South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Koo Yun Cheol and representatives of government agencies, policy-finance institutions and major shipbuilders attend a signing ceremony for a Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation investment agreement at the Export-Import Bank of Korea in Seoul on Thursday. Photo from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, used under KOGL Type 1.
June 25 (Asia Today) — South Korea launched a policy-finance framework Thursday to support $150 billion in shipbuilding cooperation with the United States, seeking to share early-stage investment risks with domestic companies expanding into the U.S. market.
The Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation, four state-backed financial institutions and three major South Korean shipbuilders signed a memorandum of understanding at the Export-Import Bank of Korea headquarters in Seoul.
The agreement is the first institutional step toward implementing the $150 billion shipbuilding cooperation package included in a bilateral strategic investment memorandum signed in November 2025.
The participating financial institutions are the Export-Import Bank of Korea, Korea Development Bank, Korea Trade Insurance Corp. and Korea Ocean Business Corp.
The three shipbuilders are HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean.
Under the agreement, the participants will establish a Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Cooperation Investment Council to identify U.S. investment projects, coordinate policy financing and jointly monitor their implementation.
The Export-Import Bank of Korea will serve as the council’s secretariat, coordinating communication among the institutions and overseeing the progress of individual projects.
South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Koo Yun Cheol said shipbuilding cooperation is one of the two main pillars of strategic investment between South Korea and the United States.
Koo urged the investment corporation and policy lenders to develop financing measures that can provide companies with sufficient funding when it is needed.
“The government and policy-finance institutions must actively seek ways to share the risks and uncertainty of initial investments that individual companies cannot bear alone,” Koo said.
He said the initiative should help South Korean shipbuilders support the rebuilding of the U.S. shipbuilding industry while creating new contracts and markets across South Korea’s domestic shipbuilding supply chain.
The benefits should extend beyond large shipbuilders to small and midsize shipyards and marine equipment suppliers, he said.
“We must create a path for small and midsize shipbuilders and equipment suppliers to participate together as Team Korea,” Koo said.
The government plans to use the council to develop financing for investments in U.S. shipyards, naval vessel construction, maintenance, repair and overhaul services and commercial shipbuilding.
The policy-finance structure is intended to help companies manage the large capital requirements and financial risks associated with entering the U.S. market.
Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Kwon Dae-young described the initiative as an opportunity for South Korea’s shipbuilding industry to demonstrate its capabilities in the global market.
“We will actively support the necessary financing through close cooperation among the newly established Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation, policy-finance institutions and private financial companies,” Kwon said.
Park Dong-il, deputy minister for industrial policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, said the Make American Shipbuilding Great Again initiative, or MASGA, represents the first strategic overseas expansion project in the history of South Korea’s shipbuilding industry.
Park said encouraging signs were emerging in the United States, including potential orders for South Korean companies.
He called on policy lenders to coordinate closely so shipbuilders can enter the U.S. market without delays.
“The signing ceremony is expected to provide initial momentum for the MASGA project and create a new opportunity for South Korea’s shipbuilding industry to advance,” Park said.
Shipbuilding companies also pledged to identify commercially viable projects with government financial support.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries CEO Lee Sang-kyun said producing tangible results from the bilateral cooperation was the most important objective.
“This cooperation should develop into a system that simultaneously supports the growth of South Korea’s shipbuilding industry and the rebuilding of the U.S. shipbuilding base,” Lee said.
South Korean shipbuilders will identify investment opportunities that offer profitability and can be carried out effectively using their advanced technology, he said.
Lee also urged the government to prepare a broad range of support measures to help create a turning point in bilateral shipbuilding cooperation.
The government said it will use the agreement to begin full cooperation among the investment corporation, policy-finance institutions and shipbuilders.
It also plans to expand the Team Korea framework so small and midsize shipyards and marine equipment suppliers can participate in projects entering the U.S. market.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260625010008910
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The Trump administration asked Congress on Wednesday to pass a law allowing year-round sales of gasoline blended with 15% ethanol, marking the first formal push by his White House to enact the policy and siding with the biofuels industry against
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — President Trump said Wednesday that he was delaying federal prosecutor Jay Clayton’s nomination to lead the U.S. intelligence community in a bid to force Congress to act on a voter ID bill that currently lacks enough support for passage.
The Republican president said in a social media post just hours before Clayton’s scheduled confirmation hearing that he will keep Bill Pulte, a top U.S. housing official, as acting director of national intelligence. Democratic and Republican lawmakers had opposed Trump’s selection of Pulte, citing his lack of known experience in intelligence and his use of his current administration perch to target perceived adversaries of the president — resistance that last week forced Trump to turn to Clayton.
The abrupt announcement creates instant uncertainty over the long-term leadership of the 18-agency intelligence community and dashes hopes for a swift renewal of a crucial surveillance program that expired in Congress last week due to bipartisan anger over Trump’s pick of Pulte.
That tool, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, permits spy agencies to collect without a warrant the communications of targeted foreigners located outside the United States. National security officials across both major political parties have for years described Section 702 as vital for gathering intelligence that can disrupt terror attacks and espionage operations, though some lawmakers and civil liberties advocates have raised concerns over the government’s use of information about Americans that is incidentally collected through the program.
Clayton had been set to appear on Wednesday for a Senate confirmation hearing that was fast-tracked because of the program’s lapse. Democrats had said they would not renew the expired surveillance programs until Trump withdrew the selection of Pulte.
Trump’s post suggests that debate to revive Section 702 could be indefinitely postponed. Lawmakers have sounded the alarm about the government operating without congressional authorization of the powerful spy tool.
A court order from last March certified that the program could continue for another 12 months, though it’s possible that communications companies could challenge the government’s authority to force them to cooperate and share data.
In his social media post, Trump accused Democrats of breaking a deal to renew the program after he nominated Clayton. Trump also said he does not want to remove Clayton from his current position as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York before his replacement, James McDonald, is approved. McDonald was named to the Justice Department post on Saturday.
And Trump added another condition: linking his approval of the surveillance program to the passage of a bill requiring people to show ID to vote.
“Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it,” Trump said, using the acronym for the surveillance program and his name for the voter ID bill.
The Republican-controlled Congress has not acted on the voting bill because it does not have enough support in either chamber, particularly from Democrats.
Trump made the announcement in Evian-les-Bains, France, where he was participating in the final day of the Group of Seven summit of leading industrial economies.
The intelligence director position became available after Tulsi Gabbard, who had held the job, announced last month that she was resigning to spend time with her husband as he fights cancer.
Clayton, a chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term, has spent the last 14 months as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, one of the Justice Department’s premier posts.
His office during that time facilitated the unsealing of thousands of pages of court records from the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, documents that were made public as part of the Justice Department’s release of records related to the late sex offender and his longtime confidant.
Clayton has also overseen the prosecution of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, on drug trafficking charges.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein but insists she’s innocent. Maduro and his wife have protested their capture and said they’re not guilty.
Madhani, Superville, Tucker and Jalonick write for the Associated Press. Superville reported from Geneva. Tucker and Jalonick reported from Washington.
Published on
OpenAI is facing a fresh regulatory challenge after a group of state attorneys general demanded a wide range of documents about how ChatGPT protects the people who use it, a move that arrives at a delicate moment for the company as it lays the groundwork for a potential public listing.
The investigation, which arrived just days after OpenAI filed confidential paperwork for an IPO, threatens to complicate a listing that some analysts expect will value the ChatGPT maker at roughly $1 trillion (€861bn).
According to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the matter, OpenAI received the subpoena on Friday from a group of states, with the inquiry led by New York’s attorney general.
Officials are requesting material covering the company’s advertising practices, how it keeps people using its service, its handling of consumer and health data, and its policies towards minors and older adults.
OpenAI said it would engage with the offices behind the request and stressed that protections are already built into its product.
A spokesperson stated that the company takes the concerns raised by the attorneys general “seriously” and works to bring the benefits of the technology to people responsibly. However, the firm has not confirmed which other US states are taking part.
The subpoena adds to a growing list of legal headaches.
Last Thursday, a Canadian woman sued OpenAI, blaming ChatGPT for her daughter’s suicide. Earlier in June, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed suit against the company and CEO Sam Altman after two shootings in which the alleged attackers reportedly used the chatbot to plan their crimes.
OpenAI responded that its models repeatedly urged the individuals to seek help from mental health professionals and that it cooperated with the police in both cases.
These are not the first courtroom tests of the year for OpenAI.
In May, a federal jury in Oakland, California took less than two hours to reject Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing Altman of abandoning the firm’s nonprofit roots, finding he had filed too late. Musk, who called the ruling a “calendar technicality”, said he would appeal.
