presence

Venezuelan government calls on US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to cease ‘thrill-seeking and warmongering posture’.

Venezuela’s government has blasted an “illegal incursion” near its borders by United States warplanes and accused the US of “military harassment” and threatening the “security of the nation”.

Venezuelan Defence Minister General Vladimir Padrino said on Thursday that at least five F-35 fighter jets had been detected, in what he describes as a threat that “US imperialism has dared to bring close to the Venezuelan coast”.

“We’re watching them, I want you to know. And I want you to know that this doesn’t intimidate us. It doesn’t intimidate the people of Venezuela,” Padrino said, speaking from an airbase, according to the Agencia Venezuela news outlet.

“The presence of these planes flying close to our Caribbean Sea is a vulgarity, a provocation, a threat to the security of the nation,” Padrino said.

“I denounce before the world the military harassment, the military threat by the US government against the people of Venezuela, who want peace, work and happiness,” he said.

The presence of the US combat planes was detected by the country’s air defences, air traffic control systems at Maiquetia international airport, which serves the capital Caracas, as well as a commercial airliner, Venezuelan authorities said.

In a joint statement, Venezuela’s foreign and defence ministries said the US combat planes were detected 75km (46.6 miles) “from our shores”. If the planes came no closer than the distance mentioned by Venezuelan authorities, then they would not have violated the country’s airspace, which extends about 12 nautical miles, or 22km, off the coast.

Still, the ministries accused the US of flouting international law and jeopardising civil aviation in the Caribbean Sea.

Venezuela “urges US Secretary of War Peter Hegseth to immediately cease his reckless, thrill-seeking and warmongering posture”, which is disturbing the peace of the Caribbean, the statement added.

Venezuela denuncia incursión ilegal de aviones de combate de EEUU en sus costas: «Provocación que amenaza la soberanía nacional» (+Comunicado)https://t.co/GnR4wLRDzz

— Agencia Venezuela News (@AgenciaVNews) October 2, 2025

The Pentagon has yet to respond to requests for comment from media organisations.

US media reported earlier on Thursday that President Donald Trump has notified Congress that the US is now engaged in “non-international armed conflict” against drug cartels, members of which would now be considered “unlawful combatants”.

Trump’s move to a more formal war footing follows on from the US administration’s rebranding of Latin American drug cartels as “narco-terrorists” who are seeking to destabilise the US by trafficking illegal drugs across US borders.

The move follows weeks of tension with Venezuela after Trump dispatched US F-35 stealth fighter jets to Puerto Rico, a US territory in the Caribbean, as part of the biggest military deployment in Latin America in decades and which has already seen air attacks on boats off the Venezuelan coast that the US president alleged were involved in drug trafficking.

So far, 14 people have been killed in the US attacks off Venezuela that officials in Caracas and several independent experts have described as extrajudicial killings.

Eight US warships and a nuclear submarine have also been deployed to the region as part of Trump’s so-called operation to combat drug trafficking, but which Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro says is a covert bid to bring about regime change in his country.

This fourth “The Conjuring” movie claims to be “Last Rites” and let’s hope that’s a promise.

While it’s highly likely the wildly successful Conjuring Cinematic Universe will itself continue — whether via scary nun, creepy doll or some other cursed object — the story of Ed and Lorraine Warren has been thoroughly wrung dry at this point and there’s no juice left to squeeze, as demonstrated in the dirge that is this final movie.

Credit where it’s due: The horror franchise has turned in some spectacularly scary and entertaining entries, anchored by performances from Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as the married paranormal investigators the Warrens, based on an infamous real-life couple. Thanks to their presence, these films have been the best of the Conjuring series, exploring themes of faith and seeing as believing when it comes to both God and the Devil. These films have also offered portrayals of the Warrens that skirt any of their personal controversies, presenting them as blissfully married, heroic figures. Onscreen text might indicate that they were polarizing figures, but the films itself never engage with the scandals.

