takeover

Though rich with detail, the aim of the game is enticingly simple – make your opponent touch the ground with any part of his body which isn’t the sole of his foot, or push him out of the ring, or dohyo, altogether.

Rikishi train intensely from a young age in order to master the precise rituals and 82 different winning techniques, or kimarite, but it was through their adventures outside of the dohyo that they stole the hearts of old and new British fans.

Because the 40 rikishi who travelled to compete in London crammed plenty of quintessentially British traditions into their visit.

Accustomed to taking on board up to 10,000 calories per day in pursuit of their ultimate competition weight, in London they swapped their usual high-protein chankonabe stew for fish and chips and pints of Guinness in between tours of Harrods and photo opportunities outside the Houses of Parliament.

Wrestlers were seen visiting Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross, made famous by the Harry Potter series, and some even made it as far as Stonehenge in Wiltshire.

Most-loved, though, were the photos snapped of the huge frames of the rikishi getting around the capital in black cabs, red buses – and even by bike., external

Matt Ritchie sensed it.

He knew what could happen if Howe “got hold of them” and “had some firepower”, after previously working with the manager at Bournemouth.

“When I first arrived, I would talk about Eddie Howe and Bournemouth,” said the 36-year-old winger, who played for Newcastle between 2016 and 2024 and now at Reading.

“The lads would say, ‘come on, drop it, he can’t have been that good’. But I’d tell them there was no stone left unturned.

“I was so pleased that they got to sample it. Until you actually see it and feel it, you don’t truly believe you have never worked like that before. It’s the attention to detail, the preparation and the desire to improve – all the things that make Newcastle what they are now.”

It has not all been plain sailing, of course, since Howe’s appointment or the takeover a few weeks prior.

Newcastle, currently 15th in the Premier League, missed out on a number of targets during a draining summer window and lost striker Alexander Isak to Liverpool for a British record £125m.

The club do not have a sporting director after Paul Mitchell left in June, following less than a year in the post.

And the wait continues for announcements concerning the future of St James’ Park and construction of a new state-of-the-art training ground.

But this is a side that ended a 70-year drought to win a major domestic trophy back in March after lifting the Carabao Cup by beating Liverpool.

They have qualified for the Champions League in two of the past three seasons – recording their biggest win in the competition against Union Saint-Gilloise this week – and only Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal have picked up more points in the Premier League since Howe took charge.

“A lot has changed just in terms of the general feeling of the club,” added Howe. “Of course, the team has changed. Naturally, teams progress and change over time.

“The way we’re working behind the scenes as a football club is totally different but, also, if you look around the training ground here, there have been big improvements. That’s what the club needed and still needs.

“We need more, but things will change and gradually evolve over time. It’s exciting times for the football club.”

Warner Bros. Discovery stock jumped more than 25% Thursday morning after a report that the Larry Ellison-backed Paramount was preparing a cash bid to buy the company that owns HBO, CNN and the Warner Bros. studio.

The Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners acquired Paramount a month ago, and has signaled that it would take bold steps as it tries to rebuild Paramount to its former glory. David Ellison, Larry’s 42-year-old son, serves as chairman and chief executive of Paramount.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount’s bid would be for the entire company, including its movie studio, streaming assets and cable networks. Warner Bros. Discovery is in the process of spinning the cable channels into a separate company, a transaction that Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav said would be complete by next April.

Representatives of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment.

Warner Bros. Discovery stock closed at $12.54 on Wednesday. It had soared to around $16 a share in Thursday mid-day trading.

Paramount Skydance shares also climbed 7% to around $16.30.

This is a developing story.

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s emergency order over the nation’s capital, which federalized its police force and launched a surge of law enforcement into the city, is set to expire overnight Wednesday after Congress failed to extend it.

But the clash between Republicans and the heavily Democratic district over its autonomy was only set to intensify, with a House committee beginning to debate 13 bills that would wrest away even more of the city’s control if approved.

Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office said the order expires at midnight. The National Guard and some other federal agencies will continue their deployment and it’s not clear when that might end.

Trump’s takeover of Washington’s policing and Wednesday’s discussions in the House underscore how interlinked the capital is with the federal government and how much the city’s capacity to govern is beholden to federal decisions.

Trump’s order federalized the local police force

For the last 30 days, the city’s local Metropolitan Police Department has been under the control of the president for use in what he described as a crime-fighting initiative.

Local police joined hundreds of federal law enforcement officers and agents on sweeps and roundups and other police operations. About 2,000 members of the National Guard from D.C. as well as seven states were also part of the surge of law enforcement.

Crime has dropped during the surge, according to figures from the White House and the local police department, but data also showed crime was falling in the lead up to the federal takeover.

Congress, satisfied by steps that Bowser has taken to ensure that the cooperation with the city will continue, decided not to extend the emergency, returning the police to district control.

But Bowser, who has walked a tightrope in collaborating with Trump in an effort to protect the city’s home rule, must now pivot to a Congress that has jurisdiction over the city. The next order of business is a series of proposals that will be debated Wednesday by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Some of the House bills focus on law enforcement

Thirteen of the bills call for repealing or changing D.C. laws. Some provisions in play would remove the district’s elected attorney general, who recently asked a judge to intervene in the takeover. Others would allow the president to appoint someone to the position.

There is also a move to lower the age of trying juveniles to 14 from 16 for certain crimes, and one to change the bail system and remove methods the council can use to extend emergency bills.

Even if the bills pass the committee and House, the question is whether they can get through the filibuster-proof Senate. D.C. activists have already begun lobbying Senate Democrats.

Bowser urged the leaders of the House Oversight Committee to reject those proposals.

She argued that a bill sponsored by Rep. Paul Gosar, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, would “make the District less efficient, competitive, and responsive.” She said she looks forward to working with the committee to build a “productive partnership” that “respects the will of D.C. residents and honors the principles of home rule.”

Republican Rep. Ron Estes and several Republican colleagues said they want their constituents to feel safe visiting the capital, and noted the recent murder of an intern who worked in Estes’ office. “We want to make sure that we have a capital that Americans are proud of,” Estes said.