The clampdown also extends across the industry.
European regulators have opened investigations into Musk’s rival chatbot Grok over antisemitic and sexualised content, including deepfake images.
Anthropic, also preparing an IPO, was told by the Trump administration to restrict two of its models abroad on national security grounds, illustrating how AI governance has become an increasingly fraught political battleground.
Additional sources • AP
Published On 12 Jun 202612 Jun 2026
The United Arab Emirates has agreed to unlock billions of dollars for Iran, pursuing a tactical shift after weeks of Iranian attacks on the wealthy Gulf Arab state amid its ongoing war with the United States and Israel, four sources told the Reuters news agency.
The report on the move coincided with the final stages of broader negotiations between Tehran and Washington to end the war. Diplomats say those talks involve the release of tens of billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks under US sanctions.
list of 3 itemsend of list
Two regional sources told Reuters that the UAE had agreed to release a total of $10bn, more than $3bn of which had already been delivered.
Two other sources with knowledge of the arrangement put the total funds involved at $20bn, adding that the move had been agreed in return for a halt to Iranian attacks on the UAE.
One of the sources with knowledge of the arrangement also said a first tranche of $3bn had already been made available.
Reuters could not establish whether the funds earmarked for the transfers belong to the UAE or originate in long-blocked Iranian accounts in the UAE banking system, or elsewhere.
But a UAE official, asked to comment on the transfer, said the country was trying to ease tension and foster peace.
“The UAE’s foreign policy is guided by promoting de-escalation and reducing tensions across the region, while advancing lasting peace and stability,” the official said.
“The UAE supports efforts, including those undertaken by the United States, to protect the peoples of the region from the repercussions of conflict.”
The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters’s request for comment on the move.
Earlier on Friday, Vice President JD Vance said that frozen funds would not immediately be released to Iran upon signing a deal with the US.
He said the potential deal is structured to ensure that economic benefits would flow to Tehran if it meets its obligations.
There was no immediate response from Iranian authorities to a Reuters request for comment on the move.
None of the sources cited by Reuters would agree to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The arrangement signals a striking pivot from the open animosity of UAE-Iran relations through much of the war, when Iranian attacks emptied Dubai’s hotels, drove some expatriates to flee and shook the reputation for safety that is central to the country’s position as a premier business hub.
One of the sources with knowledge of the arrangement said the move offered a way to help solve the conflict between the US and Iran without either side crossing its red line. Iran can claim it extracted compensation for war damages. Washington can insist it paid nothing.
Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, obtains its own security and protects Dubai’s hub status, while framing the move as an investment in rebuilding regional trust.
The other source with knowledge of the arrangement said that in return for the disbursement, Iran would halt missile and drone attacks on the UAE, and there would be a rebuilding of bilateral ties, including intelligence sharing and economic cooperation.
The source added that Iran had approached at least two other Gulf Arab countries to make a similar arrangement.
The last known direct attack by Iran on the UAE was more than a month ago – a May 4 strike on the Gulf state’s Fujairah port on the Gulf of Oman.
The first source with knowledge of the arrangement said talks had started several weeks ago but quickened pace when officials of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard visited Abu Dhabi last week to meet Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi, and stayed at his guest house.
That trip was followed by a visit by UAE officials to Tehran to negotiate the details of the mechanism.
Dubai’s banks have long held substantial Iranian-linked deposits, much of them now immobilised under US sanctions that police the global dollar-clearing system and expose any foreign bank dealing with blacklisted Iranian entities to being cut off from the US financial network.
On April 11, a senior Iranian source told Reuters that the US had agreed to release Iranian frozen assets held in Qatar and other foreign banks, although a US official swiftly denied the assertion.
The source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said that unfreezing the assets was “directly linked to ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz”, a key issue in talks aimed at ending the conflict.
Since its creation more than a century ago, the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting has been in the lamppost business and little else.
But in recent months, the little-known city agency has found itself pulled into a fierce debate over L.A.’s relationship with Flock Safety, a surveillance technology company that has been criticized for supplying data used to enable the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
In L.A., Flock operates dozens of automated license plate readers, which allow authorities to scan for vehicles that have been reported stolen or are registered to known fugitives, tracking their movements throughout the city.
The devices are often mounted on municipal light poles, which makes the Bureau of Street Lighting responsible for their installation.
Reports that Flock has shared license plate data with federal authorities, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have prompted dozens of mostly smaller cities across the country to end their relationship with the company. But in L.A. it still has found willing customers, including the LAPD.
Hundreds of emails obtained by The Times through public records requests reveal how LAPD boosters, homeowner associations and elected officials have engaged in a months-long campaign to pressure the Bureau of Street Lighting to speed up installations of the plate readers.
Flock, headquartered in Atlanta, said that it contracts with roughly 5,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies nationwide, and that its technology complies with a California law that limits what information can be shared with federal authorities. A company spokesperson said that Flock’s technology is “built around transparency, accountability, and local control.”
“Our customers own and control their data, which is deleted after 30 days by default,” the spokesperson, MoMo Zhou, said in a statement to The Times. “Our platform includes safeguards like audit trails to help ensure accountability at every step. Every day, Flock supports communities across the country in addressing crime and locating missing people.”
The Bureau of Street Lighting, with 177 employees and a relatively modest budget of $49.4 million, would seem an unlikely player in the broader debate over police surveillance. It is primarily tasked with repairing and fortifying the city’s more than 210,000 streetlamps — a frequent target of copper wire thieves — and maintaining its network of electrical vehicle charging stations.
The push to put up more plate readers has come amid calls for greater transparency around the Los Angeles Police Department’s dealings with Flock. In March, the Police Commission asked the department to report back on what information the company’s scanners collect and share. In recent months, the commission declined to approve donations of Flock cameras.
Members of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition held a news conference to express opposition to Flock Safety, a license plate reader, ahead of a Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners meeting on March 3, 2026.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
The commission ordered its inspector general to conduct an audit of the LAPD’s use of license plate reader technology, with the findings expected to be released in the summer.
Recently, Councilmember Ysabel Jurado introduced a motion urging the commission to “refrain from entering into any new Memoranda of Understanding, Contracts, or other Agreements, or implement any pilot programs with Flock Safety or its affiliates.” LAPD officials said last month that the city attorney’s office has been working on drawing up a formal contract with Flock.
Behind the scenes, though, the pressure to work with Flock has been ratcheting up from other council offices and community groups.
When a representative from Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky’s office emailed the streetlighting bureau urging speed, she received a response that said the installation process shouldn’t be rushed because some city light poles can’t support the weight of a Flock reader, which is normally powered by a solar panel.
“The last thing we need is to have a pole fall onto someone or something if there are high winds,” the bureau’s Clinton Tsurui wrote in the June 4, 2025, email.
In another exchange, Tsurui expressed frustration with a colleague who had offered what he thought was an overly optimistic timetable for installing new plate readers.
He wrote: “smh, promising things we can’t do is going to catch up with us one day.”
The Los Angeles Police Foundation, a nonprofit group that has long bankrolled equipment for the LAPD and offered other support, has criticized delays in installing the Flock devices. Last year, the foundation facilitated the donation of dozens of Flock cameras, most of which ended up in affluent neighborhoods on the city’s Westside and in the San Fernando Valley.
Records show that in May 2025, Dana Katz, the foundation’s executive director, reached out to the mayor’s office with a request to waive permit and rental fees associated with installing the new readers. Katz wrote in an email that the extra expense of around $2,000 per device were “cost prohibitive and detrimental to public safety.”
Katz also pointed out that in some places, there are no city-owned poles on which to mount the devices — but offered a possible solution.
“Flock has its own pole that has been accepted by the County of Los Angeles for these situations, and we would like the City to accept the use of them, too,” she wrote to Robert Clark, the city’s then-deputy mayor of public safety.
A few of L.A.’s historic streetlights stand outside the Bureau of Street Lighting’s office near Virgil Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Katz wrote Clark again on Aug. 6 to ask why officials were estimating a six-to-12-month wait for approval of new Flock readers on public property in the neighborhoods of Cheviot Hills and Brentwood Park, where there were no existing city poles to mount them. She noted that the county’s engineering department had already approved the company’s poles, and asked Clark whether there was a way for the city to “piggyback on these other entities’ approvals in order to speed this up so that these neighborhoods don’t have to wait so long for help in preventing these home invasions?”
In the following weeks, Katz’s emails took on an increasingly urgent tone. In one of her last messages, email records show, she told an aide she expected more help than the mayor’s office was offering.
“With all due respect, the answers you have provided are completely generic and do not provide any guidance and direction as to how we can expedite this process,” she wrote.
