Nov. 5 (UPI) — A federal district judge on Wednesday ordered authorities to improve conditions inside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building near Chicago.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, calling the conditions “unnecessarily cruel,” acted on a class action lawsuit Wednesday after hearing several hours of testimony from five people detained at the Broadview immigration detention site west of Chicago.
“People shouldn’t be sleeping next to overflowing toilets,” Gettleman, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, said. “They should not be sleeping on top of each other.”
The four-page order also mandates detainees to be able to contact their attorneys. The order on the class action lawsuit will run from Nov. 19, when he will have another hearing though the Trump administration was told to give him a status by Friday on complying with the order.
“The court finds that plaintiffs and members of the punitive class have suffered, and are likely to suffer, irreparable harm absent the temporary relief granted herein, that they are likely to prevail on the merits of the claims, that the balance of the equities tips in their favor,” he said.
They also must be provided with a shower at least every other day; clean toilet facilities; three full meals per day; a bottle of water with each meal; adequate supplies of soap, toilet paper, and other hygiene products; and menstrual products and prescribed medications.
Holding cells also must be cleaned at least twice a day.
Regarding legal defense, detainees must have free and private phone calls with their attorneys and a list of pro bono attorneys in English and Spanish.
And they must be listed in ICE’s online detainee locator system as soon as they arrive at the Broadview facility.
The judge heard several hours of testimony about conditions at the building, which is intended to hold detainees for a few hours.
They described the inadequate food, sleeping conditions, medical care and bathrooms near where they slept. They said they slept on the floor or on plastic chairs.
The lawsuit claimed the facility “cut off detainees from the outside world,” which the government has denied.
The judge didn’t act on the plaintiff’s request to limit how many people would be kept in holding cells and limit them to not more than 12 hours if the changes aren’t enacted.
The U.S. government said the restrictions would “halt the government’s ability to enforce immigration law in Illinois.”
CHICAGO — A judge heard testimony Tuesday about overflowing toilets, crowded cells, no beds and water that “tasted like sewer” at a Chicago-area building that serves as a key detention spot for people rounded up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Three people who were held at the building in Broadview, just outside Chicago, offered rare public accounts about the conditions there as U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman considers ordering changes at a site that has become a flashpoint for protests and confrontations with federal agents.
“I don’t want anyone else to live what I lived through,” said Felipe Agustin Zamacona, 47, an Amazon driver and Mexican immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for decades.
Zamacona said there were 150 people in a holding cell. Desperate to lie down to sleep, he said he once took the spot of another man who got up to use the toilet.
And the water? Zamacona said he tried to drink from a sink but it “tasted like sewer.”
A lawsuit filed last week accuses the government of denying proper access to food, water and medical care, and coercing people to sign documents they don’t understand. Without that knowledge, and without private communication with lawyers, they have unknowingly relinquished their rights and faced deportation, the lawsuit alleges.
“This is not an issue of not getting a toilet or a Fiji water bottle,” attorney Alexa Van Brunt of the MacArthur Justice Center told the judge. “These are a set of dire conditions that when taken together paint a harrowing picture.”
Before testimony began, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said the allegations were “disgusting.”
“To have to sleep on a floor next to an overflowing toilet — that’s obviously unconstitutional,” he said.
Attorney Jana Brady of the Justice Department acknowledged there are no beds at the Broadview building, just outside Chicago, because it was not intended to be a long-term detention site.
Authorities have “improved the operations” over the past few months, she said, adding there has been a “learning curve.”
“The conditions are not sufficiently serious,” Brady told the judge.
The building has been managed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for decades. But amid the Chicago-area crackdown, it has been used to process people for detention or deportation.
Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol commander who has led the Chicago immigration operation, said criticism was unfounded.
“I think they’re doing a great job out there,” he told the Associated Press during an interview this week.
Testifying with the help of a translator, Pablo Moreno Gonzalez, 56, said he was arrested last week while waiting to start work. Like Zamacona, he said he was placed in a cell with 150 other people, with no beds, blankets, toothbrush or toothpaste.
“It was just really bad. … It was just too much,” Moreno Gonzalez, crying, told the judge.
A third person, Claudia Carolina Pereira Guevara, testified from Honduras, separated from two children who remain in the U.S. She said she was held at Broadview for five days in October and recalled using a garbage bag to clear a clogged toilet.
“They gave us nothing that had to do with cleaning. Absolutely nothing,” Guevara said.
For months advocates have raised concerns about conditions at Broadview, which has drawn scrutiny from members of Congress, political candidates and activist groups. Lawyers and relatives of people held there have called it a de facto detention center, saying up to 200 people have been held at a time without access to legal counsel.
The Broadview center has also drawn demonstrations, leading to the arrests of numerous protesters. The demonstrations are at the center of a separate lawsuit from a coalition of news outlets and protesters who claim federal agents violated their First Amendment rights by repeatedly using tear gas and other weapons on them.
Fernando writes for the Associated Press. AP reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.
Oct. 24 (UPI) — Protesters on Friday clashed again with Customs and Enforcement Agency agents and other law enforcement outside an immigration processing center in suburban Chicago.
Other ICE operations have been reported in the southwest Chicago area, where there is a sizable immigrant population.
About 12 miles from the ICE processing center in Broadview, an elementary school was on lockdown amid reports of agents in the area.
On Thursday, about 10 miles from Broadview, two Chicago Public Schools students allegedly were assaulted by federal agents on their way to school in Little Village near the Discount Mall. The area is part of Chicago’s Mexican community.
And in Gary, Ind., about 37 miles southeast of Broadview, there was an anti-ICE protest about deportation flights from an airport.
President Donald Trump has ordered National Guard personnel into Chicagoland but a federal judge has barred them before a full trial or the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in. FBI agents also have been sent to the area, along with local police and Illinois state troopers.
In Broadview, protesters have been showing up weekly at the processing center. On Friday, the protests were contained in what authorities called a safety zone.
They are demonstrating against the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” in an immigration crackdown that began Sept. 9.
“I believe that we are creating huge wounds, not only for the people who are being detained, but for the ICE officers who are doing these horrible things. I feel terrible for everybody,” Mary Kelly, who lives in nearby Oak Park, told WLS-TV.
Last Friday, Illinois State Police arrested 14 people, including one charged with obstructing/resisting police.
Residents and activists have challenged Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson’s executive orders that limit protests to between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and restrict access to areas near the facility.
They showed up on Monday at a Village Board meeting, saying the rules infringe on their free speech.
“I witnessed agents hitting people on the ground who were doing nothing,” protester Amanda Tovar told officials.
She noted a viral incident in which the Rev. David Black was struck in the head by pepper balls by federal agents.
