region

WASHINGTON — President Trump will host leaders of five Central Asian countries at the White House on Thursday as he intensifies his hunt for rare earth metals needed for high-tech devices, including smartphones, electric vehicles and fighter jets.

Trump and the officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are holding an evening summit and dinner on the heels of Trump managing at least a temporary thaw with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on differences between the United States and China over the export of rare earth elements, a key point of friction in their trade negotiations.

Early last month, Beijing expanded export restrictions over vital rare earth elements and magnets before announcing, after Trump-Xi talks in South Korea last week, that China would delay its new restrictions by one year.

Washington is now looking for new ways to circumvent China on critical minerals. China accounts for nearly 70% of the world’s rare earth mining and controls roughly 90% of global rare earths processing.

Central Asia holds deep reserves of rare earth minerals and produces roughly half the world’s uranium, which is critical to nuclear power production. But the region badly needs investment to further develop the resources.

Central Asia’s critical mineral exports have long tilted toward China and Russia. Kazakhstan, for example, in 2023 sent $3.07 billion in critical minerals to China and $1.8 billion to Russia compared with $544 million to the U.S., according to country-level trade data compiled by the Observatory of Economic Complexity, an online data platform.

A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Wednesday to repeal Soviet-era trade restrictions that some lawmakers say are holding back American investment in the Central Asian nations, which became independent with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

“Today, it’s not too late to deepen our cooperation and ensure that these countries can decide their own destinies, as a volatile Russia and an increasingly aggressive China pursue their own national interests around the globe at the cost to their neighbors,” said Republican Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a sponsor of the legislation. “The United States offers Central Asian nations the real opportunity to work with a willing partner, while lifting up each others’ economies.”

The grouping of countries, referred to as the “C5+1,” has largely focused on regional security, particularly in light of the two-decade U.S. military presence and then withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan, China’s treatment of ethnic Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and attempts by Russia to reassert power in the region.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the Central Asian leaders at the State Department on Wednesday to mark the 10-year anniversary of the C5+1 and to plug the potential for expanding the countries economic ties to the U.S.

“We oftentimes spend so much time focused on crisis and problems – and they deserve attention – that sometimes we don’t spend enough time focused on exciting new opportunities,” Rubio said. “And that’s what exists here now: an exciting new opportunity in which the national interests of our respective countries are aligned.”

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and the U.S. ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, who also serves as President Donald Trump’s special envoy to South and Central Asia, recently visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to prepare for the summit.

Administration officials say deepening the U.S. relationship with the countries is a priority, a point they have made clear to the Central Asian officials.

The president’s “commitment to this region is that you have a direct line to the White House, and that you will get the attention that this area very much deserves,” Gor told the Central Asian officials Wednesday.

In 2023, Democratic President Joe Biden met with the five leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. That was the only other time that a sitting president has taken part in a C5+1 summit.

Madhani writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

Tigray was the centre of a devastating two-year war that pitted the TPLF against Ethiopia’s federal army.

Ethiopia’s Afar region has accused forces from neighbouring Tigray of crossing into its territory, seizing several villages and attacking civilians, in what it called a breach of the 2022 peace deal that ended the war in northern Ethiopia.

Between 2020 and 2022, Tigray was the centre of a devastating two-year war that pitted the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) against Ethiopia’s federal army and left at least 600,000 people dead, according to the African Union.

In a statement released late on Wednesday, Afar authorities said TPLF fighters “entered Afar territory by force today”.

The group, which governs the Tigray region, was accused of “controlling six villages and bombing civilians with mortars”. Officials did not provide details on casualties.

“The TPLF learns nothing from its mistakes,” the Afar administration said, condemning what it described as “acts of terror”.

The conflict earlier this decade also spread into neighbouring Ethiopian regions, including Afar, whose forces fought alongside federal troops.

According to Afar’s latest statement, Tigrayan forces attacked the Megale district in the northwest of the region “with heavy weapons fire on civilian herders”.

The authorities warned that if the TPLF “does not immediately cease its actions, the Afar Regional Administration will assume its defensive duty to protect itself against any external attack”.

The renewed fighting, they said, “openly destroys the Pretoria peace agreement”, referring to the deal signed in November 2022 between Ethiopia’s federal government and Tigrayan leaders, which ended two years of bloodshed.

While the fragile peace had largely held, tensions between Addis Ababa and the TPLF have deepened in recent months. The party, which dominated Ethiopian politics from 1991 to 2018, was officially removed from the country’s list of political parties in May amid internal divisions and growing mistrust from the federal government.

Federal officials have also accused the TPLF of re-establishing ties with neighbouring Eritrea, a country with a long and uneasy history with Ethiopia. Eritrea, once an Italian colony and later an Ethiopian province, fought a bloody independence war before gaining statehood in 1993.

A subsequent border war between the two nations from 1998 to 2000 killed tens of thousands. When Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018, he signed a landmark peace deal with Eritrea, but relations have soured again since the end of the Tigray conflict.

The earthquake comes two months after the deadliest quake in recent Afghan history, which killed thousands of people.

A powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake has struck northern Afghanistan, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), two months after a quake killed thousands of people in the impoverished nation’s east.

The USGS said overnight Sunday into Monday that the quake hit at a revised depth of 28km (17 miles) in Kholm, near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in the Hindu Kush region, at 12:59 am local time (20:29 GMT). It was felt by correspondents with the AFP news agency based in the capital Kabul.

The agency had initially given the depth as 10km (6 miles).

Local authorities broadcast emergency telephone numbers for people to call, but did not immediately report any deaths or injuries.

In Mazar-i-Sharif, many people ran into the street in the middle of the night, fearing their homes might collapse, an AFP correspondent observed.

The Taliban authorities have had to deal with several major quakes since returning to power in 2021, including one in 2023 in the western Herat region on the border with Iran that killed more than 1,500 people and destroyed more than 63,000 homes.

A shallow 6.0-magnitude quake struck this year on August 31 in the country’s east, killing more than 2,200 people – the deadliest tremor in recent Afghan history.

Earthquakes are common in the country, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range, near where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet.

Afghanistan is contending with multiple crises after decades of war: endemic poverty, severe drought and the influx of millions of Afghans forced back home by neighbouring Pakistan and Iran.

Many modest Afghan homes are shoddily built and poor infrastructure hampers rescue efforts after natural disasters like quakes.

Since 1900, northeastern Afghanistan has been hit by 12 earthquakes with a magnitude above 7.0, according to Brian Baptie, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Noah Goldberg, with an assist from Libor Jany, giving you the latest on city and county government.

How do you spot a journalist?

The question lies at the center of a legal battle between Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto and the Los Angeles Press Club, as well as a political battle between Feldstein Soto and the City Council.

Two weeks ago council members called on her to give up her opposition to a federal judge’s order prohibiting LAPD officers from targeting journalists with crowd control weapons. According to the press club, dozens of journalists were excluded from public areas or attacked by police during chaotic summer protests against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Despite the slap down by the council, Feldstein Soto hopes to press forward. This week, in a confidential attorney-client memo shared with The Times by a source, she stressed to the council why she still wants to appeal the judge’s preliminary injunction, which she says makes virtually anyone a journalist.

In the injunction, U.S. District Judge Hernán Vera proposes “indicia” for LAPD officers to identify journalists, which include wearing distinctive clothing or carrying professional photographic equipment.

But the City Attorney’s Office, which is representing the city in the case, sees future issues.

“The problem with this vague definition is that anyone can claim they are a Journalist under the court’s definition,” Supervising Assistant City Atty. Shaun Dabby Jacobs wrote in the memo. “All a person needs to do is print out a badge that says ‘Press,’ or carry a camera … and they can go behind police line or into other restricted areas.”

The memo asks what clothing might identify a person as a journalist. “Is it simply that the person is wearing a suit or professional work dress? … It would be very easy for someone who is not a member of the media and is intent on causing trouble or harm to other peaceful protesters or to the LAPD, to pose as a journalist since they have some of these ‘indicia of being a Journalist.’”

Vera’s injunction imposes more onerous conditions on when police can use “less lethal” weapons than state law does, the memo also argued, allowing the “less lethal” force only when “danger has reached the point where deadly force is justified.”

The injunction also creates issues if the LAPD calls on mutual aid organizations, like the sheriff’s department or federal partners, since it applies only to the city’s police, the memo said. “The city could potentially be liable for our law enforcement partners’ actions if they act in a manner inconsistent with the terms of the injunction.”

All in all, the memo said, the judge’s injunction amounts to a “consent decree.”

With the nine-page memo in hand, Feldstein Soto headed to a closed session with the council Tuesday. Tempers flared when she and Chief Deputy City Atty. Denise Mills suggested that the press club’s lawyer, Carol Sobel, took on the case only to make money, according to two City Hall sources. (Feldstein Soto’s spokesperson, Karen Richardson, said the city attorney does not comment on closed session conversations but added that Feldstein Soto “absolutely did not say that.”)

Many council members, including Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, came to Sobel’s defense, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting.

“I’m trying to restrain myself right now,” Sobel said when she heard about the claim from Mills and the city attorney. “I’m really outraged. It is a baseless suggestion, and it doesn’t alter the fact that they’re shooting people in the head. Whether I get paid or not, they’re shooting people in the head.”

Sobel said she has taken on pro bono work frequently over her 40-year career and that when she is paid, it is partially to help fund future pro bono work.

Susan Seager, who also represents the press club in the case, took issue with Feldstein Soto’s continued pursuit of an appeal.

“She’s a cop wannabe,” Seager said. “She’s just a fake Democrat doing what [LAPD] Chief Jim McDonnell wants her to do.”

Richardson said Feldstein Soto has been a Democrat since 1976 and never worked with the police before she became the city attorney.

State of play

— FIRE BOMBSHELL: Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters told a battalion chief that parts of a New Year’s Day fire in Pacific Palisades still were smoldering the next day, according to text messages. Firefighters were told to leave anyway, and the blaze reignited on Jan. 7, killing 12 and burning thousands of homes. Interim LAFD Chief Ronnie Villanueva said the Palisades fire was not caused by “failed suppression” of the New Year’s blaze.

The story in The Times led to a tweet from sports critic Bill Simmons (bet you didn’t expect to see his name in bold in this newsletter!) blasting the city’s “indefensibly bad leadership,” which predictably led to a quote tweet from none other than Rick Caruso, who called Simmons’ tweet “spot on.” “The buck stops with Mayor Bass,” he added.

— TRASH ATTACK: Mayoral candidate Austin Beutner attacked Mayor Karen Bass over the rising cost of city services for Angelenos, calling out the City Council’s vote to increase trash collection fees. The mayor’s campaign responded that the hike was long overdue. “Nobody was willing to face the music and request the rate hikes,” said Doug Herman, spokesperson for Bass’ campaign.

— SAYONARA, SANITATION: The city’s top Bureau of Sanitation executive, Barbara Romero, stepped down this week. Romero, who was appointed by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2021, touted the agency’s accomplishments, including increasing sewer fees and championing the construction of a water purification facility expected to recharge the San Fernando Valley groundwater aquifer.

— FREE(WAY) AT LAST: A judge agreed to place 29 protesters who shut down the southbound 110 Freeway in 2023 into a 12-month diversion program, which would require 20 hours of community service each. If the protesters, who were demonstrating against Israel’s war in Gaza, comply and don’t break other laws, they will have their criminal charges dropped.