The first two films, directed by James Wan, ingeniously engaged with many variations on the idea of vision: physical, psychic and through a camera’s lens. Bravura cinematography aligned the audience point of view with Lorraine’s terrifying otherworldly dreams of hauntings, possessions and demonic presence. Michael Chaves, who directed the spinoff “The Nun II” and “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” has mostly upheld these requirements, though his approach is more bombastic than Wan’s elegant style.

Chaves is once again behind the camera for “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” with a script by Ian B. Goldberg, Richard Naing and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick that promises to deliver a final Warren case that devastated the family and ended their careers on a dark note. Instead, “Last Rites,” is merely a sluggishly routine send-off for the Warren family.

If you’ve seen a “Conjuring” movie, you’ll know what to expect and “Last Rites” doesn’t break with formula. While the film starts in 1964 with the harrowing birth of the Warren’s beloved daughter Judy, the plot largely takes place in 1986, an annus horribilis for the misbegotten Smurl family from West Pittstown, Penn., haunted by an antique mirror adorned with three carved baby heads, picked up from a swap meet. After a series of unfortunate eventsand increasingly violent visitations, a media frenzy surrounds them and the Warrens turn up to rid the house of creepy crawlies.

This time there’s the added complication of wedding planning: Judy (Mia Tomlinson) is about to get married, but she just can’t shake those pesky psychic flashes she inherited from her mother. Judy is the one who ventures to the Smurl household first. Then her parents, who had been hoping to hang up their ghost-hunting spurs, reluctantly join her for one last ride. Ax-swinging ghouls, terrifying baby dolls and demonic possessions ensue.

In “Last Rites,” the thematic metaphor for seeing is the mirror itself, suggesting that we need to look at the darkest, most terrifying parts of ourselves and not shut them out. Lorraine has tried to protect her girl from the life she has led, facing down the most terrifying demons, ghosts and spooks, but she can’t stop Judy’s destiny and the only way out is to not look away.

“Last Rites” extends the concept of a new generation by incorporating Judy’s fiancé, Tony (Ben Hardy), as a fresh member of the family business. His function in the story is a bit awkward and random, but required for the Warren plotline to end on a high note (that opening bit about the family devastation never seems to come to pass).

The heart of these movies has always been Wilson and Farmiga, and without them, the “Conjuring” movies wouldn’t be worth it. With this fourth movie, the Warren lore has been so thoroughly picked over, the tropes and rhythms now so ingrained, the jump scares end up feeling routine at best. Enduring the dour drudgery of “Last Rites,” it’s never been clearer that it’s time to give up the ghost.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

WASHINGTON — President Trump affirmed that the United States will keep a robust military presence in Poland as he had a warm meeting Wednesday with Karol Nawrocki, the new president of the American ally in Europe.

Trump had taken the unusual step of endorsing Nawrocki in the Polish elections this year, and as the leaders sat side by side in the White House, Trump said the U.S.-Polish relationship has always been strong but “now it’s better than ever.”

Asked by a reporter whether the U.S. planned to continue placing troops in Poland, Trump said that the U.S. would and that “we’ll put more there if they want.”

“We’ll be staying in Poland. We’re very much aligned with Poland,” Trump said.

The visit to Washington is Nawrocki’s first overseas trip since taking office last month. The former amateur boxer and historian, who was backed by the conservative Law and Justice party, was hoping to deepen his relationship with Trump at a fraught moment for Warsaw.

Nawrocki thanked Trump for his support and in a nod to the bonds between their countries, gave a particular hello to the millions of Polish Americans in the U.S.

“Those relations for me, for Poland, for Poles, are very important,” Nawrocki said.

He added that those bonds are based on shared values of independence and democracy.

Trump said he was proud to have endorsed Nawrocki and lauded him for winning his election.

“It was a pretty tough race, pretty nasty race, and he beat them all. And he beat them all very easily, and now he’s become even more popular as they got to know him and know him better,” Trump said.

Trump is increasingly frustrated by his inability to get Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to sit down for direct talks aimed at ending their war. Both nations are Poland’s neighbors.

