SAN FRANCISCO — It is a delicate situation: Democratic Rep. Sala Burton, whose district encompasses 75% of this city, is battling cancer. And various politicians–some of them her friends–are openly lining up support to go after her seat, should it suddenly come open.
Politics are always lively in the city that has produced such powerful operators as Burton’s late husband, Phillip, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy. But the next election in the 5th Congressional District–whenever it comes–promises to be especially intense because it will pit increasingly powerful gay and neighborhood activists against the old Democratic machine built by Phil Burton and Brown.
“This thing is the talk of the town,” said Paul Ambrosino, a young San Francisco political consultant. “There’s really only been one hot race for this seat since Phil Burton won it 20 years ago. So nobody knows precisely what the values of the voters are or how the various voting blocs might respond.”
Sala Burton, 61, underwent surgery for colon cancer in August and recently went back into George Washington University Hospital. She met Saturday with relatives and friends in Washington and announced that she hopes to finish out her term but will not seek reelection in 1988.
“It’s an awful situation,” said Paul Pelosi, whose wife, Nancy, a San Francisco socialite and longtime Democratic activist, is a close friend of Sala Burton and wants to succeed her when she leaves Congress.
“I really believe Sala is going to get better,” Nancy Pelosi said in an interview. “I will seek her seat in 1988 if she does not run.”
Pelosi, former chairwoman of the California Democratic Party, is well-connected to numerous national Democratic figures and has helped many of them raise money. She could expect them to return the favor, and she would also get help from former Rep. John Burton, Sala Burton’s brother-in-law, and from Brown and McCarthy, who have been close to Pelosi for years.
Until recently, that kind of support from the Democratic establishment would have made Pelosi the heavy favorite. But that is no longer the case, according to political consultants familiar with the district.
65% Democratic
With 65% of its voters registered Democratic, the 5th Congressional District has long been a stronghold of liberal, pro-labor forces.
But its working-class character has been altered in recent years by the influx of young, upwardly mobile professionals, or Yuppies. In the 1984 Democratic presidential primary, for example, Yuppie favorite Gary Hart of Colorado stunned the supporters of former Vice President Walter Mondale by winning five of the six national convention delegates.
Gays and neighborhood groups are increasingly active in the district.
What this means, according to consultants in the city, is that an establishment candidate like Pelosi would face a major battle for the 5th District from Harry Britt, a gay activist and champion of renters’ rights who who has served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors since 1979. He has announced that he will run if Burton’s seat becomes open.
“The (Burton) machine expects us to always give them their votes, but this time it’s different,” said Dick Pabich, Britt’s political consultant, who explained that better leadership on the AIDS issue is the major goal of the gay community.
AIDS a ‘Top Priority’
“If Harry won, his top priority in Congress would be AIDS,” Pabich said. “Some members of Congress, like (Los Angeles Democratic Rep. Henry) Waxman have been helpful on this, but there is no one back there really out front in a leadership role on AIDS.”
San Francisco political consultant Clint Reilly said: “The gays feel they have paid their dues, that they’ve come of age. They believe it is their turn, and Britt is their candidate. I would expect money to pour in from gays all over the country if there is a special election for this seat.”
Political consultants say Britt would go into a special election with a significant bloc of gay votes, a bloc that would be magnified in importance if turnout is low, as expected.
Also mentioned as possible candidates for the Burton seat are Supervisors Bill Maher and Carol Ruth Silver, both Democrats.
Even Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who is in the last year of her tenure, has considered running for the seat while she bides her time for a possible statewide candidacy later. Some of her advisers have urged her to run if Burton resigns, even if that comes before the end of Feinstein’s term as mayor. But Deputy Mayor Hadley Rolfe said: “She wants to finish out her last year as mayor; it’s very important to her.”
Should Burton not be able to finish out her term, Gov. George Deukmejian would have to call a special election. It would be preceded by an open primary, meaning that Democrats and Republicans could vote for candidates of either party.
That could be significant, according to Reilly, because if the Republicans do not come up with a credible candidate of their own, one of the Democratic candidates could benefit from a bloc of the Republican votes if they could be motivated to turn out.
SAN FRANCISCO — Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a trailblazing San Francisco Democrat who leveraged decades of power in the U.S. House to become one of the most influential political leaders of her generation, will not run for reelection in 2026, she said Thursday.
The former House speaker, 85, who has been in Congress since 1987 and oversaw both of President Trump’s first-term impeachments, had been pushing off her 2026 decision until after Tuesday’s vote on Proposition 50, a ballot measure she backed and helped bankroll to redraw California’s congressional maps in her party’s favor.
With the measure’s resounding passage, Pelosi said it was time to start clearing the path for another Democrat to represent San Francisco — one of the nation’s most liberal bastions — in Congress, as some are already vying to do.
“With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative,” Pelosi said in a nearly six-minute video she posted online Thursday morning, in which she also recounted major achievements from her long career.
Pelosi did not immediately endorse a would-be successor, but challenged her constituents to stay engaged.
“As we go forward, my message to the city I love is this: San Francisco, know your power,” she said. “We have made history, we have made progress, we have always led the way — and now we must continue to do so by remaining full participants in our democracy, and fighting for the American ideals we hold dear.”
Pelosi’s announcement drew immediate reaction across the political world, with Democrats lauding her dedication and accomplishments and President Trump, a frequent target and critic of hers, ridiculing her as a “highly overrated politician.”
Pelosi has not faced a serious challenge for her seat since President Reagan was in office, and has won recent elections by wide margins. Just a year ago, she won reelection with 81% of the vote.
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However, Pelosi was facing two hard-to-ignore challengers from her own party in next year’s Democratic primary: state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), 55, a prolific and ambitious lawmaker with a strong base of support in the city, and Saikat Chakrabarti, 39, a Democratic political operative and tech millionaire who is infusing his campaign with personal cash.
Their challenges come amid a shifting tide against gerontocracy in Democratic politics more broadly, as many in the party’s base have increasingly questioned the ability of its longtime leaders — especially those in their 70s and 80s — to sustain an energetic and effective resistance to President Trump and his MAGA agenda.
In announcing his candidacy for Pelosi’s seat last month after years of deferring to her, Wiener said he simply couldn’t wait any longer. “The world is changing, the Democratic Party is changing, and it’s time,” he said.
Chakrabarti — who helped Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) topple another older Democratic incumbent with a message of generational change in 2018 — said voters in San Francisco “need a whole different approach” to governing after years of longtime party leaders failing to deliver.
