request

Denise Richards’ estranged husband Aaron Phypers must continue to keep his distance from the actor and reality TV star as they move forward in their acrimonious divorce.

A Los Angeles judge on Friday granted the former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star’s request to make her temporary restraining order against Phypers permanent. Richards was granted a five-year restraining order that restricts Phypers from buying or owning guns, contacting her or abusing her, among other restrictions, according to People. The order will expire Nov. 7, 2030.

Legal representatives for Richards and Phypers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

The judgment comes after months of contentious hearings that uncovered scathing allegations about their relationship including accusations of infidelity, drug addiction and abuse.

Businessman Phypers, 53, filed to divorce Richards, 54, in July after six years of marriage. He cited irreconcilable differences and requested spousal support. According to court documents, Phypers said he has earned no money since closing down a business last year and estimates “Starship Troopers” actor Richards makes more than $250,000 a month from several business ventures including brand deals, TV and OnlyFans content. Phypers has asked to keep their assets and debts as separate property, including his power tools, motorcycle and sports car, legal documents showed.

Richards and Phypers began dating in 2017 and married in September 2018 in a private ceremony in Malibu. They share no children, though Richards has three: two daughters she shares with ex-husband Charlie Sheen and a teenage daughter she adopted as an infant. Phypers was previously married to “Desperate Housewives” star Nicollette Sheridan from 2015 to 2018.

Weeks after Phypers filed for divorce, Richards fired back and offered a damning account of their marriage. She accused her estranged spouse of abuse, death threats and possession of unregistered weapons in a request for a temporary restraining order that was granted by the Los Angeles County Superior Court in July. Phypers, who denied the allegations, at the time was ordered to stay 100 yards away from Richards and her car, workplace and home, and was told he could not possess firearms or body armor.

“Wild Things” actor Richards referred to abuse that allegedly occurred during their marriage, including between July 4 and July 14, after she had moved out of the family home and into three townhouses that she uses separately as a studio, an office and her residence.

Since July, the pair have fiercely traded barbs in public statements and legal documents. Phypers accused Richards of cheating on him with another man and of scaring his parents when she arrived at their Calabasas home in early August to retrieve her dogs, among other allegations. In court documents, Richards accused Phypers and his family of refusing to vacate that Calabasas abode after allegedly failing repeatedly to pay rent for the property. She also accused the Canadian and his family of trashing the home.

Amid their legal battle, Phypers was arrested in October after a heated courthouse hearing. Law enforcement took Phypers into custody and charged him with two felony counts of injuring a spouse and two felony counts of dissuading a witness by force or threat, according to TMZ. He was swiftly released after posting $200,000 bond.

Times assistant editor Christie D’Zurilla contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Friday he’s considering granting Hungary an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy as he sat down with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the White House. “We’re looking at it because its very difficult for him to get the oil and gas from other areas,” Trump said.

Orbán said it’s a “vital” issue for his landlocked country, and said he planned to discuss with Trump the “consequences for the Hungarian people” if the sanctions took effect.

In comments on Friday, Orbán said he would present Trump with several “suggestions” for implementing an exemption.

“I’m not asking for some kind of gift from the Americans or some kind of unusual thing. I am simply asking for the realization that the sanctions recently imposed on Russian energy puts certain countries like Hungary, which do not have access to the sea, in an impossible situation,” Orbán said on state radio. “I’m going to ask the president to acknowledge that.”

A large delegation of cabinet members, business leaders and numerous right-wing political influencers with close connections to Hungary’s government accompanied Orbán to Washington. The delegation rented a 220-passenger commercial jet from Hungarian carrier Wizz Air for the journey.

Prior to Orbán’s arrival on Thursday, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a resolution calling on Hungary to end its dependence on Russian energy.

The resolution was co-signed by 10 senators including Republicans Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, as well as Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Chris Coons of Delaware. It “expresses concern that Hungary has shown no sign of reducing its dependence on Russian fossil fuels,” and urges Budapest to adhere to a European Union plan to cease all Russian energy imports into the bloc by the end of 2027.

“Europe has made extraordinary progress cutting its energy ties with Moscow, but Hungary’s actions continue to undermine collective security and embolden the Kremlin,” Shaheen wrote in a statement. The resolution, she continued, “sends a clear message that when it comes to buying Russian energy, all allies should be held to the same standard, and that includes Hungary.”

On Friday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Washington that he will sign a bilateral nuclear energy cooperation agreement with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Hungarian state news agency MTI.

The deal will involve Hungary’s first-ever purchases of American nuclear fuel, which it currently buys from Russia, and introduce U.S. technology for the on-site storage of spent fuel at Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant. The agreement will also include cooperation on small modular reactors.

After arriving in Washington, Orbán and some of his top officials met with Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who in September was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after an election loss. Orbán posted on social media: “We stand firmly with the Bolsonaros in these challenging times — friends and allies who never give up. Keep fighting: political witch-hunts have no place in democracy, truth and justice must prevail!”

Megerian and Spike write for the Associated Press. Spike reported from Budapest

Will Cinerama Dome ever reopen? Maybe.

Dome Center LLC, the company that owns the property along Sunset Boulevard upon which the iconic movie venue stands, filed an application for a conditional-use permit to sell alcohol for on-site consumption at the Cinerama Dome Theater and adjoined multiplex Tuesday.

According to the application filed by the company’s representative, Elizabeth Peterson-Gower of Place Weavers Inc., Dome Center is seeking a new permit that would “allow for the continued sale and dispensing of a full line of alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption in conjunction with the existing Cinerama Dome Theater, 14 auditoriums within the Arclight Cinemas Theater Complex, and restaurant/cafe with two outdoor dining terraces from 7:00 am – 4:00 am, daily.” This would be a renewal of the current 10-year permit, which expires Nov. 5.