— PHOTO BLOCK: L.A. County is trying to block a journalist from obtaining photographs of about 8,500 sheriff’s deputies and other sworn personnel in the department. The dispute centers on a public records request filed by journalist Cerise Castle in 2023 asking for the names and official headshots of all deputies not working undercover. An L.A. Superior Court judge ordered the release of the photos, but the county is appealing.

— A DOZEN BUSTED: Federal prosecutors announced charges against 12 people who allegedly assaulted law enforcement officers during the chaotic protests this summer against the Trump administration’s immigration raids. Many of the charges stem from demonstrators throwing items at police from a freeway overpass on June 8.

— CANDIDATE ALERT: A new candidate has thrown his hat in the ring to be the city’s next controller. Zach Sokoloff works for Hackman Capital Partners, serving as “Asset Manager of the firm’s Television City Studios and Radford Studio Center.” Sokoloff is running against incumbent Kenneth Mejia as well as veteran politician Isadore Hall.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? There were no Inside Safe operations this week. The mayor’s team held a virtual town hall with Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky to engage with residents near nine operations in the West L.A. area, according to the mayor’s office.
• On the docket next week: Councilmember Curren Price will be in Los Angeles Superior Court for the preliminary hearing in his criminal case. The hearing is expected to last about five days.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

The strange political bedfellows created by efforts to save spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest just got even stranger.

Already Republican members of Congress were allied with animal rights activists.
They don’t want trained shooters to kill up to 450,000 barred owls, which are outcompeting northern spotted owls, under a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan approved last year that would unfold over three decades.

Now, timber interests are aligning with environmentalists in favor of culling the owls.

Some logging advocates are afraid nixing the plan will slow down timber harvesting. Roughly 2.6 million acres of timberlands in western Oregon managed by the Bureau of Land Management are governed by resource management plans contingent on the barred owl cull going forward, according to Travis Joseph, president and chief executive of the American Forest Resource Council, a trade association representing mills, loggers, lumber buyers and other stakeholders in the region.

The area can produce at least 278 million board feet per year under current plans, “with the potential for significantly more,” Joseph said in a mid-October letter to Congress.

If the cull is scrapped, he said, the federal agency likely will need to restart Endangered Species Act consultation for the northern spotted owl, which is listed as threatened. It’s a process that could take years. According to the letter, it would create “unacceptable risks and delays to current and future timber sales.”

Timber production goals laid out by the Trump administration also could be jeopardized.

Momentum to stop the cull gained ground this summer when Sen. John Kennedy, a conservative from Louisiana, introduced a resolution to reverse the Biden-era plan.
That move reflected an unlikely alliance between some right-wing politicians and animal rights advocates who say it’s too expensive and inhumane. Some Democrats have also opposed the cull, and companion legislation in the House has bipartisan backers.

The stakes are high. Many environmentalists and scientists maintain that northern spotted owls will go extinct if their competitors aren’t kept in check. Barred owls — which originally hail from eastern North America — are larger, more aggressive and less picky when it comes to habitat and food, giving them an edge when vying for resources.

Last week, Politico’s E&E News reported that Kennedy said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum asked him to stand down from his effort to stop the owl-killing plan. The legislator told the outlet he would charge ahead anyway.

“I don’t think the federal government ought to be telling God, nature — whatever you believe in — this one can exist, this one can’t,” Kennedy told E&E. “The barred owl is not the first species that has ever moved its territory and it won’t be the last.”

Kennedy did not respond to The Times’ request for comment. A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said they could not respond to the inquiry because of the government shutdown.

“It’s strange that a Republican in the south is taking on the owl issue, specifically, when its consequences will impact western Oregon BLM timber sales,” Joseph said in an interview. “It will lead to lower revenues for counties, it will impact jobs and it will put the spotted owl on a trajectory towards extinction.”

The stance aligns in part with that of environmental groups like the Environmental Protection Information Center and Center for Biological Diversity, which have supported culling barred owls to help the beleaguered spotted owls in their native territory. It’s an unexpected overlap, given environmentalists’ long history of fighting to protect old-growth forests in the region the owls call home.

Tom Wheeler, chief executive of EPIC, said it’s possible that culling barred owls could lead to a bump in timber harvest on the BLM land in western Oregon but overall it would lead to more habitat being protected throughout the spotted owls’ expansive range. The presence of spotted owls triggers protections under the Endangered Species Act. If the cull boosts the spotted owl population as intended, it means more guardrails.

“It puts us in admittedly an awkward place,” Wheeler said. “But our advocacy for barred owl removal is predicated not on treating the northern spotted owl as a tool against the timber industry and against timber harvest. What we’re trying to do is provide for the continued existence of the species.”

Many Native American tribes support controlling barred owls in the region. In a letter to Congress last week, the nonprofit Intertribal Timber Council said barred owls threaten more than the spotted owl.

“As a generalist predator, it poses risks to a wide range of forest and aquatic species that hold varying degrees of social and ecological importance to tribes, including species integral to traditional food systems and watershed health,” wrote the council, which aims to improve the management of natural resources important to Native American communities.

Since 2013, the Hoopa Valley tribe in Northern California has been involved with sanctioned hunting of the owls and has observed the spotted owl population stabilizing over time, according to the letter.

However, groups like Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Human Economy argue that the plan to take out so many barred owls over a vast landscape won’t work, aside from the high owl death toll. More barred owls simply will fly into where others were removed, said Wayne Pacelle, president of both groups.

That makes habitat key — and the prospect of losing more to logging in western Oregon devastating, according to Pacelle.

To stop the owl-culling plan, both chambers of Congress would need to pass a joint resolution and President Trump would need to sign it. If successful, the resolution would preclude the agency from pursuing a similar rule, unless explicitly authorized by Congress.

The plan already faced setbacks. In May, federal officials canceled three related grants totaling more than $1.1 million, including one study that would have removed barred owls from over 192,000 acres in Mendocino and Sonoma counties

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Rebecca Ellis, with an assist from David Zahniser, Noah Goldberg and Matt Hamilton, giving you the latest on city and county government.

There is no shortage of budget-busting costs facing Los Angeles County, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath recently told guests at this week’s Los Angeles Current Affairs Forum luncheon.

There’s the costly fire recovery effort. And the deep cuts from the federal government. And a continuing homeless crisis.

As Horvath wrapped up her remarks, Emma Schafer, the host of the clubby luncheon, asked about yet another expenditure: What was up with that $2-million settlement to the county’s chief executive officer Fesia Davenport?

“We were faced with two bad options,” Horvath told the crowd dining on skewered shrimp.

Horvath said she disagreed with Davenport’s demand for $2 million, but also believed “that we have to focus on a functional county government and saving taxpayer money.”

Three months ago, all five supervisors quietly voted behind closed doors to pay Davenport $2 million, after she sought damages due to professional fallout from Measure G, the voter-approved ballot measure that will eventually eliminate her job.

Measure G, which voters passed in November, reshaped the government, in part, turning the county’s chief executive into an elected position — not one selected by the board. The elected county executive, who would manage the county government and oversee its budget, will be in place by 2028. Davenport, a longtime county employee, had been in her post since 2021.

Davenport, as part of her financial demand, said Measure G caused her “reputational harm, embarrassment, and physical, emotional and mental distress.”

Critics contend unpleasant job changes happen all the time — and without the employee securing a multimillion dollar payout.

“Los Angeles County residents should be outraged,” said Morgan Miller, who worked on the Measure G campaign and called the board’s decision a “blatant misuse of public money.”

Horvath, who crafted Measure G, promised during the campaign it would not cost taxpayers additional money. More recently, she voiced dissatisfaction with Davenport’s settlement, saying the agreement should have had additional language to avoid “future risk.”

Horvath said in a statement she considered having the settlement agreement include language to have Davenport and the county part ways — to avoid the risk of litigating additional claims down the road.

Supervisor Janice Hahn, who pushed for Measure G alongside Horvath, said she voted for the settlement based on the advice of county lawyers.

“In the years I worked to expand the board and create an elected county executive, I never disparaged our current CEO in any way,” she said in a statement. “I always envisioned the CEO team working alongside the new elected county executive.”

Davenport has been on medical leave since earlier this month and did not return a request for comment. She has told the staff she plans to return at the start of next year.

It’s not unusual for county department heads to get large payouts. But they usually get them when they’re on their way out.

Bobby Cagle, the former Department of Children and Family Services head who resigned in 2021, received $175,301. Former county counsel Rodrigo Castro-Silva got $213,199. Adolfo Gonzales, the former probation head, took in $172,521. Mary Wickham, the former county counsel, received $449,577.

The county said those severance payments, all of which were obtained through a records request by The Times, were outlined in the department heads’ contracts and therefore did not need to be voted on by the board.

Sachi Hamai, Davenport’s predecessor, also received $1.5 million after saying she faced “unrelenting and brutal” harassment from former Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

Davenport’s settlement was voted on, but not made public, until an inquiry from LAist, which first reported on the settlement.

David Loy, legal director for the First Amendment Coalition, says the county is required under the Brown Act to immediately report out a vote taken on a settlement if the deal is finalized and all parties have approved it. But if it’s not, he says, they don’t need to publicly report it — they just need to provide information when asked.

“You don’t have to proactively report it out in that meeting. You still have to disclose it on request,” said Loy. “ I don’t think that’s a good thing — don’t get me wrong. I’m telling you what the Brown Act says.”

State of play

— DEMANDING DOCUMENTS: Two U.S. senators intensified their investigation into the Palisades fire this week, asking the city for an enormous trove of records on Fire Department staffing, reservoir repairs and other issues. In their letter to Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) showed much less interest in the Eaton fire, which devastated Altadena but did not burn in the city of Los Angeles. An aide to County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Altadena, said neither she nor other county offices had received such a document request.

— BUMPY BEGINNING: The campaign of City Council candidate Jose Ugarte is off to a rocky start. Ugarte, who is backed by his boss, Councilmember Curren Price, recently agreed to pay a $17,500 fine from the Ethics Commission for failing to mention his outside consulting work on his financial disclosure forms, But on Wednesday, two ethics commissioners blocked the deal, saying they think his fine should be bigger. (Ugarte has called the violation “an unintentional clerical error.”) Stay tuned!

— A NEW CHIEF: Mayor Karen Bass announced Friday that she has selected Jaime Moore, a 30-year LAFD veteran, to serve as the city’s newest fire chief. He comes to the department as it grapples with the continuing fallout over the city’s response to Palisades fire.

— LAWSUIT EN ROUTE: Meanwhile, the head of the city’s firefighter union has accused Bass of retaliating against him after he publicly voiced alarm over department staffing during the January fires. Freddy Escobar, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, said he’s preparing a lawsuit against the city. Escobar was suspended from his union position earlier this year, after an audit found that more than 70% of the transactions he made on his union credit card had no supporting documentation.

— HE’S BACK! (KINDA): Former Mayor Eric Garcetti returned to City Hall for the first time since leaving office in 2022, appearing alongside Councilmember Nithya Raman in the council chamber for a celebration of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. Garcetti, a former U.S. ambassador to India, described Diwali as a “reawakening,” saying it may be “the longest continuous human holiday on earth.”