Members of the Republican Study Committee in the House held a news conference Sept. 2 praising Trump’s intervention and supporting codifying his executive order.

“Congress has a clear constitutional authority over D.C., and we will use it without hesitation to continue making D.C. safe and great again,” said Rep. August Pfluger, chairman of that committee.

D.C. mayor says the bills challenge the city’s autonomy

Bowser said the bills are an affront to the city’s autonomy and said “laws affecting the district should be made by the district.”

The district is granted autonomy through a limited home rule agreement passed in 1973 but federal political leaders retain significant control over local affairs, including the approval of the budget and laws passed by the D.C council.

Bowser has said repeatedly that statehood, a nonstarter for Republicans in Congress, is the only solution.

Fields and Askarinam write for the Associated Press. AP reporter Ashraf Khalil contributed to this report.

NEW YORK — President Trump stood among several hundred law enforcement officers, National Guard troops and federal agents at a U.S. Park Police operations center in one of Washington, D.C.’s most dangerous neighborhoods. As the cameras rolled, he offered a stark message about crime, an issue he’s been hammering for decades, as he thanked them for their efforts.

“We’re not playing games,” he said. “We’re going to make it safe. And we’re going to then go on to other places.”

The Republican president is proudly promoting the work of roughly 2,000 National Guard troops in the city, lent by allied governors from at least six Republican-led states. They’re in place to confront what Trump describes as an out-of-control crime wave in the Democratic-run city, though violent crime in Washington, like dozens of cities led by Democrats, has been down significantly since a pandemic high.

Trump and his allies are confident that his stunning decision to dispatch troops to a major American city is a big political winner almost certain to remind voters of why they elected him last fall.

Democrats say this is a fight they’re eager to have.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, an Army veteran, cast Trump’s move as a dangerous political stunt designed to distract the American people from his inability to address persistent inflation, rising energy prices and major health insurance cuts, among other major policy challenges.

“I’m deeply offended, as someone who’s actually worn the uniform, that he would use the lives of these men and women and the activation of these men and women as political pawns,” Moore told the Associated Press.

Trump’s extraordinary federal power grab comes as the term-limited president has threatened to send troops to other American cities led by Democrats, even as voters voice increasing concern about his authoritarian tendencies. And it could be a factor for both sides in elections in Virginia and New Jersey this fall — and next year’s more consequential midterms.

Inside the White House strategy

The president and White House see Trump’s decision to take over the D.C. police department as a political boon and have been eager to publicize the efforts.

The White House offered a livestream of Trump’s Thursday evening appearance, and on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a surprise visit to Union Station, D.C.’s busy transit hub, to thank members of the National Guard over Shake Shack burgers.

Each morning, Trump’s press office distributes statistics outlining the previous night’s law enforcement actions, including total arrests and how many of those people are in the country illegally.

The strategy echoes Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, which has often forced Democrats to come to the defense of people living in the country illegally, including some who have committed serious crimes.

A White House official, speaking on background to discuss internal deliberations, dismissed concerns about perceptions of federal overreach in Washington, saying public safety is a fundamental requirement and a priority for residents.

Trump defended his efforts during an interview on “The Todd Starnes Show” on Thursday.

“Because I sent in people to stop crime, they said, ‘He’s a dictator.’ The real people, though, even Democrats, are calling me and saying, ‘It’s unbelievable’ how much it has helped,” he said.

The White House hopes to use its actions in D.C. as a test case to inspire changes in other cities, though Trump has legal power to intervene in Washington that he doesn’t have elsewhere because the city is under partial federal control.

“Everyday Americans who support commonsense policies would deem the removal of more than 600 dangerous criminals from the streets of our nation’s capital a huge success,” said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers. “The Democrats continue to be wildly unpopular because they oppose efforts to stop violent crime and protect law-abiding citizens.”

Democrats lean in

Moore, Maryland’s Democratic governor, suggested a dark motivation behind Trump’s approach, which is focused almost exclusively on cities with large minority populations led by Democratic mayors of color.

“Once again, we are seeing how these incredibly dangerous and biased tropes are being used about these communities by someone who is not willing to step foot in them, but is willing to stand in the Oval Office and defend them,” Moore said.

Even before Trump called the National Guard to Washington, Democratic mayors across the country have been touting their success in reducing violent crime.

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, who leads the Democratic Mayors Assn., noted that more than half of the 70 largest Democratic-led cities in the country have seen violent crime decrease so far this year.

“He’s stoking racial division and stoking fear and chaos,” Bibb said. “We need someone who wants to be a collaborator, not a dictator.”

Democratic strategists acknowledge that Trump’s GOP has enjoyed a significant advantage in recent years on the issues of crime and immigration — issues Trump has long sought to connect. But as Democratic officials push back against the federal takeover in Washington, party strategists are offering cautious optimism that Trump’s tactics will backfire.

“This is an opportunity for the party to go on offense on an issue that has plagued us for a long time,” said veteran Democratic strategist Daniel Wessel. “The facts are on our side.”

A closer look at the numbers

FBI statistics released this month show murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in the U.S. in 2024 fell nearly 15% from a year earlier, continuing a decline that’s been seen since a pandemic-era crime spike.

Meanwhile, recent public polling shows that Republicans have enjoyed an advantage over Democrats on the issue of crime.

A CNN/SSRS poll conducted in May found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults said the Republican Party’s views were closer to their own on crime and policing, while 3 in 10 said they were more aligned with Democrats’ views. About 3 in 10 said neither party reflected their opinions. Other polls conducted in the past few years found a similar gap.

Trump also had a significant edge over Democrat Kamala Harris on the issue in the 2024 election. About half of voters said Trump was better able to handle crime, while about 4 in 10 said this about Harris, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of the American electorate.

At the same time, Americans have expressed more concern about the scope of presidential power since Trump took office for a second time in January.

An AP-NORC poll conducted in April found that about half of U.S. adults said the president has “too much” power in the way the U.S. government operates these days, up from 32% in March 2024.