“We’ve been brutalized first by ICE, now by the Illinois State Police,” one speaker said. “I mean, what happened to us on Saturday is insane. We’re peaceful protesters. It’s a National Day of Protesting and we get beat up for staying past 6 p.m.”
Chicago Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez and State Sen. Celina Villanueva have criticized “fascist” tactics by federal authorities.
Alderman Daniel La Spata told WLS-TV there have been “numerous confirmed sightings of ICE” throughout the West Town community area, including Ukrainian Village, Wicker Park and the Humboldt Park border.
School on soft lockdown
A.N. Pritzker School, an elementary school, had a soft lockdown for the second day and won’t open “until further notice,” the school’s principal said in a message posted on its website.
The school is named after a business magnate, attorney and philanthropist who is the grandfather of Illinois Gov. JD Pritzer.
“This is a Soft Lockdown, it is not an actual emergency, but rather a safety precaution,” the message said.
The soft lockdown began in the early afternoon.
“I want to take a moment to speak to each of you with care and concern. It has been brought to our attention that ICE agents have been reported in our neighborhood. As your principal, my top priority is your safety and well-being,” the principal said in the message.
In Little Village, WGN-TV reported two students saw masked ICE agents in the area, and decided to join in a protest and were subsequently detained.
“These kids were en route to school,” Chicago Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez said. “They saw the horrific scenes when you see masked individuals coming for your neighbors. They were unfortunately detained. One had blood on his face.”
In all, four students from Benito Juarez High School watched the protest.
“I am so angry and frustrated that these students have to add this worry to their school day,” Liz Winfield, teacher at Benito Juarez told WGN. “They should be worrying about college acceptance or if they’re going to get a date for the school dance. It is outrageous and unacceptable. They shouldn’t be worried about being taken by ICE on the way to school in the morning.”
Witnesses said the agents, donning military-style camouflage gear and gas masks, deployed tear gas.
“I started coughing a bit and went to the park to recover and then they started throwing tear gas closer to Sacramento. They detained two young people,” State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez said.
A security guard was also arrested when he asked the agents to show a warrant.
Chicago police, responding to the situation, said they arrested one person for battery to one of their officers.
It was the second day that federal immigration agents targeted the area.
Photos and video were posted on social media. People also blew whistles warning neighbors about the agents, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
The agents were led by U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino.
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis ordered to attend a hearing Tuesday after he was accused of violating a temporary restraining order limiting federal agents’ use of certain tactics to suppress protests or prevent media coverage of immigration enforcement in Illinois.
Ellis, appointed by President Barack Obama, earlier ordered Bovino to sit for a deposition with attorneys in the case.
Protests in Indiana
Organizers on Friday led an anti-ICE demonstration at the Gary/Chicago International Airport, a joint civil-military public airport in Indiana. The airport is adjacent U.S. Customs facility where immigration processing takes place.
“There is a direct connection between NWI and Chicago ICE raids and it’s facilitated by the Gary/Chicago International Airport,” a protest flyer reads that was obtained by The TRiiBE, a collaboration with indie investigative newsroom Unraved Press and alt-weekly Chicago Reader.
On Oct. 10, Gary Mayor Eddie Melton’s statement condemned the increased ICE activity.
An activist uses a bullhorn to shout at police near the ICE detention center as she protests in the Broadview neighborhood near Chicago on October 24, 2025. Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 16 (UPI) — The Columbia, S.C., field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has established a digital tip website seeking information about a bar shooting in St. Helena Island on Sunday that killed four people.
The release said the incident remains under investigation, and that the FBI field office is offering assistance, including video analysis.
The shooting occurred at Willies Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island at about 1 a.m. Sunday during an after-party attended by between 500 and 700 people, many of whom sought shelter in nearby businesses and buildings, a statement from the sheriff’s office said.
Local police said in an update Wednesday that investigators “have lots of information” about the people involved, but will not name suspects until forensic work is completed.
The sheriff’s office is conducting DNA analysis and the State Law Enforcement Division is reviewing firearms and ballistics evidence.
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner could not confirm whether the incident was gang related, but did say all of the victims knew each other, and that all 20 had been identified.
South Korea resumed a project to excavate the remains of soldiers killed at a battle site in the DMZ, its military said Wednesday. The move was intended to help reduce inter-Korean tensions in the heavily militarized DMZ, as seen in 2019. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (UPI) — South Korea on Wednesday resumed an excavation project for the remains of soldiers killed in the Korean War at a battle site in the demilitarized zone, its military said, as Seoul looks to improve frosty inter-Korean relations.
“As part of measures to ease military tensions between the South and the North, the Ministry of National Defense has resumed the excavation of remains around White Horse Ridge in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, which was suspended in 2022,” the ministry said in a message to reporters.
“This is an effort to return the remains of soldiers killed in the Korean War to their families … and is a practical measure to transform the DMZ into a zone of peace,” the ministry said.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has made efforts to rehabilitate relations between the two Koreas since he took office in June, with conciliatory gestures such as removing propaganda loudspeakers from border areas.
Lee has also said he would take “proactive and gradual steps” to restore the 2018 inter-Korean military pact that was suspended amid tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang during the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2024.
The pact established buffer zones along the border and included measures such as the removal of some guard posts in the DMZ and the banning of live-fire exercises in certain areas.
In April 2018, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to launch a joint project to retrieve remains of soldiers killed during the Korean War from Arrowhead Ridge, the site of one of the fiercest battles of the 1950-53 Korean War.
However, after the failed 2019 summit in Hanoi between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the North refused to participate.
South Korea began excavation work alone on the site in 2019 and retrieved remains of some 424 soldiers. Seoul later expanded efforts to White Horse Ridge, where teams found the remains of 67 soldiers, but the project was suspended in 2022 amid deteriorating ties with the North.
A member of Spain’s Civil Guard inspects one of several kennels in which hundreds of animals were found dead and several more endangered at an illegal breeding facility that was announced on Saturday. Photo Courtesy of the Spanish Civil Guard
Oct. 11 (UPI) — A hidden breeding facility in Spain was found to contain the remains of 250 animals and 171 live animals that were endangered and recovered to receive veterinary care.
The illicit breeding facility was located in the back of a warehouse in Meson do Vento in Ordes, Spain, the Spanish Civil Guard announced Saturday.
The warehouse manager has been detained and faces charges for alleged animal abuse, professional intrusion in the field of veterinary medicine and illegal possession of protected species.
Most of the deceased animals were dogs and birds, including Chihuahuas, and some of the animals found living fed on the remains in the absence of food.
Many were in “different stages of decomposition, some even mummified,” the Civil Force said, as reported by CBS News.