The findings document filed with the City Planning Department also mentions that “when the theater reopens, it will bring additional jobs to Hollywood and reactivate the adjacent streets, increasing safety and once again bringing vibrancy to the surrounding area.” No timetable for this reopening was indicated.

A representative for Dome Center LLC did not respond immediately Friday to a request for comment.

The Cinerama Dome, which first opened in 1963, has been closed since it was shut down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. After it was announced in April 2021 that the beloved theater would remained closed even after the pandemic, it was revealed in December of that year that there were plans for the Cinerama Dome and the attached theater complex to eventually reopen.

In 2022, news that the property owners obtained a liquor license for the renamed “Cinerama Hollywood” fueled the L.A. film-loving community’s hope that the venue was still on track to return. But the Cinerama Dome’s doors have remained closed.

At a public hearing regarding the adjacent Blue Note Jazz Club in June, Peterson reportedly indicated that while there were not yet any definitive plans, the property owners had reached out to her to discuss the Cinerama Dome next. Perhaps this new permit application is a sign plans are finally coming together.

“Little Mermaid” star Halle Bailey and her rapper ex-boyfriend DDG decided this week to temporarily put their differences aside in their months-long custody battle over their 1-year-old son, Halo.

The pair of musicians, who dated from 2022 to 2024, agreed to drop their mutual domestic violence restraining order requests and settled on temporary custody terms to co-parent their child, according to a stipulation filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The stipulation, signed by both parties, is a significant development in the exes’ dispute, which came to a head in the summer.

When Bailey (of the “Do It” sister-singer duo Chloë x Halle) and DDG (born Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr.) announced their split in October 2024, the latter said “we are still best friends and adore each other” and would work to co-parent their son. But tension between the exes surfaced in May after Bailey secured a temporary restraining order alleging the father of her child was abusive throughout their two-year relationship and had continued to behave badly since their breakup. “Darryl has been and continues to be physically, verbally, emotionally, and financially abusive towards me,” she said at the time, according to court documents. Bailey, 25, requested that DDG, 28, be ordered to stay away from her and their son.

Influencer DDG, known for the 2016 single “Balenciaga,” fired back with allegations against Bailey and a request for his own domestic violence restraining order. He accused his ex-girlfriend of “emotional instability and coercive control,” raised concern about her “repeated threats of suicide and self-harm” and alleged instances where she “endangered the child’s safety while in emotional distress.”

Though the stipulation states both Bailey and DDG must “immediately dismiss” their restraining order requests, they can each file new requests in case of future abuse.

Court documents say that Bailey will have physical custody over Halo except on Wednesdays and certain weekends. The stipulation also outlines a custody agreement for birthdays and the upcoming holidays.

The latest court documents also address each parent’s social media use, which proved to be a point of contention after the breakup. Notably, DDG brought baby Halo with him for Twitch star Kai Cenat’s livestream in November 2024.

“Neither party shall post, upload or disseminate on the internet or any social media platforms, photographs, images, and or/information regarding the Minor Child,” court documents say. Friends and family of the two musicians are also barred from posting about Halo. Additionally, neither Bailey nor DDG can “disparage the party publicly” or in the presence of their child, who turns 2 in December.

Bailey was a fan of DDG years before they became an item. After sparking up a romance via social media DMs, the former pair made their red carpet debut at the 2022 BET Awards. The singer was vocal about how she was smitten with DDG, telling Essence the romance was her “first deep, deep, real love.”

Through their time together, the former couple faced their share of ups and downs — including DDG’s diss track about his ex’s starring role in “The Little Mermaid” and some criticism from Bailey’s older sister Ski Bailey.

Halle Bailey currently has more than just family matters on her plate.

She released her debut solo album, “Love?…or Something Like It,” on Friday. Upon announcing the release earlier this month, she said on Instagram that the project is a “story of first love, heartbreak, and everything that comes after.”

Times assistant editor Christie D’Zurilla and editorial library director Cary Schneider contributed to this report.

Chris Evans might need some new superhero gear for his next gig. Perhaps a supercharged stroller?

The Marvel alum, 44, and his wife, Portuguese actor Alba Baptista, 28, on Friday welcomed their first child together in Evans’ home state of Massachusetts, People reported Tuesday. The couple named their newborn daughter Alma Grace Baptista Evans, according to the outlet.

Representatives for Evans and Baptista did not reply immediately Tuesday to The Times’ request for comment.

Evans and Baptista, who began dating around 2021, wed in 2023 in a pair of ceremonies in Cape Cod and Portugal, Evans explained amid much fanfare during a panel that year at New York Comic Con. The couple’s East Coast nuptials were attended by Evans’ fellow Marvel legends Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Page Six reported at the time.

During the Comic Con panel, Evans called the festivities “wonderful and beautiful,” but said that he and his belle were happy to be winding down after the whole ordeal.

“Planning a wedding, it’s a lot,” he said. “For those of you who are married, you know, it takes a lot out of you, but now that we’re through that, we’ve just kinda been enjoying life and gearing up for autumn, my favorite season. It’s like the best time of year right now. … Now we’re just relaxing and enjoying life and reflecting.”

Evans last year confided about his aspirations toward fatherhood to “Access Hollywood,” saying he “absolutely” hoped to be a “superhero dad” like his “Red One” co-star Dwayne Johnson.

“The title of ‘dad’ is an exciting one,” the actor said.

Since passing Captain America’s shield to Anthony Mackie in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” Evans has flexed his creative muscles with high(er) brow indies including Celine Song’s buzzy romance “Materialists” and Ethan Coen’s dark detective comedy “Honey Don’t.”

But despite intel from the source himself, Marvel die-hards aren’t buying that Evans’ time with the franchise has come to a close. They’ll know once and for all come December, when “Avengers: Doomsday” hits theaters.

