Elaf fund will finance projects with buy-in from Saudi investors committing $2bn for two airports in Aleppo city.
Published On 7 Feb 20267 Feb 2026
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Syria and Saudi Arabia have signed a major investment package spanning aviation, energy, real estate and telecommunications as Damascus’s new leadership seeks to rebuild after a devastating 14-year civil war.
Syrian Investment Authority chief Talal al-Hilali announced a swath of deals on Saturday, including the development of a new international airport in Aleppo, the launch of a low-cost Syrian-Saudi airline, and a telecommunications project called SilkLink aimed at turning the country into a regional hub.
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Saudi Arabia has been a major backer of Syria’s new leaders, who took power after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, with this latest deal marking the biggest investment since the United States lifted sanctions on the country in December.
Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said the newly launched Elaf fund, which aims to finance large-scale projects with participation from Saudi private-sector investors, would commit $2bn (7.5 billion Saudi riyals) to develop two airports in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
Rebuilding Syria’s economy
Abdulsalam Haykal, Syria’s minister of communications and information technology, said his country will see nearly $1bn in investment in the telecommunications sector, with plans to lay thousands of kilometres of cable to boost connectivity between Asia and Europe.
Saudi budget carrier Flynas and the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority announced they signed an agreement to establish a new airline called “Flynas Syria”, which would be 51 percent owned by the Syrian side and is slated to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Syria’s Ministry of Energy also signed a water agreement with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, which is known for running projects in power generation and desalinated water production plants in the Middle East and beyond.
Al-Hilali said the agreements targeted “vital sectors that impact people’s lives and form essential pillars for rebuilding the Syrian economy”.
Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, commended the Saudi-Syrian deal on X. “Strategic partnerships in aviation, infrastructure, and telecommunications will contribute meaningfully to Syria’s reconstruction efforts,” he said.
But Benjamin Feve, senior research analyst at Karam Shaar advisory, sounded a more cautious note, saying the deals mattered “far more as a political signal than as an economic game changer” in the short term.
The government has faced criticism over the past year for making broad development promises based on written pledges with foreign investors, many of which have yet to be converted into binding contracts.
MINNEAPOLIS — The sites of the three consequential deaths span just over two miles of south Minneapolis. George Floyd in 2020, Renee Good and Alex Pretti last month.
The death of Floyd, after a police officer dug a knee into his neck for more than nine minutes, was a catalyst for the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests that sought law enforcement reforms and accountability.
Those of Good and Pretti, shot by federal immigration agents, have similarly sparked demands that federal agents to stop using violence in pursuit of President Trump’s mass deportation effort.
The sites are close enough to walk in an hour. So, on Sunday, I did.
Mementos, drawings, signs and flowers are covered by fresh snow outside of Unity Foods where George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis.
George Floyd
Floyd was killed just outside of Cup Foods, since renamed Unity Foods. On a wall outside the convenience store, Esther Osayande’s painting “Sankofa” depicts a bird with its head turned back, surrounded by flames.
The description says it is a metaphorical symbol used by the Akan people of Ghana to express “the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present.”
“Sankofa tells us that we as a people can rise above conflicts of ego and treat all beings we meet as brothers and sisters,” it states.
On the same wall, someone spray painted, “My cries are 4 humanity.”
The memorial, known locally as George Floyd Square, encompasses a nearby covered bus stop, where a visitor had written that “race is a made up idea to keep ppl down.” Against the shelter glass, someone had taped a typed notice of emergency. It lists “martyrs” killed by authorities — Good, Floyd, Philando Castile and others before them.
“This ICE operation is somehow simpler AND more malicious than the kill count accumulated by our PD,” the notice reads. “This is slave catching. This is gestapo.”
A memorial to Renee Good at the location where she was shot in Minneapolis.
Nearly six years after Floyd’s death, some of the memorial art has begun to fade under the sun. A metal archway gives way to a plastic A-frame board describing Floyd and the global movement that his murder inspired.
“George’s name has become a rallying cry for those who believe in a better future, one where all people are treated with dignity and respect,” it reads.
Few people gathered at the memorial Sunday morning, but real and fake flowers, blanketed by snow, covered the site. A family with children got out of an SUV and walked around. A young photographer snapped some shots. And a couple took their time weaving through the makeshift garden.
Floyd’s cousin Paris Stevens is co-chair of Rise and Remember, which preserves the memorial and leads tours of the area. She said the organization wanted to give the community a safe space to grieve, “because everybody has lost someone.”
The thread linking the deaths of her cousin, Good and Pretti, Stevens said, is that they all could have been prevented. The fact that people have begun to visit all three sites is a sign of how unjust killings bring out the humanity in people, she said.
“How do we care for one another in times of need?” she asked. The answer, in part, is found in the artwork, writings and flowers at the three memorials.
“For this to happen, it’s like we’re picking up the ball and running again,” she said. “We’ve been here before and we know what to do.”
A memorial for Renee Good marks the location the 37-year-old woman was shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Portland Avenue near East 34th Street in Minneapolis.