In an interview Thursday, Wiener called Pelosi an “icon” who delivered for San Francisco in more ways than most people can comprehend, with whom he shared a “deep love” for the city. He also recounted, in particular, Pelosi’s early advocacy for AIDS treatment and care in the 1980s, and the impact it had on him personally.
“I remember vividly what it felt like as a closeted gay teenager, having a sense that the country had abandoned people like me, and that the country didn’t care if people like me died. I was 17, and that was my perception of my place in the world,” Wiener said. “Nancy Pelosi showed that that wasn’t true, that there were people in positions of power who gave a damn about gay men and LGBTQ people and people living with HIV and those of us at risk for HIV — and that was really powerful.”
Chakrabarti, in a statement Thursday, thanked Pelosi for her “decades of service that defined a generation of politics” and for “doing something truly rare in Washington: making room for the next one.”
While anticipated by many, Pelosi’s decision nonetheless reverberated through political circles, including as yet another major sign that a new political era is dawning for the political left — as also evidenced by the stunning rise of Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist elected Tuesday as New York City’s next mayor.
Known as a relentless and savvy party tactician, Pelosi had fought off concerns about her age in the past, including when she chose to run again last year. The first woman ever elected speaker in 2007, Pelosi has long cultivated and maintained a spry image belying her age by walking the halls of Congress in signature four-inch stilettos, and by keeping up a rigorous schedule of flying between work in Washington and constituent events in her home district.
However, that veneer has worn down in recent years, including when she broke her hip during a fall in Europe in December.
That occurred just after fellow octogenarian President Biden sparked intense speculation about his age and cognitive abilities with his disastrous debate performance against Trump in June of last year. The performance led to Biden being pushed to drop out of the race — in part by Pelosi — and to Vice President Kamala Harris moving to the top of the ticket and losing badly to Trump in November.
Democrats have also watched other older liberal leaders age and die in power in recent years, including the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, another San Francisco power player in Washington. When Ginsburg died in office at 87, it handed Trump a third Supreme Court appointment. When Feinstein died in office ill at 90, it was amid swirling questions about her competency to serve.
By bowing out of the 2026 race, Pelosi — who stepped down from party leadership in 2022 — diminished her own potential for an ungraceful last chapter in office. But she did not concede that her current effectiveness has diminished one bit.
Pelosi was one of the most vocal and early proponents of Proposition 50, which amends the state constitution to give state Democrats the power through 2030 to redraw California’s congressional districts in their favor.
The measure was in response to Republicans in red states such as Texas redrawing maps in their favor, at Trump’s direction. Pelosi championed it as critical to preserving Democrats’ chances of winning back the House next year and checking Trump through the second half of his second term, something she and others suggested will be vital for the survival of American democracy.
On Tuesday, California voters resoundingly approved Proposition 50.
In her video, Pelosi noted a litany of accomplishments during her time in office, crediting them not to herself but to her constituents, to labor groups, to nonprofits and private entrepreneurs, to the city’s vibrant diversity and flair for innovation.
She noted bringing federal resources to the city to recover after the Loma Prieta earthquake, and San Francisco’s leading role in tackling the devastating HIV/AIDS crisis through partnerships with UC San Francisco and San Francisco General, which “pioneered comprehensive community based care, prevention and research” still used today.
She mentioned passing the Ryan White CARE Act and the Affordable Care Act, building out various San Francisco and California public transportation systems, building affordable housing and protecting the environment — all using federal dollars her position helped her to secure.
“It seems prophetic now that the slogan of my very first campaign in 1987 was, ‘A voice that will be heard,’ and it was you who made those words come true. It was the faith that you had placed in me, and the latitude that you have given me, that enabled me to shatter the marble ceiling and be the first woman speaker of the House, whose voice would certainly be heard,” Pelosi said. “It was an historic moment for our country, and it was momentous for our community — empowering me to bring home billions of dollars for our city and our state.”
After her announcement, Trump ridiculed her, telling Fox News that her decision not to seek reelection was “a great thing for America” and calling her “evil, corrupt, and only focused on bad things for our country.”
“She was rapidly losing control of her party and it was never coming back,” Trump told the outlet, according to a segment shared by the White House. “I’m very honored she impeached me twice, and failed miserably twice.”
The House succeeded in impeaching Trump twice, but the Senate acquitted him both times.
Pelosi’s fellow Democrats, by contrast, heaped praise on her as a one-of-a-kind force in U.S. politics — a savvy tactician, a prolific legislator and a mentor to an entire generation of fellow Democrats.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a longtime Pelosi ally who helped her impeach Trump, called Pelosi “the greatest Speaker in American history” as a result of “her tenacity, intellect, strategic acumen and fierce advocacy.”
“She has been an indelible part of every major progressive accomplishment in the 21st Century — her work in Congress delivered affordable health care to millions, created countless jobs, raised families out of poverty, cleaned up pollution, brought LGBTQ+ rights into the mainstream, and pulled our economy back from the brink of destruction not once, but twice,” Schiff said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Pelosi “has inspired generations,” that her “courage and conviction to San Francisco, California, and our nation has set the standard for what public service should be,” and that her impact on the country was “unmatched.”
“Wishing you the best in this new chapter — you’ve more than earned it,” Newsom wrote above Pelosi’s online video.
1 of 3 | Hurricane Melissa, a Category 4 storm, was expected to make landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday morning. Photo courtesy of NOAA
Oct. 27 (UPI) — Forecasters are warning residents of Jamaica to “seek shelter now,” as Melissa, a Category 4 hurricane, was making its way toward the Caribbean island nation early Monday.
The storm was expected to make landfall along Jamaica’s southern coast on Tuesday morning, but the National Hurricane Center reported that the island is already experiencing damaging winds and heavy rainfall that will cause catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and landslides.
The hurricane, a Category 4 storm, was located about 130 miles south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and about 315 miles south-southwest of Guantanamo, Cuba, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 p.m. EDT update.
It had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph and was crawling west at 5 mph.
Forecasters said it was to take a slow westward turn overnight, followed by a north and northeastern turn on Monday and Tuesday.
“On the forecast track, the core of Melissa is expected to move near or over Jamaica tonight and Tuesday, across southeastern Cuba [on] Tuesday night and across the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday,” the NHC said.
The storm — which became a hurricane Saturday morning and was upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane by Saturday night — continues to gather strength.
Additional intensification of the storm is forecast over the next day or two, after which strengthening is expected to fluctuate.