She added: “I’ve said it before, and I will say it again — these delays are harmful to public safety.”
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office told The Times that ultimately neither Clark nor the aide intervened on the Los Angeles Police Foundation’s behalf.
Email records show Flock’s courtship of the bureau dates at least to spring 2024, when the company agreed to donate two of its plate readers to help combat copper thefts.
Tsurui emailed LAPD Capt. Celina Robles to say that the company’s executives had requested an in-person meeting with the bureau and the LAPD “to discuss the benefits of this product and how it can benefit the city moving forward.”
On June 24, 2024, a lobbyist from the D.C. firm Modern Fortis emailed Bureau of Street Lighting Executive Director Miguel Sangalang seeking to “explore a public-private partnership” between Flock and the city. Sangalang took another meeting to discuss Flock a few months later with former City Councilmember Joe Buscaino, who after leaving City Hall had gone to work for Ballard Partners, a powerful Florida-based lobbying firm.
In January 2025, after wildfires devastated Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other areas, Flock stepped in again. The company agreed to donate more than 50 plate readers, free of charge for six months, to the wealthy Palisades area, where residents and law enforcement officials were on high alert about potential theft.
A Flock Safety automated license plate reader in Costa Mesa.
(Courtesy of the city of Costa Mesa)
In the days and weeks that followed, city and police officials continued to pepper the bureau about speeding up the approval process.
On Jan. 21, 2025, records show, Cmdr. Randall “Randy” Goddard of the LAPD’s Information Technology Bureau wrote streetlighting officials to say that the Palisades community “could use a big favor from your department.”
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell “fully supports this and has been working with the City Attorney’s office to finalize the terms,” Goddard wrote.
Mexico and Canada have backed extending the USMCA trade agreement for another 16 years as negotiations over its future continue. The proposal comes amid an ongoing trade dispute with the United States.
Published On 3 Jun 20263 Jun 2026
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Malaysia has introduced new regulations preventing children under the age of 16 from registering accounts on social media platforms as part of a broader effort to improve online safety and protect minors from harmful digital content.
Under the new rules, major social media companies including Meta Platforms, TikTok, and Alphabet will be required to verify users’ ages using government issued records before allowing new account registrations.
The policy took effect on Monday and is being enforced by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. Companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to 10 million ringgit, equivalent to approximately 2.5 million dollars.
Authorities emphasized that the measure is not intended to block children from using the internet entirely, but rather to ensure greater responsibility among technology companies, parents, and guardians in protecting young users online.
The new framework requires social media platforms to implement age verification systems that cross check user information against official government records.
While the restrictions immediately apply to new account registrations, existing users will also be subject to age verification measures during a six month implementation period.
The move places greater responsibility on technology companies to ensure that underage users are not able to bypass age requirements through inaccurate information during the registration process.
Malaysia’s decision reflects increasing global concern about the impact of social media on children and teenagers.
Governments around the world have raised alarms over issues including exposure to harmful content, cyberbullying, online exploitation, misinformation, and the effects of excessive social media use on mental health.
Policymakers argue that stronger safeguards are needed as digital platforms become a central part of daily life for younger generations.
The age restrictions are part of a broader effort by Malaysian authorities to regulate online platforms more aggressively.
Officials have reported a significant increase in harmful online content in recent years and have intensified monitoring of material that could inflame racial or religious tensions. Authorities have also targeted content viewed as insulting or critical of the country’s monarchy.
The government says social media companies must play a more active role in preventing harmful content from reaching vulnerable audiences.
Malaysia’s decision places it among a growing group of countries seeking stricter regulation of social media platforms and greater protections for children online.
The policy could become a model for other governments considering similar measures, particularly as concerns over digital safety continue to grow worldwide. It also increases pressure on technology companies to develop more reliable age verification systems while balancing privacy concerns and user accessibility.
The move highlights the growing debate over who should bear responsibility for protecting children online, governments, technology firms, or parents.
Young users will face stricter age verification requirements before being allowed to create social media accounts.
Families are expected to play a larger role in monitoring children’s online activities and ensuring compliance with age restrictions.
Major technology platforms must implement and maintain age verification systems while ensuring compliance with Malaysian regulations.
Authorities aim to reduce children’s exposure to harmful content and strengthen oversight of online platforms.
Advocacy groups will closely monitor how age verification systems are implemented and whether they affect privacy and data protection standards.
Social media companies now have six months to complete age verification checks for existing users and fully integrate compliance systems for new registrations.
Regulators are expected to monitor implementation closely and may impose penalties on platforms that fail to meet requirements. The effectiveness of the policy will likely be assessed based on whether it reduces underage access and limits exposure to harmful content.
Other countries in the region may also watch Malaysia’s experience as they consider similar online safety measures.
Malaysia’s new restrictions reflect a broader global shift toward stronger regulation of digital platforms, particularly where children are concerned. Governments are increasingly moving away from voluntary industry guidelines and toward legally enforceable requirements that place direct responsibility on technology companies.
The success of the policy will depend largely on the effectiveness of age verification systems. If implementation is weak, underage users may still find ways to access platforms. If verification measures are too strict, however, concerns about privacy, data security, and accessibility could emerge.
The regulation also signals a growing willingness among governments to intervene in how social media platforms operate. As concerns about online safety continue to rise, Malaysia’s approach may become an important test case for balancing child protection, digital rights, and platform accountability in the years ahead.
With information from Reuters.
The leading candidates for mayor fanned out across Los Angeles this weekend to make their final cases to voters ahead of Tuesday’s hotly contested primary election.
An energized Mayor Karen Bass galvanized crowds of labor union workers sporting union merch Saturday. “Four more years!” crowds chanted as a slew of local and state Democratic heavyweights joined the incumbent.
City Councilmember Nithya Raman spent the day dashing between local restaurants and bars in an old-school yellow Scout convertible to meet with business owners and her supporters.
Meanwhile, former reality TV personality Spencer Pratt hosted a block party in Baldwin Village with barbecue food, free merch and American-flag lawn chairs — although he spent much of the event off to the side, listening to the concerns of Black residents.
Recent polls have placed Pratt and Raman within striking distance of Bass, who had enjoyed a comfortable lead for much of the campaign. A recent survey, co-sponsored by The Times, had Bass at 26%, Raman at 25% and Pratt at 22% — with a roughly 3% margin of error in either direction and 10% of voters undecided.
The top two candidates in Tuesday’s jungle primary will advance to a November runoff, unless one candidate manages to garner over 50% of the vote.
Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt speaks with Diane Waterhouse, a caregiver and Westchester native, about homelessness and drug addiction at a campaign event Saturday in Baldwin Village. “We just talk about it like, ‘oh it’s Skid Row, that’s just where the drug addicts are.’ No, there’s communities, there’s kids, there’s people that work there, businesses,” Pratt said.
(Noah Haggerty / Los Angeles Times)
“I believe God moves mountains; I believe that you can get that 51% on that Tuesday,” Diane Waterhouse, a 60-year-old caregiver, told Pratt at his Baldwin Village event.
On the lawn of Jim Gilliam Park on Saturday, supporters from across the city chanted Pratt’s name, took selfies in front of black campaign vans with his hummingbird logo and ate cookies decorated with his face as kids raced around on scooters and played with the handful of dogs attending.
But Pratt — who had spent the morning at the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter speaking with animal welfare advocates — headed toward the nearby recreation center to talk with residents away from the cameras.
“Most people that come here and want our vote — we give y’all our vote; we’re still living like this. Nothing changes,” Erica Helon, a 40-year-old bus driver, told Pratt in one of the most tense moments of the event.
Pratt, wearing a beige suit and a hat with his name stylized like the L.A. Lakers logo, emphasized he was in South Los Angeles to listen and wasn’t even asking residents for their votes. He pulled Helon aside and gave her his personal phone number so they could talk more.
“I’m here because I want to be a voice for the community,” he said at one point. “I’m here because I don’t know what I don’t know.”
Helon, who is still undecided, left the event open-minded on Pratt.
“I would love to see what he’s going to do for this city,” she said.
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman joins a group photograph during a campaign stop Sunday with SevaSphere volunteers after preparing meals for people experiencing homelessness at Oaks Kitchens.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Raman, who has made publishing detailed policy plans a staple of her campaign, spent Saturday meeting with local restaurant owners after recently dropping a policy plan for small businesses.
Around sunset, the yellow convertible pulled up to Lowboy Bar, an Echo Park staple. Raman, sporting a Japanese Dodgers hat and a rainbow City Council fanny pack, joined campaign staff for drinks at tables covered in “Nithya Raman for Mayor” pins.
A few young Angelenos, starting out their nights in trendy getups, recognized Raman and stopped by to chat and take pictures.