The unusual military presence in a U.S. city, which featured checkpoints across Washington staffed in some cases by masked federal agents, injected a sense of fear and chaos into daily life for some people in the nation’s capital.

At least one day care center was closed Thursday as childcare staff feared the military action, which has featured a surge in immigration enforcement, while local officials raised concerns about next week’s public school openings.

Moore said he would block any push by Trump to send the National Guard into Baltimore.

“I have not seen anything or any conditions on the ground that I think would justify the mobilization of our National Guard,” he said. “They think they’re winning the political argument. I don’t give a s—- about the political argument.”

Peoples and Colvin write for the Associated Press. AP writers Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.

Heavy Israeli air strikes have hit a home in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, where shrapnel from another attack wounded a child. Israel’s military is intensifying its bombardment following its plan to take over Gaza City and forcibly displace Palestinians south.

Aug. 16 (UPI) — Demonstrations are taking place Saturday in 34 states to protest congressional redistricting efforts in Texas that have caused state House Democrats to flee the state to prevent the measure.

Well over 150 rallies are being organized by the movement “Fight the Trump Takeover,” as part of a national day of action.

Protesters are demonstrating against the move by Texas state Republicans and Governor Gregg Abott’s push to redraw the district lines mid-decade at the urging of President Donald Trump.

The re-drawn maps could add five Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives if the Republican proposal passes.

State House Democrats left Texas last week, heading to Blue states like Illinois to prevent a vote from taking place on the issue.

Abbott this week called a second special session of the state’s House of Representatives, after Democrats suddenly left Texas to stymie the vote.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., said if Abbott pushes ahead with Trump’s request, his state will respond by redrawing its districts to establish more Democratic seats in Congress.

Typically, congressional redistricting is done at the end of a decade in conjunction with a new census.

“Texas House Democrats are blocking a redistricting vote in the Texas House right now to Stop the Trump Takeover. But Trump has made it clear that he’s not stopping at Texas. He’s targeting Missouri, Ohio, Florida and every state he can twist to help him steal Congress. States like Florida and New York are already fighting back,” the protest organizers’ website states.

Newsom has been a vocal supporter of the Texas state Democratic caucus.

“Califorina coming on board gives us more options,” said Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu told reporters in an interview Friday.

“If California passes a trigger bill, then there will be real incentive for Texas to not pass its [redistricting] bill.”

In June, millions of people attended hundreds of “No Kings” protests across the United States, demonstrating against Trump’s large-scale military parade in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the U.S. Army and his 79th birthday.

Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi’s decision to appoint an “emergency police commissioner” in Washington is just the latest attempt to change an increasingly uncomfortable subject for the White House. Last month President Trump told the American people he was never briefed on the files regarding Jeffrey Epstein, who in 2019 was charged with sex trafficking minors. We now know that Bondi told the president in May that his name appeared multiple times in those files, which traced Epstein’s operation back to the mid-1990s.

So — either you believe a city experiencing a 30-year low in crime is suddenly in need of an emergency police commissioner or you agree with Joe Rogan’s assessment: This administration is gaslighting the public regarding those files.

Now there will be pundits who will try to say Republicans are too focused on kitchen table issues to care about the Epstein controversy.

If only that were true.

According to the Consumer Price Index, goods cost more today than they did a month ago. And prices are higher than they were a year ago. It would be wonderful if Congress were in session to address kitchen table issues like grocery prices. However, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) ended the House session early to avoid a vote on the release of the Epstein files — a vote that could have displeased Trump. Those are the lengths some in the MAGA movement are willing to go to prevent the public from knowing the truth about Epstein’s clients. That is the backdrop for what is currently happening in the streets of Washington. It’s not inspired by a rise in crime, but by a fear of transparency.

It’s important to look at Bondi’s “emergency police commissioner” decision with clear, discerning eyes because the administration is purposefully conflating the issues of crime and homelessness in order to win back support from Trump’s base. While it is true that the district has made huge progress against crime, and the number of unhoused residents is far lower than a decade ago even though homeless populations nationwide have soared, the rise of conspicuous encampments around Washington is one of the reasons Virginia was almost able to lure away the city’s NBA and NHL teams. However, the nation’s capital was able to keep those sports franchises because of the leadership of Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Instead of taking over the city’s police force, perhaps Bondi should ask Bowser for some advice that could be replicated in other cities nationwide. Ask the mayor’s office what resources it might need to continue its progress on homelessness and crime. But again, this really isn’t about what benefits the people, is it? It’s really about what’s in the best interest of one person.

Now there will be pundits who will try to tell you Republicans are too focused on making this country “great” to worry about who is in the Epstein files. I ask you, when has trampling over democracy ever made us great? In Iran, we contributed to the overthrowing of Mohammad Mosaddegh in the 1950s, and we continue to be at odds with the nation. In Chile in the early 1970s, we moved against Salvador Allende, and it took 20 years to normalize our relationship again.

Here at home, in 2010, the state of Michigan took over the predominantly Black city of Benton Harbor under the guise of a financial emergency. The City Council was prevented from governing as state officials tried to save the city from a crippling pension deficit and other financial shortages. There was temporary reprieve, but Benton Harbor is still on economic life support. That’s because the issue wasn’t the policies of the local government. It was the lasting effects of losing so much tax revenue to a neighboring suburb due to white flight. The explanation for Benton Harbor’s woes lies in the past, not the present.

The same is true in Washington. The relatively young suburbs of McLean and Great Falls, Va., are two of the richest in the country. When you have the same financial obligations of yesteryear but less tax revenue to operate with, there will be shortfalls. And those gaps manifest themselves in many ways — rundown homes, empty storefronts, a lack of school resources.

Those are legitimate plagues affecting every major city. What Bondi is doing in Washington isn’t a cure for what ails it. And when you consider why she’s doing what she’s doing, you are reminded why people are so sick of politics.