Trump last month met with Putin in Alaska and then with Zelensky and several European leaders at the White House. The Republican president emerged from those engagements confident that he would be able to quickly arrange direct talks between Putin and Zelensky and perhaps three-way talks in which he would participate.

But his optimism in hatching an agreement to end the war has dimmed as Putin has yet to signal an interest in sitting down with Zelensky.

“Maybe they have to fight a little longer,” Trump said in an interview with the conservative Daily Caller published over the weekend. “You know, just keep fighting — stupidly, keep fighting.”

There is also heightened anxiety in Poland, and across Europe, about Trump’s long-term commitment to a strong U.S. force posture on the continent — an essential deterrent to Russia.

Some key advisors in his administration have advocated for shifting U.S. troops and military from Europe to the Indo-Pacific to focus on China, the United States’ most significant strategic and economic competitor. About 8,200 American troops are stationed in Poland, but the force level regularly fluctuates, according to the Pentagon.

“The stakes are very high for President Nawrocki’s visit,” said Peter Doran, an analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Trump will have an opportunity to size up Poland’s new president, and Nawrocki also will have the chance to do the same. Failure in this meeting would mean a pullback of American force posture in Poland, and success would mean a clear endorsement of Poland as one of America’s most important allies on the front line.”

When Nawrocki arrived at the White House, Trump gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder and stood with him as they watched U.S. military jets soaring over the South Lawn.

A group of F-16s flew in a missing man formation as a tribute to a Polish air force F-16 pilot, Maj. Maciej “Slab” Krakowian, who died in a crash in Poland on Aug. 28.

“Thank you for this gesture,” Nawrocki later told Trump.

Trump made clear before Poland’s election in the spring that he wanted Nawrocki to win, dangling the prospect of closer military ties if the Poles elected Nawrocki. Trump even hosted him at the White House before the vote.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also traveled to Poland shortly before Poland’s May election to tell Poles if they elected Nawrocki and other conservatives they would have a strong ally in Trump who would “ensure that you will be able to fight off enemies that do not share your values.”

Ultimately, Polish voters chose Nawrocki over liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski in a tight election.

Most of the power in Poland’s legislative system rests with an elected Parliament and a government chosen by the lawmakers. The president can veto legislation and represents the country abroad. Nawrocki has tense relations with the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, an ally of Trzaskowski.

Nawrocki has echoed some of Trump’s language on Ukraine.

He promises to continue Poland’s support for Ukraine but has been critical of Zelensky, accusing him of taking advantage of allies. Nawrocki has accused Ukrainian refugees of taking advantage of Polish generosity and vowed to prioritize Poles for social services such as healthcare and schooling.

At the same time, Nawrocki will be looking to emphasize to Trump that Russian aggression in Ukraine underscores that Putin can’t be trusted and that a strong U.S. presence in Poland remains an essential deterrent, said Heather Conley, a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on transatlantic security and geopolitics.

Russia and ally Belarus are set to hold joint military exercises this month in Belarus, unnerving Poland as well as fellow North Atlantic Treaty Organization members Latvia and Lithuania.

“The message Nawrocki ultimately wants to give President Trump is how dangerous Putin’s revisionism is, and that it does not necessarily end with Ukraine,” Conley said.

Madhani and Price write for the Associated Press. AP writers Geir Moulson in Berlin and Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

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.

In recent days, the troops have been largely fighting tedium, without much to do.

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.

Storied Mexican singer Pepe Aguilar is using his platform to elevate the struggle and celebrate the dignity of the immigration experience in the U.S. with his latest single, “Corrido de Juanito.”

The track, which dropped Friday, explores the societal and emotional trials of being far from home while attempting to make the best of life. The song was originally written and recorded by former Calibre 50 vocalist and accordionist Edén Muñoz in 2017.

Aguilar’s take on the song comes at a time when its message takes on a heavier meaning as Immigration and Customers Enforcement agents have increased their presence in Los Angeles under the directive of President Trump.