Exotic birds, dwarf horses, chinchillas, chickens and ducks were among those found living, as well as dogs.
The kennels and cages housing the animals were covered in excrement, which contributed to the dangers faced by the remaining animals.
Civil Guard officers also found a large supply of expired medicines and other veterinary materials that lacked prescriptions.
Spanish authorities have discovered several animal trafficking rings this year, including one in which two men had more than 150 exotic species kept and an unlicensed pet store in Nules.
Officers also broke up an online ring based in the Balearic Islands that trafficked large cats, including pumas, lynx and white tigers.
The site of the latest illicit pet breeding facility was located in northwestern Spain and about 350 miles north of Lisbon.
Oct. 3 (UPI) — Protesters clashed with law enforcement agencies outside a U.S. Immigration and Enforcement detention site near Chicago hours after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited.
At least five people were arrested and are facing charges of aggravated battery to a police officer, as well as resisting and obstruction, a Cook County Sheriff’s Office official told CNN.
Surrounded by armed agents and a camera crew, Noem was on the rooftop of the center in Brookview, which is about 20 miles west of Chicago, WLS-TV reported.
She was accompanied by El Centro Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino.
Noem was seen directing protesters and media away from the area after arriving at 8 a.m. She left at 9:45 a.m.
The situation escalated shortly after 9 a.m. with pushing, shoving and arrests, WLS reported.
Not used were tear gas, pellets or other chemical substances but have utilized in the past, the Sun Times reported.
Counter-protesters were also in the area in support of ICE and federal agents.
Aldermen, previously arrested demonstrators and political candidates, during a 9 a.m. news conference there, demanded transparency and safety protocols.
About 100 to 200 protesters were in the area during the morning but by 11 am., there were more law enforcement officers than demonstrators, WBBM-TV reported.
During the protest, Broadview police officers, Cook County sheriff’s deputies and Illinois State Police troopers held them back.
Protesters chanted and held signs, including ones that said “ICE melts under resistance” and “Hate has no home here.”
“I’m not gonna look back and say I sat at home and did nothing,” Nocole Bandyk, who lives in a nearby suburb, told CNN. “It’s wrong … It’s just wrong what they’re doing. We are becoming a fascist authoritarian state and it’s wrong.”
ICE, under the direction of President Donald Trump, has ramped up enforcement in Midway Blitz Operation, which began Sept. 8. Since then, there have been more than 800 arrests, according to Homeland Security.
Protesters said they wanted to know about the conditions inside the ICE facility, and for officials to be allowed inside to inspect it.
Illinois Gov. JB Prizter again on Friday criticized the operation.
“Federal agents reporting to Secretary Noem have spent weeks snatching up families, scaring law-abiding residents, violating due process rights, and even detaining U.S. citizens,” Pritzker wrote on Facebook. “Secretary Noem should no longer be able to step foot inside the State of Illinois without any form of public accountability.”
In a statement to WLS-TV, he said: “Last time when the secretary was here, she snuck in during the early morning to film social media videos and fled before sunrise. Illinois is not a photo opportunity or war zone, it’s a sovereign state where our people deserve rights, respect and answers.”
Noem earlier went to Broadview Village Hall, asking to meet with the Mayor Katrina Thompson, but she was out of the building, village spokesperson David Ormsby said.
Noem posted on X that she was going into the municipal building “for a quick bathroom break.”
The mayor then went to the detention sites, accompanied by Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills and other officers, and asked to have the fencing around the site to be removed.
On Thursday, a free speech zone that consists of barricades was erected. Instead of congregating there, protesters went to another entrance, WGN-TV reported.
The village’s fire department describes it as “illegally built” fencing, and it would block firefighters’ access to areas on that street during an emergency.
Also, village officials have launched three criminal investigations into ICE actions.
The Department of Homeland Security sent a memo to the Department of Defense — which the Trump administration has informally changed to Department of War — requesting 100 active-duty troops be deployed across Chicago for the protection of ICE agents.
A MAJOR supermarket with 340 branches is set to close a site tomorrow.
The supermarket specialises in frozen food but also stocks a wide-range of well known brands such as Muller,Birds EyeandMcCain.
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Heron Foods will be closing one of its stores this weekendCredit: Alamy
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The chain operates 343 chains across the UKCredit: Alamy
Heron Foods was first established in 1978 after operating as a local butcher in Hull under the name ‘Grindells Butchers.’
After Anthony Grindell sold the business to his sister and her family, the name was changed and the chain started to grow.
The company now runs 343 locations across the UK, however it will suffer a huge blow.
It has now been announced that the Scunthorpe store is set to close its doors for the final time.
READ MORE ON STORE CLOSURES
In the Heron Foods Scunthorpe Facebook group, one of the admins wrote to the chain’s loyal customer base to announce the news.
The post read: “Dear Valued Customers, we want to thank you for your continued support and loyalty to our Heron Foods store in Scunthorpe.
“It’s been a pleasure serving the local community, and we’re incredibly grateful for the relationships we’ve built over the years.
“We’re writing to let you know that our Scunthorpe store, located at Jubilee Way in the Parishes Shopping Centre, will be closing down.
“This decision was not made lightly, and we understand it may come as disappointing news to many of you.”
It was also revealed that the shop will close its doors for the final time before the weekend has even finished.
I’ve binned Home Bargains and B&M for Heron Foods because it’s where the proper bargains are – you should see the amount of Coke I nabbed for £1.49
The post continued: “Our final day of trading will be the 27th September, and until then, we’ll continue to offer great value and service.
“We encourage you to visit us before we close to take advantage of our remaining stock and special offers.”
The account added: “While this location is closing, we remain committed to serving our customers across the UK. You can continue to shop with us at nearby Heron Foods stores.
“Thank you again for being part of our journey in Scunthorpe. We’ll miss you!”
How to save money on your supermarket shop
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they’ve been reduced.
If the food is fresh, you’ll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.
Making a list should also save you money, as you’ll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching “finest” or “luxury” products and instead going for “own” or value” type of lines.
Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they’re misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you’re on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
Customers flooded the comments section of the post to express their immense disappointment at the decision.
One user wrote: “Shame you always have good bargains, going to miss you.”
A second stated: “Shame it’s shutting down always go in there every week.”
“Not good for the town yet again another good shop to close,” claimed a third concerned resident.
While this location is closing, we remain committed to serving our customers across the UK.
Shop adminFacebook
While a fourth commented: “It’s an absolute shame for the wonderfully helpful staff.”
And a fifth added: “Feel sorry for all the people that use the shop in the town that get their good bargains etc.”
However, the chain is launching a new site in Byker, Newcastle which is set to open its doors to customers on October 16th.