— GENERATIONS OF GALPIN: The San Fernando Valley auto dealership known as Galpin Motors has had a long history with the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, the civilian oversight panel at the LAPD. On Wednesday, the council approved the nomination of Galpin vice president Jeffrey Skobin, to serve on the commission — making him the third executive with the dealership to serve over the past 40 years.

— AIRPORT OVERHAUL: Los Angeles World Airports is temporarily closing Terminal 5 at Los Angeles International Airport, carrying out a “complete demolition” and renovation of the space in the run-up to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. During construction, JetBlue will be operating out of Terminal 1, Spirit shifts to Terminal 2 and American Airlines lands in Terminal 4, the airport agency said.

— OUT THE DOOR: Two of the five citizen commissioners who oversee the Department of Water and Power have submitted their resignations. DWP Commissioner George McGraw, appointed by Bass two years ago, told The Times he’d been laying the groundwork for a departure for six months. McGraw said he found he could no longer balance the needs of the commission, where he sometimes put in 30 to 40 hours per week, with the other parts of his life. “I needed extra capacity,” he said.

— NO MORE MIA: DWP Commissioner Mia Lehrer was a little more blunt, telling Bass in her Sept. 29 resignation letter that her stint on the board was negatively affecting her work at Studio-MLA, her L.A.-based design studio. Lehrer said the firm has been disqualified from city projects based on “misinterpretations” of her role on the commission.

“As a result, I am experiencing unanticipated limitations on my professional opportunities that were neither expected nor justified under existing ethical frameworks,” she wrote. “These constraints not only affect my own business endeavors but also carry significant consequences for the forty-five professional and their families who rely on the continued success of our work.”

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program to address homelessness went to Cotner Avenue near the 405 Freeway in Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky’s Westside district.
• On the docket next week: The board votes Tuesday on an $828-million payout to victims who say they were sexually abused in county facilities as children. The vote comes months after agreeing to the largest sex abuse settlement in U.S. history.

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has built up an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off the coast of Venezuela since this summer, when the Trump administration first began to shift assets to the region as part of its so-called war against narcoterrorism.

Here is a look at the ships, planes and troops in the region:

Ships

The Navy has eight warships in the region — three destroyers, three amphibious assault ships, a cruiser and a smaller littoral combat ship that’s designed for coastal waters.

The three amphibious assault ships make up an amphibious readiness group and carry an expeditionary unit of Marines. As a result, those ships also have on board a variety of Marine helicopters, Osprey tilt rotor aircraft and Harrier jets that have the capability of either transporting large numbers of Marines or striking targets on land and sea.

While officials have not offered specific numbers, destroyers and cruisers typically deploy with a missile loadout that contains Tomahawk cruise missiles — a missile that can strike hundreds of miles from its launch point.

A U.S. Navy submarine, the USS Newport News, also is operating in the broader area of South America and is capable of carrying and launching cruise missiles.

Planes and drones

A squadron of advanced U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II jets have been sent to an airstrip in Puerto Rico. The planes were first spotted landing on the island territory in mid-September.

MQ-9 Reaper Air Force drones, capable of flying long distances and carrying up to eight laser-guided missiles, also have been spotted operating out of Puerto Rico by commercial satellites and military watchers, as well as photojournalists, around the same time.

It has been widely reported that the Navy is operating P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft out of the region as well.

Earlier this month, the military released a photo of an U.S. Air Force AC-130J Ghostrider, a heavily armed plane capable of firing its large guns with precision onto ground targets, also sitting on the tarmac in Puerto Rico.

There have been a multitude of other military aircraft that have temporarily flown through the region as part of military operations there.

For example, the U.S. Air Force flew a group of B-52 Stratofortress bombers through the region last week for what the Pentagon dubbed as a “bomber attack demo” in photos online.

Troops

All told, there are more than 6,000 sailors and Marines that are now operating in the region based on the ships that have been confirmed by defense officials.

The Pentagon has not offered specific numbers on how many drones, aircraft or ground crew are in the region so their impact on that broader figure is unknown.

Toropin writes for the Associated Press.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s David Zahniser, with an assist from Rebecca Ellis, Noah Goldberg and the esteemed Julia Wick, giving you the latest on city and county government.

For nearly three years, Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia has been trying to use his office to dig deep on the city’s homelessness programs — how they’re run and, more importantly, how effective they are.

The road so far has been a bit bumpy.

Early in his tenure, Mejia sent staffers to the Westside to monitor Mayor Karen Bass’ Inside Safe program, which moves unhoused people into hotels and motels. He quickly pulled back after facing resistance within City Hall.

A year later, Mejia offered to have his office conduct a court-ordered audit of the city’s homelessness programs. The work went to a private firm instead, at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $3 million.

Mejia also promised to produce a “focused audit” on Inside Safe, the mayor’s signature homelessness initiative, which has not materialized.

At one point, he even posted an Instagram video of himself and his staff doing choreographed moves to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” to explain why he hadn’t audited the program. The video displayed the words: “We tried. We tried. We tried.”

But this week, the city’s top accountant got his big break, securing a plum role in the high-stakes legal battle over homelessness between the city and the nonprofit L.A. Alliance for Human Rights. That fight hinges on whether the city is living up to its commitment, enshrined in a legal settlement, to clear encampments and build more homeless beds.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter assigned attorney Daniel Garrie, an expert in cybersecurity and computer forensics, as a new third-party monitor to determine whether the city is truly on track to open 12,915 new homeless beds and remove nearly 10,000 encampments, as required by the settlement.

Carter tapped Mejia to serve as a liaison between Garrie and the city, calling him the “most knowledgeable person” on homelessness funding. In a six-page order, the judge said the city controller would support Garrie by “facilitating data access.” He also said Mejia would be less expensive than former City Controller Ron Galperin, who was also under consideration and expected to charge $800 an hour.

The judge’s order was well-timed, coming at a moment of heightened scrutiny over homelessness initiatives in L.A. and across the region.

On Thursday, federal prosecutors accused two real estate executives of misappropriating millions of dollars in state funds allocated in the region’s fight against homelessness. According to prosecutors, one of them engaged in bank fraud, identity theft and money laundering — purchasing a property on L.A.’s Westside and quickly flipping it for more than double the price to Weingart Center Assn., a nonprofit housing developer that received city funds to build interim homeless housing.

Mayoral candidate Austin Beutner, the former schools superintendent who spent some time at City Hall, also turned up the heat, calling this week for Bass to let Mejia audit the city’s homeless programs. He made that pitch after Rand researchers concluded that the region’s yearly homeless count is not accurately tracking homeless people who don’t live in tents or cars.

“The Mayor is blocking the elected Controller from auditing the City’s efforts,” Beutner said on X. “We need an immediate audit to tell us how much is being spent, on what, and whether it’s having any impact.”

Bass spokesperson Clara Karger, in an email to The Times, said the mayor and the city controller “work well together” on various issues, including a recent audit of the city’s housing department.

Asked whether Bass refused to participate in Mejia’s planned Inside Safe audit last year, Karger replied: “A city elected official should not conduct a performance audit of another elected official.”

“Inside Safe has robust oversight systems in place,” she said. “There are hundreds of pages of publicly available reports on Inside Safe and an assessment of Inside Safe was completed under the Alliance settlement.”

City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto declined to weigh in on Carter’s order. But she has previously pointed to a 16-year-old legal ruling barring the city controller from conducting performance audits of other elected officials.

“The legal advice from the City Attorney’s Office is known to our clients and has not changed over the years,” said Feldstein Soto spokesperson Karen Richardson.

The judge’s order may only be the beginning.

Mejia has been urging the city’s Charter Reform Commission to propose language that clearly gives him the power to audit programs overseen by his fellow elected officials. Such a move would erase any doubts about whether he has the legal standing to scrutinize Inside Safe.

The debate over the powers of the city controller goes back decades. In 2008, then-City Controller Laura Chick clashed with City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo over her attempt to audit his office’s workers compensation unit. The following year, right before Chick left office, a judge sided with Delgadillo and found that the controller lacked the authority for the audit.

In the short term, Carter’s order could give Mejia new leeway to identify lax oversight of L.A.’s homelessness programs, offering the public fresh insight into how closely they are tracked, and possibly identifying waste or fraud.

Mejia declined interview requests from The Times. Last month in federal court, he dazzled Carter with his office’s online dashboards, which show expenditures not just for Inside Safe but many other homelessness programs.

Carter praised the work of Mejia and his team, according to a transcript of the proceedings. Mejia, in turn, said his office enjoys the work but sometimes struggles to carry it out with its existing staff.

“Some of these contracts are 400 pages,” he said. “And so right now, we have a two-person team who is doing all of that and putting all this together.”

Attorney Elizabeth Mitchell, who represents the L.A. Alliance, welcomed the selection of Mejia, saying he’s clearly been pushing to get more involved in the case.

“My only concern is, I don’t know if he will engender a lot of cooperation from the city, because they don’t seem inclined to cooperate with him,” Mitchell said.

That wasn’t the message from Councilmember Tim McOsker, who voiced alarm in recent months over the costly bills submitted by the outside law firm handling the L.A. Alliance case for the city. McOsker, who spent several years in the city attorney’s office, expressed confidence in Mejia’s abilities and said the decision to pick him would be cost effective.

“It is imperative that we give value to the taxpayers of the city of Los Angeles,” he said.

State of play

— BEUTNERPALOOZA: After weeks of speculation, Beutner jumped into the June 2026 race for mayor. His team got off to a choppy start last weekend, uploading “Austin for LA Mayor” images to his social media accounts before he had even made a formal announcement, then abruptly taking them down. Hours later, Beutner formally went public, blasting Bass over the city’s handling of the Palisades fire, which destroyed his mother-in-law’s home and severely damaged his Pacific Palisades home.

By Monday, Beutner had released a video announcing his campaign, which assailed Trump over his immigration crackdown. Two days later, he appeared with supporters in San Pedro, repeating his warning that the city is “adrift.”

— DEFINE ADRIFT: The following morning, Bass joined former Councilmember Mike Bonin, director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, to discuss politics, leadership and her tenure. She took issue with Beutner’s characterization of L.A. as “adrift,” saying the city has been through “multiple shocks this year,” including a catastrophic firestorm and “being invaded” by federal authorities in June.

The talk took place on the 72nd floor of the U.S. Bank Tower, offering a staggeringly beautiful post-rain city view, which offers a good excuse to revisit former California poet laureate Dana Gioia’s classic poem, “Los Angeles After the Rain.”

— FIERCE AMBITION: Is L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath running for mayor of Los Angeles? The former West Hollywood mayor hasn’t ruled it out — and moved to the city a few months ago.

— WE’RE NOT IN TEXAS ANYMORE: Two more plaintiffs in L.A. County’s $4-billion sex abuse settlement have come forward to say they were told to invent their claims in exchange for cash. The allegations follow a Times investigation published earlier this month that found seven plaintiffs who claimed they received cash from recruiters to sue the county over sex abuse. Downtown LA Law Group, which filed cases for the plaintiffs, has denied involvement with the alleged recruiters.

— BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: Meanwhile, the county is preparing to pay out an additional $828 million to another group of plaintiffs who say they were sexually abused in county facilities.