YouTube: @LZGrandersonShow

US President Donald Trump had placed Washington’s police department under federal control earlier this week.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has reversed course and agreed to leave the Washington, DC police chief in control of the department, after Washington officials and the United States Justice Department negotiated a deal at the urging of a federal judge.

Trump had placed Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) under federal control on Monday and ordered the deployment of 800 National Guard troops onto the streets of the capital, claiming a surge in crime.

On Friday afternoon, a deal was hammered out at a federal court hearing after Washington, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb had sought a court order blocking Trump’s police takeover as illegal.

Trump administration lawyers conceded that Pamela Smith, the police chief appointed by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, would remain in command of the Metropolitan Police Department, according to the accord presented by the two sides to US District Judge Ana Reyes.

But US Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a new memo, directed the district’s police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement regardless of any city law.

Meanwhile, the precise role of Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole, who had been named by Bondi as the city’s “emergency police commissioner” under Trump’s takeover bid, is still to be hashed out in further talks.

In a social media post on Friday evening, Bondi criticised Schwalb, saying he “continues to oppose our efforts to improve public safety”.

But she added, “We remain committed to working closely with Mayor Bowser.”

Legal battle

Friday’s legal battle is the latest evidence of the escalating tensions in mostly Democratic Washington, DC.

As the weekend approached, though, signs across the city — from the streets to the legal system — suggested a deepening crisis over who controls the city’s immigration and policing policies, the district’s right to govern itself and daily life for the millions of people who live and work in the metro area.

Bowser’s office said late on Friday that it was still evaluating how it can comply with the new Bondi order on immigration enforcement operations. The police department already eased some restrictions on cooperating with federal officials facilitating Trump’s mass-deportation campaign but reaffirmed that it would follow the district’s sanctuary city laws.

In a letter sent Friday night to DC citizens, Bowser wrote: “It has been an unsettling and unprecedented week in our city. Over the course of a week, the surge in federal law enforcement across DC has created waves of anxiety.”

She added that “our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now,” but added that if Washingtonians stick together, “we will show the entire nation what it looks like to fight for American democracy – even when we don’t have full access to it.”

The police takeover is the latest move by Trump to test the limits of his legal authorities to carry out his agenda, relying on obscure statutes and a supposed state of emergency to bolster his tough-on-crime message and his plans to speed up the mass deportation of undocumented people in the United States.

While Washington has grappled with spikes in violence and visible homelessness, the city’s homicide rate ranks below those of several other major US cities, and the capital is not in the throes of the public safety collapse the Trump administration has portrayed.

The president has more power over the nation’s capital than other cities, but DC has elected its own mayor and city council since the Home Rule Act was signed in 1973.

Trump is the first president to exert control over the city’s police force since the Act was passed. The law limits that control to 30 days without congressional approval, though Trump has suggested he would seek to extend it.

Aug. 15 (UPI) — The District of Columbia is suing the Trump administration Friday, alleging overreach after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi installed an emergency police chief.

“We are suing to block the federal government takeover of D.C. police,” Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb posted to social media Friday. “By illegally declaring a takeover of [the Metropolitan Police Department], the Administration is abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law.”

The district filed both a complaint and a request for a temporary restraining order that would block President Donald Trump‘s memorandum which mobilized the district’s National Guard for policing purposes and deny Bondi’s installation of DEA Administrator Terrence Cole as the temporary police chief.

“This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” he added.

The Home Rule Act, passed in 1973, puts a mayor and a legislative council in charge of the district.

“The federal government’s power over DC is not absolute, and it should not be exercised as such,” Schwalb said in a separate post.

Schwalb continued in a series of posts, calling the Trump administration’s actions “brazenly unlawful,” and called the federal appropriation of policing control a “hostile takeover.”

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Ana Reyes has since scheduled both parties in the case to appear at a 2 p.m. EDT Friday hearing at which Reyes will rule on the district’s restraining order request.

Washington, DC attorney general says in a new lawsuit that Trump is going far beyond his power under the law.

The United States capital, Washington, DC, has challenged President Donald Trump’s takeover of its police department in court, hours after his administration stepped up its crackdown on policing by naming the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chief, a federal official, as the new emergency head of the department, with all the powers of a police chief.

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said on Friday in a new lawsuit that Trump is exceeding his power under the law. Schwalb urged a judge to rule that control of the department remains in the city’s hands, and he has also sought an emergency restraining order.

“The administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call D.C. home. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” Schwalb said.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser also pushed back, writing on social media that “there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”

Let us be clear about what the law requires during a Presidential declared emergency: it requires the mayor of Washington, DC to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes at the request of the President.

We have followed the law.

In… pic.twitter.com/XfaNqLalFU

— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) August 15, 2025

The lawsuit comes after Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Thursday night that DEA boss Terry Cole will assume “powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police”. The Metropolitan Police Department “must receive approval from Commissioner Cole” before issuing any orders, Bondi said.

Earlier this week, Trump announced that the federal government would take control of the District of Columbia (DC) Metropolitan Police Department to address surging crime.

“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,” Trump said during the news conference, in which he was joined by Bondi, who was initially set to oversee the city’s police force while it is under federal control.

“This is Liberation Day in DC, and we’re going to take our capital back. We’re taking it back,” Trump said.

He also announced the deployment of the National Guard.

“I’m deploying the National Guard to help re-establish law, order and public safety in Washington, DC, and they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly,” he said.

Trump also said that he intends to remove the capital’s homeless population, but did not provide details on how the plan would be carried out.

Residents wary of escalated show of force

A Washington population already on edge from days of Trump administration ramp-ups has begun witnessing more significant shows of force across the city.

National Guard troops watched over some of the country’s most renowned landmarks and Humvees took position in front of the busy main train hub, Union Station.

Volunteers have helped homeless people leave longstanding encampments, but where they were relocating to was often unclear.

Department of Homeland Security police stood outside Nationals Park during a baseball game on Thursday. DEA agents patrolled The Wharf, a popular nightlife area, while Secret Service officers were seen in the Foggy Bottom neighbourhood.

The sudden spike in high visibility of federal forces around the city, including in many busy traffic areas, has struck residents going about their day-to-day lives.