The company is also investing in a refurbishment in its Fulwell shop in Sunderland that is due to reopen at the start of October.
In August 2017, B&M purchased the chain in a reported £152million acquisition.
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Heron Foods mostly specialises in frozen and chilled foodCredit: Alamy
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Customers have slammed the decision as a huge blow to the high streetCredit: Alamy
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However, the company is opening a new shop in Newcastle and another store is getting a refurbishmentCredit: Alamy
THIS is the moment a Ukraine naval drone strikes one of Vladimir Putin’s key fuel sites sparking chaos in Russia.
The Salavat factory was hit for the second time in less than a week amid Volodymyr Zelensky’s soaring campaign against Russian oil.
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This is the moment a Ukraine naval drone strikes one of Vladimir Putin’s key fuel sites
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Thick black smoke is pictured filling the air
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The sky is filled with the trailing smoke
Footage shows thick black smoke billowing out of the facility as an inferno rages on the ground.
A second explosion, meanwhile, is seen pounding the building.
Locals reported hearing a “loud noise” before flames ravaged the surrounding area.
The Salavat refinery, considered a linchpin in Russia’s oil industry, was last hit on September 18 – causing a “massive explosion”, according to local media.
It’s just one of a number of facilities Ukraine has targeted in recent weeks as it steps up its campaign on Russian energy infrastructure.
The strikes have sparked chaos in Moscow with petrol stations reportedly not able to stockpile fuel.
Widely used petrol – such as Ai 92 and Ai 95 – are often unavailable, according to reports.
One employee at a petrol station in the western Belgorod suggested the oil crisis had reached a tipping point, with stations forced to close “because there was no gasoline”.
She told Reuters: “The station in the neighbouring village also closed, and others simply ran out of gasoline.”
Moscowhas been forced to ban fuel exports for six months, sacrificing vital revenue just to stop unrest at home.
Zelensky warns Putin’s war heralds rise of AI & NUCLEAR drones – and references deaths of Charlie Kirk & Iryna Zarutska
Military intelligence expert Philip Ingram MBE previously explained how “Putin’s greatest fear” is “the Russian people rising up.”
Before the invasion, energy exports made up around 40 per cent of the Kremlin’s budget.
Even under sanctions, oil and gas still bring in 30 per cent of Russia’s income.
He showed how Ukraine has zeroed in on this “river of oil money” with pinpoint strikes hundreds of miles inside Russian territory.
Long-range drones have torched colossal refineries, exploded pumping stations and set storage tanks ablaze – systematically dismantling Moscow’s refining capacity.
The campaign has shattered Russia’s aura of invulnerability, exposed its sprawling oil empire as a fatal weakness, and brought the war crashing into the lives of ordinary Russians.
And as Ingram puts it: “It proves that in modern warfare, the most effective battle plans aren’t always about brute force on the tactical frontline, but about finding your enemy’s single point of failure – and striking it again and again with unrelenting precision.”
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Donald Trump announced in his keynote speech at the UN General Assembly that Ukraine could win back ‘every inch’ of its territory with RussiaCredit: Alamy
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Peskov hit back at Trump’s comments, saying he was ‘deeply mistaken’
It comes as Donald Trump announced in his keynote speech at the UN General Assembly that Ukraine could win back “every inch” of its territory with Russia.
In a major pivot from his previous stance on the three-and-a-half-year conflict, Trump also dismissed Russia’s military strength and mocked its inability to beat Ukraine in just a few days.
Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said Ukraine “may be able to take back their country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that”.
Trump’s Vlad-bashing follows months of growing frustration at Putin’s refusal to end the offensive in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hit back at Trump’s insults, particularly those levelled at the Russian economy.
“The phrase ‘paper tiger’ was used in relation to our economy,” he said.
“Russia is more associated with a bear. And paper bears don’t exist.
“Russia is a real bear.”
Peskov did, however, admit that the Russian economy had faced “tensions”.
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The explosions are weakening key Russian infrastructure
Sept. 20 (UPI) — Three protesters were arrested after U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents clashed with more than “100 rioters” outside a processing center in west suburban Chicago, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The incident occurred on Friday morning outside the Broadview processing facility, in which “rioters assaulted law enforcement, threw tear gas cans, slashed tires of cars, blocked the entrance of the building, and trespassed on private property,” the agency said in a news release.
The situation at the facility, located 13 miles west of downtown Chicago, escalated during the day.
During the morning, vans picked up and dropped off rioters “as an organized effort to obstruct ICE law enforcement,” the agency said.
On Friday afternoon, one woman appeared to be shot with a paintball gun at close range, WLS-TV reported. She was placed in handcuffs.
Just before 8 p.m., agents launched tear gas into the crowd outside the detention facility.
“Our ICE enforcement officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them,” HHS said. “Disturbingly, in recent days, two ICE officers’ have had cars used as weapons against them.”
ICE has stepped up enforcement in Chicago as part of “Operation Midway Blitz,” which began Sept. 8. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who led an immigration crackdown in Los Angeles, was on hand at the facility.
Since personnel were added last week, the operation has “resulted in the arrest of hundreds of criminal illegal aliens, including Tren de Aragua gang members,” whom DHS said “prior criminal histories of” murder, sexual assault, drug trafficking, robbery and other offenses.
Chicago is a sanctuary city, meaning local, county or state law enforcement doesn’t need to cooperate with federal authorities to protect undocumented immigrants.
“Police under JB Pritzker’s sanctuary jurisdiction refused to answer multiple calls for assistance,” HHS said. “These rioters and sanctuary politicians are choosing to side with criminals over American victims.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Johnson are Democrats.
“The violent targeting of law enforcement in Illinois by lawless rioters is despicable and Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson must call for it to end,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line to protect the people of Illinois and all Americans.
“From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi Gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is going to get law enforcement killed. This violence against ICE must end.”
On Friday, two demonstrators were seen being detained by agents, WLS-TV reported. Agents were attempting to move vehicles, with the demonstrators in the way and not moving.
“We have here a federal government that is actively working against its people, that is doing everything possible to divide them,” Alderman Andre Vasquez said. “They are building the same system that they are going to use for everyone else.”
U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly was among several elected officials outside the detention center.
“I had to come over, talk to some people and see for myself,” Kelly, who serves the 2nd Congressional District, which serves southern Chicago and suburbs. “People are being treated like animals. What ICE is doing is unconscionable. I know that they are doing what they are told to do. But they are treating people like animals not people. It’s a Gestapo-type action.”
Protesters have a right to make their voices heard, official with the American Civil Liberties Union said.