“I’ve lived in L.A. for 12 years. It’s a very, very important city to me,” said Ryan Bergeron, a 35-year-old who works in marketing and does art on the side.
Bergeron, who is on the Echo Park neighborhood council, hopes Los Angeles can serve as a “beacon in an otherwise scary time in the country” as it tackles affordability, the housing crisis and sustainability issues.
As for Raman, “I’ve seen her as a councilmember and been really proud of that,” Bergeron said. When she announced her candidacy for mayor, “It felt like everything really clicked.”
Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Monica Rodriguez attend the Los Angeles Democratic Party and Avance Democratic Club Carne Asada Tour, a community event held Saturday at the Yosemite Recreation Center. Avanceis one of the country’s largest Latino Democratic clubs.
(Karla Gachet / For The Times)
Bass, conversely, wound down after a day of union rallies by eating tacos at the Yosemite Recreation Center’s picnic tables in Eagle Rock with several local politicians, including Councilmember Monica Rodriguez and county Democratic Party Chair Mark Ramos.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna had joined Bass earlier in the day. Although Luna missed out on the picnic, he still enjoyed several tacos in his car.
Come Sunday, Raman, wearing jeans and a chartreuse cardigan, was greeting bike riders at a Sawtelle coffee shop and speaking to a phone bank group at UCLA.
“It is absolutely essential to making sure that our little campaign, without all the political machine behind us, without MAGA millions behind us, that our vision of Los Angeles still manages to get out to the people, and your work today is an essential part of that,” Raman told a group of United Auto Workers-represented graduate students from multiple nearby universities.
She had several other appearances scheduled for the rest of the day, including lunch with a group of Korean American Democrats in Koreatown, Encinofest, a block party in Silver Lake and a visit to Boyle Heights.
“There seems to be increasing awareness about the race and excitement about the issues,” Raman told The Times. “It’s been really exciting to see people engaging and feeling positive about the city’s future.”
About two dozen students spoke to potential voters associated with UAW and urged them to mark Raman’s name on their ballots by Tuesday.
Stephanie Wert, a 30-year-old psychology graduate student at UCLA and head steward for UAW, said the phone bank could determine whether Raman’s campaign would survive the week.
“This vote is going to be decided on the margins, and so I think we could really make the difference that pushes her to the runoff,” Wert said.
Bass peeked around the back doors of a supporter’s Venice home Sunday afternoon to cheers from several dozen supporters at an intimate event. Speaking over small snack plates and beverages, many said they saw real improvements in the homeless populations around their neighborhood during Bass’ tenure as mayor.
Tatiana Barhar, a Venice resident for over 30 years, said she saw in real-time an “extreme” homelessness problem get better during Bass’ term, thanks to her Inside Safe program. “I want to support her,” she said. “I think there’s a lot more she can do.”
Bass spoke of 1960s-level crime rates, thousands of unhoused people pulled off the street into housing and efforts to build up Hollywood during her time as mayor. “We got a lot to do,” Bass said. “We have such a bright future in the nation’s second-largest city, and I hope that you will continue to be there with me as we win.”
Pratt’s moves on Sunday remained more elusive. His campaign emphasized he was hoping to have intimate moments with L.A. communities, instead of a media and influencer frenzy like some of his previous, more widely publicized events.
One of those more intimate moments was a community event in a Latino neighborhood near downtown L.A. on Sunday morning. Pratt had spent Thursday in New York for some national media interviews to “get the message to as many people as possible.”
Replimune (REPL) won over the FDA to submit a marketing application for its lead asset RP1 for the third time despite previous rejections, thanks to the intervention of White House officials, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
European shares edged lower on Tuesday as hopes for an imminent de-escalation in the Middle East conflict faded following fresh U.S. strikes on Iran, triggering renewed geopolitical uncertainty across global financial markets.
The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2% to 630.33 points by 0833 GMT, retreating from gains that had recently pushed it close to record levels.
On Monday, the index had closed at its highest level since late February, briefly coming within 1% of an all-time high on optimism that diplomatic progress could soon ease tensions in the region.
That momentum quickly reversed after renewed military action and comments from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said negotiations with Iran could take “a few days,” tempering expectations of a near-term resolution.
Global energy markets reacted sharply to the escalation, with Brent crude rising more than 3%, reigniting inflation concerns across energy-importing economies, particularly in the euro zone.
The market remains highly sensitive to risks surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route through which a significant share of the world’s oil flows.
Analysts warned that any sustained disruption in the region could deepen inflationary pressures just as central banks weigh their next policy moves.
Travel and transport-related stocks were among the biggest losers in Tuesday’s session.
Airlines including Lufthansa and Ryanair fell 1.4% and 0.7% respectively, reflecting investor concerns that higher fuel costs could squeeze margins.
Luxury and automotive stocks also came under pressure after Ferrari dropped sharply following the unveiling of its first fully electric vehicle.
The decline was compounded by a broader sell-off in the European autos sector, which fell 1.6% as investors reassessed competition risks from Chinese EV manufacturers and weakening global demand trends.
Despite renewed volatility, some investors noted that markets remain partially supported by expectations that diplomacy could still stabilize the situation.
One portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton said markets were reacting cautiously because investors believe a potential agreement could still restore stability in the Strait of Hormuz and normalize energy flows.
However, uncertainty around timing and scope continues to limit upside momentum in equities.
Attention is now shifting toward upcoming inflation data across major euro zone economies and the United States, which will help shape expectations for future monetary policy.
European Central Bank policymaker Yiannis Stournaras signaled that any persistent inflation overshoot would require a cautious shift toward tighter policy.
Market pricing currently suggests at least two further 25-basis-point interest rate moves before year-end, according to LSEG data.
While broader markets weakened, some stocks moved against the trend.
Kingfisher rose 2% after maintaining its full-year profit guidance, easing concerns about demand softness in the home improvement sector.
However, the overall tone remained risk-off as investors continued to weigh geopolitical escalation against macroeconomic uncertainty.
The latest pullback in European equities reflects a familiar pattern: markets oscillating between hopes of geopolitical de-escalation and fears of renewed conflict risk in the Middle East.
The key transmission channel remains energy. With Europe heavily dependent on imported oil and gas, any disruption involving Iran or the Strait of Hormuz immediately feeds into inflation expectations, bond yields, and corporate earnings outlooks.
At the same time, equity markets had recently been pricing in a relatively optimistic scenario in which diplomatic talks would gradually stabilize the region. That positioning left stocks vulnerable to abrupt reversals when military developments resurfaced.
Sectoral divergence also highlights how uneven the impact of geopolitical shocks can be. Energy-sensitive sectors such as airlines and autos are under pressure, while defensive or domestically oriented companies remain relatively insulated.
The broader question for markets is whether this marks a temporary setback in diplomatic momentum or a deeper breakdown in expectations for a negotiated settlement. If tensions persist, volatility in oil markets is likely to remain the dominant driver of global equity sentiment in the near term.
With information from Reuters.
WASHINGTON — The Congressional Black Caucus on Tuesday called on major corporations across the U.S., including those that previously expressed support for voting rights and racial justice, to oppose redistricting efforts by Republican-led states that seek to eliminate majority-Black U.S. House districts.
In a letter sent to more than 250 companies, members of the Black Caucus urge them to condemn the redistricting efforts, which the lawmakers describe as “coordinated efforts to silence Black voices at the ballot box.” Some of the companies had co-signed their own message to Congress five years ago urging lawmakers to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, a Democratic proposal to restore and update the Voting Rights Act.
That 2021 coalition, Business for Voting Rights, was backed by many of the country’s most valuable and influential companies, including Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, Salesforce, Target, PayPal, Intel and Starbucks.
Tuesday’s letter is the latest effort by the Congressional Black Caucus and its allies to gather support for preventing more Republican-led states from redrawing their legislative maps in ways that would dilute Black political representation. Several states have moved to eliminate congressional districts represented by Black Democratic lawmakers after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month that severely weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.
“Corporations that have profited from Black consumers, relied on Black workers, and amassed wealth in part from Black communities cannot look away while Black political power is dismantled in plain sight,” Rep. Yvette Clarke, chair of the Black Caucus, said in an interview.
Clarke described the letter as “putting corporate America on notice,” but she said the caucus was not seeking an adversarial relationship with corporations. Among those receiving Tuesday’s letter were companies based overseas that have a significant presence in the U.S.
The caucus last week called for Black athletes to boycott public universities in states that are gerrymandering their congressional maps to eliminate districts held by Black lawmakers. The 59-member Congressional Black Caucus consists entirely of Democrats, including more than a third from Southern states.