Trump has the power to take over federal law enforcement for 30 days before his actions must be reviewed by Congress, though he has said he will re-evaluate as that deadline approaches.

National Guard troops are usually less of a heavy presence in Washington’s metropolitan area, typically being used during mass public events like the annual July 4 celebration. They have regularly been used in the past for crowd control in and around Metro stations.

WASHINGTON — The nation’s capital challenged President Trump’s takeover of its police department in court on Friday, hours after his administration stepped up its crackdown on policing by naming a federal official as the new emergency head of the department, with all the powers of a police chief.

District of Columbia Atty. Gen. Brian Schwalb said in a new lawsuit that Trump is going far beyond his power under the law. Schwalb asked a judge to find that control of the department remains in district hands and sought an emergency restraining order.

“The administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call D.C. home. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” Schwalb said.

The lawsuit comes after Trump Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday night that Drug Enforcement Administration boss Terry Cole will assume “powers and duties vested in the District of Columbia Chief of Police.” The Metropolitan Police Department “must receive approval from Commissioner Cole” before issuing any orders, Bondi said. It was unclear where the move left the city’s current police chief, Pamela Smith, who works for the mayor.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back, writing on social media that “there is no statute that conveys the District’s personnel authority to a federal official.”

Justice Department and White House spokespeople did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the district’s lawsuit Friday morning.

Chief had agreed to share immigration information

Schwalb had said late Thursday that Bondi’s directive was “unlawful,” arguing it could not be followed by the city’s police force. He wrote in a memo to Smith that “members of MPD must continue to follow your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor,” setting up the legal clash between the heavily Democratic district and the Republican administration.

Bondi’s directive came even after Smith had told MPD officers hours earlier to share information with immigration agencies regarding people not in custody, such as someone involved in a traffic stop or checkpoint. The Justice Department said Bondi disagreed with the police chief’s directive because it allowed for continued enforcement of “sanctuary policies,” which generally limit cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers.

Bondi said she was rescinding that order as well as other MPD policies limiting inquires into immigration status and preventing arrests based solely on federal immigration warrants. All new directives must now receive approval from Cole, the attorney general said.

The police takeover is the latest move by Trump to test the limits of his legal authorities to carry out his agenda, relying on obscure statutes and a supposed state of emergency to bolster his tough-on-crime message and his plans to speed up the mass deportation of people in the U.S. illegally.

It also marks one of the most sweeping assertions of federal authority over a local government in modern times. While Washington has grappled with spikes in violence and visible homelessness, the city’s homicide rate ranks below those of several other major U.S. cities and the capital is not in the throes of the public safety collapse the administration has portrayed.

Residents are seeing a significant show of force

A population already tense from days of ramp-up has begun seeing more significant shows of force across the city. National Guard troops watched over some of the world’s most renowned landmarks and Humvees took position in front of the busy main train station. Volunteers helped homeless people leave long-standing encampments — to where was often unclear.

Department of Homeland Security police stood outside Nationals Park during a game Thursday between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies. DEA agents patrolled The Wharf, a popular nightlife area, while Secret Service officers were seen in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood.

Bowser, walking a tightrope between the Republican White House and the constituency of her largely Democratic city, was out of town Thursday for a family commitment in Martha’s Vineyard but would be back Friday, her office said.

The uptick in visibility of federal forces around the city, including in many high-traffic areas, has been striking to residents going about their lives. Trump has the power to take over federal law enforcement for 30 days before his actions must be reviewed by Congress, though he has said he’ll re-evaluate as that deadline approaches.

Officers set up a checkpoint in one of D.C.’s popular nightlife areas, drawing protests. Troops were stationed outside the Union Station transportation hub as the 800 Guard members who have been activated by Trump started in on missions that include monument security, community safety patrols and beautification efforts, the Pentagon said.

Troops will assist law enforcement in a variety of roles, including traffic control posts and crowd control, National Guard Major Micah Maxwell said. The Guard members have been trained in de-escalation tactics and crowd control equipment, Maxwell said.

National Guard troops are a semi-regular presence in D.C., typically being used during mass public events like the annual July 4 celebration. They have regularly been used in the past for crowd control in and around Metro stations.

Whitehurst, Khalil and Richer write for the Associated Press.

US President Donald Trump announced a federal takeover of Washington, DC’s police and the deployment of 800 National Guard troops on Monday. He says it’s needed to “rescue” the capital from violence, but data shows crime levels have already been falling – and city leaders and residents are pushing back.

Washington, DC – The news was met with jeers.

United States President Donald Trump on Monday invoked a “crime emergency” in the US capital, allowing his Department of Justice to take control of Washington, DC’s local law enforcement. He simultaneously announced the Pentagon would deploy US National Guard forces to the city of more than 700,000.

Gathered just blocks away, with the White House looming in the background, protesters erupted in a chorus of “boos”.

The Pentagon later said 800 soldiers were activated on Monday, with 100-200 of them supporting law enforcement.

Trump’s latest move, said Keya Chatterjee, the executive director of Free DC, was not just another salvo against the long marginalised rights of the residents of the city, but a “major escalation”.

“This goes beyond the sort of words people have been using, like ‘unprecedented and ‘unusual,’” said Chatterjee, whose group advocates for DC self-determination.

“This is just authoritarianism,” she told Al Jazeera, over the chants from the crowd.

‘Represent ourselves’

The rights of the hundreds of thousands of residents of Washington, DC have been the subject of debate since it was established by Congress in 1790 with land from Maryland and Virginia.

The district continues to fall under the direct auspices of the federal government, having never been granted statehood. However, it maintains a level of local autonomy per the Home Rule Act of 1973, which allows residents to elect some local officials. Congress still reviews all legislation passed by those elected officials and approves the district’s budget.

The city’s superlative as the first Black majority city in the US, and its current status as a Black plurality city, has further added a racial dynamic to what advocates have long decried as the systematic disenfranchisement of its residents.

Civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton called the move the “ultimate affront to justice and civil rights,” in a statement.