“What isn’t protested is the attempt to obstruct or to you know limit the building or the government employees from entering or leaving that building,” Ed Yhonka, ACLU of Illinois director of communications and public policy, told WLS. “Someone attempting to puncture the tire of a vehicle, that’s not speech. That’s an action, and that isn’t protected by the Constitution.”
An Illinois Democratic congressional candidate was shown in a video being shoved to the ground during an anti-ICE protest outside the location.
“This is what it looks like when ICE violates our First Amendment rights,” Kat Abughazaleh, a former reporter and Democratic candidate for Congress, posted the video to her X account on Friday.
She is running in the 9th Congressional District, which serves north suburban Chicago.
She later posted Friday that “Once last week, twice today, ICE has picked me up and thrown me on the ground. Honestly, it doesn’t compare to what our neighbors who are trapped inside the Broadview processing facility.”
McLaughlin accused Abughazaleh of seeking attention for her campaign by attempting to “obstruct justice.”
“This fame-hungry, cable TV candidate is so desperate for her 15 minutes of fame that she will go so far as to put our law enforcement at risk and obstruct justice,” she told Fox News Digital.
At Elgin Community College, federal agents allegedly took an undocumented student into custody in a parking lot outside a building on the main campus.
There are at least 150,000 undocumented immigrants living in Chicago, Rob Paral, a demographer at the Great Cities Institute of the University of Illinois Chicago, told The New York Times earlier this month. There are 2.7 million residents in Chicago and 9.26 million in the Chicago metro area.
Pew Research reported in August that there are about 550,000 unauthorized immigrants living in the state of Illinois, with a population of 12.8 million, according to 2023 data.
Hong Kong police have defused a 450kg World War II-era bomb discovered at a construction site, prompting the evacuation of more than 2,800 residents. Authorities said the device was still ‘fully functional’ and could have caused mass casualties if mishandled.
The East L.A. Classic, matching high school football rivals Garfield and Roosevelt, is returning to East Los Angeles College on Friday, Oct. 24, the Bulldogs confirmed on Monday. There also will be a JV game and flag football game.
Last season, the two schools played at SoFi Stadium. The Coliseum has also hosted a recent game. But East L.A. College has been the site for the majority of a rivalry that serves as a homecoming for both schools and annually attracts the largest fan attendance in the City Section, if not in Southern California.
L.A.’s best football tradition is taking place THIS Friday, October 25 at Sofi Stadium.
The East L.A. Classic between the Roosevelt Roughriders & Garfield Bulldogs has been going on for over 99 years and is the best rivalry in L.A.
Head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, says he hopes for a ‘successful conclusion’ in the coming days.
Published On 8 Sep 20258 Sep 2025
Talks on resuming International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites have made progress, but its chief warned that there was “not much” time remaining.
On Monday, the director general of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, told the 35-nation IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna, Austria, that “Progress has been made”.
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“It is my sincere hope that within the next few days it will be possible to come to a successful conclusion of these discussions,” Grossi said, adding: “There is still time, but not much.”
He did not elaborate on what the timeframe meant exactly.
While Tehran allowed inspectors from the IAEA into Iran at the end of August, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said no agreement had been reached on the resumption of full cooperation with the watchdog.
Following a 12-day war, which saw Israel and the United States bomb cities across Iran, as well as Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities, in June, Tehran decided to change its cooperation with the IAEA.
Iran expressed anger at the IAEA for paving the way for Israel’s attack by censuring the country the day before Israel struck with a damning report in May that declared that Tehran was in breach of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Fury then followed when the watchdog did not condemn Israeli or US attacks. In July, Iran passed a law suspending cooperation with the agency.
Within the law, any future inspection of its nuclear sites needs approval by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
However, last week, Grossi told the Reuters news agency in an interview that the board was pushing for a deal to inspect Iranian sites, including those targeted by Israel and the US.
Grossi confirmed that the IAEA had no information from Iran on the status or whereabouts of its stock of highly enriched uranium since Israel’s attacks on June 13.
“I believe there is a general understanding that by and large, the material is still there. But, of course, it needs to be verified. Some could have been lost,” he said.
“We don’t have indications that would lead us to believe that there has been major movement of material,” Grossi added.
Late last month, France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered a mechanism to reimpose sanctions on Iran after a series of meetings failed to reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme.
The three European countries, known as the E3, had been warning Tehran for weeks that UN sanctions could be reimposed by October when a 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and major powers expires.
Hundreds of federal agents descended on a sprawling site where Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles in Georgia and detained 475 people, most of them South Korean nationals.
This is the latest in a long line of workplace raids conducted as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. But the one on Thursday is distinct because of its large size and the fact that it targeted a manufacturing site state officials have long called Georgia’s largest economic development project.
The detainment of South Korean nationals also sets it apart, as they are rarely caught up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, which data show has focused on Latinos.
Video released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Saturday showed a caravan of vehicles driving up to the site and then federal agents directing workers to line up outside. Some detainees were ordered to put their hands up against a bus as they were frisked and then shackled around their hands, ankles and waist. Others had plastic ties around their wrists as they boarded a Georgia inmate-transfer bus.
Here are some things to know about the raid and the people impacted:
The workers detained
South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Saturday that more than 300 South Koreans were among the 475 people detained.
Some of them worked for the plant operated by HL-GA Battery Co., a joint venture by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution that is set to open next year, while others were employed by contractors and subcontractors at the construction site, according to Steven Schrank, the lead Georgia agent of Homeland Security Investigations.
He said that some of the detained workers had illegally crossed the U.S. border, while others had entered the country legally but had expired visas or had entered on a visa waiver that prohibited them from working.
But an immigration attorney representing two of the detained workers said his clients arrived from South Korea under a visa waiver program that allows them to travel for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa.
Attorney Charles Kuck said one of his clients has been in the U.S. for a couple of weeks, while the other has been in the country for about 45 days, adding that they had been planning to return home soon.
The detainees also included a lawful permanent resident who was kept in custody for having a prior record involving firearm and drug offenses, since committing a crime of “moral turpitude” can put their status in jeopardy, said Lindsay Williams, a public affairs officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, on Saturday.
Williams denied reports that U.S. citizens had been detained at the site, since “once citizens have identified themselves, we have no authority.”
Hyundai Motor Co. said in a statement Friday that none of its employees had been detained as far as it knew and that it is reviewing its practices to make sure suppliers and subcontractors follow U.S. employment laws. LG told the Associated Press that it couldn’t immediately confirm how many of its employees or Hyundai workers had been detained.
The South Korean government expressed “concern and regret” over the operation targeting its citizens and is sending diplomats to the site.
“The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the process of U.S. law enforcement,” South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong said in a televised statement from Seoul.