Some lawmakers have said mass protests and federal legislation might be necessary to undo the efforts underway in Republican-led states. Any new federal voting rights law would almost certainly require Democrats to secure majorities in both chambers of Congress and win the presidency.
It is unclear how companies will respond to the demands. The Associated Press was making efforts to contact them.
“Many companies that previously issued statements after the murder of George Floyd, pledged billions toward racial equity initiatives, and spoke forcefully in defense of democracy following January 6 now face a defining test of whether those commitments were rooted in principle or convenience,” the caucus’ letter states.
It also represents the latest instance of the caucus expressing frustrations with corporate America. A 2024 Black Caucus report noted that lawmakers were “troubled that some corporations that made pledges in 2020 have taken several steps in the opposite direction,” such as rolling back or failing to follow through on pledges to diversify their workforces.
“We understand who the occupant in the White House is and the reality of Republicans being in charge,” Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada said of the caucus’ message. “But what corporate America also understands is that there will be a shift at some point.”
The letter calls on companies to publicly condemn the redistricting plans, meet with Black Caucus members to discuss corporate America’s role in protecting voting rights and disclose their political donations to Republican politicians in states that are redistricting their congressional maps.
President Trump last year kicked off the unusual mid-decade round of congressional redistricting when he pushed Texas lawmakers to redraw their maps in a way that would add Republican seats. Democratic-led California responded, but it has been mostly Republican states redrawing their lines since as the party tries to maintain its majority in the U.S. House during this year’s midterm elections.
The effort was supercharged by the Supreme Court decision, which allowed even more Republican states to redraw congressional maps that previously had protected minority communities.
Horsford, who chaired the Black Caucus during President Biden’s Democratic administration, said the caucus is demanding that companies “stand on the side of democracy, fairness and equal representation.”
“This is about power, who holds it and what it’s used for,” he said. “And when you’re diluting Black economic and political power, we need to know where these companies stand in this moment, and what side of history they’re on.”
Brown writes for the Associated Press.
German Trade Minister Katherina Reiche is travelling to China from Tuesday to Friday as Berlin’s trade deficit with Beijing continues to deepen.
The trip comes two days after several of the EU’s largest economies – France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, as well as Lithuania – issued a non-paper urging the EU to crack down on Chinese overcapacity and unfair trade practices.
Berlin, however, did not endorse their call.
Germany remains the main chokepoint in the EU’s strategy towards China. While Euronews previously reported that the publication late last year of Germany’s trade deficit with Beijing marked a turning point for the EU executive, which is trying to sharpen its trade defence tools, Germany continues to favour cooperation with the Chinese.
In March, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for a trade agreement with Beijing. Brussels pushed back against the idea.
“There are a number of concerns and real challenges that the European Union has consistently expressed to China that we need to see them meaningfully address before we can even talk about any future agreements or anything like that,” the Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson, Olof Gill, said at the time.
Even with a record €87 billion trade deficit with China, Berlin hopes Beijing will keep its market open to German industry, despite the obstacles faced by EU businesses in China and the Asian giant’s strategy of reducing its dependence on foreign products.
The main objective of Reiche’s visit this week is to discuss potential economic cooperation. According to the German government, the strategy is to explore future opportunities for collaboration while maintaining dialogue with the Chinese leadership.
Despite a steadily growing trade deficit, China remained Germany’s most important trading partner in 2025. According to the Federal Statistical Office, bilateral trade volume reached €250 billion. Around 5,200 German companies operate in China, making the country one of the most important foreign markets for Germany’s automotive, mechanical engineering and electrical industries.
During the trip, Reiche is expected to hold political talks, attend a business forum and visit local companies. She will be accompanied by a business delegation representing around 40 companies. Discussions are also set to focus on the development of energy technologies.
“We hope the visit will help to transfer the insights gained on the ground into the political discussion in Berlin and to further develop bilateral exchange,” said Oliver Oehms, Executive Director of the German Chamber of Commerce in China.
In a survey published in May by the chamber, 51% of German companies operating in China supported policies favouring partnerships with Chinese companies, while 42% backed the “strategic” use of knowledge gained through such partnerships.
But these sectors are also increasingly under pressure, as Chinese competitors benefit from extensive state subsidies.
According to a report published in May by the EU think tank Centre for European Reform, the growing concentration of global car, machinery and chemicals production in China could weaken innovation in traditional manufacturing hubs and increase Beijing’s leverage over Berlin through the threat of supply disruptions, similar to its blockade of rare earth exports in 2025.
The report added that demand generated by Germany’s fiscal stimulus after easing its debt brake could end up boosting Chinese imports rather than supporting Berlin’s domestic industry.
German exports to China fell by 9.7% year-on-year, while imports of Chinese goods such as electronics, electric vehicles and components rose significantly by 8.8%.
“China has already eaten much of German industry’s lunch and is preparing to start on dinner,” the report said.
An infographic shows Hyundai Motor Group’s roadmap for deploying Atlas humanoid robots at manufacturing facilities, including plans to build annual production capacity of 30,000 units by 2028 and expand robot operations from parts sequencing to assembly work at its Georgia smart factory. Graphic by Asia Today and translated by UPI
May 25 (Asia Today) — Hyundai Motor Group is accelerating plans to mass-produce humanoid robot Atlas and deploy it at manufacturing sites, creating new software-defined factory and robotics parts organizations as it pushes to build AI-driven future factories.
Industry officials say the leading candidate for Atlas mass production is the company’s Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, or HMGMA, in the U.S. state of Georgia.
Analysts say Hyundai’s strategy goes beyond simply introducing robots into factories and instead aims to simultaneously establish AI-based manufacturing systems and a dedicated robotics supply chain.
According to industry sources Sunday, Hyundai Motor Group recently created a new “Software Defined Factory,” or SDF, division and appointed Alpesh Patel to lead the effort.
SDF refers to a next-generation manufacturing system in which AI integrates and controls factory-wide production, quality management and logistics through unified software systems.
The goal is not only factory automation but also real-time analysis of manufacturing data and optimization of quality control and logistics operations.
Patel, formerly with consulting firm McKinsey & Company, joined Hyundai Motor Group in 2023 and previously served as chief innovation officer at the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore, or HMGICS, where he led development of digital manufacturing systems.
Industry observers said Hyundai’s decision to move Patel into a broader group leadership role reflects plans to expand smart manufacturing systems validated in Singapore across global production sites.
Patel is also expected to oversee digital twin operations, production data management and AI-driven factory systems while coordinating future deployment of Atlas robots in manufacturing facilities.
Analysts say humanoid robots require integrated coordination among production equipment, logistics systems and worker movement within a unified software environment to function effectively in factories.
Hyundai Motor Group is also expanding its robotics supply chain infrastructure.
The company recently established a dedicated Robotics Parts Procurement Office and appointed So Hyun-sung to lead the division.
The office will oversee sourcing and cost competitiveness for core humanoid robot components such as actuators, robotic grippers and head modules as Boston Dynamics moves toward mass production.
Boston Dynamics reportedly requested that key Atlas components be mass-produced by Hyundai Mobis.
Hyundai Motor Group plans to build a mass-production system centered on Hyundai Mobis while linking it to global procurement networks to secure supply stability and pricing competitiveness.
Industry officials have also discussed the possibility of constructing a U.S.-based actuator production facility capable of producing about 350,000 units annually.
The company has additionally reorganized teams handling global trade risks amid rapidly changing international trade conditions.
Hyundai recently established a Global Trade Strategy Office under its Global Policy Office to oversee diplomacy, trade and tariff issues, appointing Jang Jae-ryang to lead the division.
Industry analysts said the move is intended to address growing risks involving global manufacturing and supply chains.
Georgia has emerged as the leading candidate for Atlas mass production over Massachusetts, where Boston Dynamics is headquartered, according to industry sources.
Officials reportedly concluded Georgia would allow newly produced robots to be immediately deployed and tested at HMGMA production facilities.
HMGMA already operates as a smart factory combining about 1,700 workers and more than 1,000 robots.
Industry officials said the facility offers advantages for repeated testing, machine learning and operational improvement of Atlas robots in real manufacturing environments.
The site is also viewed as strategically favorable for vertically integrating component procurement, robot production and deployment logistics.
Hyundai Motor Group plans to establish annual Atlas production capacity of 30,000 units by 2028 and gradually deploy more than 25,000 of those robots across Hyundai and Kia production facilities.
Initially, Atlas robots are expected to handle parts sequencing operations at the Georgia factory before expanding into assembly work.
Hyundai also plans to extend SDF technologies to facilities including its Pune plant in India and a dedicated electric vehicle factory in Ulsan, South Korea.