“Donald Trump was inspired to take this disgusting, dangerous, and derogatory action solely out of self interest,” Sharpton said in a statement. “Let’s call the inspiration for this assault on a majority Black city for what it is: another bid to distract his angry, frustrated base over his administration’s handling of the Epstein files.”

In March, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser agreed to rename the Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House, where Monday’s protest was held, amid pressure from Trump and concerns that federal funding could be withheld.

Bowser said Monday that the deployment of the National Guard was “unsettling”, but not without precedent.

“My message to residents is this,” Bowser said. “We know that access to our democracy is tenuous. That is why you have heard me and many Washingtonians before me advocate for full statehood.”

For many gathered on Monday, Trump’s move again underscored how little power they had in directly influencing the policies of the local law enforcement that directly oversees their community.

Amari Jack, a 20-year-old college student, described what he saw as “the first step” in a wider consolidation of power over the city, noting Trump has for years floated the idea of taking more full control of the metropolis surrounding the White House. Such a move would likely require Congress overturning the Home Rule Act.

“I came out today because I was really scared about the potential that DC could lose any autonomy it has,” Jack told Al Jazeera.

“I feel like as DC natives, born and raised, we need to be able to represent ourselves and enrich our communities. We can’t just have a president come in and rule over our home.”

Crime as a pretext?

For his part, in an order declaring the “emergency”, Trump decried what he called the “city government’s failure to maintain public order and safety”, claiming crime rates posed “intolerable risks to the vital Federal functions that take place in the District of Columbia”.

Speaking to reporters from the White House, Trump vowed to “take our capital back”, outlining what he described as “massive enforcement operations targeting known gangs, drug dealers and criminal networks to get them the hell off the street”.

Trump further claimed he was “getting rid of the slums”, and would clear homeless people from the city, without offering further details of his plans.

Among those pushing back on the characterisation was the District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who called the move “unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful.”

“There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia,” he said.

While DC crime rates are typically higher than the national average, violent crime rates have dropped significantly in recent years, plummeting 35 percent from 2023 to 2024 and another 26 percent this year compared to the same period last year, according to Metropolitan Police data.

Early this year, the Justice Department announced that violent crime in DC had hit a 30-year low.

Groups like the Center for American Progress have attributed the decline to both local law enforcement strategies, as well as “investments in crime prevention and resources such as housing and education and employment supports”.

Twenty-year-old Radha Tanner, like many gathered, saw Trump as using the pretext of crime to enact a wider political mission, one that paints Democrat-dominated cities like DC as “unsafe and riddled with crime”.

Over 90 percent of DC voters supported Trump’s Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, in the 2024 election. Trump, in turn, won about 6.5 percent of the vote.

Tanner saw Monday’s moves as in line with Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, California to aid in immigration crackdowns and the protests they spurred.

“He’s doing this to make an example out of a city full of Democrats that is vulnerable because we don’t have representation,” Tanner said.

‘Best place for us to resist’

Maurice Carney, 60, saw a similar goal in Trump’s actions, arguing that long-term investment, not a short-term commandeering of local law enforcement or the deployment of the National Guard, would actually show a real commitment to addressing crime.

“When you see this increase in militarisation, whether it’s in DC or on the African continent or anywhere else in the world, you always see an increase in violence, either from resistance or from creating an environment that’s unstable,” said Carney, who works with a DC-based group that advocates for citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Like it or not, DC is seen as the capital of the empire, the capital of the world,” Carney told Al Jazeera. “So if Trump wants to show he’s this ‘law and order’ guy, DC is the best place for him to do that.”

“It’s also the best place for us to resist,” he said, “for us to stand up and let the rest of the world know that even right in the heart of the empire, the people – local residents of DC – resisted.”

WASHINGTON — Around 2 a.m., noisy revelers emerging from clubs and bars packed the sidewalks of U Street in Washington, many of them seeking a late-night slice or falafel. A robust but not unusual contingent of city police cruisers lingered around the edges of the crowds. At other late-night hot spots, nearly identical scenes unfolded.

What wasn’t apparent in Friday’s earliest hours: any sort of security lockdown by a multiagency flood of uniformed federal law enforcement officers. That’s what President Trump had promised Thursday, starting at midnight, in the administration’s latest move to impose its will on the nation’s capital.

In short, that law enforcement surge to take control of the District of Columbia’s streets did not appear to unfold on schedule. A two-hour city tour, starting around 1 a.m. Friday, revealed no overt or visible law enforcement presence other than members of the Metropolitan Police Department, the city’s police force.

That might change in the coming evenings as Trump puts into action his long-standing plans to “take over” a capital city he has repeatedly slammed as unsafe, filthy and badly run. According to his declaration last week, the security lockdown will run for seven days, “with the option to extend as needed.” In an online post Saturday, the Republican president said the Democratic-led city would soon be one of the country’s safest and he announced a White House news conference for Monday, though he offered no details.

On Friday night, a White House official said Thursday night’s operations included arrests for possession of two stolen firearms, suspected fentanyl and marijuana. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said more than 120 members of various federal agencies — the Secret Service, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service — were to be on duty Friday night, upping the complement of federal officers involved.

“This is the first step in stopping the violent crime that has been plaguing the streets of Washington, D.C.,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, who publicly faced off against Trump in 2020 when he called in a massive federal law enforcement response to disperse crowds of protesters denouncing police brutality and racial profiling, has not said a public word since Trump’s declaration. The Metropolitan Police Department has gone similarly silent.

A crackdown came after an assault

The catalyst for this latest round of takeover drama was an assault Aug. 3 during an attempted carjacking on a high-profile member of the White House’s government-slashing team known as the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly headed by Elon Musk.

Police arrested two 15-year-olds and were seeking others. Trump quickly renewed his calls for the federal government to seize control.

“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media site.

He later told reporters he was considering a range of alternatives, including repealing Washington’s limited “home rule” autonomy and “bringing in the National Guard, maybe very quickly,” as he did in Los Angeles in response to protests over his administration’s immigration crackdown.