However, the NHC expects it to be “a powerful major hurricane” when it makes landfall along Jamaica’s southern coast. This would be the strongest direct landfall for the island since records have been kept in the Atlantic Basin.
Either Tuesday night or Wednesday, Melissa is anticipated to make landfall along Cuba’s southeastern coast.
Catastrophic flash flooding and landslides in parts of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica are expected through early next week.
A hurricane warning is in effect for all of Jamaica and for the Cuban provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, and Holguin.
Hurricane watches are in effect for the southwestern peninsula of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Port-Au-Prince.
“Seek shelter now,” is the key message the NHC has for Jamaica.
“Damaging winds and heavy rainfall tonight and Monday will cause catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and numerous landslides before potentially devastating winds arrive Monday night and Tuesday morning,” NHC forecaster Philippe Papin said in a discussion on the storm.
“Extensive infrastructural damage, long-duration power and communication outages and isolation of communities are expected.”
“Melissa’s slow movement over the mountainous islands greatly increases the risk of catastrophic flash flooding and deadly mudslides,” Duffus said. “This can quickly escalate into a humanitarian crisis, where a large number of people are in need of basic supplies such as food, safe drinking water, housing and medical care.”
Rainfall of 15 to 30 inches through Wednesday is forecast for portions of southern Hispaniola, which includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica, with a local maximum of 40 inches, the NHC said.
Eastern Cuba is expected to receive rainfall of 6 to 12 inches, with local amounts up to 18 inches into Wednesday.
“Life-threatening storm surge is becoming more likely along the south coast of Jamaica later in the weekend or early next week,” the NHC said.
Peak storm surge heights could reach 9 to 13 feet above ground level, near and to the east of where the center of Melissa makes landfall and are expected to be accompanied by large and destructive waves.
There also is a potential of significant storm surge along the Cuban coast next week.
Melissa is the 13th named storm of the season, and it’s the first in the Caribbean.
This season has seen few storms, resulting in unusually warm Caribbean waters, and the warm water is potential fuel for stronger and more dangerous storms.
WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee requested Tuesday that Jack Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel, appear for an interview, part of an escalating effort among the GOP to pursue the perceived enemies of President Donald Trump.
Rep. Jim Jordan, the committee chair, charged in a letter to Smith that his prosecutions of Trump were “partisan and politically motivated.” Smith has come under particular scrutiny on Capitol Hill, especially after the Senate Judiciary Committee said last week that his investigation had included an FBI analysis of phone records for more than half a dozen Republican lawmakers from the week of Jan. 6, 2021
Smith brought two cases against Trump, one accusing him of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the other of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both were brought in 2023, well over a year before the 2024 presidential election, and indictments in the two cases cited what Smith and his team described as clear violations of well-established federal law. Former Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland, who named Smith as special counsel in November 2022, has repeatedly said politics played no part in the handling of the cases.
Smith abandoned the criminal cases against Trump after he won the presidential election last year. Trump’s return to the White House precluded the federal prosecutions, as well as paved the way for Republicans to go after Trump’s political and legal opponents.
Jordan wrote to Smith: “Your testimony is necessary to understand the full extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law enforcement.”
In just the last weeks, the Trump administration has pursued criminal charges against both James Comey, the former FBI director, and New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James, who for years investigated and sued Trump.
The House Judiciary Committee has been looking into Smith’s actions as special counsel since the start of the year. Jordan said that it had interviewed two other members of Smith’s prosecutorial team, but they had declined to answer many questions, citing the Fifth Amendment.
An attorney for Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the House Judiciary Committee’s interview request.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday that he intends to seek a court order in an attempt to stop President Trump’s deployment of California National Guard troops to Oregon.
Calling the president’s action a “breathtaking abuse of power,” Newsom said in a statement that 300 California National Guard personnel were being deployed to Portland, Ore., a city the president has called “war-ravaged.”
“They are on their way there now,” Newsom said of the National Guard. “This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power.”
Trump’s move came a day after a federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked the federalization of Oregon’s National Guard.
The president, who mobilized the California National Guard amid immigration protests earlier this year, has pursued the use of the military to fight crime in cities including Chicago and Washington, D.C., sparking outrage among Democratic officials in those cities. Local leaders, including those in Portland, have said the actions are unnecessary and without legal justification.
“The Trump Administration is unapologetically attacking the rule of law itself and putting into action their dangerous words — ignoring court orders and treating judges, even those appointed by the President himself, as political opponents,” Newsom said.
In June, Newsom and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed a federal lawsuit over Trump’s mobilization of the state’s National Guard during immigration protests in Los Angeles. California officials are expected to file the court order over Sunday’s deployment using that existing lawsuit.
Newsom has ratcheted up his rhetoric about Trump in recent days: On Friday, the governor lashed out at universities that may sign the president’s higher education compact, which demands rightward campus policy shifts in exchange for priority federal funding.
“I need to put pressure on this moment and pressure test where we are in U.S. history, not just California history,” Newsom said. “…This is it. We are losing this country.”
MANCHESTER UNITED are weighing up a cash-spinning mid-season friendly in Saudi Arabia.
A trip to the Middle East could reunite the Red Devils with Cristiano Ronaldo, who left Old Trafford on bitter terms to join Al-Nassr in 2022.
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Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr from Man Utd three years agoCredit: Reuters
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe is looking at ways United can raise extra cashCredit: Alamy
United are holding early-stage talks with stakeholders while looking into possible dates and opponents.
But a face-off with CR7 would be the most lucrative prospect at a time when they’re crying out for funds.
United could stage midweek friendlies this season after failing to qualify for any European competition.
Losing May’s Europa League final to Tottenham meant a £100million reward fell by the wayside.
And with roughly £750m worth of debt weighing on Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s shoulders, United are being forced to get creative.
Their schedule thinned out even more with defeat to Grimsby Town in round two of the Carabao Cup.
SunSport exclusively revealed last month that AC Milan, RB Leipzig, Lazio and Sevilla – four big clubs who missed out on Europe – have also been scouted out as potential friendly opponents.
United’s new plan comes after they scrapped the idea of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, which could have earned them millions.
Yoweri Museveni urges supporters to back his vision for the future as he seeks to run for a record seventh term.
Published On 23 Sep 202523 Sep 2025
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Uganda’s long-time President Yoweri Museveni has been confirmed to stand in the January 2026 elections, as he seeks to extend his nearly 40-year rule in the African country.
Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, on Tuesday urged supporters to back his vision for the future after electoral officials near the capital, Kampala, announced that the 81-year-old leader would be on the ballot.