The “Por Mujeres Como Tú” singer’s track with a message also acts as a monetary service to the immigrant community of L.A. All the proceeds from the song will go to the immigrant rights organization Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).

“I’m not making a cent off this song. We’re giving away everything, not only from the song, but from my latest released album,” Aguilar told The Times following the single’s release. “[CHIRLA] is helping immigrants to fight this battle legally and peacefully and respectfully. That’s why I created this song, and that’s why I decided to donate whatever it makes and whatever my album makes, for the time that it’s more valuable.”

The advocacy group focuses on the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees in L.A. and throughout the state of California. Its services include free and low-cost legal services and community education.

“We thank Pepe Aguilar for using his voice and platform to defend and support the immigrant community that is foundational to their fan base,” CHIRLA executive director Angelica Salas said in a statement. “Thank you for your invaluable support and for uplifting the presence and contributions of immigrants in the U.S.”

Following the onset of the ICE raids in June, the 56-year-old Grammy winner posted a message on Instagram in support of the immigrant community.

“I’m not going to fight the system; I’m going to peacefully resist it with art, with memory, with culture, with tradition, with respect,” said in the June 7 social media video.

In the same post, he announced that he would be working on a version of the song that was released today.

Aguilar, who is headlining at the Hollywood Bowl on Aug. 15 and 16, first heard the song at an awards show around the time of its initial release and felt deeply impacted by its message.

“I was really touched by the lyrics and the truthfulness of the song,” Aguilar said Friday morning. “I had a lump in my throat when I first heard it and then it was a hit.”

Flash forward to 2025 and he revisited the Calibre 50 track while singing bohemias with his family at his daughter’s house a few months back.

“Something called me in at that party to sing the song and I had never sang it before,” he said. “I didn’t know what it felt like to sing the song and when I sang it, I loved the way it sounded.”

It was after that experience that he knew he needed to record his own version.

“Now, with everything going on with all these deportations and with immigration, I think it’s a song that applies tremendously to create consciousness around this subject and to portray a reality that is lived by millions,” Aguilar said. “There are millions of Juanitos that are unable to go back home or unable to go to their loved ones funerals and are afraid of being deported, but at the same time they are working and helping the engine of America to remain stable.”

Aguilar channels the pain of homesickness and the worry of becoming forgotten that immigrants face on the daily.

“It’s been almost 14 years since I’ve gone back to the land I was born,” Aguilar sings in the single’s opening lines. “Everything has now changed, I beg God that they don’t forget about me.”

The “Perdonóme” vocalist shared a direct message to the people currently being most affected by the ongoing ICE raids.

“No están solos, we care for you, and when I mean ‘we,’ I’m talking about everybody that understands your situation, not only Mexicans, but I have a lot of friends that are not Mexican, even a lot of full-blooded Americans, who are tremendously worried about what’s going on,” Aguilar said. “[A] lot of associations want to do something about this unfair situation, a tremendously unfair and historically unfair for a country like the U.S. I believe in the principles that created the United States, and I hope that those principles are used in this tremendously sad situation.”

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration directed immigration officers to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels after the president expressed alarm about the impact of his aggressive enforcement, an official said Saturday.

The move marks a remarkable turnabout in Trump’s immigration crackdown since he took office in January. It follows weeks of increased enforcement since Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and main architect of Trump’s immigration policies, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would target at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump’s second term.

Tatum King, an official with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, wrote regional leaders on Thursday to halt investigations of the agricultural industry, including meatpackers, restaurants and hotels, according to the New York Times.

A U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to the Associated Press the contents of the directive. The Homeland Security Department did not dispute it.

“We will follow the president’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokesperson, said when asked to confirm the directive.

The shift suggests Trump’s promise of mass deportations has limits if it threatens industries that rely on workers in the country illegally. Trump posted on his Truth Social site Thursday that he disapproved of how farmers and hotels were being affected.

“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he wrote. “In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”

While ICE’s presence in Los Angeles has captured public attention and prompted Trump to deploy the California National Guard and Marines, immigration authorities have also been a growing presence at farms and factories across the country.