Renee Good
Portland Avenue, where Good died less than a mile from Floyd, is lined with Craftsman-style homes. Many displayed “ICE OUT” or “Black Lives Matter” signs — or both — in their front windows.
One window posed a question: “How many weren’t filmed?”
Stapled to a telephone pole was a letter addressed to federal agents: “It might be hard to understand why almost all Our City’s residents are angry with Your Mission (which has changed radically over the past year). This handbill intends to resolve confusion. I hope it finds you well.”
Another telephone pole struck a different tone:
“ICE ARE TERRORISTS KIDNAPPERS MURDERERS.”
On a wooden fence, Good’s portrait accompanied those of Floyd and other Black men killed by police in Minnesota in recent years, among them Daunte Wright, Winston Boogie Smith Jr. and Amir Locke.
A handwritten sign quoted Good’s last words: “I’m not mad at you, dude.”
Keeping snow off of Good’s memorial — not far from where George Floyd was killed — has been a losing battle.
In the center of Good’s memorial, a man gingerly brushed snow from cardboard signs, shook out bouquets of flowers and wiped off teddy bears. It was a losing battle. Snow was falling, leaving fresh white dots on everything he cleared.
A woman walked up with a handful of yellow tulips. “Hello, is there somewhere I should put these in particular?”
“Anywhere is fine,” said the man.
American, Mexican and LGBTQ+ flags hung from the site. One handwritten note, signed by “A DHS employee,” stated: “We will never forget you.”
A sign hangs between two trees near the Good memorial and reads, “The resistance is rooted in love — ICE out!”
Some mourners had shared small tokens of positivity. “Please take a pocket heart,” read one laminated sign. “Keep it with you to be a constant reminder that you are loved!”
Others, knowing Good had been a poet, wrote poems of their own:
Towards new ages imagined yet still out of hand
We’ll build a place safe for us all where you stood
Where love’s lyrics echo we’ll compose what we can
To that I offer these words, would they were as good as
Good’s.
Among the couple dozen people at the site were Kayla Gardner, 29, and three friends. Gardner said she had brought flowers to place at each of the three memorials.
“I wanted to get to Renee and Alex’s,” she said, “but we didn’t want to leave out George, too. He’s right here.”
A memorial for intensive care nurse Alex Pretti.
Alex Pretti
On a traffic pole down the street, above a “Lost Cat” sign, a note in Spanish warns residents of increased immigration police presence since Dec. 22. It advises residents not to leave their homes unless necessary, to have groceries delivered and to establish an emergency plan for their children.
“These are difficult and uncertain moments for our community,” it says.
Lake Street, a hub of Latino businesses, is about halfway between where Good and Pretti were killed. Murals on side streets depict women cooking tortillas on a comal and musicians playing guitar and accordion. Businesses there have responded to the immigration raids in a variety of ways.
A notice in Spanish posted on the door of a western wear shop says, “Closed for the security of our clients.”
A nearby Ecuadorean restaurant, meanwhile, offers delivery but not sit-down service.
A person wipes tears away while visiting the Pretti memorial on Feb. 1.
Pretti died near Glam Doll Donuts, along another vibrant stretch of diverse, immigrant-owned restaurants known as Eat Street. As the days went on after his killing, fewer news cameras turned up, but mourners kept coming.
Standing over the memorial that has grown to take up the length of a building, a man in a The North Face jacket sobbed quietly. Another lighted incense sticks and stuck them in the snow.
Votive candles depicted Jesus, the Virgin of Gudalupe and Mister Rogers.
Candles burn near the Pretti memorial. Some depicted Jesus, the Virgin of Guadalupe and Mister Rogers.
A letter offers a source of comfort: “If I have two rooms, one dark, the other light, and I open the door between them, the dark room becomes lighter without the light one becoming darker. I know this is no headline, but it’s a marvelous footnote.”
Also on display were lyrics from Bruce Springsteen’s new protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” which call out White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Home Security Secretary Kristi Noem:
It’s our blood + our bones
And these whistles + phones
Against Miller +
Noem’s Dirty Lies.
New artwork appears daily. An oil painting depicting a smiling Pretti in glasses, a beanie and a scarf, was among the most recent.
Leah Dunbar, 50, was moved to tears looking at it. Dunbar, who lives nearby, had brought Somali chicken sambusas for fellow mourners standing in the cold.
The George Floyd memorial marks the spot at the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue where he was killed in 2020 at age 46.
Reflecting on his death, she had asked herself, “What is the good that is coming out of this? Do we have space in our lives to see the good?”
“Of course we do,” she said. “Look — people are making, people are creating, people are sharing.”
BUENOS AIRES — Argentina and the United States said they reached an expansive trade deal Thursday, boosting President Javier Milei as he moves to open up the South American nation’s notoriously protectionist economy and reflecting the close alliance between the radical libertarian and President Trump.
Argentina’s foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, posted a selfie on social media showing him and several diplomats beaming after emerging from a meeting in Washington where he said they’d signed the pact.