Baptista for her part has tacked several film credits onto to her resume since Netflix canceled her cult-favorite series “Warrior Nun” in 2022. She is notably slated to appear in A24’s upcoming film “Mother Mary,” which will feature original songs by Charli XCX and Jack Antonoff and an ensemble cast including FKA Twigs and Hunter Schafer of “Euphoria” fame.

The Trump administration is sending federal agents to San Francisco following weeks of threats from the president to deploy the National Guard to the Bay Area.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom released a statement on X confirming and criticizing the agents’ upcoming arrival. He called deployment a “page right out of the dictator’s handbook” intended to create the conditions of unrest necessary to then send in the National Guard.

“He sends out masked men, he sends out Border Patrol, he sends out ICE, he creates anxiety and fear in the community so that he can lay claim to solving that by sending in the [National] Guard,” said Newsom. “This is no different than the arsonist putting out the fire.”

Around 100 federal agents, including members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, are en route to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Alameda base, according to reporting from the San Francisco Chronicle. The Coast Guard and DHS did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Trump has suggested for weeks that San Francisco is next on his list for National Guard deployment, after the administration sent troops to Los Angeles and Chicago and is battling in court to send them to Portland, Ore.

On Sunday, Trump told Fox News, “We’re going to San Francisco and we’ll make it great. It’ll be great again.”

Trump has suggested that the role of the National Guard in San Francisco would be to address crime rates. However, the National Guard is generally not allowed to perform domestic law enforcement duties when federalized by the president.

In September, he said that cities with Democratic political leadership such as San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles “are very unsafe places and we are going to straighten them out.”

Trump said he told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that “we should use some of these dangerous cities as training for our military, our national guard.”

Newsom urged Californians to remain peaceful in the face of the arrival of federal agents.

“President Trump and [White House Deputy Chief of Staff] Stephen Miller’s authoritarian playbook is coming for another of our cities, and violence and vandalism are exactly what they’re looking for to invoke chaos,” said Newsom on X.

The sending of federal agents to San Francisco comes as the Trump administration continues to crack down on immigration across the nation in an attempt to carry out what the president has proclaimed is the largest deportation effort in U.S. history.

In a rare public rebuke, the Los Angeles City Council pressed the city’s top lawyer to abandon her attempt to halt a federal judge’s order prohibiting LAPD officers from targeting journalists with crowd control weapons.

One day before “No Kings” demonstrations against the Trump administration were set to launch in L.A. and elsewhere, the council voted 12-0 to direct City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto to withdraw her request to lift the order.

Hours later, Feldstein Soto’s legal team did just that, informing the judge it was pulling back its request — around the same time the judge rejected it.

Since June, the city has been hit with dozens of legal claims from protesters and journalists who reported that LAPD officers used excessive force against them during protests over Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The lawsuit that prompted the judge’s ban was brought by the Los Angeles Press Club and the news outlet Status Coup, who pointed to video evidence and testimonials suggesting that LAPD officers violated their own guidelines, as well as state law, by shooting journalists and others in sensitive parts of the body, such as the head, with weapons that launch projectiles the size of a mini soda can at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour.

“Journalism is under attack in this country — from the Trump Administration’s revocation of press access to the Pentagon to corporate consolidation of local newsrooms,” Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who introduced the motion opposing Feldstein Soto’s legal filing, said in a statement. “The answer cannot be for Los Angeles to join that assault by undermining court-ordered protections for journalists.”

In a motion filed Wednesday, Feldstein Soto’s legal team sought a temporary stay of the order issued by U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera. She reiterated her earlier argument that Vera’s ban was overly broad, extending protections to “any journalist covering a protest in [the City of] Los Angeles.”

The city’s lawyers also argued that the ban, which bars the LAPD from using so-called less lethal munitions against journalists and nonviolent protesters, creates “ambiguous mandates” that jeopardize “good-faith conduct” by officers and pose “immediate and concrete risk to officer and public safety.”

In addition to Feldstein Soto’s request for a temporary stay, the city has filed an appeal of Vera’s injunction. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is taking up the appeal, with a hearing tentatively set for mid-November.

Council members have become increasingly vocal about their frustrations with the city attorney’s office. Two months ago, they voiced alarm that an outside law firm billed the city $1.8 million in just two weeks — double the amount authorized by the council. They have also grown exasperated over the rising cost of legal payouts, which have consumed a steadily larger portion of the city budget.

After Feldstein Soto’s motion was reported by LAist, several city council members publicly distanced themselves from her and condemned her decision.

In a sternly worded statement before Friday’s vote, Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez wrote that the city attorney’s “position does not speak for the full City Council.”

“The LAPD should NEVER be permitted to use force against journalists or anyone peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights,” said the statement from Soto-Martínez, who signed Hernandez’s proposal along with Councilmembers Ysabel Jurado and Monica Rodriguez.

On Friday, the council also asked the city attorney’s office to report back within 30 days on “all proactive litigation the Office has moved forward without explicit direction from the City Council or Mayor since July 1, 2024.”

Rodriguez said that Friday’s vote should send a message that the city council needs “to be consulted as a legislative body that is independently elected by the people.”

“What I hope is that this becomes a more permanent act of this body — to exercise its role in oversight,” she said.

Carol Sobel, the civil rights attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs, welcomed the council’s action. Still, she said Feldstein Soto’s filings in the case raise questions about whose interests the city attorney is representing.

“Sometimes you say ‘Mea culpa, we were wrong. We shouldn’t have shot people in the head, despite our policies,’” she said.

Days before the Trump administration was supposed to file its response to a California lawsuit challenging its targeting of gender-affirming care providers, attorneys for the U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge to temporarily halt the proceedings.

Given the federal shutdown, they argued, they just didn’t have the lawyers to do the work.

“Department of Justice attorneys and employees of the federal defendants are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in very limited circumstances, including ‘emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property,’” they wrote in their filing Oct. 1, the first day of the shutdown.