— GETTING OUT THE VOTE: Real estate developer Rick Caruso, the is-he-or-isn’t-he potential mayoral/gubernatorial candidate, is sending mailers to more than 45,000 voters who lived in fire-damaged sections of Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Altadena and now have temporary addresses. He advised them on how to update their voter registration by listing a temporary mailing address while also remaining in their original voting district, according to a Caruso spokesperson. Caruso is paying for the effort, which is nonpartisan and doesn’t mention any specific election. His team declined to provide the cost.

—SPEAKING OF CARUSO: Politico took a look at the mall magnate’s recent travels around the state, which have fueled speculation that he’s leaning toward a gubernatorial bid. The outlet reported that Caruso, who self-financed his 2022 mayoral campaign, recently met with Democratic megadonors Haim Saban and Ari Emanuel.

— THREE’S COMPANY: East Hollywood resident Dylan Kendall filed paperwork this week to challenge incumbent Hugo Soto–Martínez in next year’s race to represent Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park and other neighborhoods. Kendall, a business owner who previously worked at the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, cited quality-of-life issues as the impetus for her candidacy. Political consultant Michael Trujillo and fundraiser Kat Connolly have joined her campaign. (One of Soto-Martínez’s upstairs neighbors, Colter Carlisle, is also running.)

— MORE FALLOUT FROM G: L.A. County Chief Executive Fesia Davenport received a $2-million payout this summer after telling the county supervisors she had experienced professional fallout from Measure G, a voter-approved ballot measure that will soon make her job obsolete.

— 1,000 DAYS LEFT: Bass reminded Angelenos on Friday that the start of the 2028 Olympic Games is just 1,000 days away. Appearing in Venice, she signed an executive directive streamlining preparations for the international event.

— BYE, JULIA: We are super bummed to report that this was erstwhile City Hall reporter Julia Wick‘s last week at The Times. She will miss all of you. But she says please keep in touch!

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program to combat homelessness went to Hollywood this week, focusing on the area around Santa Monica Boulevard and Heliotrope Drive in Soto-Martínez’s district.
• On the docket next week: The council’s public works committee takes up the issue of long-delayed sidewalk repairs, including the city’s obligations to make them wheelchair accessible.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

WASHINGTON — The United States took survivors into custody after its military struck a suspected drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean — the first attack that anyone escaped alive since President Trump began launching assaults in the region last month, a defense official and another person familiar with the matter said Friday.

The strike Thursday brought the death toll from the Trump administration’s military action against vessels in the region to at least 28.

It is believed to be at least the sixth strike in the waters off Venezuela since early September, and the first to result in survivors who were picked up by the U.S. military. It was not immediately clear what would be done with the survivors, who the people said were being held on a U.S. Navy vessel.

They confirmed the strike on condition of anonymity because it had not yet been publicly acknowledged by Trump’s administration.

Trump has justified the strikes by asserting that the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, relying on the same legal authority used by President George W. Bush‘s administration when it declared a war on terror after the 9/11 attacks. That includes the ability to capture and detain combatants and to use lethal force against their leadership.

Some legal experts have questioned the legality of the approach. The president’s use of overwhelming military force to combat the cartels, along with his authorization of covert action inside Venezuela, possibly to oust President Nicolás Maduro, stretches the bounds of international law, legal scholars said this week.

Meanwhile, the Navy admiral who oversees military operations in the region will retire in December, he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday.

Adm. Alvin Holsey became the leader of U.S. Southern Command only in November, overseeing an area that encompasses the Caribbean Sea and waters off South America. These types of postings typically last between three and four years.

Holsey said in a statement posted on the command’s Facebook page that it had “been an honor to serve our nation, the American people and support and defend our Constitution for over 37 years.”

“The SOUTHCOM team has made lasting contributions to the defense of our nation and will continue to do so,” he said. “I am confident that you will forge ahead, focused on your mission that strengthens our nation and ensures its longevity as a beacon of freedom around the globe.”

U.S. Southern Command did not provide any further information beyond the admiral’s statement.

For the survivors of Thursday’s strike, the saga is hardly over. They now face an unclear future and legal landscape, including questions about whether they are now considered to be prisoners of war or defendants in a criminal case. The White House did not comment on the strike.

Reuters was first to report news of the strike late Thursday.

The strikes in the Caribbean have caused unease among both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, with some Republicans saying they have not received sufficient information on how the strikes are being conducted. A classified briefing for members of the Senate Armed Services Committee this month did not include representatives from intelligence agencies or the military command structure for South and Central America.

However, most Senate Republicans stood behind the administration last week when a vote on a War Powers Resolution was brought up, which would have required the administration to gain approval from Congress before conducting more strikes.

Their willingness to back the administration will be tested again. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, along with Sens. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, and Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, is bringing another resolution that would prevent Trump from outright attacking Venezuela without congressional authorization.

Toropin and Mascaro write for the Associated Press.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Rebecca Ellis with an assist from Julia Wick, giving you the latest on city and county government.

Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors met for hours in closed session with attorneys Tuesday to ponder a legal quandary about as thorny as they come.

What do you do with a $4-billion sex abuse settlement when some plaintiffs say they were paid to sue?

On one hand, the supervisors emphasized, they want victims to get the compensation they’re owed for abuse they suffered at the hands of county employees. That’s why they green-lighted the largest sex abuse settlement in U.S. history this April.

But the allegations of paid plaintiffs, surfaced by The Times last week, have also raised concerns about potential misconduct. The supervisors stated the obvious Tuesday: They do not want taxpayer money set aside for victims going to people who were never in county facilities.

“The entire process angers and sickens me,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who first called for the investigation into the payout, at the meeting Tuesday. “We must ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.”

A Times investigation last week found seven people who said they were paid by recruiters to sue L.A. County for sex abuse. Two of them said they were explicitly told to fabricate claims. All the people who said they were paid had lawsuits filed by Downtown LA Law Group, or DTLA, which has about 2,700 clients in the settlement.

DTLA has denied paying anyone to file a lawsuit and said no representative of the firm had been authorized to make payments. The Times could not reach any of the representatives who allegedly made the payments for comment.

“We have always worked hard to present only meritorious claims and have systems in place to help weed out false or exaggerated allegations,” the firm said in a statement.

The allegations dropped a bomb on the nearly finalized legal settlement, leaving county attorneys and plaintiffs lawyers scrambling to figure out the best path forward.

Some have called for the county to get out of the settlement half a year after announcing it. Technically, it can. The settlement agreement, reviewed by The Times, has a clause that allows the county to pull out unless all but 120 of the plaintiffs agree to the terms — a number attorneys could almost certainly surpass with more than 11,000 plaintiffs.

But the county does not appear to be relishing the thought of blowing up a settlement that took months of negotiations, countless hours in a courtroom and one can only guess how much in billable attorney hours. Many of these cases, attorneys for the county warn, could cost tens of millions in a trial. Clearing them all at once for $4 billion could, believe it or not, end up sounding like a bargain.

No decision was made Tuesday after hours in closed session. The only news out of it was the announcement that Fesia Davenport, the chief executive, would be going on medical leave for the next few months. She will be temporarily replaced by Joe Nicchitta, the office’s second-in-command.

Davenport emphasized the reasons for her absence were personal and had nothing to do with the settlement after rumors immediately swirled connecting the two.

“I am deeply disappointed that I have to address baseless allegations that my leave is somehow related to the County’s AB 218 settlement — which it is not,” she said in a statement. “I am on medical leave and expect to return to work in early 2026.”

Next Tuesday, the supervisors plan to meet again in closed session to grapple with the settlement, according to the board agenda.

In the aftermath of the investigation, some county watchdogs have called for the government to better screen the claims it’s poised to pay out.

“There was a lack of the basics,” said Eric Preven, a local government observer, who said he’s worried about the effect of unvetted lawsuits on the government. “What have we done?”

“We’re glad the supervisors are finally doing their jobs, but what took them so long?” said the Daily News editorial board.

County counsel says they’re working on it. They’ve demanded “evidentiary statements” for each victim and search for whatever documentation exists, the office said in a statement.

“But the simple truth is this: Los Angeles County is facing more than 11,000 claims, most of which are decades old, where evidence is scarce or nonexistent,” the statement read. “Survivors and taxpayers deserve a process with integrity, not one that rewards coercion, shortcuts, or abuse of the system.”

Some victims say they’re concerned the allegations of paid plaintiffs will taint the settlement and delay justice for legitimate survivors.

Tanina Evans, 47, said she spent her childhood bouncing around county-run juvenile halls and group homes. She sued the county after she said she was sexually abused multiple times, including once at Eastlake Juvenile Hall, where she says she was forced to give a staff member oral sex in the shower. When she refused, she said, the staff member had the teenagers she was incarcerated with beat her up.

She said she worries experiences like hers will now be looked at with new skepticism.

“People are so quick to justify not penalizing anyone. Are they looking for a loophole?” Evans said. “And it’s like, no, you guys know it’s real.”

State of play

— PALISADES ARREST AND FALLOUT: Federal prosecutors filed charges Wednesday in the Palisades fire, accusing Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, of starting the initial fire on New Year’s Day that rekindled to become the devastating blaze days later. This latest revelation is fueling debate over whether the city of L.A. or the state of California can be found civilly liable for its role in the fire, our colleague Jenny Jarvie reports.

—NEW FINDINGS: With the federal investigation tied up, Mayor Karen Bass’ office released a long-awaited after-action report finding that firefighters were hampered by an ineffective process for recalling them back to work, as well as poor communication, inexperienced leadership and a lack of resources.

—2022 NEVER ENDS, SCREENTIME EDITION: Speaking at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference Wednesday, Bass characterized her former mayoral opponent and frequent critic Rick Caruso as “sad and bitter.” Earlier in the day, Caruso had put out a statement in response to the charges filed against Rinderknecht that called the Palisades fire “a failure of government on an epic level, starting with Mayor Bass.” During a separate appearance at the Screentime conference, Caruso shot back at Bass, saying anger was an appropriate response to the contents of the report. Caruso still hasn’t said whether he plans to run for mayor or governor next year, or sit out the 2026 election.

—BUT THEY WEREN’T JUST FIGHTING! A day later, Bass called on the City Council to adopt an ordinance that would help establish a one-time exemption to Measure ULA, the city’s so-called “mansion tax,” for Palisades fire-affected properties, to speed up sales and spur rebuilding and rehabilitation of the area. Bass’ office said her letter to the council followed a meeting with Caruso, who had “proposed ideas to help address this issue.”

—FAREWELL, FORKISH: LAPD public information director Jennifer Forkish resigned Thursday at the request of Chief Jim McDonnell, amid accusations from the region’s top federal prosecutor that her office was leaking information. But Forkish vehemently denied the “baseless allegation” that she had leaked anything.

—GARBAGE MONEY: City Council voted Tuesday to finalize a dramatic fee increase for residential trash collection, after giving the fee hike preliminary approval back in April. This is the first time the fees have been raised in 17 years and the city was heavily subsidizing the program, at the cost of roughly $500,000 a day.

—PAYOUT IN SPOTLIGHT: The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to launch an investigation into possible misconduct by “legal representatives” involved in sex abuse litigation. The county auditor’s office also will set up a hotline dedicated to tips from the public related to the lawsuits.