“Congratulations to our team and thanks to the U.S. Trade Representative’s team for building this great agreement together,” Quirno wrote. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative also confirmed the deal.
The countries announced a framework for the agreement in November, saying Argentina would ease restrictions on a range of American imports, including cattle, dairy products, medicines, chemicals, machinery, medical devices and vehicles. Those were key concessions for Argentina, where local industries long protected by steep tariffs have expressed concern about their ability to compete with American manufacturers.
The U.S., for its part, would remove reciprocal tariffs on imports of “certain unavailable natural resources” and ingredients for pharmaceutical goods from Argentina, according to the framework.
At the time, the White House reached similar frameworks with Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador — part of what it described as an effort to improve the ability of American firms to sell industrial and agricultural products in Latin American countries and bring down food prices for U.S. consumers.
Officials did not immediately offer details about the final version of the U.S.-Argentina deal signed Thursday.
The agreement marks the latest development in the close alliance between Trump and Milei, who has reshaped Argentine foreign policy to align with the U.S., earned Trump’s praise for stabilizing his nation’s crisis-prone economy and traveled to the U.S. more than a dozen times in the last two years. Milei is scheduled to appear at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate next week to speak at a gala.
Trump supported Milei’s fiscal program last year with a $20-billion credit line that succeeded in calming markets and boosting Milei’s prospects in a crucial midterm election in October. The U.S. Treasury also directly purchased U.S. dollar-denominated Argentine bonds that ratings agencies were classifying as “junk” at the time and snapped up the volatile local currency that Argentines were dumping in droves.
The extraordinary intervention drew backlash from across the U.S. political spectrum.
Trump’s MAGA base questioned the need to bail out a far-flung country that’s not only of little importance to the U.S. but also directly competes with its exports of corn, wheat, meat and oil.
Democratic lawmakers expressed outrage that Trump was staking taxpayer money on a political gift to an ideological soulmate.
That criticism has continued, with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, on Thursday appealing to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to end the $20-billion lifeline.
In a letter, she wrote that even though the Treasury promised its credit line for Argentina “was for an acute, short-term, and urgent purpose, it appears … to have left open the possibility of continued use.”
Debre writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
Former Baltimore slugger and cancer survivor Trey Mancini is taking another shot at a major league comeback after agreeing to a minor league contract with the Angels that includes an invitation to big league spring training.
The Angels on Wednesday listed the infielder among their 27 non-roster invitees to camp in Tempe, Ariz.
The 33-year-old Mancini has batted .263 with 129 homers and 400 RBIs over parts of seven seasons, but he hasn’t played in the major leagues since 2023. He began his career by playing parts of six seasons with the Orioles, hitting a career-high 29 homers in 2019.
Mancini then missed the 2020 season after surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his colon. He made a successful return to the Orioles in 2021, and he won a World Series ring in 2022 after Baltimore traded him to the Houston Astros.
He spent part of the 2023 season with the Chicago Cubs. He has since played in the minor-league systems of the Reds, Marlins and Diamondbacks.
Mancini opted out of a minor-league deal with Arizona last July after batting .308 with 16 homers for triple-A Reno.
London City Lionesses have signed Denmark midfielder Malou Marcetto on a two-and-a-half year deal from Madrid CFF.
The 22-year-old has represented her country at youth level, including 10 appearances for the under-23s, and has been a target for the Women’s Super League side for a while.
“The facilities are great and the people I’ve met have made me feel really welcome,” said Marcetto.
“England [is] the biggest football country, in my opinion. Women’s football is growing here and it’s going to be a very competitive league to play in.
“I’m really excited to be here and get started. In terms of my playing style, as a midfielder, I like to be creative and also work hard.”
It is believed London City originally hoped to bring her in when her contract expired in the summer, but have been able to finalise a deal in this window for a small fee.
The club, which is currently sixth in the WSL standings, believes Marcetto brings high potential to the squad and provides added first-team competition.
Will quarterback Matthew Stafford decide to return and join them for an 18th NFL season?
“Our hope is that he does,” McVay said Monday during a videoconference with reporters, “But I think that with respect to his timetable … whenever he feels ready to make that announcement we’ll let him be able to do that.”
McVay spoke minutes after the Rams announced that McVay and Snead had signed extensions, ensuring the most important combination in the organization remains intact.
McVay, 40, and Snead, 55, were entering the final years of their contracts.
McVay, who was hired in 2017, and Snead, who has been the general manager since 2012, had previously been extended after Super Bowl appearances in the 2018 and 2021 seasons. They had offers on the table before this season but did not sign them.
The Rams have made two Super Bowl appearances and have been in the playoffs seven times in McVay’s nine seasons.
“As we enter their 10th season together, it is only fitting to reflect on the tremendous success Sean and Les have brought to this franchise, and the indelible impact they have made on Los Angeles and the NFL,” Rams owner Stan Kroenke said in a statement. “They continue to embody the standard of this franchise to compete for championships, consistently delivering a product that our fans and city can be proud of.”
