in the same way, the budding college football prospect — holding offers from Ohio State, Stanford and Indiana — dotting passes to his younger wide receivers on the regular, a trend that would continue throughout Saturday on Mission Viejo’s way to a 35-23 tournament final victory over Mater Dei.
Fahey is ready to take the next step. He split reps with Drai Trudeau two seasons in a row, and learned how to become a leader sitting behind Kadin Semonza as a freshman. Mission Viejo coach Chad Johnson said playcalling was up to Fahey, who picked up on his successes and helped his teammates through their mistakes.
“It’s his turn to take over,” Johnson said. “He’s the leader of our team. Every single break we have is led by him. He’s another coach on the field.”
Fahey pulled over a freshman teammate to the side midway through a game Saturday, helping explain to him the intricacies of routes so that he’d better understand what to do in a game. With standout wide receiver Vance Spafford unavailable, Johnson said, it was Fahey’s turn to teach.
After passing for 17 touchdowns and 1,638 yards as a junior, Fahey could be set for a big senior year for the Diablos.
“When we come out here, we want to be the best,” Fahey said. “We want to do everything right, 100%, no matter what it is, no matter who we play.”
Saturday, Fahey and Mission Viejo were the best — but he was not the only quarterback to showcase his skill in seven-on-seven action.
Mater Dei, with Dash Beierly out of the picture, primarily split the series between JSerra senior transfer Ryan Hopkins and junior Furian Inferrera (Beierly’s backup in 2024).
Hopkins, more of a prototypical pocket passer, seemed to have a strong connection with star tight end Mark Bowman — a passing display between the duo that was featured early in Mater Dei’s contests. Mater Dei coach Raul Lara said that Hopkins, a Wisconsin commit, and Inferrera, a Minnesota commit, are battling for the starting position.
“The two kids that are battling out for the first spot at quarterback, I just love their competitiveness,” Lara said. “They’re both buddies. It’s neat to see.”
Crean Lutheran quarterback Lucas Wong.
(Benjamin Royer / Los Angeles Times)
Among younger quarterbacks, Crean Lutheran freshman Lucas Wong emerged poised and controlled in the pocket — enjoying a standout moment Saturday when he tossed a 30-plus yard touchdown pass on the last play of regulation to defeat Huntington Beach 21-19 in one of its five games.
“We saw a lot of confidence in him,” Crean Lutheran coach Rick Curtis said, adding that expected starting quarterback Caden Jones was out for the tournament. “We said, ‘Hey, let’s put his feet for the fire, and we’ll see what he can do.’ He’s doing a great job today.”
Huntington Beach quarterback Brady Edmunds, listed at 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds despite being two years from fulfilling his current Ohio State commitment, was far and away the most physically imposing quarterback in the tournament.
Edmunds’ touch on his passes was hit or miss Saturday — Huntington Beach scoring the third-fewest points in pool play — but his power behind every throw kept the Oilers in every contest.
La Habra quarterback DJ Mitchell.
(Benjamin Royer / Los Angeles Times)
One of the sneakier standout back-and-forth games ended in a tie — thanks to La Habra junior DJ Mitchell and Oaks Christian sophomore Treyvone Towns Jr. matching each other blow for blow.
Mitchell ended the dueling programs’ pool-play game with a touchdown pass and two-point conversion as the time limit expired to secure a split.
“We practice it every day,” Mitchell said. “Two-minute drill — I know how to execute, make my reads and just hit it. Hit a touchdown.”
Both Mitchell and Towns appear primed for breakout years as they grow into their respective frames.
Etc.
Corona Centennial primarily used Dominick Catalano as its quarterback in Mission Viejo. Catalano backed up Husan Longstreet — now at USC — last year. …
Corona Centennial quarterback Dominick Catalano at the Mission Viejo passing tournament on Saturday.
(Benjamin Royer / Los Angeles Times)
San Juan Hills senior quarterback Timmy Herr, one of a couple southpaws at Mission Viejo, was accurate and controlled, much like he was last year for the Stallions and coach Rob Frith. Mater Dei third-string quarterback Trevor Scott is a left-hander standing 6–foot-4, whose skill set showed rawness as well as potential. Lara said the seven-on-seven tournament was a perfect place for Scott to get his feet wet against Southern Section competition. …
San Clemente won the St. John Bosco passing tournament, defeating the hosts in the final. … Junior quarterback Deshawn Laporte led Burbank to the title at the Simi Valley tournament, defeating the hosts in the final and taking down Sierra Canyon and Chaminade along the way.
Saturday is one of those busy days in summer passing competitions for fans to get a sneak peek of the high school football season.
Mission Viejo is hosting a seven-on-seven passing tournament that includes Mater Dei, which will then take its mandatory two-week dead period immediately after the tournament. A matchup of Mission Viejo and quarterback Luke Fahey against Mater Dei’s outstanding defensive backs will be something that’s likely to take place.
Santa Margarita has pulled out from participating in the Mission Viejo tournament and will be replaced by Schurr, which won a tournament earlier this month.
There’s also an eight-team passing tournament at St. John Bosco featuring the Braves, Servite and Gardena Serra, among others. Salinas pulled out and has been replaced by La Sierra in Riverside.
Simi Valley, Redondo Union and Baldwin Park are also hosting tournaments this weekend.
After Saturday, the next big day for passing tournaments is July 12, featuring Huntington Beach Edison’s Battle at the Beach, along with tournaments at Ocean View and Huntington Beach.