— MUSICAL CHAIRS: Former FBI agent Erroll Southers plans to step down from the L.A. Police Commission, my colleague Libor Jany reported Friday. Southers has been a member of the panel since 2023, when Bass picked him to serve out the term of a departing commissioner. His appointment to a full five-year term was supposed to come before the City Council a few weeks ago, but instead the council continued the matter — setting off a bizarre bureaucratic chain of events that led to Southers essentially being confirmed by default due to city rules and the council’s inaction (too complicated to fully summarize here, but Libor explained it all in his story at the time).

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? Bass’ initiative addressed an encampment on Lincoln Boulevard in Westchester, in partnership with Councilmember Traci Park’s office.
• On the docket next week: The board will vote on a state of emergency over recent federal immigration actions to provide the supervisors with more power to assist those affected by the flood of deportations. And, over in City Hall, the council’s public safety committee will consider the mayor’s appointment of Jeffrey Skobin to the police commission on Wednesday.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

Congratulations are in order for President Trump. He said he would bring home Israel’s hostages and end the horrific fighting in Gaza, and that appears to be exactly what he is doing with this week’s deal. While many of the ideas that went into Trump’s 20-point peace plan predated his reelection, he and his team deserve a standing ovation for translating those ideas into a practical proposal, defining a first phase that was both big and digestible and putting together all the pieces that made its agreement possible.

Success, however, does have its downsides. Remember the Pottery Barn rule of foreign policy, made famous during the Iraq war? “You break it, you own it.” We now have the Trump corollary: “You patch it, you own it.”

Despite coming to office eager to shed America’s Middle East commitments, Trump just took on a huge one: responsibility for a peace plan that will forever bear his name. On Oct. 6, 2023, the day before Hamas’ assault, Arab-Israeli relations were poised for the historic breakthrough of Saudi-Israel normalization; two years later, Arab-Israeli relations — including Trump’s first-term Middle East peacemaking achievement of the Abraham Accords — are hanging on by a thread. By offering a plan that promises not just an end to fighting in Gaza but building a full and enduring regional peace, the president has taken on the task of repairing the damage wrought by Hamas’ unholy war. In other words: fixing the Middle East.

How Trump fulfills this not inconsequential responsibility has major consequences for America’s role in the region and in the world. The Chinese are watching whether, when the going gets rough, he will have the mettle to maintain a broad alliance. The Russians are watching whether the president will strictly enforce the letter of the deal or let certain unpleasant aspects slip. The Iranians will be watching whether Trump will find himself so drowning in the details of Gaza reconstruction that he won’t be able to stitch together a repeat of the highly successful Arab-Israeli coalition that protected Israel a year ago from Iran’s barrages of ballistic missiles and drones. And all these adversaries — and others — will wonder whether the intense U.S. focus needed to ensure implementation of this deal will distract the president from their own areas of mischief.

Those are some of the international stakes. There’s a difficult road ahead in achieving the deal itself. Some of the most vexing challenges will include:

• Implementing a highly complex Gaza peace plan that, in its requirements for disarmament, envisions Hamas to be fully complicit in its organizational suicide — or at least its institutional castration;
• Having the U.S. military orchestrate the recruitment, deployment and management of multinational forces to police the territory just as the Israel Defense Forces are withdrawing from it, a tricky maneuver fraught with risk;
• Creating and supervising a transitional administration that will oversee everything from humanitarian relief to rubble and ordnance removal to massive reconstruction projects, all the while preventing what’s left of Hamas from stealing goods to divert to underground weapons factories, an art that it perfected after previous ceasefires;
• Securing buy-in from the United Nations and its specialized agencies, which need to play an essential role in delivering food and medical services, without buckling under pressure to rehabilitate the deeply flawed U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, an organization that bears special responsibility for keeping the Palestinian-Israeli conflict alive for decades;
• Preventing Qatar and Turkey — longtime friends of Hamas who have emerged in recent weeks as diplomatic Good Samaritans — from translating their current status into a malign influence over the direction of Palestinian politics, which can only be worrisome to Israel and the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority and a long-term detriment to the cause of peace;
• And dealing every step of the way with an Israeli prime minister of a rightist coalition who will likely view every decision, great and small, through the lens of a fateful election he is expected to call very soon that will show whether the Israeli people want to punish him for the terrible errors that left Israel unprepared for Hamas’ 2023 attack or reward him for the impressive victories Israel’s military achieved across the region in the two years that followed.

Getting this far was a huge achievement. Ensuring effective execution — never a strong suit for a “big idea guy” like Trump — is a thousand times more difficult. This can’t be done with a small team of White House officials chatting on Signal. It will require an army of — please excuse the term — experts: experts in military command and control, experts in ordnance removal and disposal, experts in civilian rehabilitation and reconstruction, experts in communication and community engagement. Corporate subcontracting can address some of this, as can the impressive talents of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, but don’t be fooled into thinking that a consulting company or a former foreign official can pick up the slack of the entire U.S. government. This plan, after all, has Trump’s name on it, not Deloitte’s or Blair’s.

The president has at least one more vital task in this matter. He must explain to the American people why we are doing this. For nearly 20 years, American presidents of both parties have said they wanted to pivot away from the Middle East, but they continually find themselves entangled in the region’s often byzantine conflicts and politics. Americans deserve to know why the “America First” president has decided that American interests are intimately bound up in the success of this peace plan. Our domestic divisions notwithstanding, fair-minded people on both sides of the aisle will be rooting for Trump’s success in this peace deal.

For now, sure, the president should enjoy the accolades and celebrate the coming release of Hamas’ hostages. The morning after will come soon enough.

Robert Satloff is executive director of the Washington Institute.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Julia Wick and David Zahniser, giving you the latest on city and county government.

It’s been a minute since Hugo Soto-Martínez and Colter Carlisle last bumped into each other in the laundry room of their apartment complex.

Not since before Carlisle, who serves as vice president of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council, filed paperwork Monday to challenge Soto-Martínez for his L.A. City Council seat.

“I am wondering if it will be the most awkward moment of my entire life,” Carlisle said of his inevitable laundry room run-in with his new opponent. “But we’ll see how it goes.”

A sitting council member being challenged by a member of a neighborhood council is far from an unusual occurrence. But this is the first time, to our knowledge, that a council member will face off against their upstairs neighbor.

“I want to be clear that me running has zero to do with the fact that he’s my downstairs neighbor,” Carlisle said.

Carlisle, who works in freelance legal sales and has served on the neighborhood council since 2021, will face a vertiginously steep path in his quest to unseat Soto-Martínez.

Soto-Martínez ousted an incumbent in 2022, expanding the council’s left flank to represent a densely packed collection of neighborhoods that includes Silver Lake, Echo Park, Atwater Village and Hollywood.

A former union organizer, Soto-Martínez has deep support from the city’s powerful labor unions and the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America. He is one of the few renters on the council and was running unopposed until Carlisle entered the race.

It was “a massive coincidence,” Carlisle said, that the neighborhood council member (who won his 2023 election with 16 votes) and the City Council member (who won his 2022 election with 38,069 votes) lived in the same East Hollywood complex in the first place.

“After he won, we were both kind of like, ‘Wait, are we, like, co-workers now?’” Carlisle recalled. “When that happened, it was sort of like, OK, I don’t want to bother him at home. I don’t want him to come home and worry he’s going to run into me. Both of us need to come home and decompress.”

Carlisle voted for Soto-Martínez for 2022, he said, but housing issues catalyzed his decision to challenge his neighbor in 2026.

Carlisle argues that the city’s push to build more housing is displacing long-term residents. He thinks the payouts the city requires for tenants who are pushed out by new construction are insufficient.

“I don’t believe that knocking down the rent-controlled apartments is going to lead to more affordability in Los Angeles,” Carlisle said.

He takes particular issue with Soto-Martínez’s support for Senate Bill 79 — a housing bill on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk that would override local zoning and allow far more density near transit stops.

Carlisle vehemently opposes the bill, contending that new construction will come at the expense of existing rent-stabilized units. (The bill exempts most rent-stabilized buildings, but not duplexes.)

He also thinks Soto-Martínez should have fought a planned eight-story apartment building on Carlton Way. The development will require demolishing a number of small rent-stabilized apartment buildings to build 131 new apartment units — 17 of which will be set aside for low- or very low-income residents.

Soto-Martínez spokesperson Nick Barnes-Batista said the council member’s office had been working closely with the tenants on Carlton Way and that the project followed affordability guidelines. Although the remaining 114 units in the building will be market rate, they will all fall under the city’s rent-stabilization ordinance, Barnes-Batista said.

Barnes-Batista also clarified that his boss did not take an official position on SB 79: He merely voted to oppose a resolution opposing it, rather than voting to support it.

(We apologize that you will have to read the prior sentence twice, slowly, to understand what the heck it means. The semantic distinction is there, but it’s a narrow one.)

“Renters make up over 60% of the city, yet they’ve historically been left out of decision-making at City Hall. We’re changing that with a full-time team helping tenants facing eviction stay in their homes, and we have a motion in committee right now to hopefully cap rent increases at 3% for every rent-stabilized tenant in Los Angeles,” Soto-Martínez said in a written statement.

And for those keeping track at home, Councilmember Tim McOsker is now the only incumbent running unopposed.

State of play

— PAYING PLAINTIFFS? Seven people told The Times they were paid to sue Los Angeles County over sexual abuse at juvenile halls. The claims were part of a $4-billion payout — the largest sex abuse settlement in U.S. history. A Times investigation found that a nebulous network of vendors ushered people desperate for cash toward a law firm that could profit significantly from the business.

— SCRUTINIZING SB 79: Gov. Gavin Newsom still hasn’t decided the fate of Senate Bill 79, the aforementioned landmark housing bill that would upzone scores of neighborhoods across the city, paving the way for taller, denser buildings near public transit. But the scramble is already on by homeowners, renters’ rights advocates and even politicians to figure out which locations are covered by SB 79 — a task made difficult by the bill’s various exemptions and deferrals.

— HOUSING SLUMP: Apartment construction in L.A. has dropped by nearly a third over the last three years, as real estate developers struggle with unprofitable economics and continued uncertainty around city and state housing laws. “L.A. has been redlined by the majority of the investment community,” said Ari Kahan, a principal of California Landmark Group.

— RAISING THE WAGE: Speaking of new regulations, six members of the City Council are looking at increasing the hourly pay of private sector construction workers with a law that would give them a $32.35 per hour minimum wage and a $7.65 per hour healthcare credit. Under their proposal, the council would need to authorize a study of the idea first.

— AUTOMATIC APPROVAL: One of Mayor Karen Bass’ appointees on the Board of Police Commissioners has secured another term, but not because he was approved by the City Council. The mayor’s reappointment of Erroll Southers, a former FBI agent turned top USC security official, showed up on several council agendas. But the council, facing protesters at several meetings, never actually acted, allowing Southers’ approval to become automatic.

— FAREWELL, ZACH! Bass is losing her top press deputy. Deputy Mayor Zach Seidl has taken a job as managing director of Click Strategies, a political consulting firm based in L.A. run by former Newsom comms chief Nathan Click. Seidl, who departs Oct. 17, has been an aide to Bass over the last decade, working for her in the U.S. Congress, on the campaign trail and inside City Hall. Bass has named Samuel Jean, a communications strategist, as her interim communications director.