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The governing National Resistance Movement (NRM) party officially confirmed him in June as its presidential candidate.
In a post on X, Museveni thanked his supporters for entrusting him to run again for the 2026-2031 term.
“In this economy, the GDP of Uganda has doubled currently in the recent Kisanja from $34 billion to $66 billion,” he wrote. He has promised to make Uganda a $500bn economy in the next five years.
“You have everything today that you lacked in the past: electricity, roads, telephones, manpower, the educated people, and peace. That’s why we are being flooded by many investors because they are looking for a peaceful and profitable area where to invest,” he added.
In a list of pledges for the next term, Museveni said the party’s priorities would focus on wealth creation, education, infrastructure, crime, corruption, health and water.
Our priorities for this term include:
1. Wealth creation: Everybody should be involved in the money economy. 2. Education: All children in government primary and secondary schools should study for free. 3. Infrastructure: Roads should be tarmaced on time and maintain the… pic.twitter.com/KhDcNeyJaH
Museveni came to power in 1986 after his NRM party waged a rebellion to depose the military regime of General Tito Okello.
After the NRM won the war, Museveni, the then-leader of the movement’s armed group, declared himself president. Since then, the president has been elected in subsequent elections.
In 2017, an amendment to the constitution removed the age limit for presidential candidates, which had been set at 75, allowing Museveni to continue ruling the country.
But the leader’s main political opponent, Bobi Wine, a former musician, is expected to be announced as a candidate in the upcoming election later this week.
During the 2021 elections, Wine secured 35 percent of the vote, with Museveni taking 58 percent in his worst-ever result.
While Wine accused Museveni of alleged voter fraud and ballot stuffing, his performance during the election placed him as the strongest challenger to Museveni’s rule.
Wine also has a large following among working-class communities in urban areas, with his National Unity Platform party holding the most seats of any opposition party in the national assembly.
Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron draped himself in an England flag and declared his love for his country at the opening night rally of the party’s conference in Bournemouth.
“We will not have our history, our heritage, and our home stolen by the poison of nationalism,” the MP roared as he called on members to “reclaim patriotism” from the far right.
Farron’s flag also featured a union jack in one corner. And confetti cannons rained glitter over him as the brass bombast of Land of Hope and Glory rang out and a giant union jack appeared on the screen behind him.
The theatrics seemed to work, as a membership sometimes mocked for its mild-mannered approach got to its collective feet and filled the air with whoops of approval and the flutter of hundreds of mini flags.
Farron told a hall full of activists to “stop being so flaming squeamish and English” and reclaim the UK’s flags from groups who seek to “divide and destroy”.
“Be proud of your country, the British flag and the flags of our four nations,” he said. “They are ours. They belong to all of us. Let’s take them back. Let’s wave them with pride.”
“Let us reclaim our flags for those who would reunite and rebuild, not divide and destroy, because we will not yield our identity, our flag, or our country, to the nationalists.
“A Britain that may be broken by the wickedness of hatred, fake news and isolation, but a Britain that I passionately believe is not beyond healing.”
At the end of his speech, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale held aloft the giant England flag bearing the slogans “Pride of Lancashire” and “Rovers til I Die”, in support of his football team Blackburn Rovers.
The Liberal Democrats are going all out this week to claim that they are the true patriots, in contrast to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who they have dubbed a “plastic patriot”.
They have even created a “plastic patriot” Farage Lego figure, which is included in a welcome pack being handed out to journalists.
For a party that has largely shunned flag-waving displays of national pride, this is a new departure.
But the party’s MPs are eager to take the fight to Reform and insert themselves into the national debate, as St George’s Cross and Union flag are displayed in towns and cities across the UK.
Leader Sir Ed Davey was greeted by a flag-waving crowd of party activists as he led a marching band through Bournemouth Central Gardens, twirling a baton – a deliberately patriotic twist on his trademark stunts.
The band, which had arrived on the ferry from the Isle of Wight, played Sweet Caroline, a favourite among England football fans, as they came to a halt in front of the Bournemouth conference centre.
Elsewhere, a group calling themselves “Bournemouth Patriots” protested outside a hotel in the town being used to house migrants.
The group stood with national flags outside of the Roundhouse Hotel in the centre of the town, and were met by a counter-protest.
The Lib Dem leader told reporters: “The vast majority of people who’ve got decent values, respect for the rule of law, tolerance, who love our country like the Liberal Democrats do.
“They want to see a party that is true to British values but will change our country.”
A few hours after Charlie Kirk was killed, Sean Feucht, an influential right-wing Christian worship leader, filmed a selfie video from his home in California, his eyes brimming with tears.
The shooting of one of the nation’s most prominent conservative activists, Feucht declared, was no less than “a line in the sand” in a country descending into a spiritual darkness.
“The enemy thinks that he won, that there was a battle that was won today,” he said, referencing Satan. “No, man, there’s going to be millions of bold voices raised up out of the sacrifice and the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk.”
Soon afterward, Pastor Matt Tuggle, who leads the Salt Lake City campus of the San Diego-based Awaken megachurch, posted a video of Kirk’s killing on Instagram, adding the caption: “If your pastor isn’t telling you the left believes a evil demonic belief system you are in the wrong church!”
People place lighted candles below a photo of Charlie Kirk at a vigil in his memory in Orem, Utah.
(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
Kirk’s death has triggered a range of reaction, much of it mournful sympathy for the 31-year-old activist and his family. But it also has sparked conspiracy theories, hot-take presumptions the left was responsible and calls for vengeance against Kirk’s perceived enemies.
At a vigil for Kirk in Huntington Beach this week, some attendees waved white flags depicting a red cross and the word “Jesus,” while some chanted, “White men, fight back!” Kirk spread a philosophy that liberals sought to disempower men, and some of his male supporters see his killing as an attack against them.
Whether the calls for vengeance will ebb or intensify remains to be seen, especially with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s announcement Friday that a suspect in the fatal shooting, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, had been arrested after a family member turned him in.
In life, Kirk spoke of what he called a “spiritual battle” being waged in the United States between Christians and a Democratic Party that “supports everything that God hates.”
In death, Kirk, one of the Republican Party’s most influential power brokers, is being hailed by conservative evangelical pastors and GOP politicians as a Christian killed for his religious beliefs.