The threats come at a time when Bowser’s government can tout a reduction in the number of homicides and carjackings, both of which surged in 2023. The number of carjackings overall dropped significantly in 2024, from 957 to just under 500, and is on track to decline again this year, with fewer than 200 recorded so far.

The proportion of juveniles arrested on suspicion of carjacking, though, has remained above 50%, and Bowser’s government has taken steps to rein in a recent phenomenon of rowdy teenagers causing disarray and disturbances in public spaces.

Emergency legislation passed by the D.C. Council this summer imposed tighter youth curfew restrictions and empowered Police Chief Pamela Smith to declare temporary juvenile curfew zones for four days at a time. In those areas, a gathering of nine or more people younger than 18 is unlawful after 8 p.m.

Within presidential authority

Trump is within his powers in deploying federal law enforcement assets on D.C. streets. He could deploy the National Guard, although that is not one of the dozen participating agencies listed in his declaration. The first Trump administration called in the National Guard during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and again on Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters overran the Capitol in a failed attempt to overturn his election defeat.

Further steps, including taking over the Police Department, would require a declaration of emergency. Legal experts believe that would most likely be challenged in court. Such an approach would fit the general pattern of Trump’s second term in office, when he has declared states of emergency on issues ranging from border protection to economic tariffs. In many cases, he moved forward while the courts sorted it out.

Imposing a full federal takeover of Washington would require a congressional repeal of the Home Rule Act of 1973. It’s a step that Trump said his administration’s lawyers are examining.

That law was specific to Washington, not other communities in the United States that have their own home rule powers but generally retain representation in their state legislatures, said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia.

Signed into law by President Nixon, the measure allowed D.C. residents to elect their own mayor, council and local commissioners. The district had been previously run by federally appointed commissioners and members of Congress, some of whom balked at having to deal with potholes and other details of running a city of 700,000 residents.

So far, Trump’s criticisms of Washington can be felt most directly in the actions of the National Park Service, which controls large pieces of land throughout the capital. In Trump’s current administration, the agency has stepped up its clearing of homeless encampments on Park Service land and recently carried out a series of arrests of people smoking marijuana in public parks.

The agency said last week that a statue of a Confederate military leader that was toppled by protesters in 2020 would be restored and replaced, in line with an executive order.

Khalil and Whitehurst write for the Associated Press. AP writers Mike Pesoli, Michael Kunzelman and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ office said Israel’s decision to take control of Gaza City is a dangerous escalation that will lead to more “forced displacement, killings, and massive destruction.”

Video shows a large explosion targeting an apartment building near the al Shifa Medical Complex, west of Gaza City, only hours after the Israeli security cabinet approved a proposal to completely occupy the city.

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Banco Sabadell shareholders unanimously backed the sale of its UK subsidiary TSB to Banco Santander at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday.

The deal, valued at a minimum of £2.65 billion (around €3.05 billion), represents a notable gain against the acquisition price. In 2015, Sabadell bought TSB for £1.7 billion, equivalent today to around €1.95 billion.

The approval of this divestment comes at a particularly sensitive time, as the Catalan bank is the target of a hostile takeover bid by BBVA. For this reason, the board of directors needed to obtain the explicit approval of the shareholders before closing any strategic operation of this calibre.

TSB, focused on the UK mortgage market, has been one of the key assets in Sabadell’s defence against the proposed hostile takeover.

The sale of TSB is part of Sabadell’s strategy to strengthen its independent position in the face of the takeover bid launched by BBVA. By divesting TSB, the Catalan bank seeks to reduce its international exposure, simplify its structure and generate liquidity to remunerate its shareholders.

The plan includes an extraordinary dividend of €2.5 billion in 2026, which must be approved this afternoon, plus additional ordinary payments.

This increases the attractiveness of maintaining the bank as an autonomous entity and complicates BBVA’s takeover attempt.

The proposed acquisition has sparked political controversy in Spain and in Brussels. Last month, the European Commission sent Spain a legal warning after the government sought to impose conditions on the merger.

David Ellison stepped within reach of his hard-fought prize, Paramount Global, after winning regulators’ blessing for his Skydance Media’s $8-billion takeover of the storied media company.

President Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr approved the Skydance-Paramount merger Thursday after months of turmoil and a monumental collision between the president’s broad powers and press freedoms.

Carr’s consent came just three weeks after Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle the president’s lawsuit over edits to a “60 Minutes” broadcast. Trump had claimed CBS producers doctored the October interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris to boost her election chances. CBS denied his allegations, saying the edits were routine.

1st Amendment experts called Trump’s suit “frivolous.” But, after months of internal upheaval, Paramount capitulated. The move was widely seen as a prerequisite for Skydance to win FCC approval and push the Paramount-Skydance merger over the finish line.

Trump has said on social media that, as part of the settlement, he also expects the new owners to provide another $20 million in public service announcements and other free programming.

The FCC approval clears the final regulatory hurdle for the acquisition that will bring another technology titan to Hollywood. Carr authorized the transfer of Paramount’s CBS television station licenses to Larry Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder who ranks among the world’s richest men, and his family.

“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change,” Carr said in a statement. “That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.”

The FCC commissioners voted 2-1 in favor of the deal. Two Republicans, Carr and Olivia Trusty, voted yes, while Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the panel, dissented.

“After months of cowardly capitulation to this Administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted,” Gomez said in a statement. “Unfortunately, it is the American public who will ultimately pay the price for its actions.”

The Ellisons’ takeover of Paramount is expected to be complete in the coming days.

Santa Monica-based Skydance, which is owned by the Ellison family and private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, faces an uphill slog to restore Paramount to its former glory. Years of programming under-investments, management missteps and ownership turmoil have taken a heavy toll.

Viewers’ shift to streaming has upended Paramount’s TV networks, CBS, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV and BET. Paramount Pictures lags behind Disney, Universal and Warner Bros.