An industry official said Hyundai Motor Group is pursuing more than a traditional automated factory model.
“What Hyundai is building is a future manufacturing system combining AI and humanoid robots,” the official said. “The creation of SDF organizations, robotics supply chains and production hubs is essentially preparation for the era of mass-produced robots.”
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260526010007193
An
image made with a drone shows an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center in
Ashburn, Virginia, USA. Photo by JIM LO SCALZO / EPA
May 22 (Asia Today) — LS Electric Chairman Koo Ja-kyun called for stronger quality and delivery competitiveness as the South Korean company seeks to expand in the North American data center power infrastructure market.
Koo recently visited LS Electric’s Cheongju plant, a key production base for power equipment used in North American data centers, the company said Friday.
During the visit, Koo inspected switchgear production lines, the smart factory system and high-voltage circuit breaker lines.
“The U.S.-centered data center market does not allow even the slightest error in next-generation power grid fields such as direct current distribution,” Koo said. “Top-level high-end quality and flawless delivery capability are essential.”
He said the company should go beyond merely meeting customer standards.
“We must secure competitiveness strong enough to overwhelm global partners based on our smart manufacturing capabilities,” Koo said.
Industry officials say the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers has pushed the power infrastructure market into a “power supercycle,” driving demand for high-end power solutions such as high-voltage distribution equipment and circuit breakers.
Koo also called for early investment and technological innovation.
“The global power market is facing a major transition,” he said. “If we remain complacent, we will fall behind. Bold innovation that breaks through limits is necessary.”
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260522010006606
EXPLAINER
US and Iran continue mediated talks, exchanging draft proposals aimed at reaching a formal agreement.
Published On 22 May 202622 May 2026
Iran and the United States are continuing mediated talks aimed at ending the conflict, with Iranian media reporting that both sides are exchanging messages and draft proposals to establish a formal framework for an agreement.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Almigdad Alruhaid reported from Tehran that Pakistani officials were engaged in “intense mediation activity” between the two countries.
The diplomatic push comes as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were “some good signs” for a possible breakthrough. However, US President Donald Trump also warned Washington could take “very drastic” action if Iran refuses to give up its uranium stockpiles.
Here is what we know:
‘War crime’ on medical research centre: Iran has accused the US and Israel of committing a “war crime” by bombing the Pasteur Institute of Iran early in the war, after The Lancet journal warned that the attack severely damaged a key pillar of the country’s public health system.
US forces at ‘peak readiness’: CENTCOM said the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group remains at “peak readiness” in the Arabian Sea, sharing images of warplanes taking off as Washington maintains pressure on Iran amid ongoing mediation efforts.
Palestinian envoy condemns aid blockade: Palestine’s UN envoy Riyad Mansour said Israel is continuing to collectively punish more than two million Palestinians through its blockade on aid and ongoing attacks, warning the world must not become “accustomed to seeing Palestinians killed”.
The walkout, which was due to start on Thursday, has been suspended while union members vote on a tentative deal.
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The Rams will begin the season by traveling about 8,000 air miles to play against the San Francisco 49ers in Australia.
They aim to end the season playing in Super Bowl LXI on their home turf at SoFi Stadium.
The Sept. 10 opener — a Thursday night in the United States and the morning of Sept. 11 in Melbourne — is the first of 17 games on a schedule announced Thursday by the NFL.
With reigning NFL most valuable player Matthew Stafford and a roster fortified by the addition of All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, the Rams are regarded as a Super Bowl favorite. And their marquee status is reflected in a schedule that includes the maximum seven prime-time appearances, an increase of two over last season when the Rams finished 12-5 and advanced to the NFC championship game before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
Fans will have to wait nearly the entire season to see the Rams play the Seahawks. The first game between the NFC West rivals is Week 16 on Christmas night in Seattle. Two games later, on a date to be determined, they will play in the regular-season finale at SoFi Stadium.
In addition to the Friday night game against the Seahawks on Christmas, they play on “Sunday Night Football” against the Denver Broncos and “Monday Night Football” against the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills. The Rams play the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving eve — Wednesday night — and on “Thursday Night Football” against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Rams play six division games in the NFC West, which is matched this season with the NFC East and the AFC West. The Rams also have games against teams in the NFC North, NFC South and AFC East.
The Rams play a preseason road game against the Chiefs and will play at SoFi Stadium against the New Orleans Saints and the Chargers.
Here is a game-by-game look at the regular-season schedule (all times Pacific):
Sept. 10, SAN FRANCISCO at Melbourne Cricket Ground, 5:35 p.m. (Netflix): Coach Sean McVay starts the season by matching up against mentor Kyle Shanahan and former Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris in a huge NFC West game.
Sept. 21, NEW YORK GIANTS, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN): New coach John Harbaugh aims to build a winning culture in the tradition of the one he established in 18 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.
Sept. 27, at Denver, 5:20 p.m., (NBC): The Broncos aim to reach the Super Bowl that eluded them last season after Bo Nix’s injury. Bonus: There’s history between McVay and Sean Payton.
Oct. 4, at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. (Fox): The Rams opted to draft quarterback Ty Simpson — not former USC receiver Makai Lemon — with the 13th pick. Lemon was selected by the Eagles.
Oct. 12, BUFFALO, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN): The last time the Bills visited SoFi Stadium, the Rams won a 44-42 shootout. First-year coach Joe Brady will try to guide Josh Allen to his first Super Bowl appearance.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen signals against the Denver Broncos in an AFC divisional playoff game in January.
(Bart Young / Associated Press)
Oct. 18, ARIZONA, 1:05 p.m., (Fox): Former Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur parlayed his time with McVay into a head coach opportunity with the Cardinals. Now he has to face Matthew Stafford & Co.
Oct. 25, at Las Vegas, 1:25 p.m. (Fox): The Raiders drafted quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the top pick in the draft. Will he play against the Rams or sit behind Kirk Cousins?
Nov. 1, CHARGERS, 1:05 p.m. (Fox): Quarterback Justin Herbert is expected to benefit from the arrival of new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.
Nov. 8, at Washington, 10 a.m. (Fox): The Rams travel to play the Commanders for the first time since 2020. Quarterback Jayden Daniels looks to remain healthy and recapture rookie form.
Nov. 15, at Arizona, 1:05 p.m. (CBS): The Cardinals selected running back Jeremiyah Love with the fourth pick in the draft. Will it be Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew or rookie Carson Beck at quarterback?
Nov. 22, off week
Nov. 25, GREEN BAY, 5 p.m. (Netflix): Jordan Love leads the Packers offense, Micah Parson the defense. Coach Matt LaFleur is 5-0 against McVay, who hired LaFleur as offensive coordinator in 2017.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford passes during a playoff win over the Carolina Panthers in January.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Dec. 3, KANSAS CITY, 5:15 p.m. (Amazon Prime): Chiefs have not played the Rams in L.A. since 2018, when the Rams won, 54-51, at the Coliseum. Will Taylor Swift return to SoFi for the end of the Travis Kelce era?
Dec. 13, at San Francisco, 1:25 p.m. (Fox): Quarterback Brock Purdy and running back Christian McCaffrey are mainstays for a team that always challenges McVay.
Dec. 20, DALLAS, 1:25 p.m. (CBS): Dak Prescott comes to town with receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens presumably as top targets. The Cowboys gave up a league-worst 30.1 points per game last season.
Dec. 25, at Seattle, 5:15 p.m. (Fox): Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold elevated his performance for the Super Bowl champions in regular-season and playoff victories over the Rams last season.
Week 17, at Tampa Bay, TBD: Baker Mayfield reignited his career after a crash course in the Rams offense in 2022 under Zac Robinson. Now Robinson is the Buccaneers offensive coordinator.
Week 18: SEATTLE, TBD: Last season, the Rams donned their Midnight Mode alternate uniforms against the Seahawks and escaped with a narrow victory. Will this game decide the NFC West?
ATLANTA — Same fight. New generation.
That’s the mantra of a multiracial group of civil rights leaders and activists organizing opposition to a mostly white conservative alliance dismantling the Voting Rights Act and political districts that allowed Black and other nonwhite voters to choose more of their elected leaders for the last half-century.
“We have to respond as quickly as possible,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in an interview. “The real question,” Johnson told the Associated Press, “is how do we as a country really address the effort to shrink us backwards into a 1950s reality?”
Johnson’s 117-year-old association, which was at the forefront of legal and legislative fights for Black political rights in the 20th century, is among scores of groups coming together Saturday in Alabama for a rally and tribute to the Civil Rights Movement that helped bring about the 1965 Voting Rights Act. They plan events in Selma, where voting rights advocates were attacked by white law enforcement officers on Bloody Sunday, and Montgomery, where a rescheduled march concluded two weeks later.