The district judge presiding over the case, which California filed in federal court in Massachusetts along with a coalition of other Democrat-led states, agreed, and promptly granted the request.

It was just one example of the now weeks-old federal shutdown grinding to a halt important litigation between California and the Trump administration, in policy battles with major implications for people’s lives.

The same day, in the same Massachusetts court, Justice Department attorneys were granted a pause in a lawsuit in which California and other states are challenging mass firings at the U.S. Department of Education, after noting that department funding had been suspended and it didn’t know “when such funding will be restored by Congress.”

The same day in U.S. District Court in Central California, the Trump administration asked for a similar pause in a lawsuit that it had brought against California, challenging the state’s refusal to provide its voter registration rolls to the administration.

Justice Department attorneys wrote that they “greatly regret any disruption caused to the Court and the other litigants,” but needed to pause the proceedings until they were “permitted to resume their usual civil litigation functions.”

Since then, the court in Central California has advised the parties of alternative dispute resolution options and outside groups — including the NAACP — have filed motions to intervene in the case, but no major developments have occurred.

The pauses in litigation — only a portion of those that have occurred in courts across the country — were an example of sweeping, real-world, high-stakes effects of the federal government shutdown that average Americans may not consider when thinking about the shutdown’s impact on their lives.

Federal employees working in safety and other crucial roles — such as air traffic controllers — have remained on the job, even without pay, but many others have been forced to stay home. The Justice Department did not spell out which of its attorneys had been benched by the shutdown, but made clear that some who had been working on the cases in question were no longer doing so.

Federal litigation often takes years to resolve, and brief pauses in proceedings are not uncommon. However, extended disruptions — such as one that could occur if the shutdown drags on — would take a toll, forestalling legal answers in some of the most important policy battles in the country.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, whose office has sued the Trump administration more than 40 times since January, has not challenged every request for a pause by the Trump administration — especially in cases where the status quo favors the state.

However, it has challenged pauses in other cases, with some success.

For example, in that same Massachusetts federal courthouse Oct. 1, Justice Department attorneys asked a judge to temporarily halt proceedings in a case in which California and other states are suing to block the administration’s targeted defunding of Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

Their arguments were the same as in the other cases: Given the shutdown, they didn’t have the attorneys to do the necessary legal work.

In response, attorneys for California and the other states pushed back, noting that the shutdown had not stopped Department of Health and Human Services officials from moving forward with the measure to defund Planned Parenthood — so the states’ residents remained at imminent risk of losing necessary healthcare.

“The risks of irreparable harms are especially high because it is unclear how long the lapse in appropriations will continue, meaning relief may not be available for months at which point numerous health centers will likely be forced to close due to a lack of funds,” the states argued.

On Oct. 8, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani denied the government’s request for a pause, finding that the states’ interest in proceeding with the case “outweighs” the administration’s interest in pausing it.

Talwani’s argument, in part, was that her order denying a pause would provide Justice Department officials the legal authority to continue litigating the case despite the shutdown.

Bonta said in a statement that “Trump owns this shutdown” and “the devastation it’s causing to hardworking everyday Americans,” adding that his office will not let Trump use it to cause even more harm by delaying relief in court cases.

“We’re not letting his Administration use this shutdown as an excuse to continue implementing his unlawful agenda unchecked. Until we get relief for Californians, we’re not backing down — and neither are the courts,” Bonta said. “We can’t wait for Trump to finally let our government reopen before these cases are heard.”

Trump and Republicans in Congress have blamed the shutdown on Democrats.

Heartbreak doesn’t feel so good in a place like this. Longtime Hollywood power couple Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have gone their separate ways, according to several reports.

The Oscar-winning actor and the country music star separated and have been living “apart since the beginning of the summer,” TMZ reported Monday. People also confirmed the stars’ split, with a source saying that that Kidman “has been fighting to save the marriage.”

Representatives for Kidman, 58, and Urban, 57, did not respond immediately Monday to requests for comment.

Beloved AMC Theatres spokesperson Kidman and Grammy winner Urban tied the knot in June 2006 and share two teenage daughters who have been under the actor’s care “since Keith has been gone,” TMZ reported. The “Blue Ain’t Your Color” musician has been on the road for his High and Alive world tour, which launched in May. After the American leg of the tour concludes in Nashville in October, he will bring his music overseas beginning March 2026.

Kidman celebrated 19 years of marriage to Urban on social media in June, sharing a black-and-white photo of them backstage. “Happy Anniversary Baby,” she captioned the tender Instagram photo. Urban, who did not post an anniversary photo to the grid, has mainly used his Instagram to promote his musical endeavors in recent months. In May, he shared photos of him and Kidman celebrating his win at the American Country Music Awards.

The Australian stars married in an intimate ceremony in Sydney. Kidman was previously married to “Mission: Impossible” action star Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001. Kidman is Urban’s first wife.

It’s currently unclear whether the spouses will file for divorce.

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Saturday he will send troops to Portland, “authorizing Full Force, if necessary,” to handle “domestic terrorists” in Oregon’s biggest city as he expands his deployments to more American metropolises.

He made the announcement on social media, writing that he was directing the Department of Defense to “provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland.”

Trump said the decision was necessary to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, which he described as “under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for details on Trump’s announcement, such as a timeline for the deployment or what troops would be involved. He previously threatened to send the National Guard into Chicago but has yet to follow through. A deployment in Memphis, Tenn., is expected to include about 150 troops, far fewer than were sent to the District of Columbia for Trump’s crackdown or in Los Angeles in response to immigration protests.

Pentagon officials did not immediately respond to requests for information.

Since the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the Republican president has escalated his efforts to confront what he calls the “radical left,” which he blames for the country’s problems with political violence.

He deployed the National Guard and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles in June as part of his law enforcement takeover in Democratic-run cities.