President Trump called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom,” and ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in his honor. He blamed Kirk’s death on the rhetoric of the “radical left.” Vice President JD Vance, who helped carry Kirk’s casket to Air Force Two, retweeted a post Kirk wrote on X last month reading, “It’s all about Jesus.” And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, quoting Jesus, wrote on X: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
A woman lays her head down on a seat during a vigil at CenterPoint Church for Charlie Kirk in Orem, Utah.
(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
Experts on faith and far-right extremism say they are troubled by the religious glorification of Kirk in this era of increased political violence — and the potential vengeance that may spring from it. The activist’s death, they say, seems to have ignited various factions on the right, ranging from white supremacists to hard-core Christian nationalists.
“The ‘spiritual warfare’ rhetoric will only increase,” and Kirk is now being lifted up as “a physical manifestation” of a religious battle, said Matthew Boedy, a professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia who has written a forthcoming book about Christian nationalism that prominently features Kirk.
“Spiritual warfare rhetoric was a big part of Jan. 6,” he said of the deadly 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. “Making a martyr out of Charlie Kirk will change our nation in severe ways.”
Samuel Perry, a sociologist at the University of Oklahoma and expert on Christian nationalism, said he is a Christian himself but that religion, cynically used, “has the potential to amplify what would otherwise be very secular political conflicts between Democrats and Republicans.”
“What if those are amplified with a cosmic and ultimate significance?” he said. “It becomes, ‘This is God vs. Satan. This is angels vs. demons — and if we lose this next election, we plunge the nation into a thousand years of darkness.’ … It basically provokes extremism.”
Kirk — who rallied his millions of online followers to vote for Trump in the 2024 election — declared that God was on the side of American conservatives and that there was “no separation of church and state.” He was also known for his vitriol against racial and religious minorities, LGBTQ+ people, childless women, progressives and others who disagreed with him.
Kirk called transgender people “a throbbing middle finger to God.” He said the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was “a huge mistake” and called the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “awful.” On his podcast, he called with a smirk for “some amazing patriot out there in San Francisco or the Bay Area [who] wants to really be a midterm hero” to bail out of jail the man who attacked then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer in their home in 2022.
A memorial is set up for Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
In 2023, Kirk sat on the stage of Awaken Church in Salt Lake City and said: “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the 2nd Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
Two days before his death, Kirk retweeted a video of himself saying that a “spiritual battle is coming for the West,” with “wokeism or marxism combining with Islamism” to go after “the American way of life, which is, by the way, Christendom.”
Perry said, “There’s no need to whitewash the legacy of Charlie Kirk.”
“This is a tragedy, and no one deserves to die this way,” Perry said. “Yet, at the same time, Charlie Kirk is very much part of this polarization story in the U.S. who used quite divisive rhetoric, ‘us vs. them, the left is evil.’”
Perry noted that Kirk’s Turning Point USA had placed him on its Professor Watchlist, a website that says it aims to expose professors “who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda.” The entry on Perry flags him for “Anti-Judeo-Christian Values.”
Some on the right say their recent fiery words are only a response to the hateful rhetoric of the left. One widely shared example: Two days before Kirk’s killing, the feminist website Jezebel published an article titled, “We Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk.” It has since been removed and replaced by a letter from the site’s editor saying it had been “intended as satire and made it absolutely clear that we wished no physical harm.”
Kirk was killed by a single sniper-style shot to the neck Wednesday during an outdoor speaking event at Utah Valley University.
After announcing the suspect’s arrest Friday, Gov. Cox said he had prayed that the shooter was not from Utah, “that somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country.” But that prayer, he said, “was not answered the way I hoped for.”
He then said that political violence “metastasizes because we can always point the finger at the other side” and that, “at some point, we have to find an offramp, or it’s going to get much, much worse.”
Some of Kirk’s most prominent evangelical followers have said that his death represents an attack on conservative Christian values and that he was gunned down for speaking “the truth.”
Jon Fleischman, Orange County-based conservative blogger and former executive director of the California Republican Party, who started out as a conservative college activist, knew Kirk and said “there is one hell of a martyr situation going on.”
“A lot of people are getting activated and are going to walk the walk, talk the talk, and give money as their way of trying to process and deal with losing someone they care about,” he told The Times.
In recent years, Kirk had become more outspoken about his Christian faith. He founded the nonprofit Turning Point USA in 2012 as an avowedly secular youth organization and became known for his college campus tours, with videos of his debates with liberal college students racking up tens of millions of views.
But in 2020, during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, college campuses closed. Kirk started speaking at churches that stayed open in violation of local lockdown and mask orders, including Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Ventura County, which was led by Pastor Rob McCoy, a former Thousand Oaks mayor.
McCoy is now the co-chair of Turning Point USA Faith, which encourages pastors to become more politically outspoken. McCoy, who could not be reached for comment, wrote in a statement Friday: “For those who rejoiced over his murder, you are instruments of evil and I implore you to repent. For those of you who mock prayer, you would do well to reconsider. Prayer doesn’t change God, it changes us toward a more peaceful and civil life.”
Professor Boedy said McCoy turned Kirk toward Christian nationalism, specifically the Seven Mountains Mandate — the idea that Christians should try to hold sway over the seven pillars of cultural influence: arts and entertainment, business, education, family, government, media and religion.
Christian nationalism, which is rejected by mainline Christians, holds that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and that the faith should have primacy in government and law.
Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and a professor emeritus at Cal State San Bernardino, said, “the more violent fringes of Christian nationalism have disturbing aspects that are eliminationist and antidemocratic.”
He noted that some of the same Christian nationalists and white supremacists who are now calling Kirk a martyr already deified Trump, especially after he survived two assassination attempts on the campaign trail last year and said he had been “saved by God to make America great again.”
Levin said many Christian nationalists portray Trump as “an armed Christian warrior protecting America from a disturbing assortment of immigrants, religious minorities, genders and sexual orientations.” And so, when he uses martyr language to describe Kirk, his adherents latch on.
“Where do martyrs come from? From violent conflicts and wars,” Levin said. “The fact of the matter is that this is a moment that Trump could have more effectively seized, but he veered into divisive territory.”
California Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-Santee) also called Kirk “a modern day martyr.” In a statement, Jones quoted Thomas Jefferson, who said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
Jones wrote: “Let us take care that we allow that tree to grow and blossom as it feeds on the lifeblood of Charles J. Kirk in the years to come.”
Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.
Sept. 6 (UPI) — South Korea might send a government official to Washington to resolve issues after hundreds of South Koreans were arrested at an under-construction Hyundai battery plant in Georgia.
South Korean officials convened an emergency meeting following the Thursday raid by federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other law enforcement, who arrested 457 “unlawful aliens” working at the electric vehicle battery plant in Bryan County, Ga.
