threat

A series of federal actions aimed at pressuring states to allow parents to opt out of school vaccine mandates for religious or personal reasons threatens to undermine California’s ironclad ban on such exemptions.

California is one of just five states that bans any non-medical exemptions, the result of a landmark 2015 law passed in the wake of the Disneyland measles outbreak. Connecticut, New York, Maine, and West Virginia have similar statutes.

The law is credited with bringing California’s rate of kindergartners vaccinated against the measles to 96.1% in the 2024-25 school year, up from 92.6% in 2014-15, even as the national rate declined. California is one of just 10 states with a kindergarten measles vaccination rate that exceeds the 95% threshold experts say is needed to achieve herd immunity.

If vaccine mandates are weakened, “we’re going to have more outbreaks, and schools are going to be less safe for the families who have children who are vulnerable,” said Dr. Eric Ball, a pediatrician in Orange County and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics California.

Engage with our community-funded journalism as we delve into child care, transitional kindergarten, health and other issues affecting children from birth through age 5.

Key actions to allow for vaccine exemptions include:

• Legislation introduced in Congress last month would withhold federal education funding from states without religious exemptions.
• A letter from the Department of Health and Human Services threatened to withhold federal vaccine funding from states that have any form of religious freedom or personal conscience laws but do not allow exemptions to vaccines. The move is “part of a larger effort by HHS to strengthen enforcement of laws protecting conscience and religious exercise.”
• Several lawsuits winding their way through the courts from parents — including in California — seek the right to a religious exemption, which may eventually come before the Supreme Court.

Legal experts say that taken together, these moves reveal a concerted effort to chip away at limits states like California have placed on parents’ ability to send their unvaccinated children to school.

“We should assume that every aspect of the administration, at least three justices of the Supreme Court, and a significant contingent in Congress are actively trying to implement changes to the law that would invalidate California’s … approach to not allowing non-medical exemptions,” said Lindsay Wiley, a law professor at UCLA.

In West Virginia, the approach is already proving successful. Despite the state legislature recently rejecting a bill that would have permitted religious exemptions for the first time, Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed an executive order allowing them, bolstered by a letter of support from HHS.

Vaccinations and syringes at Larchmont Pediatrics in Los Angeles.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

“Vaccination is considered one of public health’s greatest achievements, preventing the spread of serious illnesses, reducing hospitalizations and saving lives,” the statement said. “CDPH remains committed to ensuring that all Californians continue to have access to safe and effective vaccines that are based on credible, transparent and science-based evidence.”

The federal actions are occurring in a moment of growing anti-vaccine fervor within the Trump administration. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has long been an outspoken critic of vaccines, including the vaccine to prevent measles. As secretary of HHS, he has defunded mRNA research, limited COVID-19 shots to the elderly and those with preexisting medical conditions, and pledged to reveal a link between vaccines and autism.

California’s evolution on vaccine mandates

In 1961, California became one of the first states to permit residents to opt out of vaccines for a broad range of personal beliefs, as part of a law mandating the polio vaccine for school attendance.

For decades, few parents claimed the exemption, and the rate of children opting out of vaccines for non-medical reasons stayed around 0.5%, said Dr. Richard Pan, the former state senator who authored the 2015 law eliminating non-medical exemptions.

Pan said the rate of exemptions began to climb in the mid-2000s, when actress Jenny McCarthy appeared on Oprah and claimed that vaccines had caused her son’s autism. “But what really gave fuel” was the advent of Facebook and Twitter, said Pan. “Social media really connected people who are anti-vax and created an echo chamber.”

By the 2013-14 school year, 3.1% of California kindergartners were receiving a non-medical exemption to at least one required vaccine. The rate of kindergarteners fully vaccinated against the measles slipped to 92.3% — well below the 95% required for herd immunity.

In 2014, a single measles case at Disneyland spread to more than 140 people across the country, an outbreak that epidemiologists said was fueled by vaccine refusals. In this moment of crisis, Pan introduced SB277, making California the first state in nearly 35 years to eliminate non-medical vaccine exemptions.

The legislation received the support of many parents, especially those whose children could not be vaccinated for medical reasons and relied on the immunity of people around them. “The whole purpose of 277 was actually to protect the rights and the freedoms of families and their children to get an education who could not get vaccinated,” said Pan.

Despite bitter debate, no major religious denominations opposed the bill, Pan said.

“This really isn’t about religion,” Pan said. “This is about trying to find a loophole or an excuse for someone who doesn’t want to vaccinate their child.”

Parents say California’s mandate violates religious beliefs

A contingent of parents say their sincere religious beliefs prevent them from getting their children vaccinated.