The ICE facility in Portland has been the target of frequent demonstrations, sometimes leading to violent clashes. Some federal agents have been injured and several protesters have been charged with assault. When protesters erected a guillotine this month, the Department of Homeland Security described it as “unhinged behavior.”

Trump, in comments Thursday in the Oval Office, suggested that some kind of operation was in the works.

“We’re going to get out there and we’re going to do a pretty big number on those people in Portland,” he said, describing them as “professional agitators and anarchists.”

Earlier in September, Trump had described the environment in Portland as “like living in hell” and said he was considering sending in federal troops, as he has recently threatened to do to combat crime in other cities, including Chicago and Baltimore.

“Like other mayors across the country, I have not asked for — and do not need — federal intervention,” Portland’s mayor, Keith Wilson, said in a statement after Trump’s threat. Wilson said his city had protected freedom of expression while “addressing occasional violence and property destruction.”

In Tennessee, Memphis has been bracing for an influx of National Guard troops, and on Friday, Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who helped coordinate the operation, said they will be part of a surge of resources to fight crime in the city. Memphis is led by a Democratic mayor.

Megerian writes for the Associated Press.

Channel 4 viewers have seen husband and wife duo Giles Wood and Mary Killen on Gogglebox since 2015.

On Friday night, Channel 4 viewers tuned in for a brand new episode of Gogglebox, which opened with husband and wife duo Giles Wood and Mary Killen.

The pair, who have been part of the programme since 2015, have become firm fan-favourites on the series for their hilarious dynamic and witty remarks.

Recently, Giles left people in disbelief after sharing a throwback photo of himself online.

However, during the most recent episode, he made an unusual demand when it came to his funeral plans.

He told his wife: “By the way, if I do die, Mary, I want to insist on something. I don’t want Frank Sinatra’s song ‘I did it my way’.”

She replied: “You didn’t do it at all, let alone doing it your way!” The Channel 4 star also told his wife he didn’t want the song Bohemian Rhapsody played.

Mary asked: “No? What do you want?” He commented: “I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday,=.”

Laughing at his remark, she said: “You wouldn’t want that! That would be so annoying.” He added: “Annoying right until the last minute!”

It wasn’t long before people commented on his hilarious request, with one person on X saying: “Giles wanting, ‘I wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ as his funeral song is just the most Giles thing ever. I love it, but pray it doesn’t come for many, many more years to come.”

Although Mary and Giles have been regulars on the series for 10 years, this series welcomed a plethora of fresh faces, including mother and daughter-in-law Sara and Lara, mates Jake and Calum, and family Andre, Sarah and daughter Chee.

This comes as the show bid farewell to Scottish couple Roisin and Joe, who first appeared on Gogglebox in 2022. Earlier this year, they announced they won’t be in the new series as they weren’t asked to return.

In a statement at the time, they wrote: “After three and a half years of sitting on the sofa Channel 4 have decided it’s time for Joe and I to stretch out legs and have not asked us back for season 26.

“Therefore we are leaving the Gogglebox family. We couldn’t be more grateful to Studio Lambert for the opportunity, the experience has actually been so mad and we will miss watching TV with you all on Friday nights!

“It’s been an honour to represent Scotland as some of the first Scottish people on the show and prove we don’t actually need subtitles.”

Gogglebox is available to watch on Channel 4.

Jessica Chastain has publicly challenged Apple TV+ following the streamer’s decision to hold her upcoming series “The Savant.”

Apple TV+ on Tuesday said it would be delaying the release of the show about domestic terrorism, which follows an investigator who infiltrates online hate groups.

Chastain voiced her opposition to the postponement Wednesday on Instagram, writing that she and Apple were “not aligned on the decision to pause the release of The Savant.”

Representatives for Apple TV+ did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

In her Instagram post, Chastain said, “In the last five years since we’ve been making the show, we’ve seen an unfortunate amount of violence in the United States,” going on to cite the Jan. 6 insurrection and the Sept. 10 shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk among instances of political violence in recent years.

“I’ve never shied away from difficult subjects, and while I wish this show wasn’t so relevant, unfortunately it is,” Chastain said.

“The Savant is about the heroes who work every day to stop violence before it happens, and honoring their courage feels more urgent than ever,” she said.

Chastain said she hopes audiences will be able to see the show soon. Apple has not yet announced a new release date for the series.

President Trump has approved federal disaster aid for six states and tribes following storms and floods that occurred this spring and summer.

The disaster declarations, announced Thursday, will allow federal funding to flow to Kansas, North Carolina, North Dakota and Wisconsin, and for tribes in Montana and South Dakota. In each case except Wisconsin, it took Trump more than a month to approve the aid requests from local officials, continuing a trend of longer waits for disaster relief noted by a recent Associated Press analysis.

Trump has now approved more than 30 major natural disaster declarations since taking office in January. Before the latest batch, his approvals had averaged a 34-day wait from the time the relief was requested. For his most recent declarations, that wait ranged from just 15 days following an aid request for Wisconsin flooding in August to 56 days following a tribal request for Montana flooding that occurred in May.

The AP’s analysis showed that delays in approving federal disaster aid have grown over time, regardless of the party in power. On average, it took less than two weeks for requests for a presidential disaster declaration to be granted in the 1990s and early 2000s. That rose to about three weeks during the last decade under presidents from both major parties. During Trump’s first term in office, it took him an average of 24 days to approve requests.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the AP that Trump is providing “a more thorough review of disaster declaration requests than any Administration has before him” to make sure that federal tax dollars are spent wisely.

But delays mean individuals must wait to receive federal aid for daily living expenses, temporary lodging and home repairs. Delays in disaster declarations also can hamper recovery efforts by local officials uncertain whether they will receive federal reimbursement for cleaning up debris and rebuilding infrastructure.

Trump’s latest declarations approved public assistance for local governments and nonprofits in all cases except Wisconsin, where assistance for individuals was approved. But that doesn’t preclude the federal government from later also approving public assistance for Wisconsin.