3:30 p.m. PT, NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, KLAC AM 570
Halftime show: Bad Bunny
National anthem: Charlie Puth
Odds: Seahawks favored by 4.5 points
Over/Under: 45.5 points
Clippers lose to 76ers
Tyrese Maxey scored 29 points, including seven 3-pointers, Dominick Barlow added 26 points and 16 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Clippers 128-113 on Monday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
The game featured two big names who weren’t selected as All-Star reserves: Joel Embiid of the Sixers and Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers.
Embiid had 24 points as he continues to gain full strength after a right ankle injury. The Sixers improved to 11-10 without Paul George, who is serving a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug program.
Díaz, who signed a three-year, $69-million contract in December as the most sough-after reliever in free agency, pitched for Puerto Rico in the 2023 WBC but tore the patellar tendon in his right knee while celebrating a win over the Dominican Republic that pushed the team into the quarterfinals. He missed the entire 2023 MLB season as a result.
The 31-year-old Díaz has a 2.82 ERA and 253 saves over his nine-year career. In that time, no other MLB reliever tops him in strikeouts (839), while only Kenley Jansen has recorded more saves (334). With the New York Mets last season — his second since returning from knee surgery — Díaz also had one of his best career campaigns, posting a 1.63 ERA with 28 saves in 31 opportunities and 98 strikeouts in 66 ⅓ innings.
1944 — Syd Howe of the Detroit Red Wings scores six goals in a 12-6 victory over the New York Rangers. Howe is the first player to score six goals in a game since Cy Denneny of the Ottawa Senators in 1921.
1956 — Austria’s Toni Sailer wins the men’s downhill to become first Olympic skier to sweep three Alpine events.
1976 — Washington’s Dave Bing, in his final NBA All-Star game apperance, wins the MVP and leads the East to a 123-109 victory over the West in Philadelphia. Bing has 16 points and four assists.
1980 — Larry Bird hits the first three-point shot in the history of the NBA All-Star Game.
1982 — Steve Mahre, twin brother of overall champion Phil Mahre, becomes the first American male skier to win a gold medal in an Olympics or world championship competition when he edges Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark in the giant slalom at the worlds.
1990 — Bill Shoemaker, the world’s winningest jockey, finishes fourth on Patchy Groundfog in his final ride at Santa Anita. The 58-year-old Shoemaker finishes his 40-year career with $123,375,524 in earnings, a record 8,833 wins, 6,136 seconds and 4,987 thirds in 40,350 starts.
1998 — Dino Ciccarelli becomes the ninth NHL player to reach 600 goals when he scores on a power play with 5:09 remaining in the third period to give the Florida Panthers a 1-1 tie against the Detroit Red Wings.
2000 — World Wrestling Federation mastermind Vince McMahon unveils his latest creation: the XFL, a new pro football league.
2001 — One year later, the XFL muscles its way onto the national sports scene with its first two games. With exuberant cheerleaders and trash-talking players, the Las Vegas Outlaws beat the New York/New Jersey Hitmen 19-0, while the Orlando Rage beat the Chicago Enforcers 33-29 before a crowd of 35,603 in Orlando.
2002 — Adam Vinatieri’s 48-yard field goal as time expires gives Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots their first Super Bowl title with a 20-17 win over the two-touchdown favorite St. Louis Rams.
2006 — Martin Brodeur becomes the third goaltender in NHL history to reach 100 shutouts when New Jersey blanks Carolina 3-0. Brodeur joins Terry Sawchuk (115) and George Hainsworth (102).
2008 — Eli Manning and the New York Giants end New England’s unbeaten season and pull off one of the great Super Bowl upsets. Manning throws a 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left to beat the Patriots 17-14.
2013 — The Baltimore Ravens survive a power outage at the Super Bowl to edge the San Francisco 49ers 34-31. Jacoby Jones returns the second-half kickoff 108 yards, a Super Bowl record, to give Baltimore a 28-6 lead. Moments later, lights lining the Superdome fade. When action resumes 34 minutes later, Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers score 17 consecutive points, getting as close as 31-29. Baltimore stops San Francisco on fourth-and-goal from the 5 with under 2 minutes left when Kaepernick’s pass sails beyond Michael Crabtree in the end zone.
2017 — Tara VanDerveer becomes the second NCAA women’s coach to reach 1,000 victories when No. 8 Stanford beats USC 58-42 to give the Hall of Famer a milestone before a home crowd at Maples Pavilion.
2019 — Super Bowl LIII, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA: New England Patriots beat Rams, 13-3; MVP: Julian Edelman, NE Patriots, WR; Patriots’ 6th SB victory
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
“It’s an exciting challenge. We know that the club is not at the place that it should be, but I’m here to help the team and to bring what I can to achieve our goal.”
Disasi has not played for more than a year for Chelsea and was placed in the club’s so‑called “bomb squad” after failing to secure a move last summer and deemed surplus to requirements by former head coach Enzo Maresca.
He later worked his way back into the under‑21s and first‑team training, although he did not make a senior appearance.