In 2023, Amy and Steve Doescher of Placerville brought a federal lawsuit, along with two other families, against California claiming that SB277 had violated their right to freely exercise their religion by preventing them from sending their 16-year-old daughter to public school.

The Doeschers, who attend a church near their home, “prayed extensively and consulted the Bible when deciding whether to vaccinate their children, and they arrived at the firm religious conviction that vaccinations violate their creed,” according to a complaint filed as part of the lawsuit.

Their daughter, who is enrolled in a charter school independent study program, is unable to have “the typical interactions with children that ‘normal’ children get. This has caused much stigma.”

The lawsuit alleges that her parents have had to enroll her in gymnastics classes and spend $10,000 per year on independent study costs, “to make up for the socialization shortcomings caused by SB277.”

While the lawsuit was dismissed in June, it is now on appeal at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Lawyers in a similar New York lawsuit brought by Amish parents have requested review from the Supreme Court.

“I do think it’s a cumulative moment of change,” said Christina Hildebrand, president and founder of A Voice for Choice, an advocacy group that sponsored the California lawsuit.

“If vaccines are so effective and they don’t have risk involved, then people should want to get them,” she said. “How good really is the product if you’re having to put a mandate on them?”

UCLA Law’s Wiley said she is sympathetic to sincere religious objectors, and herd immunity can still be reached even if a small number of people opt out. The problem, she said, is that they’re difficult for states to police for validity and “can really open the floodgates to vastly diminished vaccination rates.”

Dorit Reiss, a law professor at the University of California at San Francisco who studies vaccines, said religious exemptions are often “used as a fig leaf for people who have safety concerns. The way the system works is that it privileges the good liars.”

As part of her research, she has found “a whole industry of people trying to help each other get exemptions” online, including those who offer sample requests to parents and workshops on how to claim a religious exemption for non-religious reasons.

Reiss points to numerous studies finding that making exemptions broader and easier to get tends to lead to lower vaccination rates and more outbreaks.

The volatile landscape for vaccine mandates

Since the COVID pandemic, states across the country have experienced a decline in the rate of kindergartners who are fully vaccinated, and an increase in parents seeking exemptions, according to a recent report from KFF, a nonprofit health research group.

Last week, Florida’s surgeon general announced the state would no longer require children to be vaccinated in order to attend public school, something that all 50 states currently require.

Threats are also mounting from Washington, D.C. The GRACE Act, which was introduced in Congress last month by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), would withhold federal education funding from any state that does not offer parents the right to opt out of vaccines for religious reasons.

The bill, if eventually approved and signed into law by President Trump, would also explicitly prevent states, including California, from requiring any documentation from parents to prove a sincere religious conviction against vaccines.

“Freedom of speech and religion is the most sacred right guaranteed under our Constitution,” Rep. Steube said in a statement to The Times. “No student or their family should ever be coerced into sacrificing their faith or jumping through loopholes to comply with a vaccine requirement.”

Last week, Kennedy weighed in on the issue. He said in a letter that if a state already has statutes on the books protecting religious freedom or personal conscience in any form, those laws must extend to vaccine opt-outs. If states with such laws do not comply with the directive, they could lose funding for the federal Vaccines for Children Program, which funds vaccines for low-income children.

California does not have religious freedom or personal conscience statues. But 29 other states have passed religious freedom laws, and 18 have parental rights laws, which legal experts said could be used by the federal government to compel states to offer vaccine opt-outs.

“States have the authority to balance public health goals with individual freedom, and honoring those decisions builds trust” Kennedy wrote. “Protecting both public health and personal liberty is how we restore faith in our institutions and Make America Healthy Again.”

Several legal experts said the approach was alarming.

“I’m very concerned that this is part of a playbook where they’re going on a state and federal level, to push on these laws,” said Richard Hughes, a lawyer with Epstein Becker Green in Washington, D.C., who has been working on vaccine law for two decades. “This is a massive federal overreach, and it’s incredibly inappropriate.”

This article is part of The Times’ early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to latimes.com/earlyed.

SIR Keir Starmer tried and failed to boot Ed Miliband from his Net Zero brief, it was claimed today.

The PM is understood to have asked the Energy Secretary to swap jobs and take over disgraced Angela Rayner’s housing department during Friday’s cabinet reshuffle.

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But the former Labour leader dug in, insisting he wanted to keep control over the green agenda.

Sir Keir has vowed to put growth centre stage as he battles to steady Labour amid grim polling.

His reshaped top team points to a shift rightwards, as he braces for a looming challenge from Nigel Farage and Reform.