Preliminary estimates from Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ administration said more than 1,500 residential structures were destroyed or experienced major damage in August flooding at a cost of more than $33 million. There was also more than $43 million in public sector damage over six counties, according to the Evers administration.

Evers requested aid for residents in six counties, but Trump approved it only for three.

“I will continue to urge the Trump Administration to approve the remainder of my request, and I will keep fighting to make sure Wisconsin receives every resource that is needed and available,” Evers said in a statement in which he thanked Democratic officeholders for their efforts, but not Trump or any Republicans.

Trump had announced several of the disaster declarations — including Wisconsin’s — on his social media site while noting his victories in those states and highlighting their Republican officials. He received thanks from Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and Republican officials elsewhere.

Trump’s approval of six major disaster declarations in one day would have been unusual for some presidents but not for him. Trump approved seven disaster requests on July 22 and nine on May 21.

But Trump has not approved requests for hazard mitigation assistance — a once-typical add-on that helps recipients build back with resilience — since February.

Lieb and Wildeman write for the Associated Press. AP writers Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Scott Bauer, Jack Dura and Gary D. Robertson contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily kept in place the Trump administration’s decision to freeze nearly $5 billion in foreign aid.

Roberts acted on the administration’s emergency appeal to the Supreme Court in a case involving billions of dollars in congressionally approved aid. President Trump said last month that he would not spend the money, invoking disputed authority that was last used by a president roughly 50 years ago.

The high court order is temporary, though it suggests the justices will reverse a lower court ruling that withholding the funding was probably illegal. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled last week that Congress would have to approve the decision to withhold the funding.

Trump told House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in a letter Aug. 28 that he would not spend $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid, effectively cutting the budget without going through the legislative branch.

He used what’s known as a pocket rescission. That’s when a president submits a request to Congress toward the end of a current budget year to not spend the approved money. The late notice means Congress cannot act on the request in the required 45-day window and the money goes unspent.

The Trump administration has made deep reductions to foreign aid one of its hallmark policies, despite the relatively meager savings relative to the deficit and the possible damage to America’s reputation abroad as foreign populations lose access to food supplies and development programs. The administration turned to the high court after a panel of federal appellate judges declined to block Ali’s ruling.

Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge last month that an additional $6.5 billion in aid that had been subject to the freeze would be spent before the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30.

The case has been winding its way through the courts for months, and Ali said he understood that his ruling would not be the last word on the matter.

“This case raises questions of immense legal and practical importance, including whether there is any avenue to test the executive branch’s decision not to spend congressionally appropriated funds,” he wrote.

In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out an earlier injunction Ali had issued to require that the money be spent. But the three-judge panel did not shut down the lawsuit.

After Trump issued his rescission notice, the plaintiffs returned to Ali’s court and the judge issued the order that’s now being challenged.

Sherman writes for the Associated Press.

Ceramicist and Saint Lucia local, Amanda, went viral on TikTok last year when she posed a special quest for UK travellers. This year, she’s upping the stakes in her pursuit of a sausage melt.

For all the beauty and sunshine that Saint Lucia offers, one of its few short falls is its lack of a Greggs. After achieving viral success with her social media call to action last year, one Saint Lucia resident is setting Brits on a quest to help with her sausage melt fix.

On September 1, the TikTok creator and ceramicist Amanda offered up a “side quest” to British travellers planning a visit to Saint Lucia. Posting under her TikTok account, @keramikslu, she asked inbound holidaymakers to bring her some Greggs sausage and bean melts.

In exchange, the generous travellers will get to take their pick of one of her pottery creations. While it may seem like a big ask to some, Amanda was spurred by the success of her same call to action last year, though this time she’s updated her request.

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“Well ladies and gentleman, it’s that time of year again,” Amanda shared in a recent TikTok video. “Are you British? Are you coming to St. Lucia on holiday? Are you going to be staying at Coconut Bay?” she asked her followers.

If you answered yes to all of these questions, then Amanda wants to know if you can do her a “little favour please” and bring her some Greggs. But while last year, she was only asking for a single sausage and bean melt, she’s upped the ante this time round.

“I have upped the difficulty level just a tiny bit because it was so easy apparently last time. The challenge is this: can you bring me a frozen box of Gregg’s sausage and bean melts. Can you? Can you!”

The same rules as last time apply, she clarifies: “As a reward, I’ll bring you here [to the studio] and let you pick your own pottery”. Amanda is the business owner of the pottery site Keramik Saint Lucia Artisan Ceramics.

According to her blog she learned to make pottery in Vietnam and continued taking classes in Manchester, UK before deciding to move to Saint Lucia at the end of 2019. It is here that she began documenting her attempt to process clay dug up on her own land.

Her TikTok video concludes with a simple plea: “So British people coming to Saint Lucia staying at Coconut Bay, are you up for the challenge? Please say you are. Please. I really need some Greggs.”

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In just three days, the video has massed over 400,000 views and users in the comments are already signing on to the challenge. One wrote: “Adding Coconut Bay to my travel list just so I can bring you Greggs”.

Another commenter identifying themselves as a British Airways cabin crew member shared they’re also ready to help if Amanda can meet them at the airport. “I’m genuinely willing to get you your Greggs! I’m BA cabin crew and coming to St Lucia on Monday!” they wrote.

Amanda’s original video shared in May 2024 achieved viral success with over 1.5 million views. The following week, she shared a video of her meeting up with a traveller to exchange her pottery for a Greggs delivery with the caption: “happily ever after”.

Let’s hope there’s another happy reunion for Amanda.

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Actor Nicholas Braun, best known for his work in the hit HBO series “Succession,” began his Labor Day weekend with a run-in with New Hampshire law officials.