Most of the people detained have been taken to an immigration detention center in Folkston, Ga., near the Florida state line. None of them have been charged with any crimes yet, Schrank said, but the investigation is ongoing.
Family members and friends of the detainees were having a hard time locating them or figuring out how to get in touch with them, James Woo, communications director for the advocacy group Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, said Saturday in an email.
Woo added that many of the families were in South Korea because many of the detainees were in the United States only for business purposes.
Raid is the result of a months-long investigation
The raid was the result of a months-long investigation into allegations of illegal hiring at the site, Schrank said.
In a search warrant and related affidavits, agents sought items including employment records for current and former workers, timecards and video and photos of workers.
Court records filed last week indicated that prosecutors do not know who hired what it called “hundreds of illegal aliens.” The identity of the “actual company or contractor hiring the illegal aliens is currently unknown,” the U.S. attorney’s office wrote in a Thursday court filing.
The sprawling manufacturing site
The raid targeted a manufacturing site widely considered one of Georgia’s largest and most high-profile.
Hyundai Motor Group started manufacturing EVs at the $7.6-billion plant a year ago. Today, the site employs about 1,200 people in a largely rural area about 25 miles west of Savannah.
Agents homed in on an adjacent plant that is still under construction at which Hyundai has partnered with LG Energy Solution to produce batteries that power EVs.
The Hyundai site is in Bryan County, which saw its population increase by more than a quarter in the early 2020s and stood at almost 47,000 residents in 2023, the most recent year data are available. The county’s Asian population went from 1.5% in 2018 to 2.2% in 2023, and the growth was primarily among people of Indian descent, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.
Raid was the ‘largest single site enforcement operation’
The Trump administration has targeted an array of businesses in its workplace raids, including farms, construction sites, restaurants, car washes and auto repair shops. But most have been smaller, including a raid the same day as the Georgia one in which federal officers took away dozens of workers from a snack-bar manufacturer in Cato, N.Y.
Other recent high-profile raids have included one in July targeting Glass House Farms, a legal marijuana farm in Camarillo. More than 360 people were arrested in one of the largest raids since Trump took office in January. Another took place at an Omaha meat production plant and involved dozens of workers being taken away.
Schrank described the one in Georgia as the “largest single site enforcement operation” in the agency’s two-decade history.
The majority of the people detained are Koreans. During the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, 2024, 46 Koreans were deported out of more than 270,000 removals for all nationalities, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and other state Republican officials, who had courted Hyundai and celebrated the EV plant’s opening, issued statements Friday saying all employers in the state were expected to follow the law.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta described the raid in a joint statement as “unacceptable.”
“Our communities know the workers targeted at Hyundai are everyday people who are trying to feed their families, build stronger communities, and work toward a better future,” the statement said.
Sammie Rentz opened the Viet Huong Supermarket less than 3 miles from the Hyundai site six months ago and said he worries business may not bounce back after falling off sharply since the raid.
“I’m concerned. Koreans are very proud people, and I bet they’re not appreciating what just happened. I’m worried about them cutting and running, or starting an exit strategy,” he said.
Ellabell resident Tanya Cox, who lives less than a mile from the Hyundai site, said she had no ill feelings toward Korean nationals or other immigrant workers at the site. But few neighbors were employed there, and she felt like more construction jobs at the battery plant should have gone to local residents.
“I don’t see how it’s brought a lot of jobs to our community or nearby communities,” Cox said.
Golden writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Mike Schneider in Orlando, Fla., contributed to this report.
Melbourne, Australia – A far-right “anti-immigration” march escalated into a violent attack on a sacred Indigenous site in Melbourne last weekend, raising serious questions about police conduct and institutional responses to neo-Nazi groups in Australia.
The march on Sunday, which saw members of the self-described neo-Nazi National Socialist Network (NSN) lead chants of “Australia for the white man”, culminated in a group of 50 men storming Camp Sovereignty – the site of a historic Aboriginal burial ground in the city.
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The attack left four people injured, with two hospitalised for severe head wounds.
The “March for Australia” protest against mass immigration came just one week after more than 350,000 people marched across Australia in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), prominent far-right figure Hugo Lennon, an associate of the neo-Nazi NSN, was listed as an original organiser before being quietly removed from the event’s Facebook page days prior.
In a statement released a day before the march, Thomas Sewell, leader of the NSN, declared, “March for Australia is about stopping immigration. No illegal actions or gestures will be performed by our members on the day.”
For some, the ensuing violence at Camp Sovereignty made clear the event’s underlying intentions.
“The rally was never about immigration but an excuse to parade white supremacist ideas in Australia,” said Ilo Diaz from the Centre Against Racial Profiling.
‘We knew they were coming back’: The assault on Camp Sovereignty
The Camp Sovereignty protest site occupies the “Kings Domain” parkland area in central Melbourne.
The camp is considered a sovereign embassy of Australia’s First Nation people and a sacred space dedicated to honouring Indigenous ancestors and healing generational trauma within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, particularly the Boonwurrung and Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.
Established in 2006 by elders Robbie and Marg Thorpe, Camp Sovereignty marks the site of an Indigenous ceremonial place and burial ground, and has come to symbolise ongoing Indigenous resistance in Australia, advocating for an end to genocide and recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and land rights.
Nathalie Farah, who said she was kicked in the stomach during the attack on the camp, said the threat from the far right was evident hours before the violence took place.
“Earlier that morning, Tom [Sewell] and a couple of his mates walked through Camp Sovereignty,” Farah told Al Jazeera.
“They wanted to walk through the sacred fire. We knew that they were going to come back. The police knew they were coming back,” Farah said.
At approximately 5pm local time, a large group, led by Sewell, armed with poles and pipes, charged the camp.
National Socialist Network leader Thomas Sewell, centre, reacts against a police officer during the “March for Australia” anti-immigration rally on August 31, 2025 [William West/AFP]
Video footage shared on social media showed the attackers, most dressed entirely in black, charging towards the camp and assaulting anyone in their path as they tore down First Nation flags and inflicted damage to the site.
The Black Peoples Union, an Indigenous political organisation, said the attackers chanted “white power” and racial slurs while stamping on the camp’s sacred fire – which is kept burning to honour the Indigenous ancestors buried at the site – and trampling on the Aboriginal flag.
Video clips of the attack showed the men and younger youths specifically targeting women at the camp.
“I had what looked like a 15-year-old boy rip my hair, throw me to the ground and smash into my face with his fists. He did it with a smile on his face,” a 30-year-old teacher said in a witness statement to the Black Peoples Union.
Naarm Frontline Medics, a volunteer medical group, alleged police arrived at the camp only after the attackers fled, and claimed officers “came with pepper spray drawn on the victims of the assault, not the attackers”.