Disasi joined Chelsea from Monaco in 2023 in a £38m deal and spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa.
But he is determined to prove his worth at West Ham as he added: “The club has given me the opportunity to show my quality on the pitch. I spoke with all the people here, and I feel that they really wanted me, so that’s why I’m here.
“Everyone knows my situation in the last few months, so I just want to get back on the field, feel the sensation of games and help the team.”
SANTA CLARA — The Rams took care of their first order of business, signing coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead to contract extensions, the team announced Monday.
McVay, 40, and Snead, 55, were entering the final years of their contracts.
McVay, who was hired in 2017, and Snead, who has been the general manager since 2012, had previously been extended after Super Bowl appearances in the 2018 and 2021 seasons. They had offers on the table before this season but did not sign them.
The Rams have made two Super Bowl appearances and have been in the playoffs seven times in McVay’s nine seasons.
The Rams finished 12-5 this season and advanced to the NFC championship game before losing to the Seattle Seahawks, who play the New England Patriots on Sunday in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
The Rams will now turn their attention to possible extensions for receiver Puka Nacua, defensive lineman Kobie Turner, edge rusher Byron Young and offensive lineman Steve Avila.
Eva Longoria, John Leguizamo and Xochitl Gomez are among the 100-plus Latino actors, artists and creatives who have signed an open letter calling for accountability in Hollywood — citing longtime discrimination in casting and storytelling.
The public statement follows the controversy surrounding Odessa A’zion, who dropped her role as a Latina character in Sean Durkin’s “Deep Cuts,” following online backlash over the actor herself not being Latina.
“Recent casting decisions around the character Zoe Gutierrez in A24’s ‘Deep Cuts’ have exposed a troubling pattern,” the letter states. “We acknowledge and commend Odessa A’zion for listening, reflecting and deciding to exit the project and become an ally. Yet how did this happen?”
Earlier this week, the Wrap revealed that the “I Love L.A.” and “Marty Supreme” breakout star was cast as Zoe Gutierrez in the A24 film adaptation of Holly Brickley’s music-filled coming-of-age novel. The character’s identity plays an important role in the book, as she is written as a half-Mexican and half-Jewish lesbian.
Though the 25-year-old announced Wednesday night that she had dropped the role — admitting through her Instagram stories that she had not yet read the book, nor learned of all the character’s traits — the incident has unearthed questions about Latino representation in Hollywood.
“This isn’t about Odessa,” said Xochitl Gomez to The Times on Friday. “It’s about the executives, the producers and the whole system at the top. They thought it was OK to not even audition Latinas for the role in the first place. Latinas were pitched, including me, but we were told that there was an actress with an exclusive offer. This role never showed up on the casting grid because it was already gone.”
Xochitl Gomez attends “REBBECA” LA Premiere on November 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by JC Olivera/Getty Images for State of the Art)
(JC Olivera / Getty Images for State of the Art)
According to UCLA’s 2025 Hollywood Diversity Report, Latinos were cast in only 1% of the leading roles in the top 104 English-language films released theatrically in 2024, despite constituting roughly 20% of the total U.S. population.
In TV, representation is just as stark. Latinos are cast in only 6% of all roles across the top U.S. broadcast series, as per a recent study by ¡Pa’lante! — a Latino representation initiative from the USC Norman Lear Center — which also found that 1 in 4 Latino characters are depicted as career criminals.
“The absence of Latina audition opportunities, and the choice to replace a clearly Latina character with a non-Latina actress, signals a broader, ongoing erasure of our community from the stories that define our culture,” the letter continues. “This is not about any one actor or project. It is about a system that repeatedly overlooks qualified Latino talent even as our identities, histories, and experiences fuel the most enduring stories.”
The signatories request that Latino actors be hired for a diverse range of roles, including non-stereotypical leads. There is also a demand for more Latino executives to be involved in green-lighting projects and the inclusion of Latino consultants, writers and producers from the earliest stages of development. Finally, there is a call on Hollywood to create mentorship, scholarships and opportunities that expand access on all levels of the ecosystem.
This plea by marginalized creatives is not the first pushback — nor likely the last — against a stagnant Hollywood machine.
As early as the 1920s, the portrayal of Latinos was so negative that the Mexican government, and even Woodrow Wilson reportedly told Hollywood producers to “please be a little kinder to the Mexicans.”
In 1999, the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called for the boycott of broadcast networks’ 26 new fall series because they did not feature a non-white lead, sparking dialogue over the diversity of Hollywood at the time.
Comedian Chris Rock blasted the industry in a 2014 essay for its omission of Mexicans in Los Angeles, where nearly half of the population is Latino: “You’re in L.A., you’ve got to try not to hire Mexicans.”
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) — who in recent years has nominated several Latino-focused films to the Library of Congress National Film Registry — also penned a 2020 column in Variety, underscoring the dearth representation of Latinos in entertainment and the consequences of omission. “Prejudice has existed in the United States for generations, but the image of our community created by film and television has done little to counter bigoted views, and too often has amplified them.”