Farm bureaus in California say raids at packinghouses and fields are threatening businesses that supply much of the country’s food. Dozens of farmworkers were arrested after uniformed agents fanned out on farms northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County, which is known for growing strawberries, lemons and avocados. Others are skipping work as fear spreads.

ICE made more than 70 arrests Tuesday at a food packaging company in Omaha. The owner of Glenn Valley Foods said the company was enrolled in a voluntary program to verify workers’ immigration status and that it was operating at 30% capacity as it scrambled to find replacements.

Tom Homan, the White House border advisor, has repeatedly said ICE will send officers into communities and workplaces, particularly in “sanctuary” jurisdictions that limit the agency’s access to local jails.

Sanctuary cities “will get exactly what they don’t want, more officers in the communities and more officers at the work sites,” Homan said Monday on Fox News Channel. “We can’t arrest them in the jail, we’ll arrest them in the community. If we can’t arrest them in the community, we’re going to increase work-site enforcement operation. We’re going to flood the zone.”

Madhani and Spagat write for the Associated Press.

The accomplished mother that photographer-writer Rachel Elizabeth Seed never knew is the star of her deeply affecting “A Photographic Memory,” one of last year’s best documentaries, finally making its way to Los Angeles theaters. This poetic gem is a journey from the weight of absence to the serenity of presence, thanks in no small part to the inquisitive, gifted woman pulled from obscurity: Sheila Turner-Seed, whose life was short but full and worth revitalizing.

Turner-Seed, a journalist, was 42 when she died in 1979, leaving behind an 18-month-old daughter, a bereft photographer husband (Brian Seed) and a legacy of wide-ranging, globe-trotting reportage that culminated in a renowned oral and visual history called “Images of Man.” The project was anchored by Turner-Seed’s groundbreaking interviews with the world’s best living photographers at the time, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Cecil Beaton, Lisette Model and Gordon Parks. And though she only ever referred to herself as an amateur with a camera, Turner-Seed once saw a photo of hers land on the cover of the New York Times.

That her daughter also pursued photography and nonfiction storytelling could be viewed as the manifestation of a deeply felt connection. Was following her mother’s passion the most readily available way to process a personal loss the director essentially had no memory of? Seed only began exploring the true breadth and emotion of her mother’s legacy when she herself reached the age that her mom died, a milestone fraught for many grown, parentless children.

What the younger Seed found, accompanied by memories from her mother’s colleagues, was a rich archive of adventurous work and personal expression: photos, journals, contact sheets, Super8 film, audio pieces and a trove of interviews. These discussions reveal a soulful, probing mind that not only kept her subjects on their toes, but warmly elicited thoughtful answers about the nature of their moment-in-time art.

Turner-Seed’s own writing lays bare a struggle for self-fulfillment, to reconcile the traditional values pushed by her Jewish immigrant parents with a restless need to discover and make her own way. In an especially revealing journal entry from 1972, she wonders if she’ll grow in her chosen fields if she marries and has a child — but also, will she want to? A lanky, warm presence with a sociable smile, Turner-Seed is never far from a keenly observed thought or ambivalent feeling.

Why “A Photographic Memory” stands out, however, is her daughter’s handling of this precious life. It’s a heartbreakingly imaginative conjuring of the parent-child connection that never came to be, but which Seed and her editors (including documentary cutting legend Maya Daisy Hawke) finesse to life.

With melancholy and playfulness both, Seed threads in her own introspective voice-over and contemporary footage (poring over material, visiting her dad, sparring with a boyfriend). She also adds grainy period re-creations of her mom’s interviews, Seed playing her own parent in these 8mm snippets. Eventually, technology allows these distant intimates to share a frame.

Biographical and essayistic, “A Photographic Memory” suggests both a woman interested in locating her remarkable mother, gone too soon, and an artist exploring her own place. Of the impulse to take a photo, to grab the moment, we hear Cartier-Bresson excitedly tell Turner-Seed, “Life is once, forever.” Her future daughter’s marvelous movie embodies that idea beautifully.