The medics also accused officers of having “actively obstructed the victims ‘ access to emergency medical care”.
Victoria Police confirmed they made no arrests at the site.
A ‘globally networked’ threat
Researchers note the attack on Camp Sovereignty was not an isolated incident but part of a growing, internationally connected, far-right threat.
The White Rose Society, which monitors far-right extremism, told Al Jazeera the neo-Nazi NSN group is “heavily networked with the international far right” through groups such as Terrorgram and 764/COM, with leaders “playing a prominent role in the international active club network”.
“Australian fascists and neo-Nazis have extensive reach on social media to an international audience, contributing to neo-Nazi news sites that promote anti-Semitic content,” the group said.
The NSN did not respond to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment.
A protester wearing a shirt showing an image of US President Donald Trump as a stylised depiction of Rambo is seen during the “March for Australia” anti-immigration rally in Melbourne on August 31, 2025 [William West/AFP]
The group’s Telegram channel displays multiple videos showing members training in combat techniques and chanting “white men fight back”, content that is also promoted across their TikTok accounts and official website.
The camp attack has highlighted concerns among some regarding the selective condemnation of far-right violence from official institutions in Australia.
Australia’s special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, who was appointed to lead efforts against anti-Semitic actions in Australia, has yet to issue a statement addressing the neo-Nazi violence.
Segal also declined to address the role of neo-Nazis in the “March for Australia” protest, telling reporters at a conference: “I don’t want to comment on any particular incidents as I think this goes beyond any particular incident.”
In July, Segal said she had no involvement in a major donation by a company co-directed by her husband to Advance Australia – a conservative lobby group that rails against immigration, pro-Palestinian protests, and the Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Aboriginal Senator Lidia Thorpe, a Djab Wurrung, Gunnai and Gunditjmara woman, condemned what she called institutional hypocrisy in dealing with the far-right in Australia.
“Why are the authorities allowing this to happen? Why is the prime minister allowing this to happen?” Senator Thorpe said.
Thorpe has demanded a full investigation into the attack on Camp Sovereignty and has directly linked the slow police response to systemic racism in Australian society.
Police arrest a protester during the “March for Australia” anti-immigration rally in Melbourne on August 31, 2025 [William West/AFP]
“We see how the Victorian Police treat Aboriginal people every day on the streets. There needs to be a full investigation on the infiltration of the neo-Nazi movement into not only the Victorian police force, but every so-called police force in this country,” Thorpe said.
“I’m sure there’s a lot more members of the NSN that wear badges amongst the police force,” she added.
The March for Australia rally proceeded with a significant police presence last weekend. Videos and witness accounts show police officers walking alongside the demonstrators.
When counter-protesters attempted to block NSN members from joining the main rally, video footage shared by the NSN and anti-fascist organisers showed police using pepper spray, but only on counter-protesters.
Political commentator Tom Tanuki said this selectivity fitted a pattern of police conduct that “invariably” sides with the far right.
“I wasn’t surprised to see them, as depicted in my video, defending NSN’s entry into the rally and pepper-spraying people out of the way,” Tanuki said.
A statement released before the march by Victoria Police declared, “Anyone thinking of coming into the city to cause trouble, display hateful behaviour, breach the peace or confront others will be met with a strong police response.”
A measure of accountability
More than 48 hours after the attack on Camp Sovereignty, NSN leader Sewell was arrested and charged. On Friday, he was denied bail by a court in Melbourne. Five other NSN members were arrested and released on bail.
Despite the arrests, authorities have not classified the attack on Camp Sovereignty as a racially motivated hate crime, which has prompted condemnation from Aboriginal leaders.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Senator Thorpe stated unequivocally: “Camp Sovereignty is our place of worship. For the authorities, even the federal parliament and the prime minister, not to see this as a hate crime, to refuse to name it and treat it as one, shows we have a serious problem in this country.
“It’s racism in itself not to call it what it is,” Thorpe said.
Thorpe connected the violence to Australia’s colonial legacy.
“The war has not ended for our people,” she added.
“We have over 600 Aboriginal deaths in custody with no one held accountable. 24,000 of our children have been taken from their mothers’ arms. They’re locking up our babies from age 10; 93 percent of the child prison population are our children. The genocide continues.”
Despite the attack, Camp Sovereignty remains, and a nationwide day of action has been called by Aboriginal resistance organisation The Blak Caucus on September 13, to show solidarity with the camp.
Victoria Police separate counter-protesters as demonstrators gather outside Flinders Street station during the “March for Australia” anti-immigration rally in Melbourne on August 31, 2025 [Joel Carrett/EPA]
Nothing says “awards season” like a fall film festival. The Times’ reporters, critics, videographers and photographers are on the ground at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, bringing you all the news from TIFF’s 50th edition. Our coverage includes our TIFF Daily newsletter, along with photo and video highlights from the Los Angeles Times Studio.
Bookmark this site and revisit all weekend to see new actors, directors, documentarians and international icons who couldn’t wait to say hi to us. And be sure to check out our complete coverage of TIFF 2025 throughout the festival.
Elle Fanning from the film “Sentimental Value.”
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
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1.Back row left to right, Nadia Latif and Willem Dafoe. Front row left to right, Anna Diop and Corey Hawkins from the film “The Man in My Basement.”2.Anna Diop.
Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst and Derek Cianfrance from the film “Roofman.”
Back row left to right, Anita Afonu and Ben Proudfoot. Front row left to right, Nana Adwoa Frimpong and Ghanaian Brandon Somerhalder from the film “The Eye of Ghana.”
Pete Ohs from the film “Erupcja.”
Left to right, Lisa Barros D’sa, Glenn Leyburn and Eanna Hardwicke from the film “Saipan.”
Director Oliver Laxe from the film “Sirât.”
Kirsten Dunst from the film “Roofman.”
Stephen Amell, left, and Sean Astin from the film “Little Lorraine.”
Elle Fanning and Stellan Skarsgard from the film “Sentimental Value.”
than Hawke from the film “The Lowdown.”
Riz Ahmed and Aneil Karia from the film “Hamlet.”
Left to right, Thomas DeGrezia, Director Eif Rivera, Brad Feinstein and Christina Weiss Lurie and Diego Boneta from the film “Killing Castro.”
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1.Jay McCarrol.2.Matt Johnson from the film “Nirvana: The Band – The Show – The Movie.”
Connor O’Malley, Vanessa Bayer, Kate Berlant, Claudia O’Doherty, Eric Rahill and John Early from the film “Maddie’s Secret.”
Channing Tatum from the film “Roofman.”
Left to right, Samara Weaving, Kyle Gallner, seated, and Adam Carter Rehmeier from the film “Carolina Carolina.”