Another letter published in October 2020 with over 270 showrunners, creators, television and film writers signatures — including Lin-Manuel Miranda and “One Day at a Time” co-creator Gloria Calderón Kellett — called for systemic change in the industry. “We are tired,” they wrote.
The pushback continued in 2022, when actor Leguizamo penned an open letter in The Times about the history of Latino representation and the co-option of Latino stories — including that of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who was portrayed by a brownface Marlon Brando in the 1952 film “Viva Zapata!,” and Al Pacino, who played the fictional Cuban character Tony Montana in the 1983 film “Scarface.”
Wrote Leguizamo, “There’s a fix for this: Cast more Latinos!”
Read the full open letter below.
Dear Casting Directors, Creative Executives, Writers, Producers, and Hollywood Leaders,
We write to you with urgency, because storytelling is humanity’s compass and Hollywood wields all the power. The stories you choose to tell, and how you tell them, shape public perception, cultural understanding, and who gets to see themselves reflected on screen. In these challenging moments that power comes with real responsibility.
Recent casting decisions around the character Zoe Gutierrez in A 24’s Deep Cuts have exposed a troubling pattern. We acknowledge and commend Odessa A’zion for listening, reflecting and deciding to exit the project and become an ally. Yet how did this happen? The absence of Latina audition opportunities, and the choice to replace a clearly Latina character with a non-Latina actress, signals a broader, ongoing erasure of our community from the stories that define our culture. This is not about any one actor or project. It is about a system that repeatedly overlooks qualified Latino talent even as our identities, histories, and experiences fuel the most enduring stories.
Latino communities are already underrepresented and misrepresented in ways that distort reality and harm real people. Casting decisions carry real weight: they influence who is seen as worthy of authentic storytelling and who gets to tell those stories with care, nuance, and authority.
We are calling for accountability, intentionality, and equity in casting and storytelling. Authentic representation means more than casting a performer who looks like the character; it means involving the communities being portrayed not just in front of the camera, but in the decisions that shape these stories from their inception. Our stories deserve to be shaped with the input, guidance, and leadership of Latino creators, consultants, writers, and performers at every stage.
We implore you to join us in concrete action:
Audition and hire more Latino actors for a diverse range of roles, including non-stereotypical leads
Hire Latino executives in your greenlighting rooms
Include Latino voices as consultants, writers, and producers from the earliest stages of development
Create and support pipelines: mentoring, scholarships, and opportunities that expand access all levels of the ecosystem
Bobb has fallen down the pecking order at City after the January arrival of Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth.
“I know there are rumours, I know there are talks,” manager Pep Guardiola said on Saturday after City’s win over Wolves.
Asked if Bobb wants to leave the club, Guardiola replied: “I think so.”
Bobb, who has also had interest from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, has featured 15 times for City this season without scoring.
He last played on 17 December against Brentford in the Carabao Cup, when he hobbled off injured inside the opening 20 minutes.
Fulham have lost only one of their last seven Premier League games under Silva and sit seventh in the table following their 2-1 win over Brighton on Saturday.
Bobb has featured six times for Norway this year, helping them qualify for this summer’s World Cup, and would unite with compatriot Sander Berge at Craven Cottage.
He missed almost the whole of last season after fracturing a bone in his leg during training in August 2024.
For Ty Dolla Sign, the perfect Sunday begins in the sky, traveling back to Los Angeles from wherever his career has last taken him. The singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist lives in constant motion — our interview had a few interruptions because he was getting ready to fly to Las Vegas, where he would be performing at a club later that night.
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
“I’m about to be at the airport in like 17 minutes,” he said, his signal cutting in and out. “Do you want me to hit you back?”
Born Tyrone Griffin Jr., Ty Dolla Sign is known for his gruff sandpaper vocals and memorable hooks. Last fall, he released his fourth studio album, “Tycoon,” with features from YG, ASAP Rocky, Chlöe, Lil Wayne and Leon Thomas and more. Then he kicked off 2026 by dropping a mash-up version of the record on the streaming platform Hotcue.fm.
Awards season has been just as active. Ty Dolla Sign is up for his seventh Grammy nomination, this time for melodic rap performance for his collaboration with JID. EZMNY (Easy Money), the record label that Ty Dolla Sign co-founded with A&R executive Shawn Barron in 2021, also earned 10 additional nominations through its roster, including six for Leon Thomas and four for Bizzy Crook.
“We’re the greatest squad,” the L.A. native said of his team. “We just want to keep being the greatest and doing the best we can to change music for the better and keep the standard high.”
The 2026 Grammy Awards will take place Sunday — the same day as his daughter’s 21st birthday, so naturally she’ll be joining him for the special occasion. He’ll also be doing a pre-show performance before the ceremony.
Just before his plane took off, Ty Dolla Sign shared what a perfect Sunday in L.A. would look like: hitting up his favorite smoothie bar, cooking up new music at his compound and enjoying a low-key Italian dinner.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
5 a.m.: Wake up on a plane
A perfect Sunday for me would start with landing on a plane early in L.A. Since I’ll already be up, I can handle my calls super early, which is convenient.