About 300 are South Koreans, who were working at the plant run by the HL-GA Battery Co., which is jointly owned by South Korean firms Hyundai Motor Co. and LG Energy Solution Ltd.
“We are deeply concerned and feel a heavy sense of responsibility over the arrests of our nationals,” South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said during the meeting.
“If necessary, I will personally travel to Washington to hold consultations with the U.S. administration,” Cho said.
Homeland Security Investigations said the raid was the largest in its history and occurred after investigating the plant for several months, NPR reported.
Most of those who were arrested are being held at a Folkston, Ga., detention center, many of whom have expired visas or entered the United States via a waiver program that does not allow them to work.
Officials with LG Energy Solution have suspended all the company’s business-related trips to the United States and have encouraged employees in the United States to either stay at their places of residence or return to South Korea.
Construction on the battery plant has stopped, and HL-GA Battery officials are cooperating with U.S. investigators.
Aug. 27 (UPI) — Prosecutors seek a seven-year sentence for Nadine Menendez, the wife of former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., for her part in a bribery and corruption scheme.
Nadine Menendez, 58, is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 11 in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York courtroom in Manhattan, where her husband was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison in January.
Nadine Menendez “did not commit bribery reluctantly, fleetingly or on a small scale,” federal prosecutors told U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein, as reported by The New York Times.
“She did so eagerly, for years, and in a scheme implicating foreign relations, national security and the integrity of state and federal law enforcement,” they argued.
“The defendant engaged, for years, in a corruption and foreign influence scheme of stunning brazenness, breadth and duration, resulting in exceptionally grave abuses of power at the highest levels of the legislative branch of the United States government,” prosecutors argued.
Her attorneys alternatively seek a sentence of one year and one day due to breast cancer treatment.
They said she can’t receive adequate care while in prison and sought leniency due to her growing up in war-torn Lebanon, enduring gender-based violence and having cancer, The Hill reported.
Federal prosecutors expressed a willingness for her to undergo recommended surgeries before surrendering for her eventual incarceration.
A jury in April found Nadine Menendez guilty on 15 counts related to the bribery scheme centered on her husband’s political corruption.
Federal prosecutors showed she accepted cash, gold and a Mercedes luxury automobile in exchange for political favors by Bob Menendez.
He chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before resigning amid his legal troubles in 2023.
Two co-defendants, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, also were found guilty on related charges and sentenced to three years and eight years, respectively, in January.
If any of the four Slams could throw up a different winner, then recent history suggests it could happen at the US Open.
The slightly slower hard courts, humid conditions and its slot as the final major in a busy season have been contributing factors to six different champions in the past seven years.
Novak Djokovic is the only man to win it twice during that period. Even though he is now 38, the Serb remains the leading contender to stop defending champion Sinner and 2022 winner Alcaraz.
German third seed Alexander Zverev has not yet won a Grand Slam title despite his his pedigree, appearing to lack belief against the very best at the business end of majors.
In a bid to get over the line, the three-time major finalist recently enlisted the help of Toni Nadal – who coached his nephew Rafael to 16 of his 22 Grand Slam titles.
The trip to Nadal’s academy in Majorca came after Zverev’s first-round exit at Wimbledon, where he opened up about receiving psychological help to get “out of the hole” he was in.
“Of course to beat Alcaraz and Sinner is not easy but he has more chances to beat these two guys more than most others,” Nadal told BBC Sport.
South Africa’s leading paceman Kagiso Rabada says it is time to move on from the euphoria of beating Australia in the World Test Championship final, but insists the side have “nothing to fear” now following their belated major trophy success.
Rabada will lead South Africa’s attack as they take on Australia in three Twenty20 clashes and three one-day internationals starting in Darwin on Sunday.
“I think it’s time to move on. I don’t think we’ll forget about that ever as a team, and South Africa won’t ever [forget], but time to move on now,” he told a news conference on Thursday.
The five-wicket win in the WTC final followed several frustrating near misses for South Africa in limited-overs World Cups.
“It was kind of like a relief. But the show moves on, and moving toward the T20 World Cup, I guess the approach will be a bit different.
“Now, you know, there’s no fear of anything.”
South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada lifts the ICC Test Championship mace on the podium with teammates after winning the final [Andrew Boyers/Reuters]
Rabada is relishing a reprisal of the rivalry between Australia and South Africa.
“It’s always some hard cricket being played, some good cricket,” he said. “Whenever we play Australia, I always feel like they get the best out of us, because they’re sort of in our faces. And I guess we like that.”
Rababa, who turned 30 in May, has not played since the WTC final in London.
“Thankfully, I’ve had quite a long break, so that’s been awesome. Maintenance work consistently has to be done because the volume of cricket is quite a bit.”
The Australia tour comes ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, and the 2027 World Cup in Southern Africa, and South Africa hope the experience will benefit the young players in their squad.
“For me, that’s extremely exciting to see them raring to go. It’s just about trying to see where we’re at as a team, moving into almost like another generation,” Rabada added.
A majority of people in five nations – Brazil, Colombia, Greece, South Africa and Spain – believe that weapons companies should stop or reduce trade with Israel as its onslaught on Gaza continues, a poll released on Thursday reveals.
Spain showed the highest support for weapons deals to be halted, with 58 percent of respondents saying they should stop completely, followed by Greece at 57 percent and Colombia at 52 percent. In Brazil, 37 percent of respondents believed arms companies should completely stop sales to Israel, while 22 percent believed they should be reduced. In South Africa, those levels stood at 46 and 20 percent, respectively.
Commissioned by the Global Energy Embargo for Palestine network, endorsed by the left-wing Progressive International organisation, and fielded by the Pollfish platform last month, the survey comes in the wake of a call by Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, on countries to slash financial relations with Israel as she decried an “economy of genocide“.
“The people have spoken, and they refuse to be complicit. Across continents, ordinary citizens demand an end to the fuel that powers settler colonialism, apartheid and genocide,” said Ana Sanchez, a campaigner for Global Energy Embargo for Palestine.
“No state that claims to uphold democracy can justify maintaining energy, military, or economic ties with Israel while it commits a genocide in Palestine. This is not just about trade; it’s about people’s power to cut the supply lines of oppression.”
The group said it chose the survey locations because of the countries’ direct involvement in the import and transport of energy to Israel.
More than 1,000 respondents in each nation were asked about governmental and private sector relations with Israel to measure public attitudes on responsibility.