Unlike 61 years ago, the Alabama events are not the pinnacle of a protracted movement. Instead, civil rights activists hope they serve as a catalyst for a renewed crusade after the U.S. Supreme Court, two weeks ago, further weakened the VRA by no longer allowing race to be considered in how congressional and other districts are drawn.
They acknowledge difficulty in countering a white-dominated conservative network entrenched in the White House, Capitol Hill, federal courts and many state legislatures of the Old Confederacy, where a majority of Black Americans still live.
The VRA “was the foundational nucleus of the Civil Rights Movement,” said Jared Evans of the Louisiana-based Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. “They’ve taken that from us,” he said, with the recent Louisiana v. Callais decision on congressional districts and the earlier Shelby v. Holder decision in 2013 that rolled back federal oversight of election procedures in states and localities with a history of discrimination.
Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, said from his pulpit that the result is “Jim Crow in new clothes.”
Warnock pointed to King and the last voting rights movement. “We need political power. We need economic power. We need personal power,” he said, assuring parishioners that “your adversaries know that your voice matters” because they’re “bending over backwards” to diminish it.
Evans reached further back into history to say what must happen next.
“Our response must be and will be a second Reconstruction period,” Evans said.
The ultimate goal, organizers said, is to win more elections, sway policy fights and protect diverse political representation at all levels.
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, a Black lawmaker who represents Selma, Alabama, said an immediate priority is to “reform and reintroduce” Democrats’ flagship voting bill, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act.
Sewell, whose seat ultimately could be threatened under redistricting, said Democrats want to “completely” eliminate partisan gerrymandering.
She also said the legislation would “bring back pre-clearance,” the requirement for certain federal approvals that the court struck down in Shelby.
“We need to come up with a modern-day formula for showing just how egregious the behavior of these state actors is,” Sewell said.
The Supreme Court ruled in Callais that states do not have to draw majority nonwhite districts under the Voting Rights Act and, in fact, should not consider race at all when drawing boundaries. By arguing that the law’s remedies to combat discrimination had themselves become racist, the decision allows states to redraw heavily Black districts that have historically elected Democrats while arguing that the designs are based on party interests, not race.
President Trump praised the decision as “a BIG WIN for Equal Protection under the Law, as it returns the Voting Rights Act to its Original Intent, which was to protect against intentional Racial Discrimination.”
Many of the same groups who’ll be in Alabama on Saturday have already gone to Southern statehouses, where white Republican lawmakers moved swiftly to redraw congressional districts after Callais.
Alabama and Louisiana lawmakers reverted to a single majority-Black district, each scrapping a second district that had been ordered by lower federal courts under now-reversed VRA interpretations. Tennessee lawmakers gutted a majority Black district by splitting greater Memphis into three different sprawling districts — itself an obvious racial gerrymander the court had previously forbidden, Evans said.
Anticipating the Callais outcome, Florida and Texas proceeded with redistricting before it came down. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a term-limited Republican, has called a June session to redraw congressional lines for the 2028 cycle. Mississippi and South Carolina have delayed the matter for now.
South Carolina state Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey was among the few white Republicans who pushed back against GOP redistricting plans. He said that not even pressure from Trump could sell him on disenfranchising Black South Carolinians instead of doing what’s best for his state.
Other white conservatives are still talking openly about ousting Reps. Jim Clyburn and Bennie Thompson, the only Black U.S. House members from South Carolina and Mississippi, respectively.
Evans, the Louisiana activist, predicted the fight ahead won’t just be about congressional representation.
“Look for them to go after state house and state senate seats — and then it will be the local level,” he said, adding that “it’s going to be an entire erasure of Black representation.”
Heavily minority districts drawn under the VRA before Callais nearly always elect Democrats. Black Americans have overwhelmingly aligned with the party since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, sparking a decades-long migration of most white Southern politicians to the Republicans. Latino and Hispanic voters still lean Democratic in most places as well.
The immediate fight shapes the midterm campaign scramble for control of the U.S. House during the final years of Trump’s presidency. Trump initially pushed Republican-run states to redistrict to protect the party’s fragile House majority.
But Johnson, the NAACP leader, said all voters should see more than partisan warfare or a regional battle over race.
Beyond party allegiance, Johnson argued, white conservatives want to curtail a range of rights “depending on how you pray, depending on who you love,” while also pushing economic policies that punish workers across racial and ethnic lines. From legislation to the confirmation of federal judges who decide constitutional questions, those policy outcomes start with election results.
“It’s not a Black problem,” Johnson said. “That’s an American problem.”
Evans, Johnson and others acknowledged the complexity in harnessing disparate organizations and galvanizing voters on issues like redistricting and gerrymandering. But they insist the brazen nature of Republicans’ course has spurred engagement.
Johnson said he was on an organizing call in Mississippi this week that had 8,000 participants. Evans pointed to packed hallways in the state Capitols in Baton Rouge and Nashville, respectively.
The NAACP and allies have challenged new maps in multiple states, despite Callais. Many groups want to spur midterm turnout among Black voters, and others are disenchanted with white conservatives’ maneuvers in racially diverse places.
Johnson stressed the need for perseverance.
The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision was seismic, with a unanimous court declaring segregated public schools unconstitutional and reversing 19th-century precedents denying Black Americans’ fundamental rights.
But it took 17 years — and many more court battles — for it to be implemented in most Southern school districts. Fights over mandated student busing continued beyond the South. It was a decade after Brown before Congress and Johnson enacted the movement’s seminal laws.
There’s no clear leader of a modern movement.
Johnson said it’s worth remembering that even with King at the helm before his assassination, “there was tension around strategy” in the 1950s and 1960s.
But even “through that tension, through many episodes, we were able to get directly in the right place.”
Barrow and Brown write for the Associated Press.
The US state of Louisiana will hold several primary elections on Thursday, including for the United States Senate, the state’s Supreme Court, and a slate of local offices.
Notably absent will be the primary, in which members of the Democratic and Republican parties will select their candidates for the state’s six US House districts ahead of the general elections in November.
list of 3 itemsend of list
The primary vote has been paused by the state’s governor following a major Supreme Court ruling that opens the door to redrawing the state’s congressional district map, eliminating one of two majority-Black districts.
Rights groups have challenged the pause, saying it violates both the US and the state’s constitutions.
The situation comes amid a wider national redistricting battle, which has been shifting both parties’ electoral calculus ahead of consequential midterms that will determine control of the US House and Senate and, in turn, set the tone for the final two years of US President Donald Trump’s second term.
Here’s what to know.
The 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in late April undid a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 meant to protect Black voting power from being diluted.
That can be achieved by effectively carving up areas with large Black populations to diminish their electoral influence. Black voters in the US have historically heavily skewed Democratic.
The ruling said that congressional districts could only be challenged if there was evidence of racist motivation behind how they were drawn. Dissenting liberal justices and critics have said such motivations would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to prove.
Specifically related to Louisiana, the court ruled that a congressional map drawn in January of 2024, which created a second Black-majority district in the state, was unconstitutional.
That map was created following a legal challenge claiming that Louisiana was in violation of the Voting Rights Act because it had only one Black majority district out of six, despite Black residents making up one-third of the state’s voters.
The Supreme Court ruling on April 29 came about two weeks before Louisiana’s US House primary elections were scheduled.
That left Republicans in the state scrambling to draw new maps ahead of the vote.
“Allowing elections to proceed under an unconstitutional map would undermine the integrity of our system and violate the rights of our voters,” the state’s Governor Jeff Landry said in a statement on April 30.
He said his order suspending the vote “ensures we uphold the rule of law while giving the [state] legislature the time it needs to pass a fair and lawful congressional map”.
On Wednesday, Republicans in the Louisiana State Senate advanced an initial redrawn map.
A coalition of voting and civil rights groups has challenged the suspension of the election, charging that some segments of voters, including those in the military or casting “absentee” ballots, may have already voted.
They further said the abrupt change in date would confuse and subsequently disenfranchise voters while undermining voter education groups already distributing information about the election.
“This illegal executive order threatens the integrity of our democratic system and disregards the voices of voters who have already participated in the May primary election in good faith,” the groups, which included the Legal Defense Fund, the League of Women Voters of Louisiana, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Harvard Law School Race and Law Clinic, said in a joint statement in early May.
“By attempting to suspend an ongoing election, state officials are creating confusion, undermining public trust, and placing partisan interests above the constitutional rights of Louisiana voters,” the statement said.
The standoff in the southern state comes amid a wider, and unorthodox, flurry of congressional redistricting in the US.