11 a.m.: Hit the weights with my PT
Then I’d go straight home and my trainer would get to my place around 11 a.m. or noon. We’d work out after that in my home gym. I’ve been working with my trainer since before Ty Dolla Sign. We’ve been training together on and off for about 15 to 20 years. I’m the type of guy to where it’s like, yeah, having a six pack is cool and all that, but eating great food is also one of my loves. If a girl wants to deal with me, she’s going to have to know certain times, I’m going to be the super workout fitness guy and sometimes, I want to eat for three years and I might get a little chunky. If you love me, you love me. If you don’t, get away. [laughs]
2 p.m.: Grab a healthy smoothie from Body Energy Club
Afterward, I’d shower up and if I have to do any more calls or answer emails, I’d handle that. Then I’d go to this spot called Body Energy Club, which has these fire a— smoothie and acai bowls. They have the most natural ingredients. The Green Goodness is great. It has avocado, spinach, banana and some other sweet stuff. It doesn’t taste nasty at all, but it’s super healthy. Then there’s the Blueberry Crumble that I love, which kind of tastes like French Toast Crunch with blueberries in it. It’s fire but also healthy. Then last but not least, I like the Turmeric Mango. That’s the one I get when I need to heal up and I’ve been wildin’. [laughs]
3 p.m.: Hit up the studio
After that, I would head over to my compound and probably just do some music. I might throw on a football game while I’m working.
10 p.m.: A low-key Italian dinner
Depending on when I leave the studio, I’d either order in or go out for dinner. There’s a few restaurants that I love. If we’re talking Italian, I’d go to Giorgio Baldi in the Palisades. If it was getting late, I’d go to Nice Guy. They also have Italian food. I’m only going to places that give me the private room and don’t try to “rap guy” me, meaning they don’t try to charge me extra high because they know I’m an artist.
At Giorgio Baldi, I like the ravioli that has corn in it, which is what they’re famous for. They have so many good things, so I order a whole bunch of things and then I just taste a little bit of each thing and that’s how I like it cause that’s how I eat. Everywhere I go, I like to order steak, fish and chicken and veggies just like how I cook at home. I don’t have to eat everything, but it’s better if I bring a lot of people so we can all share. That’s like when I’m on my diet s— and trying to stay slim. If it wasn’t then my favorite food is a burger. As for Nice Guy, they have this chicken Parmesan but I’m a weirdo, I eat the chicken Parmesan without the Parmesan. I found one other person who’s like me and it’s YG because we’re both on some “No cheese.” It was funny to find out that he was the same way. After that, I would call it a night.
WASHINGTON — When Republican Rep. Bill Posey of Florida ended an Oct. 21 House floor speech with a fist pump and the phrase “Let’s go, Brandon!” it may have seemed cryptic and weird to many who were listening. But the phrase was already growing in right-wing circles, and now the seemingly upbeat sentiment — actually a stand-in for swearing at Joe Biden — is everywhere.
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) wore a “Let’s Go Brandon” face mask at the Capitol last week. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) posed with a “Let’s Go Brandon” sign at the World Series. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s press secretary retweeted a photo of the phrase on a construction sign in Virginia.
The line has become conservative code for something far more vulgar: “F— Joe Biden.” It’s all the rage among Republicans wanting to prove their conservative credentials, a not-so-secret handshake that signals they’re in sync with the party’s base.
Americans are accustomed to their leaders being publicly jeered, and former President Trump’s often-coarse language seemed to expand the boundaries of what counts as normal political speech.
But how did Republicans settle on the Brandon phrase as a G-rated substitute for its more vulgar three-word cousin?
It started at an Oct. 2 NASCAR race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Brandon Brown, a 28-year-old driver, had won his first Xfinity Series and was being interviewed by an NBC Sports reporter. The crowd behind him was chanting something at first difficult to make out. The reporter suggested they were chanting “Let’s go Brandon” to cheer the driver. But it became increasingly clear they were saying: “F— Joe Biden.”
NASCAR and NBC have since taken steps to limit “ambient crowd noise” during interviews, but it was too late — the phrase already had taken off.
When the president visited a construction site in suburban Chicago a few weeks ago to promote his vaccinate-or-test mandate, protesters deployed both three-word phrases. This past week, Biden’s motorcade was driving past a “Let’s Go Brandon” banner as the president passed through Plainfield, N.J.
And a group chanted “Let’s go Brandon” outside a Virginia park Monday when Biden made an appearance on behalf of the Democratic candidate for governor, Terry McAuliffe. Two protesters dropped the euphemism entirely, holding up hand-drawn signs with the profanity.
Friday morning on a Southwest flight from Houston to Albuquerque, the pilot signed off his greeting over the public address system with the phrase, to audible gasps from some passengers.
Veteran GOP ad maker Jim Innocenzi had no qualms about the coded crudity, calling it “hilarious.”
“Unless you are living in a cave, you know what it means,” he said. “But it’s done with a little bit of a class. And if you object and are taking it too seriously, go away.”