Condemnation of Israel’s action in Gaza as the humanitarian crisis escalates was the highest in Greece and Spain and lowest in Brazil.
Sixty-one percent and 60 percent in Greece and Spain respectively opposed Israel’s current “military actions” in Gaza, while in Colombia, 50 percent opposed them. In Brazil and South Africa, 30 percent were against Israel’s war, while 33 percent and 20 percent, respectively, supported the campaign.
A protester holds a sign during a demonstration demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in Bogota, Colombia, on January 27, 2024 [Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters]
To date, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed more than 60,000 people – most of them women and children. Now home to the highest number of child amputees per capita, much of the besieged Strip is in a state of ruin as the population starves. As the crisis worsens, arms dealers and companies that facilitate their deals are facing heightened scrutiny.
In June, as reported by Al Jazeera, Maersk divested from companies linked to Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law, following a campaign accusing the Danish shipping giant of links to Israel’s military and occupation of Palestinian land.
On Tuesday, Norway announced that it would review its sovereign wealth fund’s investments in Israel, after it was revealed that it had a stake in an Israeli firm that supplies fighter jet parts to the Israeli military. In recent months, several wealth and pension funds have distanced themselves from companies linked to Israel’s war on Gaza or its illegal occupation of the West Bank.
Responding to the poll, 41 percent in Spain said they would “strongly” support a state-level decision to reduce trade in weapons, fuel and other goods in an attempt to pressure Israel into stopping the war. This figure stood at 33 percent in Colombia and South Africa, and 28 and 24 percent in Greece and Brazil, respectively.
“The message from the peoples of the world is loud and clear: They want action to end the assault on Gaza – not just words,” said David Adler, co-general coordinator of Progressive International. “Across continents, majorities are calling for their governments to halt arms sales and restrain Israel’s occupation.”
Aug. 2 (UPI) — Authorities are searching for a suspect in the shooting deaths of four people at a bar in a small town in western Montana.
The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation identified the gunman in the shooting, which happened on Friday morning at the Owl Bar in Anaconda, Mont., as 45-year-old Michael Paul Brown.
Anaconda is 130 miles east of Idaho and 198 miles west of Bozeman, Mont..
“This is a small, tight-knit community that has been harmed by the heinous actions of one individual today who does not represent what this community or Montanans stand for,” Lee Johnson, with the agency, said.
Johnson said his Ford F-150 pickup was found, and that officials were searching the mountains near Stumptown Road just west of Anaconda.
Residents of the town, of whom there are roughly 10,000, were told Friday night to stay in their homes and be vigilant because he was considered armed and dangerous.
SWAT team members cleared his home in neighboring Granite City, the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Center said. The home is about 25 minutes from the bar.
“I’ve bartended quite a few years, so I’m pretty familiar with most everyone,” Sierra, a 7 Gables employee, told KPAX-TV about Brown. “I have met him multiple times. I have served him multiple times. I have had conversations with him multiple times. I have not served him up here yet.
“We’re waiting for the kitchen chef to be done so we can actually all leave together and so we all know each other made it safe.”
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting in the investigation and the FBI’s Deputy Director posted on X that agents are being sent to the area to assist.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianfort also posted Friday on X that he was “closely monitoring the situation involving an active shooter in Anaconda.”
Officials have identified the four victims have been identified, but they declined to release their names until their families had been notified.
Alassane Ouattara, 83, announced the plan after changing the constitution to remove presidential term limits.
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has announced he will seek a fourth term leading the West African nation, as tensions rise over the exclusion of many heavyweight opposition candidates.
Earlier, he had been officially nominated by his ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) party as its candidate, but had not yet said if he would contest the October 25 election.
The 83-year-old president, who has led the country since 2011, declared his plan in a televised announcement on Tuesday.
“For several months, I have received numerous calls from fellow citizens regarding my potential candidacy in the presidential election,” he said.
Referring to the country by its name in French, he went on: “Women and young people from all regions of Cote d’Ivoire, and countless anonymous voices from our neighbourhoods, towns, and villages have reached out.
“In response to those appeals, I announced on June 22 that, as president of all Ivorians, I would, after careful reflection, make a decision guided solely by the best interest of the nation.”
Ouattara won a third term in 2020 after the constitution was changed to reset the presidential term limit. He had said he was not going to run again, but he changed his position following the death of his hand-picked successor, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly.
Opposition campaign
Critics of Ouattara accuse him of tightening his grip on power and strongly oppose his running again.
The opposition has accused the authorities of targeting their opponents by legal means, but the government insists the judiciary acts independently.
The two main opposition parties have launched a joint campaign to demand the reinstatement of their barred leaders ahead of the presidential election.
This alliance brings together the African People’s Party of Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) – led by former president Laurent Gbagbo – and the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), the country’s largest opposition force, headed by former international banker Tidjane Thiam.
Gbagbo, his former right-hand man Charles Ble Goude and ex-Prime Minister Guillaume Soro have been struck from the electoral register due to criminal convictions.
Ouattara’s most prominent rival, Thiam, was barred from running by a court on the grounds that he was still a French citizen at the time he declared his candidacy, even though he later renounced his French nationality. Ivorian law bans dual nationals from running for president.
Some previous elections in the Ivory Coast have been fraught with tension and violence. When Ouattara announced his third-term bid, several people were killed in the ensuing violence. There have been protests against the court’s decision to bar Thiam from contesting the election.
Ouattara is the latest among a growing number of leaders in West Africa who remain in power after changing the constitutional term limit.
Coup leaders in the region have used alleged corruption within democratic governments and electoral changes as a pretext to seize power, leading to a split in the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The city and county of Los Angeles are among the local governments seeking to join a lawsuit calling on the Trump administration to stop “unlawful detentions” during ongoing immigration sweeps in Southern California.
On Tuesday, the governments filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, Public Counsel and immigrant rights groups against the Trump administration last week.
The lawsuit claims that the region is “under siege” by federal agents and aims to stop federal agencies from an “ongoing pattern and practice of flouting the Constitution and federal law” during immigration raids.
“These unconstitutional roundups and raids cannot be allowed to continue. They cannot become the new normal,” said Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Feldstein Soto was joined by Mayor Karen Bass and officials from other cities also seeking to join the lawsuit.
The motion from the local governments comes as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Southern California enters its second month. Between June 6 and June 22, federal agents arrested 1,618 immigrants for deportation in Los Angeles and surrounding areas, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“Day in and day out, there is no telling who these federal agents will target or when they will strike, since they refuse to coordinate with local authorities,” attorney John Schwab, who is representing Los Angeles and other cities, wrote in the motion to intervene. “All that is certain is that Defendants’ aim is to instill maximum fear in … communities and wreak havoc on the economy of one of the most diverse and vibrant areas in the country.”