(Fun fact: Back in December, Seidl helped Click pull off his marriage proposal to his now-fiance and Seidl’s then-colleague, former Bass deputy mayor Joey Freeman, on the observation deck of City Hall.)

— RESISTING THE RVS: A proposed RV park in L.A.’s Harbor City neighborhood has been met with fierce opposition from local residents, spurring a lengthy battle inside and outside City Hall.

— FINDING THE BEDS: A new tracking system at the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority was supposed to modernize an antiquated process for filling beds inside L.A. County’s homeless shelters, ensuring that more people get off the streets. But the nonprofits who run the shelters say the data produced by the system are often inaccurate.

— POLICE BLOTTER: LAPD officers apprehended a man on Friday who drove a car onto the Spring Street steps of City Hall and wouldn’t come out of his vehicle for about two hours.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program to address homelessness did not launch any new encampment operations this week.
• On the docket next week: The City Council votes Tuesday on whether to finalize a big increase in trash fees for single-family homes and small apartments. Meetings will be canceled on Wednesday and Friday so members can attend the annual League of California Cities conference.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Noah Goldberg, with an assist from Rebecca Ellis, giving you the latest on city and county government.

A majority of the Los Angeles City Council believed that an expansion of the L.A. Convention Center was absolutely necessary.

The venue was losing out on event bookings to smaller cities like Anaheim and Las Vegas. But the expansion would be one of the most expensive publicly-financed projects in city history, and taxpayers would be paying down the debt for the next three decades.

The year was 1985. The number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 list was — and it couldn’t have been more apt — “We Built This City” by Starship.

That year, the council approved construction of the Convention Center’s South Hall, which Angelenos now know for its curving green facade facing the 110 Freeway. The project added hundreds of thousands of square feet of event space at a price tag of $310 million — though it ended up costing $500 million.

Now, history seems to be looping around again in last week’s debate about another Convention Center expansion, this time across Pico Boulevard to link the center’s two buildings.

The City Council voted last Friday to move forward with a $2.6-billion expansion that city budget advisers warned will draw taxpayer funds away from essential city services for decades. Any construction delays could endanger plans to host judo, wrestling and other Olympic competitions in 2028, triggering financial penalties if the venue isn’t ready in time.

In 1985, only Councilmember Joel Wachs voted against the expansion — though he told The Times he couldn’t remember the exact reason. It’s been 40 years, after all.

“That said, I’m not at all surprised I opposed it … as I did other projects where I felt the city would be on the hook for untold costs with no real meaningful assurances of benefits that could possibly justify it,” he said.

Wachs said that barring any convincing arguments on the other side, “I would also likely vote against it if I was on the council now.”

In 1985, Wachs was concerned about the long-term effects of the Convention Center upgrade on the city’s general fund.

The South Hall was finished in 1993, and the city made a nearly $42-million payment the next year, continuing to pay between $13.1 million and $48.4 million a year until 2023.

Just a few years after that old debt was finally paid off, the city is set to start payments on a similar project.

“History is repeating itself, because it’s become necessary to compete with other convention centers around the world again,” said Doane Liu, executive director of the city’s Tourism Department. “I’m certain it was a hard decision to make in [1985].”

While debating the new expansion, some on the City Council wondered how the two projects matched up and whether the 1985 vote could provide guidance for the current moment.

Councilmember Tim McOsker asked City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo to report on the cost of the 1985 expansion.

McOsker compared the numbers, arguing that the annual payments were similar, if adjusted for the growth of the city’s general fund over time.

The city’s first $42-million payment for the old expansion was about 1.7% of its $2.48-billion general fund.

Payments for the new expansion ratchet up over a three-year period, starting with around $40 million in 2029, then jumping by 2031 to about $192 million a year until 2055.

Each $192-million annual payment would be about 2.3% of the city’s current general fund.

The similarities go further than the general fund percentage, McOsker said, alluding to the nearly $1-billion deficit that city officials recently faced.

“You know what else we had in ‘94-’95 and ‘95-’96? A $1-billion deficit that we were struggling with,” he said at a council budget hearing on Sept. 16. “It was a tough time then, and I know that we may hear that maybe we shouldn’t have done it, but we did do it, and 30 years later, we have a Convention Center that needs it again.”

But was it worth it?

Former Councilmember Zev Yaroslavsky has come to regret his vote in favor of the 1993 expansion.

“I think I did make a mistake,” he said. “I regret that I drank the Kool-Aid.”

Yaroslavsky said the council was convinced in 1985 that the expanded convention center would generate enough revenue to pay off the bond issuance, and then some.

But after 30 years of payments, Yaroslavsky said he saw no evidence that he and his fellow council members were correct.

“That didn’t happen.”

State of play

— FRESNO-NO: Councilmember Ysabel Jurado found herself in the crosshairs of Fresno politicians this week after she suggested that L.A. should not be ceding major events to the city. “We can’t keep losing out to Fresno. Shakira ended her world tour in Fresno,” she said at a press conference in which she voiced support for the Convention Center expansion.

Fresno shot back. “There’s no need to degrade or make fun of other cities that literally feed Angelenos by picking the fruits and vegetables sold at the DTLA markets daily,” Fresno County Supervisor Luis Chavez wrote on Instagram.

— LAX DELAYS: The Automated People Mover that will connect travelers between airport terminals and the Metro could be delayed even further, the CEO of LAX told The Times. The train, which was supposed to open in January 2026, may now be delayed until June 2026 or later, imperiling the goal of opening in time for the World Cup.

— NO LAYOFFS: Mayor Karen Bass announced Tuesday that the city has managed to avert all 1,650 layoffs she proposed in April as part of her plan to close a nearly $1-billion deficit. Bass negotiated for months with labor unions, who made concessions to help stave off hundreds of the layoffs. Budget reductions from the City Council also helped save jobs.

— BATHROOM POOH-POOHED: The city’s plan to install a bathroom at popular hiking destination Runyon Canyon has come under fire from locals who worry it may bring unwanted smells and safety issues. Bass said the city has received requests from hikers for years asking for a bathroom in the park. The bathroom will be ready by summer 2026.

CHIMP INFANT: Two chimpanzees born at the L.A. Zoo in August and September and are the first chimp births at the zoo in 11 years. They do not yet have names.

DROPOUT: Last week’s newsletter mentioned Jake Rakov as a congressional candidate; he dropped out of the race earlier this month.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program hit two locations this week. On Tuesday, it brought people inside from West 88th Street and South Grand Boulevard in South Los Angeles. On Thursday, the program went to Roscoe and Balboa Boulevards in the San Fernando Valley. Over the two operations, nearly 60 Angelenos were brought off the street.
• On the docket next week: L.A. County supervisors will hear about the findings of a long-awaited report from the McChrystal Group into what went wrong during the Eaton fire. The 132-page report found that poor communication, understaffing and a lack of adequate planning amid the chaotic conditions contributed to the failures.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

There are now just two City Hall incumbents who remain unopposed in their bids for reelection.

So how did Councilmembers Tim McOsker and Hugo Soto–Martínez get so lucky, at least for now? And what do they have in common?

At first glance, not a ton. One is a boomer grandfather who has forgotten more about City Hall machinations than most of us will ever know.

The other is a millennial leftist who ousted an incumbent three years ago.

McOsker, the City Hall veteran and proud son of the San Pedro docks, hails from one of the more conservative districts in the city, which stretches from Watts through Harbor Gateway down to San Pedro. Soto-Martínez, the democratic socialist former union organizer, represents what is arguably the most progressive (and hippest) district in the city: a densely packed collection of neighborhoods that includes Silver Lake, Echo Park, Atwater and Hollywood.

In our new era of L.A. city politics, where incumbents are far less inviolable than they once were, it’s rare to see two go entirely unopposed.

Of course, it’s very possible that one or both of the men get opponents before the June primary, which is still more than eight months away. But in the meantime, let’s explore a few factors that may be keeping the wolves at bay:

• Both council members are heavily backed by labor, one of the most powerful forces in Los Angeles politics. (A dozen different union locals and labor groups have already contributed to McOsker’s reelection campaign; Soto-Martínez previously worked at Unite Here Local 11, a group with deep influence on the council.) That could be one component of what’s discouraging potential challengers, particularly because labor groups would be all but guaranteed to go hard in either race.

• Four members of the current council, including Soto-Martínez, won their seats by ousting an incumbent. All four hit their opponents from the left, with digital organizing savvy and the support of grassroots progressive groups.

  Sure, someone could technically oust an incumbent without being a millennial endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America. But no one’s done it in a couple of decades. Which brings us back to Soto-Martínez’s race: There’s not much room to challenge him from the left, given that he’s already been endorsed by the rest of the council’s left bloc. A more moderate challenger is arguably the likelier option, and there has been plenty of talk about a potential business-backed candidate. No takers yet, though.

• Moving our theorizing south to the harbor area, San Pedro doubles as the financial and power base of the 15th council district. It’s also a place where the McOsker name is ubiquitous — second, perhaps, only to Hahn in terms of local clout. The councilman also appears to be genuinely well-liked on his home turf.

  It’s certainly possible that an opponent could arise from Watts, Harbor Gateway, Harbor City or Wilmington. But it’s hard to imagine a San Pedran with the muscle necessary to wage a serious City Council campaign going against McOsker (and, by extension, the local San Pedro political machine).

All of which is a very long way of saying that anything could happen in the months to come. But for now, Soto-Martínez and McOsker are both on a glide path to another term.

“Since we took office, we’ve worked to grow our coalition to build a city that works for working people. We’ve proud of our first three years, but we know there’s so much more work ahead,” Soto-Martínez said Friday.

McOsker said he remained focused on bringing resources to every corner of the district, from Watts to the waterfront.

“Representing the people of the One-Five has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life, and, for as long as I’m entrusted with this responsibility, my focus will be on lifting up our neighborhoods and delivering as much as we can for our residents,” he added.

State of play

—CONVENTION CONTENTION: L.A.’s political leaders took what is, in the view of their own policy experts, a risky bet: pour billions of dollars into its aging Convention Center in the hope that it will breathe new life into downtown and the region’s economy. As my colleagues David Zahniser and Noah Goldberg report, the City Council approved a $2.6-billion expansion plan Friday in an 11-2 vote, despite warnings from their own advisors that the project will draw taxpayer funds away from city services for decades to come. There was huge pressure from labor to support the project. Only Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Katy Yaroslavsky opposed.

— MEJIA PLAYS DEFENSE Former state legislator Isadore Hall announced his bid for city controller this week, meaning Controller Kenneth Mejia may have an actual race ahead of him.

— WHITHER, MONICA? After whipping up a frenzy about her 2026 intentions, Councilmember Monica Rodriguez finally filed paperwork to fundraise for her council reelection. She did not answer when asked if this means she has ruled out a bid for controller or mayor.

— BILLABLE HOURS: Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s hefty legal bills submitted to the city on a high-stakes homelessness case drew the ire of some members of City Council. But despite those concerns, the council still approved a fivefold increase to its contract with the law firm this week.

— STILL NO PERMANENT FIRE CHIEF: The council voted Tuesday to extend interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva‘s contract for another six months.

— MUZZLING CRITICISM? A new policy requires L.A. County oversight officials to have many communications “reviewed, approved and coordinated” before going public. As my colleague Connor Sheets reports, critics are raising concerns about the policy and its implications.