Sumner Redstone’s family will exit the Hollywood stage, after nearly 40 years. The pugnacious mogul from Boston, who died five years ago, presided during an era of entertainment excesses in the 80s, 90s and early aughts — when Paramount released beloved blockbusters and cable television was in its hey-day.

For a stretch this spring, it seemed the Skydance deal could unravel.

The FCC’s review had stalled amid the legal wrangling over Trump’s lawsuit. Carr, in one of his first moves as chairman, separately opened an FCC inquiry into alleged news distortion with the “60 Minutes” Harris interview — putting CBS uncomfortably under the microscope.

Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone (Sumner’s daughter), and some Skydance executives, urged Paramount to settle. But CBS News executives refused to apologize to Trump for the “60 Minutes” edits, saying CBS journalists did nothing wrong. The settlement, which steers money to Trump’s future presidential library, did not include an apology from CBS News or Paramount.

Two high-level CBS News executives departed and three progressive U.S. senators demanded answers. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and the others lambasted the settlement talks, saying that paying Trump money to end a “bogus” lawsuit simply to get a merger approved could be akin to paying a bribe.

The winds shifted in June. David Ellison, Larry’s 42-year-old son, talked briefly with Trump at a UFC fight in New Jersey. Days later, Trump talked favorably about his friendship with Larry Ellison and the Paramount-Skydance deal.

“Ellison’s great,” Trump told reporters in mid-June. “He’ll do a great job with it.”

David Ellison last week met with Carr in Washington to persuade him that Paramount would be in good hands. They discussed the firm’s commitments and management philosophies. Skydance also gave assurances that its Chinese investors would not have a say in the company’s affairs.

Last week, CBS separately said it was canceling “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” in May. The company said the move was financial, but conservatives and progressives alike questioned the timing due to the pending merger and Colbert’s pointed barbs at Trump.

Skydance outlined its planned changes at Paramount in a letter this week to Carr. Skydance promised to cancel all diversity initiatives, disband its Office of Global Inclusion and strip references to DEI from its internal and external messaging. The company also said news and entertainment programming would not tilt in any one political direction.

“New Paramount’s new management will ensure that the company’s array of news and entertainment programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum, consistent with the varying perspectives of the viewing audience,” Skydance’s general counsel Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon wrote in Tuesday’s letter to Carr.

The company said it would install an ombudsman at CBS News for at least two years.

“They are committing to serious changes at CBS,” Carr told reporters in Washington earlier Thursday. “I think that would be a good thing. They’ve committed to addressing bias issues. They committed to embracing fact-based journalism.”

Ellison began his pursuit of Paramount two years ago.

He formalized his bid by January 2024. After months of negotiations, Paramount’s board and Redstone approved the Skydance takeover July 7, 2024.

Paramount’s leaders considered other prospective owners but concluded that Skydance, with its Ellison backing, would bring a solid financial foundation for a company that traces its roots back more than a century. Redstone also wanted Paramount to remain whole, rather than broken into pieces.

As part of the agreement, Skydance will be folded into the public company. Its backers will inject new capital to bolster Paramount’s finances and install a new cadre of leaders. Ellison will serve as chairman and chief executive. Former NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Shell is slated to be president.

CBS’ current leader George Cheeks, one of Paramount’s three co-chief executives, could join the new regime. But the two other current chiefs, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins, are expected to depart.

The Skydance deal is expected to be executed in two parts. Larry Ellison and RedBird will buyout the Redstone family holding company, National Amusements Inc., for $2.4 billion.

After their debts are paid, the Redstone family will leave with $1.75 billion. The family controls 77% of Paramount’s voting shares, which will be passed to the Ellisons and RedBird.

Under the deal terms, the new Paramount will offer to buy out some shares of existing shareholders and inject $1.5 billion into Paramount’s strained balance sheet.

Paramount will then absorb Skydance, which has a movie, television, animation, video games and a sports unit. The deal values Skydance at $4.75-billion.

“We’re going to reorganize and restructure the business to prioritize cash flow generation,” David Ellison told investors last July. “With a track record in both entertainment and technological expertise [we will] be able to transition the company through this period of time to ensure that Paramount’s brightest days are ahead.”

Bad Bunny is booked and busy. (Now try saying that twice.)

On Tuesday night, the Grammy-winning Puerto Rican singer will make two back-to-back appearances on late-night television shows: “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on CBS and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” on NBC.

The 31-year-old artist is in the midst of his historic No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan. The 30-night concert series is expected to generate $200 million to the local economy, according to the island’s promotional agency, Discover Puerto Rico.

Bad Bunny, who moonlights as an actor, is also promoting the long-awaited “Happy Gilmore 2,” a sequel to the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy, which will premiere July 25 on Netflix. He will play a golf caddy to Happy Gilmore (played by Sandler), an aggro-ex-hockey player turned golf phenom. Both Sandler and Bad Bunny are expected to appear on “Late Night With Seth Meyers.”

It’s an unusual move by the two competing networks to book the same guest on a single night, but as evening newscasts clash with fast-paced content on social media sites like YouTube or TikTok, perhaps the rules can be relaxed for a superstar.

Camaraderie across the TV aisle has grown in recent days, with multiple late-night hosts decrying the cancellation of Colbert’s program for what CBS has cited as financial reasons. News of this cancellation came days after Colbert criticized CBS’ parent company, Paramount, over the $16-million settlement of President Trump’s lawsuit stemming from a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris.

“And now for the next 10 months, the gloves are off,” said Colbert on Sunday night. His decade-long show will end May 2026.

Earlier this year, Bad Bunny co-hosted “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” to promote his hit album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” which remains on the Billboard 200 chart since its January debut. During the program, the two disguised themselves while busking in a New York Subway station, first performing a cover of the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” then Bad Bunny’s single “Nuevayol.”

For those wondering how Bad Bunny will pull off this New York showdown, fear not: “Late Night With Seth Meyers” films its Tuesday program on Monday.

Bad Bunny will first appear as a guest on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on CBS at 8:35 p.m. PST, followed by “Late Night With Seth Meyers” on NBC at 12:35 a.m. ET/PT.