Moultonborough Police Chief Peter W. Beede announced in a Tuesday press release that officers arrested the 37-year-old actor Friday evening on suspicion of DUI-Impairment in the town of Moultonborough, N.H., about an hour north of the state’s capitol of Concord. Braun was also arrested on suspicion of driving at night without his headlights on.

The release did not share additional information about Braun’s arrest. Representatives for the actor did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Braun was booked in Carroll County Jail and released on his own recognizance, according to TMZ. The outlet also reported that the actor will be arraigned Sept. 16.

In HBO’s “Succession,” Braun became a fan favorite for his portrayal of Cousin Greg, an outsider who manages to weasel his way into the core family’s business and the bid for aging media mogul Logan Roy’s (Brian Cox) multi-industry empire. He received three Primetime Emmy nominations for the role.

Braun is also known for his work in Disney flicks “Sky High,” “Princess Protection Program” and “Minutemen.” His credits include “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” “Zola” and “Saturday Night.”

U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff have sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth requesting a detailed breakdown of military deployments to Los Angeles amid recent immigration enforcement protests in the city.

The two California Democrats wrote Monday that they wanted to know how thousands of National Guard troops and U.S. Marines were specifically used, whether and how they engaged in any law enforcement activity and how much the deployments have cost taxpayers to date.

The deployments were made over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and other local officials, and sparked a lawsuit by the state alleging they were illegal. The letter came just hours before a federal judge agreed with the state in a ruling Tuesday that Padilla and Schiff both cheered.

Padilla and Schiff wrote that the deployments were unnecessary and that greater detail was needed in light of similar operations now being launched or threatened in other American cities.

“The use of the U.S. military to assist in or otherwise support immigration operations remains inappropriate, potentially a violation of the law, and harmful to the relationship between the U.S. public and the U.S. military,” they wrote.

The Department of Defense declined to comment on the letter to The Times, saying it would “respond directly” to Padilla and Schiff.

President Trump ordered the federalization of some 4,100 National Guard troops in California in June, as L.A. protests erupted over his administration’s immigration policies. Some 700 Marines were also deployed to the city. Most of those forces have since departed, but Padilla and Schiff said 300 Guard troops remain activated.

Trump, Hegseth and other administration leaders have previously defended the deployments as necessary to restore law and order in L.A., defend federal buildings and protect federal immigration agents as they conduct immigration raids in local communities opposed to such enforcement efforts.

Under questioning from members of Congress at the start of the deployments in June, Hegseth and other Defense officials estimated that the mission would last 60 days and that basic necessities such as travel, housing and food for the troops would cost about $134 million. However, the administration has not provided updated details as the operation has continued.

Padilla and Schiff asked for specific totals on the number of California Guard troops and Marines deployed to L.A., and details as to which units they were drawn from and whether any out-of-state Guard personnel were brought in. They also asked whether any other military personnel were deployed to L.A., and how many civilian employees from the Department of Defense were assigned to the L.A. operation.

The senators asked for a description of the “specific missions” carried out by the different units deployed to the city, and for a breakdown of military personnel who directly supported Department of Homeland Security teams, which would include ICE agents doing immigration enforcement. They also asked which units were assigned to provide security at federal sites or were “placed on stand-by status outside of the immediate protest or immigration enforcement areas.”

They asked for “the number of times and relevant detail for any cases in which [Defense] personnel made arrests, detained any individuals, otherwise exercised law enforcement authorities, or exercised use of lethal force during the operation.”

They also asked for the total cost of all of the work to the Department of Defense and for a breakdown of costs by operation, maintenance, personnel or other accounts, and asked whether any funding used in the operation was diverted from other programs.

Padilla and Schiff requested that the Department of Defense provide the information by Sept. 12.

Unless it is “expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress,” the use of military personnel for civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil is barred by law under the Posse Comitatus Act. The 1878 law applies to U.S. Marines and to Guard troops who, like those in L.A., have been federalized.

In its lawsuit, California argued the deployments were a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. In response, the Trump administration argued that the president has the legal authority to deploy federal troops to protect federal property and personnel, such as ICE agents.

On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled for the state, finding that the deployments did violate the Posse Comitatus Act. The judge placed his injunction on hold for 10 days, and the Trump administration is expected to appeal.

Schiff said Trump’s “goal was not to ensure safety, but to create a spectacle,” and that the ruling affirmed those actions were “unlawful and unjustified.”

Padilla said the ruling “confirmed what we knew all along: Trump broke the law in his effort to turn service members into his own national police force.”

Kilmar Abrego Garcia ’s request for asylum in the United States is a prudent legal strategy, experts say, because it gives his lawyers better options for fighting the Trump administration’s efforts to deport him.

But it’s also a gamble. Depending on how the courts rule, Abrego Garcia could end up back inside the notorious El Salvador prison where he says he was beaten and psychologically tortured.

“It’s a strategic move,” Memphis-based immigration attorney Andrew Rankin said of the asylum request. “And it can certainly backfire. But it’s something I would do as well if I were representing him.”

Abrego Garcia, 30, became a focus of President Trump’s immigration crackdown when he was wrongfully deported to his native country in March. The administration is trying to deport him again.

Here are some things to know about his case:

‘You can’t win every case’

The administration deported Abrego Garcia to El Salvador because U.S. officials said he was an MS-13 gang member. It’s an allegation that Abrego Garcia denies and for which he wasn’t charged.

His removal to El Salvador violated a U.S. immigration judge’s ruling from 2019 that barred his deportation there. The judge found that Abrego Garcia faced credible threats from a local gang that had extorted from and terrorized his family.

Following a U.S. Supreme Court order, the administration returned him to the United States in June. But it was only to face human smuggling charges, which his lawyers have called preposterous and vindictive.

The administration has said it now intends to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda. Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and the main architect of Trump’s immigration policies, told reporters Friday that Garcia has “said he doesn’t want to go back to El Salvador.”