— VALLEY BATTLE: Encino Neighborhood Council member Josh Sautter announced Friday that he’ll challenge Rep. Brad Sherman in next year’s election. Jake Levine, a one-time special assistant at the National Security Council, is also trying to unseat the 70-year-old incumbent.

— COMPETITION INCOMING: We’ve learned a little more about the New York Post’s westward expansion in recent days, as they’ve dropped a number of job listings. The list includes a full-time reporter slated to cover Los Angeles City Hall.

— TAKE A SEAT: After a year of virtual meetings, the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council will return to in-person meetings at Boyle Heights City Hall beginning next week, the Boyle Heights Beat reports.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? Bass’ initiative addressed an RV encampment in Harbor City, according to the mayor’s office.
• On the docket next week: City Council will be on recess Tuesday and Wednesday. Friday’s meeting will be in Van Nuys.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

The US Geological Survey described the earthquake as an ‘aftershock’ from the massive magnitude 8.8 quake that struck region in July.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake has struck the Kamchatka region in Russia’s Far East in what the US Geological Survey has called an “aftershock” from a massive earlier quake in July.

The quake early on Friday triggered a series of tsunami warnings in the region, but despite waves reaching some shores, there were no reports of damage.

The US Geological Survey said the quake was caused by “shallow reverse faulting” at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles) and was followed by a series of aftershocks, measuring up to a magnitude of 5.8.

Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said the quake had a magnitude of 7.2.

Kamchatka regional Governor Vladimir Solodov said all emergency services had been placed in a state of high readiness, but no damage had been reported so far.

“This morning is once again testing the resilience of Kamchatka residents,” Solodov wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Immediately after the earthquake, we began a rapid inspection of social institutions and residential buildings.”

A tsunami warning was issued for the eastern shore of the peninsula, jutting far out into the Bering Sea and Pacific Ocean.

Other officials reported tsunami waves of 30 to 62 centimetres (1 to 2 feet) at various points along the coast of the peninsula.

A tsunami warning was also issued for parts of the Kuril island chain, north of Japan, the Emergencies Ministry said.

Videos uploaded to social media captured the moment of the quake, showing people’s light fittings shaking, furniture rattling, and cars parked in the street rocking while their security alarms sounded.

The US National Weather Service and Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami advisory for parts of Alaska following the quake, but the warning was later lifted.

Kamchatka is located in a highly seismic area, and at least two quakes with a magnitude greater than 7.0 have occurred in the past week.

An earthquake in July reached a magnitude of 8.8 and triggered a tsunami that flooded a seaport town and activated warnings across the entire Pacific.

🌋Scientists who landed on the volcano filmed the moment of the earthquake in #Kamchatka.

Footage of the powerful #earthquake in Kamchatka has appeared online.

In the first video, recorded by specialists from one of the research centers, a helicopter that has just dropped off a… pic.twitter.com/tboMJLaaxi

— News.Az (@news_az) September 13, 2025

Even in picturesque California, few landscapes are as stunning – or as fragile – as Big Sur. The constant storms and seismic activity that forged its dramatic cliffs and canyons also make its infrastructure a nightmare to maintain.

The primary road through the region, world-famous Highway 1, which clings to cliffs high above the Pacific Ocean in postcard worthy fashion, is almost constantly closed by landslides, isolating communities and stranding weary travelers.

Local hiking trails don’t fare much better.

The Pfeiffer Falls Trail intersects with the Valley View Trail, a lovely loop that provides gorgeous views of the state park clear out to the Pacific.

(Lisa Winner / Save the Redwoods League)

So, as if they had just taken a deep breath and crossed their fingers, California State Parks officials announced this week that one of the region’s most beloved hikes, the Pfeiffer Falls Trail, will finally reopen after a towering redwood collapsed in a 2023 storm taking out its signature pedestrian bridge.

The trail, a .75 mile stroll that cuts through Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and ends with a stunning view of a 60-foot waterfall, is one of the prime draws for a park that attracts roughly 750,000 people each year.

For such a short walk, the trail has a long history.

In 2008, the 162,818-acre Basin Complex Fire devastated much of the route and surrounding forest. It took $2 million and nearly 13 years to complete a renovation project — removing aged and damaged concrete, rerouting the trail and constructing the bridge — to finally reopen the hike in June 2021.

About 18-months later, that storm arrived and a towering redwood crashed the party.

The Pfeiffer Falls Bridge in 2023 after a giant redwood fell on part of the structure, closing the trail.

(California State Parks)

The tree splintered a 15-foot section of the bridge. Crews salvaged much of the original structure but replaced the damaged section with fiber-reinforced polymer in the hope of making the span stronger and more resilient to its unforgiving environment.

“It’s unfortunate that the trail had to close so soon after our original renovations,” said Matthew Gomez, senior parks program manager for Save the Redwoods League, a non-profit that helped with the repairs. “But our close partnership with California State Parks allowed us to rebuild the bridge better than ever.”

It is a truly spectacular hike. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Australian PM Albanese fails to sign mutual defence pact a week after also failing to sign security deal with Vanuatu.

Australia has failed to secure a defence treaty with Papua New Guinea (PNG) that would have seen their militaries commit to defending each other in the case of an armed attack.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG Prime Minister James Marape signed a “defence communique” in the capital Port Moresby on Wednesday instead of the anticipated mutual defence treaty.

Albanese’s failure to sign the defence deal with PNG, the largest Pacific Island nation, comes on the heels of last week’s failed attempt by the Australian prime minister to secure a security partnership with fellow Pacific nation Vanuatu.

Both security deals are seen as part of Australia’s push to counter China as a rising power in the Pacific region.

Waiting a little longer to sign the treaty with PNG was “perfectly understandable”, Albanese told reporters, adding that he expected it to be signed in the “coming weeks”.

“The wording has been agreed to. The communique today, as signed, outlines precisely what is in the treaty,” Albanese said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Joint communique between Papua New Guinea and Australia on a Mutual Defence Treaty, signed today. 🇵🇬🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/rSUCHPLCJW

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) September 17, 2025

Marape told reporters there was “no sticking point”, suggesting that the mutual defence treaty could be signed shortly.

Marape also said that China had no hand in delaying the signing of the deal with Australia.

The Australian prime minister said earlier that the delay was due to a meeting of the PNG cabinet failing to reach a quorum of members to endorse the treaty.

Vanuatu security partnership also delayed

Last week, officials in Vanuatu said that the government’s coalition partners required further scrutiny of the security partnership with Australia, worth some $500 million Australian dollars ($326.5m), as there were fears it could limit the country’s access to infrastructure funding from other countries.

China is Vanuatu’s largest external creditor and has provided loans for Chinese firms to undertake major infrastructure projects in the country.

PNG’s Marape struck a more optimistic tone on Wednesday, telling journalists that it was in his country’s and Australia’s mutual interests to work side by side on defence.

“I made a conscious choice that Australia remains our security partner of choice,” Marape said, according to the Reuters news agency.

Australia’s delays in sowing deeper defence ties with PNG and Vanuatu in the Pacific region come as the much-vaunted AUKUS submarine deal between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, remains under a cloud amid a review of the original 2021 deal by the Pentagon.

US defence officials have said they ordered the review to reassess if it was in line with President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.

Despite the review, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said in June that he was confident that the AUKUS plan to provide Australia with closely-guarded US nuclear propulsion technology, worth hundreds of billions of dollars, to build next-generation nuclear submarines would proceed.

In a tetchy exchange with an Australian reporter on Tuesday, Trump revealed that Albanese would be visiting him shortly in Washington, DC.

When asked whether it was appropriate for a president to have so many business dealings, Trump told the ABC reporter that he was “hurting” relations between the US and Australia.

“You’re hurting Australia. In my opinion, you are hurting Australia very much right now, and they want to get along with me,” Trump told the reporter.

“You know, your leader is coming over to see me very soon. I’m going to tell him about you. You set a very bad tone,” Trump said, before sharply telling the reporter to be “quiet”.

Albanese is scheduled to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Noah Goldberg, with an assist from David Zahniser, giving you the latest on city and county government.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez does not run. As in, she is not a runner.

So why did she post an Instagram reel on a new personal account Tuesday of herself inside a Foot Locker, asking a salesperson for recommendations for a running shoe?

“I am an avid precinct walker,” Rodriguez said in an interview with The Times on Tuesday, hours after she posted the reel. “I needed a pair of new shoes — good supportive shoes for my run, and the announcements will be imminent.”

The North Valley councilmember bought the Cloud 6 On running shoes highlighted in the video. Now, rumors are flying around City Hall about what she may be considering running for — if not a marathon.

The three options being bandied about are a run to challenge Mayor Karen Bass in the upcoming 2026 election, a possible run for controller against Kenneth Mejia, or just a cheekily mysterious announcement of her reelection bid for her own council seat.

“It’s clear she’s weighing options which may include running for mayor against Mayor Bass,” said Sam Yebri, a lawyer who is board president of Thrive LA, a moderate PAC focused on quality-of-life issues in the city. (Yebri commented with a clapping hands emoji on Rodriguez’s Instagram post, and Thrive LA responded, “We’re ready!”)

Rodriguez would not say what her plans are for 2026, though she said that more social media posts will be forthcoming and that she is definitely running for something.

The councilmember has been a sharp critic of the mayor for years now. She has lambasted the mayor’s signature Inside Safe homelessness program, arguing that it lacks transparency. She has also repeatedly called for the council to end the mayor’s state of emergency on homelessness, even though she voted for it when it was first passed.

“We were supposed to get reports on what money was spent on. It took until 2024 that we were finally told how much Inside Safe was costing per room, per night,” Rodriguez said in an interview.

Rodriguez said she and other councilmembers had to fight to even get information released on where Inside Safe was conducting cleanup operations and where homeless residents were sent after the operations.

The councilmember also opposed the mayor’s ousting of Fire Chief Kristin Crowley following the January wildfires, saying that Bass used Crowley to deflect criticism of her own absence in Ghana at the start of the conflagrations. She also called on the mayor to reinstate Crowley.

“On Jan. 7, she was praising the fire chief and her response,” Rodriguez said at the time. “And then it appears, as the heat kicked up [over] her absence, she continued to try and attribute blame to someone else.”

Rodriguez was first elected in 2017 to the seventh district and was reelected in 2022.

If she were to announce a mayoral run, she would be Bass’ first major opponent.

There has also been speculation about Rick Caruso, the billionaire owner of the Grove shopping mall, potentially running against Bass again after losing to her last time, though he is also considering a bid for governor. Both he and Rodriguez are more conservative than Bass.

Rodriguez still has not filed for a reelection campaign for her seat, even as two others have joined the field.

“I know there were rumors she was considering a run for mayor. … So more or less, I’m seeing if she is going to run [for her council seat] or if she isn’t,” said Michael Ebenkamp, a former president of the North Hills Neighborhood Council who has filed to run for the District 7 council seat.

Rick Taylor, a political consultant, said that Rodriguez is interested in running for mayor but not likely to do it.

“She’s intrigued, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t think she’s going to pull the trigger,” he said.

A serious mayoral campaign is expensive, and Taylor said he doesn’t believe that Rodriguez can easily raise the $8 million to $10 million necessary to be a viable candidate.