Mr Farage and his Deputy Richard Tice have made scrapping Net Zero a central pledge of the party.

Reform has vowed to repurpose billions in green funding to tackling illegal migration and restoring law and order.

No10 this morning insisted the PM is “delighted” Mr Miliband will stay on at the Department of Energy and Net Zero, but did not deny Sir Keir initially tried to move him.

The PM’s spokesman said: “The PM has set out his new Cabinet and ministerial team — a team that is going to be focused on delivery, with growth as a relentless focus.

“The Energy Secretary has been central to that growth agenda. Investing in clean energy goes hand in hand with cutting peoples’ bills and boosting growth across the country.

“You can see that with the investments being made into CCUS all across the country, into solar, into wind farms.

“The PM is delighted he’ll continue to do that.”

Labour sources admit the Net Zero push has been stalling activity, while firms quietly hope workers’ rights reforms could be softened or delayed.

New Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden is preparing a fresh assault on the ballooning benefits bill, after Labour MPs scuppered the last attempt.

But Mr Miliband is seen as the head cheerleader for the “soft left” in Sir Keir’s cabinet.

His popularity with party members gives him the power make demands of the PM to ensure he cannot make trouble from the sidelines.

CHICAGO — President Trump’s plan to dispatch National Guard troops and immigration agents into Chicago has put many Latino residents on edge, prompting some to carry their U.S. passports and giving others pause about openly celebrating the upcoming Mexican Independence Day.

Though the holiday falls on Sept. 16, celebrations in Chicago span more than a week and draw hundreds of thousands of participants. Festivities kicked off with a Saturday parade through the heavily Mexican Pilsen neighborhood and will continue with car caravans and lively street parties.

But this year, the typically joyful period coincides with Trump’s threats to add Chicago to the list of Democratic-led cities he has targeted for expanded federal enforcement.

His administration has said it will step up immigration enforcement in Chicago, as it did in Los Angeles, and would deploy National Guard troops. In addition to sending troops to Los Angeles in June, Trump deployed them last month in Washington, D.C., as part of his unprecedented law enforcement takeover of the nation’s capital.

Trump posted an illustration of himself on his social media site Saturday as the Robert Duvall character in “Apocalypse Now” — the war-loving Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore — against a Chicago-skyline ablaze with flames and helicopters.

“Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” he posted, along with “I love the smell of deportations in the morning,” referencing a famous Kilgore line from the 1979 Vietnam War film. Trump has ordered the Defense Department to be renamed the Department of War.

“The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker wrote on the social platform X. “Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.”

Although details about the promised Chicago operation have been sparse, there’s already widespread opposition as protesters marched through downtown Saturday evening. State and city leaders have said they plan to sue the Trump administration.

Debate over postponing festivities

The extended Mexican Independence Day celebrations reflect the size and vitality of Chicago’s Mexican American community. Mexicans make up more than one-fifth of the city’s population and about 74% of its Latino residents, according to 2022 U.S. census estimates.

Parade and festival organizers have been divided over whether to move forward with precautions or postpone, in hopes that it will feel safer for many participants to have a true celebration in several months’ time. El Grito Chicago, a downtown Mexican Independence Day festival set for next weekend, was postponed this week by organizers to protect people.

“But also we just refuse to let our festival be a pawn in this political game,” said Germán González, an organizer of El Grito Chicago.

In Pilsen and Little Village, two of the city’s best-known neighborhoods, with restaurants, businesses and cultural ties to Mexican culture, residents expressed disappointment that the potential federal intervention instilled such fear and anxiety in the community at a time usually characterized by joy, togetherness and celebration of Mexican American heritage.

Celebrating, with precautions

Saturday morning, some parade-goers grabbed free, bright-orange whistles and fliers from volunteers standing outside the Lozano branch of the Chicago Public Library. “Blow the whistle on ICE!” the fliers read, encouraging a nonviolent tactic to raise alarm if they saw agents.

Marchers held up cardboard signs painted with monarch butterflies, the migratory species that travels between the U.S. and Mexico. Many cheered, “Viva Mexico!”

Drivers of vintage cars honked their horns and a drummer kept time for a group of dancers bedecked in feathers. Horseback riders clip-clopped down the street, and one lifted up a large Mexican flag.

Claudia Alvarez, whose 10-year-old daughter was nearby riding a pony, said it’s important that politicians see people out celebrating, though the crowd seemed smaller this year.

“At these hours you should be able to see plenty of people in the streets enjoying themselves, but now there’s not really a lot of people,” she said.