Miller said the administration is “honoring that request by providing him with an alternate place to live.”

In an effort to fight back, Abrego Garcia has notified the U.S. government that he fears being sent to Uganda, which has documented human rights abuses. He said he believes he could be persecuted, tortured or sent from there to El Salvador.

But even if he thwarts deportation to Uganda in immigration court, he probably will face attempts to remove him to another country and then another until the administration succeeds, Rankin said.

“By the law of averages, you can’t win every case,” the lawyer said. “The government has sunk its teeth far into what they’re doing with Kilmar and immigration in general, that it wouldn’t make any sense for them to just give up the fight.”

Taking a risk

Asylum, however, could end the fight.

The request would place the focus solely back on his native El Salvador, where Abrego Garcia has previously shown that he has a credible fear of gang persecution.

But he’s taking a risk by reopening his 2019 immigration case, Rankin said. If he loses the bid for asylum, an immigration judge could remove his protection from being returned to his native country.

That could place him back in the infamous Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECO, in El Salvador. It’s where, Abrego Garcia alleges in a lawsuit, he suffered severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation and psychological torture. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has denied those allegations.

Abrego Garcia had applied for asylum in 2019. The immigration judge denied his request because it came more than a year after Abrego Garcia had arrived in the U.S. He had fled to Maryland without documentation around 2011.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers will probably argue that he has the right to request asylum now because he has been in the U.S. for less than a year after being wrongfully deported to El Salvador, Rankin said.

If approved, asylum could provide him with a green card and a path to citizenship.

‘Not going to let this go’

Abrego Garcia’s asylum petition would go through the U.S. immigration court system, which is not part of the judiciary but an arm of the Department of Justice and under the Trump administration’s authority.

That’s where the risk comes in.

Abrego Garcia has a team of lawyers fighting for him, unlike many people who are facing deportation. And a federal judge is monitoring his immigration case.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys filed a federal lawsuit in Maryland to ensure he can exercise his constitutional rights to fight against deportation in immigration court.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis cannot rule on whether he gets asylum or is deported, but she said she will ensure his right to due process. His team says he is entitled to immigration court proceedings and appeals, including to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

“Even if he does manage to win asylum, the government is going to appeal,” Rankin said. “They’re not going to let this go. Why would they after they’ve invested months and months into this one guy?”

Rankin noted that if Abrego Garcia remains within the jurisdiction of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, that court’s laws would govern his asylum claim. He said that court has been generally positive toward asylum claims and likely would give Abrego Garcia a “fair shake.”

Finley writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira in Washington contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — President Trump has told House Speaker Mike Johnson that he won’t be spending $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid, effectively cutting the budget without going through the legislative branch.

Trump, who sent a letter to Johnson, R-La., on Thursday, is using what’s known as a pocket rescission — when a president submits a request to Congress to not spend approved funds toward the end of the fiscal year, so that Congress cannot act on the request in the 45-day timeframe and the money goes unspent as a result. It’s the first time in nearly 50 years a president has used one. The fiscal year draws to a close at the end of September.

The letter was posted Friday morning on the X account of the White House Office of Management and Budget. It said the funding would be cut from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, an early target of Trump’s efforts to cut foreign aid.

The last pocket rescission was in 1977 by then-President Jimmy Carter, and the Trump administration argues that it’s a legally permissible tool. But such a move, if standardized by the White House, could effectively bypass Congress on key spending choices and potentially wrest some control over spending from the House and the Senate.

The 1974 Impoundment Control Act gives the president the authority to propose canceling funds approved by Congress. Congress can vote on pulling back the funds or sustaining them, but by proposing the rescission so close to Sept. 30 the White House ensures that the money won’t be spent and the funding lapses.

Trump had previously sought to get congressional backing for rescissions and succeeded in doing so in July when the House and the Senate approved $9 billion worth of cuts. Those rescissions clawed back funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid.

The Trump administration has made deep reductions to foreign aid one of its hallmark policies, despite the relatively meager savings relative to the deficit and possible damage to America’s reputation abroad as foreign populations lose access to food supplies and development programs.

In February, the administration said it would eliminate almost all of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall assistance abroad. USAID has since been dismantled, and its few remaining programs have been placed under State Department control.

The Trump administration on Wednesday appealed to the Supreme Court to stop lower court decisions that have preserved foreign aid, including for global health and HIV and AIDS programs, that Trump has tried to freeze.

The New York Post first reported the pocket rescission.

Boak writes for the Associated Press.

It was in Chicago that Amorim first said Mainoo would be in competition with Fernandes this season.

Although he was also keen to stress both men could play in different positions, Amorim clearly feels the pair are best suited to the advanced midfield role in his system, which for Mainoo is a clear problem.

How realistic is it that he can oust the captain from the United side, at least in the short-term?

In truth, Mainoo is a victim of his own success.

The Stockport-born player emerged so quickly and came into a team struggling so often, he was almost a totem.

Yet the fabulous end to the 2023-24 campaign masked positional deficiencies in Mainoo’s game that were apparent as United’s midfield was routinely overrun. At the Euros, he had Declan Rice covering him.

As last season began Mainoo’s confidence and form dipped, and he was injured when Erik ten Hag was sacked and Amorim took his place.

Mainoo was prominent in Amorim’s starting line-ups from December onwards, but that meant he was involved in a string of damaging defeats.

He was injured again in February and, by the time he returned, Amorim was targeting the Europa League – meaning his only starts to the end of the season were in the Premier League. Three of those games were lost, the other, at Bournemouth, was a draw.

It was against that backdrop Amorim made his summer call on Mainoo.

He feels the competition for places will help his side and the midfielder, who he says boasts quick feet, an excellent passing range and invaluable speed in tight spaces, will benefit.

Evidently, Mainoo feels the evidence of the opening two league games only points to extended spells on the sidelines, frustration and stunted progress.