The Department of Homeland Security said border patrol agents will provide security for Saturday’s FIFA Club World Cup opener between Inter Miami and Egyptian club Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

“Let the games begin,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection wrote in a social media post Tuesday. “The first FIFA Club World Cup games start on June 14 in Miami, FL at the Hard Rock Stadium. CBP will be suited and booted ready to provide security for the first round of games.”

The post has since been deleted. But it included a reference to “the first round of games,” suggesting immigration agents were not limiting their presence to the opening match. The monthlong 32-team tournament includes six first-round games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, beginning with Sunday’s match between Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain and Spain’s Atlético Madrid.

CBP agents, who operate under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, do not primarily provide security at stadiums the same way local police or private security firms do, but they are often involved in security operations in the lead-up to major events, monitoring airspace or assisting with rapid response to emergencies. ICE officers, who also operate under the DHS umbrella, are primarily tasked with identifying and arresting individuals who violate U.S. immigration law.

So the possibility that federal immigration officials will be on-site at a major international soccer match less than a year before the World Cup returns to the U.S. figures to inflame an already tense situation.

“FIFA is working in collaboration with the stadium authorities and relevant government government agencies — be it local, federal and state — to implement a detailed safety and security plan for the stadiums involved in the Club World Cup,” said a FIFA source familiar with the situation who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Three other international matches will also be played in Southern California during the next five days in Inglewood and Carson, but officials at both those stadiums said federal agents will not be present.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup will also kick off Saturday with Mexico playing the Dominican Republic at SoFi Stadium, but officials there said they have not changed their normal security procedures. A Gold Cup doubleheader involving Panama, Guadeloupe, Jamaica and Guatemala will follow at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson on June 16 and a stadium spokesperson said they will also be using their regular protocols, in addition to providing a public protest area on the stadium grounds.

The civil unrest in Southern California was sparked by masked ICE officers executing immigration raids across the region. The ensuing protests led the Trump administration to send thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of U.S. Marines into city streets over the objections of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other local elected officials.

No one at SoFi Stadium would speak on the record about security preparations for Saturday’s CONCACAF Gold Cup opener featuring Mexico, which is expected to draw a crowd of more than 50,000. But one official with knowledge of the situation said the stadium is following “normal procedures” and “ICE is not part of those protocols.”

SoFi Stadium’s security and crowd management duties have traditionally been handled by local law enforcement authorities and Contemporary Services Corp., a private security company whose yellow- and blue-clad workers have become ubiquitous at sports and entertainments across the country.

The Mexican team was originally slated to stay in a downtown hotel ahead of the match in Inglewood, but it moved to Long Beach because of security concerns.

Asked about the presence of ICE agents at Saturday’s Club World Cup match at Hard Rock Stadium, where last year’s Copa América final was delayed more than an hour by fans rushing the entrances, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he did not see a problem with it despite the fact it figures to depress attendance for a game that was already struggling to sell tickets.

“We are very attentive on any security question,” Infantino said. “Of course, the most important [thing] for us is to guarantee security for all the fans who come to the games. This is our priority. This is the priority of all the authorities who are here.

“And we want everyone who comes to the games to pass a good moment.”

An aide to Los Angeles City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado has been placed on unpaid leave after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon at an anti-ICE protest, Jurado and her staff said Monday.

Luz Aguilar, 26, who serves as Jurado’s deputy for economic innovation and community growth, was arrested around 7 p.m. Sunday and booked several hours later, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate records.

“The allegations are deeply concerning and I take them very seriously,” Jurado, who represents downtown and neighborhoods on L.A.’s Eastside, said in a statement. “While I respect the individual’s right to due process, I hold my team to the highest standards of conduct.”

Aguilar‘s father is Pasadena City Councilmember Rick Cole, who is also a high-level aide to L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia. Aguilar’s sister, 26-year-old Antonia Aguilar, was arrested at the same time, records show.