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1.Samara Weaving from the film “Carolina Carolina.”
Left to right, Idan Weiss and Agnieszka Holland from the film “Franz.”
Left to righy, Chris Candy, Jennifer Candy and Colin Hanks from the film “John Candy: I Like Me.”
Potsy Ponciroli from the film “Motor City.”
Back row, co-Director Tom Dean and Emilia Jones. Front row, co-Director Mac Eldridge and Nick Robinson from the film “Charlie Harper,”
Left to right, Megan Lawless, Cooper Tomlinson, Curry Barker, Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette from the film “Obsession.”
Back row, Chandler Levack and Juliette Gariepy. Middle row, Stanley Simons and Barbie Ferreira. Front row, Devon Bostick from the film “Mile End Kicks.”
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Some 475 people were detained during an immigration raid at a sprawling Georgia site where South Korean auto company Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles, according to a Homeland Security official.
Steven Schrank, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, said at a news briefing Friday that the majority of the people detained were from South Korea.
“This operation underscores our commitment to jobs for Georgians and Americans,” Schrank said.
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong described the number of detained South Koreans as “large” though he did not provide an exact figure.
He said the detained workers were part of a “network of subcontractors,” and that the employees worked for a variety of different companies on the site.
Thursday’s raid targeted one of Georgia’s largest and most high-profile manufacturing sites, touted by the governor and other officials as the largest economic development project in the state’s history. Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s biggest automaker, began manufacturing EVs a year ago at the $7.6 billion plant, which employs about 1,200 people, and has partnered with LG Energy Solution to build an adjacent battery plant, slated to open next year.
In a statement to The Associated Press, LG said it was “closely monitoring the situation and gathering all relevant details.” It said it couldn’t immediately confirm how many of its employees or Hyundai workers had been detained.
“Our top priority is always ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees and partners. We will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities,” the company said.
Hyundai’s South Korean office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
ICE spokesman Lindsay Williams confirmed that federal authorities conducted an enforcement operation at the 3,000-acre site west of Savannah, Georgia. He said agents were focused on the construction site for the battery plant.
In a televised statement, Lee said the ministry is taking active measures to address the case, dispatching diplomats from its embassy in Washington and consulate in Atlanta to the site, and planning to form an on-site response team centered on the local mission.
“The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the process of U.S. law enforcement,” Lee said.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that agents executed a search warrant “as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment practices and other serious federal crimes.”
President Trump’s administration has undertaken sweeping ICE operations as part of a mass deportation agenda. Immigration officers have raided farms, construction sites, restaurants and auto repair shops.
The Pew Research Center, citing preliminary Census Bureau data, says the U.S. labor force lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January through July. That includes people who are in the country illegally as well as legal residents.
Kim and Bynum write for the Associated Press. Bynum reported from Savannah, Ga.
The world’s largest sports pirating site, Streameast, is no more.
The illegal streaming giant was terminated in Egypt after a sting operation, according to the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, one of the country’s largest antipiracy coalitions. Egyptian law enforcement and ACE shut down the service Aug. 24 following a yearlong investigation.
Streameast had 80 associated domains and amassed more than 1.6 billion visits during the past year. It offered access to sports’ biggest events, including Europe’s football championships, the NFL, NBA, MLB, pay-per-view boxing and F1 races. It garnered an average of 136 million monthly visitors, primarily based in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., the Philippines and Germany.
“With this landmark action, we have put more points on the board for sports leagues, entertainment companies, and fans worldwide — and our global alliance will stay on the field as long as it takes to identify and target the biggest piracy rings across the globe,” said Charles Rivkin, chairman of ACE and head of the Motion Picture Assn., in a press release.
Two men were arrested about 20 miles outside of Cairo under suspicion of copyright infringement. Authorities confiscated devices, including laptops and smartphones thought to be operating the site, cash and several credit cards. Investigators also identified a shell company possibly used to launder the advertising revenue, which totaled to around $6.2 million, and an investment of $200,000 in cryptocurrency. Several properties in Egypt were also allegedly purchased with these funds.
In addition to working with local Egyptian authorities, ACE’s investigation was aided by Europol, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Centre, according to the Athletic’s reporting.
All sites previously associated with Streameast will be redirected to ACE’s “watch legally” page, which provides links to authorized streaming video providers. This announcement comes a day before the NFL’s regular season kicks off.
The IAEA has urged Syria to cooperate fully over allegations it had been building a covert nuclear reactor at the site – allegations Syria denies.
Published On 3 Sep 20253 Sep 2025
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has said its inspectors discovered uranium particles at a site in Syria it suspects was once used as part of a clandestine nuclear programme run by the former government of Bashar al-Assad.
Last year, inspectors visited and took environmental samples at “three locations that were allegedly functionally related” to the remote desert site Deir el-Zour, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) spokesman Fredrik Dahl said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Analysis revealed a significant number of anthropogenic natural uranium particles in samples taken at one of the three locations. Some of these uranium particles are consistent with the conversion of uranium ore concentrate to uranium oxide,” said Dahl. This would be typical of a nuclear power reactor.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi reported these findings to the agency’s board of directors on Monday in a report on developments in Syria.
The report also stated that “the current Syrian authorities indicated that they had no information that might explain the presence of such uranium particles.”
The IAEA urged Syria on Tuesday to cooperate fully over allegations that it had been building a covert nuclear reactor at Deir Az Zor.
Syria has repeatedly denied these allegations.
The Deir Az Zor site only became public knowledge after Israel – which is the Middle East’s only state with nuclear weapons, although it has not declared its own programme – launched air strikes in 2007, destroying the facility. Syria later levelled the site and never responded fully to the IAEA’s questions.
An IAEA team visited some sites of interest last year while al-Assad was still in power. After al-Assad’s fall last December in a rebel offensive on the capital Damascus, the new government led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa agreed to cooperate with the agency and again provided inspectors access to the site where the uranium particles had been found.
They took more samples there and “will evaluate the results of all of the environmental samples taken at this location and the information acquired from the planned visit to the site, and may conduct follow-up activities, as necessary”, Dahl said on Tuesday.
In an interview with The Associated Press news agency in June during a visit to Damascus, Grossi said al-Sharaa had expressed an interest in pursuing nuclear energy for Syria in the future. The IAEA said Syria granted its inspectors access to the location for a second time to gather more samples.
A number of other countries in the region are pursuing nuclear energy in some form. Grossi said Syria would most likely be looking into small modular reactors, which are cheaper and easier to deploy than traditional large ones.
He also said the IAEA is prepared to help Syria rebuild the radiotherapy, nuclear medicine and oncology infrastructure in a health system severely weakened by nearly 14 years of civil war.