The motion argues that the immigration raids are obstructing local governments’ ability to perform critical law enforcement functions and depriving them of tax revenue because of a slowdown in the local economy.
L.A. County and some cities — Culver City, Montebello, Monterey Park, Pico Rivera, Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Pasadena — hope to become part of the lawsuit at a hearing Thursday where a judge will consider issuing a temporary restraining order that would bar the administration from making unconstitutional immigration arrests.
“How do we know the difference between this and a kidnapping?” Bass asked at the news conference.
In a statement, L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said, “For the past month, we’ve seen individuals picked up at car washes and Home Depot parking lots, then simply disappear without warrants, probable cause, or due process … These actions have created fear, trauma, and instability in our communities. Small businesses are suffering. People are afraid to go to work, take their kids to school, or ride public transportation.”
Feldstein Soto stressed that a temporary restraining order would not stop the Trump administration from conducting legal civil immigration enforcement in L.A.
In a court filing opposing the temporary restraining order, U.S. Department of Justice attorneys argued that L.A. and the other local governments were trying to “interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration law.”
L.A. officials had already been considering a lawsuit before filing the motion Tuesday. Seven City Council members signed onto a proposal asking Feldstein Soto to prioritize “immediate legal action” to protect the civil rights of Angelenos. Feldstein Soto said her office would soon have more announcements on litigation against the administration.
The Trump administration has sued the city of Los Angeles as well, claiming that its sanctuary policy is illegal and discriminates against federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Times staff writer Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.
The international legal order loses its effectiveness when faced with the unilateralism of hegemonic powers as well as acts that flout universally accepted norms. If such practices remain unaddressed, there is a risk that the order will lose its foundational purpose: the protection of justice, peace, and the sovereignty of nations.
The attack by the United States and Israel on Iran, including the targeted killings of scientists and intellectuals, bombing of IAEA-approved nuclear facilities, and strikes against residential, medical, media, and public infrastructure, is a prime example of illegal, unilateral action that must not remain unaddressed. It is a wrongful act and a clear violation of fundamental norms of international law.
In this context, the principle of state responsibility, which dictates that states are held accountable for wrongful acts, must be applied. This principle was codified by the International Law Commission ILC in its 2001 Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, which have since been widely recognised and cited by international courts and tribunals.
Per their provisions, the commission of a wrongful act – such as the unlawful use of force – constitutes a violation of an international obligation and imposes a binding duty on the responsible state to provide full and effective reparation for the harm caused.
In the case of the illegal acts committed by the United States and Israel, the scope of legal responsibility goes far beyond ordinary violations. These acts not only contravened customary international law, but also breached peremptory norms, the highest-ranking norms within the international legal hierarchy. Among these, the principle of the prohibition of aggression is a core and universally binding rule. No state is permitted to derogate from this norm, and violations trigger obligations, requiring all members of the international community to respond collectively to uphold the law.
There are at least two relevant legal precedents that can guide the application of the principle of state responsibility and the obligation for reparations in the case of Iran.
In 1981, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 487 in response to Israel’s attack on Iraq’s nuclear facilities. It unequivocally characterised this act of aggression as a “serious threat to the entire safeguard regime of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA]”, which is the foundation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The resolution also fully recognised the inalienable sovereign right of all states to establish programmes of technological and nuclear development to develop their economy and industry for peaceful purposes.
Article 6 stipulates that “Iraq is entitled to appropriate redress for the destruction it has suffered, responsibility for which has been acknowledged by Israel”. By mandating that the aggressor compensate the victim for the resulting damages, the resolution provides a clear legal precedent for pursuing redress in similar cases.
Thus, given the fact that the attacks by the US and Israel were carried out with public declarations confirming the operations and are well-documented, the application of the principles and provisions of Resolution 487 to the Iranian case is not only appropriate and necessary but also firmly grounded in international law.
Another relevant document is UN Security Council Resolution 692, which was adopted in 1991 and established the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. The commission was tasked with processing claims for compensation of losses and damages incurred as a result of the invasion.
The creation of UNCC demonstrated the capacity of international mechanisms to identify victims, evaluate damage, and implement practical compensation – setting a clear model for state responsibility in cases of unlawful aggression.
This precedent provides a strong legal and institutional basis for asserting the rights of the Iranian people. It is therefore both appropriate and necessary for the UN to establish a rule-based mechanism, such as an international commission on compensation, to redress Iran.
Such a commission, initiated and endorsed by the UN General Assembly or other competent UN bodies, should undertake a comprehensive assessment of the damages inflicted by the unlawful and aggressive acts of the US and the Zionist regime against Iran.
The establishment of reparative mechanisms – whether through independent commissions, fact-finding bodies, or compensation funds operating under international oversight – would contribute meaningfully to restoring trust in the global legal system and provide a principled response to the ongoing normalisation of impunity.
Iran also has another avenue for pursuing justice for the illegal attacks it was subjected to. In the lead-up to them, the IAEA published biased and politically motivated reports about the Iranian nuclear programme, which facilitated the commission of aggression by the US and Israel and breached the principle of neutrality.
This places Iran in a position to seek redress and claim damages from the agency under Article 17 of the IAEA Safeguards Agreement. As a state harmed by the agency’s manifest negligence, Iran is entitled to full reparation for all material and moral damages inflicted upon its peaceful nuclear facilities and scientific personnel.
In this context, pursuing accountability for the IAEA, alongside the aggressor states, is a vital element of Iran’s broader strategy to uphold accountability within the international legal order. By relying on recognised, legitimate, and binding international mechanisms, Iran will steadfastly defend the rights of its people at every forum.
Ultimately, responsibility for the recent crimes of this war of aggression does not lie solely with the direct perpetrators, the US and Israel, and those who aided them, the IAEA. All states and international organisations bear an undeniable obligation to implement effective legal measures to prevent such crimes.
The international community as a whole must respond decisively. Silence, delay, or any form of complicity in the face of aggression and atrocities would reduce the principle of state accountability under international law to an empty slogan.
In its pursuit of accountability, Iran will exhaust all available resources and will not relent until the rights of its people are fully recognised and they receive adequate redress. It will continue to seek the prosecution and accountability of those responsible for these crimes, both domestically and internationally, until justice is fully achieved.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