Both were being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Jurado said Luz Aguilar — who is listed in inmate records as AguilarCole — has been placed on unpaid leave while the council office assesses the facts and considers “appropriate action.” Although Aguilar was accused of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon, “it’s a developing situation,” said Lisa Marroquin, a spokesperson for Jurado.

Marroquin could not say which law enforcement agency the officer was from.

Cole, in a text message, said Monday that he did not yet have information on the allegations. A day earlier, while appearing at an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement rally in Pasadena, he said the fight against the immigration arrests was personal to him.

“I’ve just seen pictures of my two daughters on a curb in downtown Los Angeles in handcuffs [with] the LAPD,” he said at the rally. “So I’m going to be figuring out where they are so I can go bail them out.”

Protests against federal immigration raids continued to rage Sunday after President Trump ordered the National Guard to Southern California. Some demonstrators in downtown L.A. dropped rocks from a freeway overpass onto police cruisers, while others vandalized government buildings, burned Waymo cars or burglarized businesses.

Mejia, Cole’s boss, is an outspoken critic of the Los Angeles Police Department. On Friday, Mejia voiced concerns about the presence of LAPD officers “within the vicinity of ICE raids.”

Mejia said he has asked for the department to turn over information about the financial impact of the raids on police resources. L.A. declared itself a “sanctuary” city last year, and Police Chief Jim McDonnell has repeatedly said that the LAPD is not involved in “civil immigration enforcement,” pointing to a decades-old policy.

“LAPD’s presence raises serious questions about whether we are abiding by our City’s mandate as a Sanctuary City and is a cause for concern and confusion regarding LAPD’s role,” Mejia said in a statement on social media.

An LAPD spokesperson did not have any details on the arrests when reached by The Times.

Jurado, a former tenant rights attorney, won a seat on the 15-member council in November. During the campaign, she described herself as an abolitionist — someone who supports the abolition of police and prisons.

During the campaign’s final weeks, Jurado was heard on a recording telling college students, “F— the police, that’s how I see ‘em.” She later issued a statement downplaying her remark, saying it was “just a lyric” from a rap song.

The City Council has scheduled a special meeting Tuesday to discuss the federal immigration raids — including “related threats to public service and facilities” — and has left open the possibility of a closed-door meeting with McDonnell on that topic.

US envoy says Syria strategy ‘will not be like the last 100 years’ as troops pull out.

The United States will shut down most of its military bases in Syria, consolidating operations to a single location, as part of a policy overhaul announced by its new special envoy.

Thomas Barrack, appointed by President Donald Trump last month as the US ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, said the shift marks a rejection of Washington’s past century of failed approaches in Syria.

In an interview with the Turkish broadcaster NTV on Monday, Barrack said the troop drawdown and base closures reflect a strategic recalibration.

“What I can assure you is that our current Syria policy will not be close to the Syria policy of the last 100 years because none of these have worked,” he said.

US forces are expected to withdraw from seven of eight bases, including those in Deir Az Zor province in eastern Syria, with remaining operations centred in Hasakah in the northeast.

Two security sources told the Reuters news agency that US military hardware and personnel have already started relocating. “All troops are being pulled from Deir Az Zor,” one source told Reuters in April.

A US Department of State official later said troop levels would be adjusted “if and when appropriate”, depending on operational demands.

Roughly 2,000 American soldiers remain in Syria, largely embedded with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key partner in the US-led campaign against ISIL (ISIS).

The SDF, dominated by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia, has been a longstanding point of contention with NATO ally Turkiye, which views it as linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK, which recently announced its disbandment, fought a decades-long armed rebellion against the Turkish state.

Barrack called the SDF “a very important factor” for the US Congress, stressing that integrating the group into Syria’s national army is now a priority. “Everyone needs to be reasonable in their expectations,” he said.

Since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, international engagement with Damascus has resumed under new President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Barrack recently raised the US flag over the ambassador’s residence in Damascus for the first time since 2012.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised the SDF last week, accusing it of “stalling tactics” despite its agreement to join the Syrian armed forces.