“Monica is not Rick Caruso. She can’t put $100 million of her own in,” Taylor said. “I think most likely she will be councilwoman of the seventh district at the end of it all, but I think she’s keeping her options open.”

State of play

— SUPREME DECISION: The Supreme Court ruled Monday that U.S. immigration agents can stop and detain anyone they believe is in the country illegally, even if that suspicion is based solely on a person’s job, the language they speak or the color of their skin. The justices voted 6-3 to lift an L.A. judge’s order that had barred “roving patrols” from grabbing people off SoCal streets.

— FLAME OUT: It was a late night surprise: L.A.’s mayor, working with former State Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, persuaded several lawmakers to carry a bill rewriting Measure ULA, the so-called mansion tax. Bass and Hertzberg said the changes would boost housing production while also cutting off support for an anti-tax measure being prepared for the ballot next year. But just as suddenly, Bass pulled the plug, saying the proposal needed more work. The plan is to bring it back in January.

— TAKE A (WAGE) HIKE: The business group seeking to repeal the hotel and airport workers’ minimum wage hike via a ballot measure failed to gather enough signatures, city officials said. The L.A. Alliance for Tourism, Jobs and Progress hoped to get voters to roll back the ordinance passed by the City Council in May but fell short of getting the measure on the ballot by 9,000 signatures.

— HOUSING BILL MARCHES ON: The controversial housing bill that would override local zoning laws and allow high-density buildings near public transit continued its march toward law Thursday. The California Assembly passed SB79 in a 41-17 vote. On Friday, the Senate approved it, 21 to 8. Now, it needs only the governor’s signature to become law.

— CHIEF UPDATE: Bass has hired Mitch Kamin to be her third chief of staff in just under three years. Kamin, a lawyer who has fought the Trump administration and provided legal services for underserved communities, will replace Carolyn Webb de Macias.

— UNCONVENTIONAL PRICE: The price tag for renovating the Los Angeles Convention Center has ballooned again. The City Council was informed this week that the project will cost $2.7 billion — an increase of nearly $500 million from six months ago.

— SaMo MONEY MO’ PROBLEMS: The city of Santa Monica could soon declare a fiscal emergency due to an ongoing budget crisis, due in part to more than $200 million in legal payouts related to an alleged sexual abuser who worked for the Police Department.

— LESS ‘LESS-LETHAL’: A U.S. district judge extended restrictions Tuesday that block federal agents and LAPD officers from targeting reporters and nonviolent protesters with crowd control weapons often known as “less-lethal munitions.”

— CLERKED IN: Bass appointed Patrice Lattimore to be the new city clerk. Lattimore has been a chief management analyst for the Office of the City Clerk since 2018, overseeing administrative, budget and personnel functions.

— LEADERSHIP MERGER: Two leadership programs that have produced civic leaders across the state are merging. Coro Southern California and Coro Northern California are becoming, simply, Coro California. Alumni include former Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Alex Padilla and L.A. City Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program was in Council District 9 this week, near the Brotherhood Crusade and an elementary school, clearing an encampment that was a safety concern for people in the area, the mayor’s office said.
• On the docket next week: A report from the mayor on Lattimore’s appointment as city clerk will go before the government operations committee on Tuesday.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has said that there must be a “collective response” to Israel’s attack on the Qatari capital Doha, as Arab leaders rushed to the tiny Gulf nation to express solidarity.

“There is a response that will happen from the region. This response is currently under consultation and discussion with other partners in the region,” he told US media outlet CNN on Wednesday, adding that “the entire Gulf region is at risk”.

“We are hoping for something meaningful that deters Israel from continuing this bullying,” Sheikh Mohammed added, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of leading the region into “chaos”.

“We understand some sort of regional meeting will be held here in Qatar. We know that the countries have pulled together their own legal team. They are looking at all legal avenues to have Netanyahu tried for breaking international law,” Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said.

“So yeah, the pressure is definitely mounting on Israel, not only from Qatar, but obviously on a regional and a wider international level. And that’s what I think he’s obviously trying to do in giving these very forceful statements to the US network, CNN.”

The Israeli military targeted Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday as they were meeting to discuss the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by US President Donald Trump. At least seven people were killed in the attack, but Hamas said its leadership survived the assassination bid. Qatar says two of its security officers were killed in the attack that has drawn global condemnation.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Israel’s attack in a phone call with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. “These strikes are unacceptable. I condemn them. I reaffirmed France’s commitment to the sovereignty and security of Qatar,” he posted on X.

The attack was part of a wider wave of Israeli strikes extending beyond its immediate borders, and marked the sixth country attacked in just 72 hours and the seventh since the start of this year. On Wednesday, Israel killed 35 people in an attack on Yemen.

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said on Wednesday that Israel’s strike on Qatar is a warning to oil-rich Gulf countries that they would not be spared in the future if armed groups in the region are defeated.

“We are on the side of Qatar that was subjected to an aggression and we also stand with the Palestinian resistance,” Naim Kassem said. He added that the Israeli strike is part of its attempts to create a “Greater Israel” in large parts of the Middle East.

The “Greater Israel” concept supported by ultranationalist Israelis is understood to refer to an expansionist vision that lays claim to the occupied West Bank, Gaza, parts of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan.

Israel has been accused of committing genocide in Gaza by numerous rights groups, but that has not stopped it from its brutal campaign of bombardment. On Wednesday, Israeli attacks across Gaza killed at least 72 people, taking the total number of Palestinians killed since October 2023 to more than 64,656. Israel has intensified its assault to capture Gaza City – home to more than one million Palestinians.

Sheikh Mohammed, the Qatari prime minister, also said that the Israeli strike was aimed at undermining “any chance of peace” in Gaza.

“Everything about the meeting is very well known to the Israelis and the Americans. It’s not something that we are hiding,” he said of the presence of Hamas officials in Qatar.

“I think that what [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu did yesterday – he just killed any hope for those [Israeli] hostages,” Sheikh Mohammed said about the 20 captives believed to be still alive in Gaza.

Netanyahu appears unfazed

However, Netanyahu appears unfazed by the criticism from global leaders, including the UN secretary-general.

On Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister threatened further attacks on Qatar. “I say to Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will,” Netanyahu said.

Qatar has condemned Netanyahu’s “reckless” comments regarding Qatar’s hosting of the Hamas office. “Netanyahu is fully aware that the hosting of the Hamas office took place within the framework of Qatar’s mediation efforts requested by the United States and Israel,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

It also called out “the shameful attempt therein to justify the cowardly attack that targeted Qatari territory, as well as the explicit threats of future violations of state sovereignty”.

Netanyahu’s threats came despite the US President Donald Trump on Tuesday saying no further attacks would happen on Qatari soil.

The attack on Tuesday was the first such attack by Israel on Qatar, which has been a key mediator in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and hosts the region’s largest United States military base, Al Udeid airbase, which hosts US troops.

The Qatari prime minister, who is also the foreign minister of the Gulf nation, has dubbed Israel’s targeting of Hamas leaders in Doha on Tuesday “state terrorism”.

“I have no words to express how enraged we are from such an action … we are betrayed,” he said in the interview with the cable network.

Netanyahu “needs to be brought to justice. He’s the one who’s wanted at the International Criminal Court. He broke every international law,” Sheikh Mohammed said, referring to the arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister for war crimes.

Arab states express solidarity with Qatar

Meanwhile, Gulf leaders have visited Doha to rally around Qatar, with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan calling the Israeli action “criminal” and a threat to regional stability.

In a meeting on Wednesday with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha, Sheikh Al Nahyan reaffirmed his country’s “resolute solidarity with Qatar and its steadfast support for all measures taken to safeguard its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the safety of its people”, according to the UAE state media outlet WAM.

“He [Sheikh Al Nahyan] stressed that the criminal attack constituted a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and of all international laws and norms, warning that such actions threaten the region’s security, stability, and prospects for peace,” WAM added.

The crown princes of Kuwait and Jordan also travelled to Doha on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, will arrive in Doha on Thursday.

“We will stand with the State of Qatar in all measures it takes, without limits, and we will harness all our capabilities for that,” Prince Mohammed said in an address to the Shura Council on Wednesday.

“We reject and condemn the attacks of the Israeli occupation in the region, the latest of which was the brutal aggression against the State of Qatar,” the crown prince added.

“This requires Arab, Islamic, and international action to confront this aggression and to take international measures to stop the occupation authority and deter it from its criminal practices aimed at destabilising the region’s security and stability.”

In a brief interview with reporters on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said he was “not thrilled” about Israel’s strike.

“This was a decision made by [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Still, it remains unclear whether the Trump administration had been caught off guard, whether the US had indicated even tacit approval for such a strike, or if the attack could represent a rupture in Washington’s “ironclad” support for Israel.

Independent Middle East Analyst Adam Shapiro said if the US was not made aware of the attack, it was not “something new”.

“I think this is just simply the way Israel continually acts as the tail wagging the US dog, doing what it wishes, when it wishes, and getting what it wants, according to a double standard,” he told Al Jazeera.

With temperatures of 25C in September and crystal-blue water, this underrated holiday hotspot is a must-visit for those looking to escape the crowds in September.

Italy is a favourite destination for late-summer and early-autumn beach holidays, thanks to its warm weather and status as one of the world’s most visited countries. Even during the shoulder season, top spots like Florence, Rome, and the Amalfi Coast are teeming with tourists.

However, there’s an under-the-radar region in this southern European country that remains largely untouched by international crowds – but probably not for much longer. This stunning part of Italy boasts sandy beaches so pristine they’re likened to the Maldives and enjoys balmy weather with average highs of 25C in September.

While Italians are well-acquainted with Puglia, it’s not usually the first place that springs to mind when planning a beach holiday in Europe.

Nestled between the Adriatic and Ionian seas and shaped like the heel of Italy’s boot, Puglia has a vast coastline peppered with dreamy coves, limestone cliffs and picture-perfect bays.

Among them is Polignano a Mare, a delightful coastal town perched on cliffs. Its small cove beach, Lama Monachile, is famous for its crystal-clear water and white pebbles, all framed by dramatic, rugged cliffs, reports the Express.

Further down south, Santa Maria di Leuca is the southernmost point of the region where two seas converge.

It’s an ideal spot for a sunset cruise or paddleboarding into caves before enjoying dinner at a local trattoria serving fresh seafood, orecchiette pasta, and robust Salento wine.

Inland, you’ll find the enchanting town of Alberobello, renowned for its UNESCO-listed trulli – traditional whitewashed stone huts with conical roofs. Many have been transformed into luxurious holiday accommodations, offering a truly local experience.

Just a short drive away, the dazzling white town of Ostuni, also known as La Città Bianca, boasts cobbled lanes and panoramic terraces. Nearby Brindisi provides easy access to the region, often with cheaper flights than other Italian hubs.

Puglia also serves as the perfect starting point for exploring the incredibly popular Matera in the neighbouring Basilicata region.

It’s the third-oldest city in the world, after Aleppo and Jericho, boasting over 10,000 years of history, and is famous for its ancient cave homes and rupestrian churches with hand-painted walls.

Naturally, no visit to Puglia would be complete without delving into its food culture. This is the land of burrata, orecchiette, and full-bodied wines like Primitivo, Negroamaro, and Salice Salentino.