While redistricting has historically taken place every decade following the US census population count, President Trump called on Republicans in Texas last year to redraw their maps to create more Republican-leaning districts.
That kicked off a flurry of tit-for-tat redistricting efforts by Democratic- and Republican-controlled state legislatures alike. To date, the US states of California, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, Utah, Tennessee and Florida have redrawn their maps ahead of the midterms.
Republicans are expected to net more seats than Democrats in the push. While that is expected to cut into the margin, Democrats are still tentatively favoured to retake the US House in November.
BATON ROUGE, La. — Thousands of Louisiana voters have already cast early ballots for congressional candidates in what soon could be the wrong districts. Alabama’s primaries are a week away, but the state could force a do-over for voting on U.S. House races. A new congressional map in Tennessee upended races that had been underway for months.
Republicans’ rush to gerrymander congressional districts across several Southern states after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling hollowed out the Voting Rights Act is confusing voters and creating logistical headaches for local election officials. The changes are hitting while primary season is in progress.
The chaotic upheaval to an election season that could determine which party controls the U.S. House is the latest fallout from an intensely partisan gerrymandering battle initiated by President Trump last year to protect Republicans’ slim majority.
The Supreme Court’s decision last month severely weakening the Voting Rights Act required Louisiana to reconsider a map drawn in 2024 with two majority minority congressional districts that elected Black representatives. The GOP-controlled Legislature could eliminate one or both in a state where roughly 30% of the population is Black.
The ruling also encouraged Republicans in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee to consider eliminating four Democratic districts among them, three represented by Black lawmakers. Florida has a new map meant to cost Democrats four of their eight seats, out of 28.
In Louisiana, 66-year-old New Orleans resident Sallie Davis voted early last week. Her ballot allowed her to vote for Democratic U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, but a sign at her polling booth showed his race crossed off with a ballpoint pen. She was confused and frustrated — especially when a poll worker told her to go with what the sign seemed to convey. She’s now worried that her entire ballot will not be counted.
“I was supposed to believe a piece of paper with an X on it marking out the person I wanted to vote for,” she said, her voice breaking as she recounted her experience later. “I think I have been disenfranchised. I think my vote, that I just voted on, it’s not going to count or something. I think it’s illegal.”
Louisiana’s primary is on Saturday, and a week of early voting there began May 2, two days after the Republican governor declared an emergency and suspended congressional primaries to give lawmakers a chance to draw a new map.
Republican Secretary of State Nancy Landry’s office said nearly 179,000 primary ballots had been cast as of Friday, including about 53,000 absentee ballots returned by mail. She said the ballots included U.S. House races, but votes in those contests won’t be counted.
In Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee, Republicans justified pursuing new maps by saying that electing more Republicans would better reflect their states’ conservative values. Alabama lawmakers passed legislation Friday allowing a do-over of congressional primaries.
Alabama’s primary is May 19, and voting in congressional races will occur then as planned, but with the old districts. Those votes would end up not counting if a court allows the switch to different districts.
Mississippi held its primaries in March, but a federal court has ordered it to redraw its state Supreme Court districts, and Trump is pushing Republicans to redraw the state’s four congressional districts.
A special session of its Legislature is set for May 20. Renovations of the House chamber will force members to meet at the Old State Capitol, where, decades ago, Mississippi lawmakers passed Jim Crow laws suppressing Black voting.
“Modern-day voter suppression relies on election administration errors and chaos, and that’s what we’re going to see play out in all of these states,” said Amir Badat, a Jackson, Mississippi, voting rights attorney and activist.
Tennessee was the first state to enact a new map since the U.S. Supreme Court decision, but Trump’s push for redistricting started in Texas last year. Democrats countered in California and tried but ran afoul of the courts in Virginia.
Before Tennessee’s GOP-controlled Legislature passed a new map last week, the state’s elections coordinator told county officials in a memo what that would mean: reprogramming election systems, retraining poll workers and possibly adjusting precinct boundaries, meaning some voters’ polling places could change.
Tennessee’s congressional primaries still will be held Aug. 6 as planned, and candidates have until Friday to qualify for the ballot. Those who qualified previously will get a pass if they can run in a new district with the same number.
In South Carolina, lawmakers could move all the state’s June 9 primaries to August, or just the congressional races. While mail balloting is limited because the state requires an excuse to do it, more than 6,800 mail ballots already had been sent to voters — with 260 returned — as of Friday, according to the state Elections Commission.
Holding a separate election for congressional primaries would cost $3 million and the time for preparations would be compressed, Conway Belangia, the commission’s executive director, told lawmakers Friday.
“It will be difficult, but it will be possible,” he said.
Michael McClanahan, president of the NAACP’s Louisiana State Conference, is hearing “total confusion” as voters call him and ask, “Is there an election?”
“People say, ’I ain’t going to vote because the governor’s suspended the election,’” he said. “But he didn’t, he only suspended one aspect of it.”
In Alabama, Senate Democratic leader Bobby Singleton said he has been fielding calls from public officials who also are confused.
“These are the people who are the head of elections,” he said. “They don’t know what to do.“
Voting rights activists see problems that arose in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2022, when Republican legislators divided the state’s capital city into three congressional districts to take a seat from Democrats, as a harbinger of what Memphis voters could face this year. A state report said more than 3,000 Nashville-area voters were assigned to incorrect districts and more than 430 cast ballots in the wrong races in the November 2022 election.
“It’s going to be really hard for the election commissions to be able to keep up with this short timeline,” Matia Powell, executive director of the voting rights nonprofit Civic TN, said during a conference call Friday with other voting rights activists in the South.
Anneshia Hardy, executive director of Alabama Values, which provides support to voting and civil rights groups, said people will lose trust in elections if they believe the rules can change every two years.
“Once people stop believing that the process is stable and fair, disengagement is going to increase, and that’s one of the biggest dangers here,” she said. “Democracy doesn’t just depend on voting systems existing but really on people believing that their participation matters.”
At least a few Democratic voters who went to the Louisiana Capitol on Friday to protest the gerrymandering expressed doubt about whether they still have a political voice.
Davis came to the State Capitol in Baton Rouge and had a bullhorn with her for a protest in which she yelled, “Whose vote? Our vote!”
David Victorian, a 79-year-old Vietnam veteran from Baton Rouge, said: “I’m concerned for the survival of the democracy that we’re supposed to be living in.”
Hanna and Brook write for the Associated Press. Hanna reported from Topeka, Kan. AP writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, S.C., and Kim Chandler, in Montgomery, Ala., contributed to this report.
Voters in California may get a chance to remake the state’s open primary system in two years.
Political consultant Steve Maviglio filed an application Friday with state officials that seeks to alter California’s voting system by reverting to a traditional primary. Under the proposal, the top candidates from each party would advance to the general election in November.
The current system allows the top two candidates, regardless of party, to move on to the runoff. That has led to instances in which two Democrats or two Republicans have faced off in the general election.
The state’s gubernatorial election, for example, has prompted concern that two Republicans could shut out the Democratic candidates. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton have polled high in various surveys and are facing a large field of Democrats.
Democratic voters vastly outnumber Republicans in California, yet some political consultants said they feared there were so many Democrats running that voters wouldn’t coalesce around one candidate and the field would be split. Those fears have eased somewhat in recent months as some Democratic candidates advance from the pack.
The state’s top-two primary system has been in place since California voters passed Proposition 14 in 2010. The goal was to help end partisan gridlock in Sacramento and force candidates in primaries to appeal to a wider range of voters, rather than just those in their own party.
Proposition 14, as well as the state’s once-a-decade redistricting process, has led to some dramatic races, including the 2012 face-off between Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman and Howard Berman for a congressional seat in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. Amid aspersions and attack ads, the pair nearly came to blows at a community debate.
Maviglio described the ballot measure as a simple repeal of Proposition 14, and said he was inspired by the governor’s race.
“It was extremely scary to envision the November ballot for governor with Republicans on it,” Maviglio said.
The New York Times first reported on the ballot measure proposal.
A news release from Maviglio states that the proposed repeal of Prop. 14 “is fueled by concerns that California’s primaries are disenfranchising a majority of California voters by limiting choice to candidates from one party.”
A website for the effort includes criticisms of the current primary system by Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks and Ron Nehring, former chairman of the California Republican Party.
Maviglio’s ballot initiative proposes to appear on the 2028 ballot and take effect in 2030.
Talk of changing Proposition 14 has been swirling in Sacramento for months.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber told reporters at an unrelated news conference last week that she had voted years ago against Proposition 14. She questioned whether it had actually succeeded in creating more diversity.
“I did not like the open primary,” Weber said. “I didn’t think it would solve any problems. They had a list of problems it would solve, and none of those have been solved.”