America’s presidents have endured meanness for centuries; Grover Cleveland faced chants of “Ma, Ma Where’s my Pa?” in the 1880s over rumors he’d fathered an illegitimate child. Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were the subject of poems that leaned into racist tropes and allegations of bigamy.
“We have a sense of the dignity of the office of president that has consistently been violated to our horror over the course of American history,” said Cal Jillson, a politics expert and professor in the political science department at Southern Methodist University. “We never fail to be horrified by some new outrage.”
There were plenty of old outrages.
“F— Trump” graffiti still marks many an overpass in Washington, D.C. George W. Bush had a shoe thrown at his face. Bill Clinton was criticized with such fervor that his most vocal critics were labeled the “Clinton crazies.”
The biggest difference, though, between the sentiments hurled at the Grover Clevelands of yore and modern politicians is the amplification they get on social media.
“Before the expansion of social media a few years ago, there wasn’t an easily accessible public forum to shout your nastiest and darkest public opinions,” said Matthew Delmont, a history professor at Dartmouth College.
Even the racism and vitriol to which former President Obama was subjected was tempered in part because Twitter was relatively new. There was no TikTok. As for Facebook, leaked company documents have recently revealed how the platform increasingly ignored hate speech and misinformation and allowed it to proliferate.
A portion of the U.S. was already angry before the Brandon moment, believing the 2020 presidential election was rigged despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, which has stood the test of recounts and court cases. But now it’s more than that to die-hard Trump supporters, said Stanley Renshon, a political scientist and psychoanalyst at the City University of New York.
He cited the Afghanistan withdrawal, the Southern border situation and rancorous school board debates as situations in which Biden critics feel that “how American institutions are telling the American public what they clearly see and understand to be true, is in fact not true.”
Trump hasn’t missed the moment. His Save America PAC now sells a $45 T-shirt featuring “Let’s go Brandon” above an American flag. One message to supporters reads, “#FJB or LET’S GO BRANDON? Either way, President Trump wants YOU to have our ICONIC new shirt.”
Separately, T-shirts are popping up in storefronts with the slogan and the NASCAR logo.
And as for the real Brandon, thing haven’t been so great. He drives for a short-staffed, underfunded team owned by his father. And while that win — his first career victory — was huge for him, the team has long struggled for sponsorship and existing partners have not been marketing the driver since the slogan.
Well, they do say any attention is good attention.
Actor Sydney Sweeney was in the spotlight Monday after being captured on video recently scaling the H of the Hollywood sign under the cloak of darkness — to hang up some bras.
TMZ reported on the footage, which was part of a promotion for Sweeney’s upcoming lingerie line. But according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the alleged publicity stunt was not authorized.
The chamber owns the intellectual property rights to the sign, which is managed by the nonprofit Hollywood Sign Trust. Neither the chamber nor the trust knew about the apparent Sweeney stunt until they saw the video, officials told The Times.
“Anyone intending to use and/or access the Hollywood Sign for commercial purposes must obtain a license or permission from the Hollywood Chamber to do so,” the chamber’s chief, Steve Nissen, said in a statement. “The production involving Sydney Sweeney and the Hollywood Sign, as reported by TMZ, was not authorized by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce nor did we have prior knowledge of it.”
Nissen also said that the organization “did not grant a license or permission of any kind to the production … nor did anyone seek a license or permission from the Chamber for that production.”
Footage obtained by TMZ shows Sweeney climbing up the Hollywood sign to help string up a clothesline of assorted bras across the familiar landmark. The “Christy” star is accompanied by a small crew that is filming her handiwork.
The team did obtain a general permit to film in the area from FilmLA.
But as is explained both on the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Hollywood sign websites, filming the sign itself requires additional clearance and payment of a licensing fee. The chamber says a portion of the proceeds goes to a trust that assists in maintaining the Hollywood sign. Access to the Hollywood sign is generally restricted.
So far, a police report that could trigger a trespass investigation and review by prosecutors has not been filed, according to L.A. Police Officer Tony Im, a department spokesperson.
Built in 1923, the Hollywood sign was donated to the city 21 years later. Climbing or altering the sign are not permitted — and have happened over the decades. Famously, the letters were changed to “Hollyweed” by a local college student on New Year’s Day 1976 when California downgraded the possession of a small amount of pot from a possible felony to a misdemeanor. That stunt was repeated in 2017. In that case, the suspect was arrested on suspicion of trespass. In 1987, Caltech students changed the sign overnight to read “Caltech.”
Last February, a man was arrested after he climbed onto the letter D as part of a social media promotion and was taken into custody.
As for Sweeney, this is not the first time the actor has been scrutinized for promotional activity involving clothing. The “Euphoria” star previously faced backlash for the slogan of an ad campaign involving jeans. (Sweeney later addressed the controversy, telling the Hollywood Reporter that she was “surprised by the reaction” and that she “[doesn’t] support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign. Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren’t true.”)
Representatives for Sweeney did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.