Fabio Fernandez, 39, owner of an art and T-shirt company with a residency at a Pilsen streetwear shop, called it “troubling” and “disheartening” that the possibility of federal intervention has dampened celebrations.

He said there’s a mood of anxiety in the neighborhood, which has translated to lower sales and reduced foot traffic for local businesses like his.

“Come back to 18th Street. Support small businesses here. They’re still working hard as hell to keep their businesses alive,” he said.

Alejandro Vences, 30, became a U.S. citizen this year, “which gives me some comfort during this time,” he said while eating pozole verde at a Mexican restaurant. Still, he said, the anxiety is palpable.

“For us, our Independence Day has always been a celebration of our culture,” he said. “It’s always been a celebration of who we are. It feels like we don’t get to celebrate our culture in the same way.”

Protest against ICE

A few miles away in downtown, more than a thousand protesters marched through the streets Saturday evening with signs bearing slogans such as “I.C.E. out of Illinois, I.C.E. out of everywhere.”

Speakers offered the crowd instructions on what to do if encountering Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. They also drew comparisons between the proposed ICE crackdown on Chicago and Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip.

“We are inspired by the steadfastness of Palestinians in Gaza, and it is why we refuse to cower to Trump and his threats,” Nazek Sankari, co-chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, said to the crowd as many waved Palestinian flags and donned kaffiyehs.

Viviana Barajas, a leader with the community organization Palenque LSNA, promised that Chicagoans would “stand up” as Los Angeles had if Trump deploys the National Guard in their city.

“If he thinks these frivolous theatrics to undermine our sovereignty will shut out the passion we have for protecting our people — this is Chicago, and he is sorely mistaken,” Barajas said. “We have been studying L.A.. and D.C., and they have stood up for their cities.”

Fernando, Finley, Walling and Raza write for the Associated Press. Fernando and Walling reported from Chicago, Finley from Norfolk, Va., and Raza from Sioux Falls, S.D. AP writers Morgan Lee in Santa Fe and Cal Woodward in Washington contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — Members of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s family are calling for him to step down as Health secretary following a contentious congressional hearing this past week, during which the Trump Cabinet official faced bipartisan questioning about his tumultuous leadership of federal health agencies.

Kennedy’s sister, Kerry Kennedy, and his nephew, Joseph P. Kennedy III, issued scathing statements Friday, calling for him to resign as head of the Health and Human Services Department.

The calls from the prominent Democratic family came a day after Kennedy defended his recent efforts to roll back COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and fire high-level officials at the Centers for Disease Control during a three-hour Senate hearing.

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a threat to the health and wellbeing of every American,” Joseph P. Kennedy III said in a post on X. The former congressman added: “None of us will be spared the pain he is inflicting.” His aunt echoed those claims, saying that “medical decisions belong in the hands of trained and licensed professionals, not incompetent and misguided leadership.”

This is not the first time Kennedy has been the subject of his family’s ire. Several of his relatives had objected to his presidential run in the last campaign, while others wrote to senators earlier this year calling for them to reject his nomination to be President Trump’s Health secretary given his anti-vaccine views they considered disqualifying.

Kennedy, a longtime leader in the anti-vaccine movement, has spent the last seven months implementing his once-niche, grassroots movement at the highest level of America’s public health system. The sweeping changes to the agencies tasked with public health policy and scientific research have resulted in thousands of layoffs and the remaking of vaccine guidelines.

The moves — some of which contradict assurances he made during his confirmation hearings — have rattled medical groups and officials in several Democratic-led states, which have responded with their own vaccine advice.

Sept. 4 (UPI) — Lorena weakened back to tropical storm strength Wednesday after spending about a day as a hurricane off the western Mexican coast, forecasters said.

The storm, which formed early Tuesday, was about 175 miles west of Cabo San Lazaro on the Baja California Peninsula, according to the National Hurricane Center in its 8 p.m. PDT update.

It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was moving northwest at 5 mph.

The Mexican government canceled all watches and warnings associated with Lorena, but the NHC warned that areas in Baja California Sur and Sonora should monitor heavy rainfall across the region.

“This will increase the risk of life-threatening flash floods and mudslides across northwest Mexico,” the NHC said.

Forecasters also called for heavy rainfall in Arizona and New Mexico with flash flooding possible in Arizona.

Lorena, the 12th named storm in the Eastern North Pacific this year, formed as Hurricane Kiko continued to strengthen over the Pacific Ocean.

The Trump administration made no attempt to hide its goals when it came to tariffs. As the current U.S. president ran for office, he made it very clear to U.S. voters and the world that they should expect higher tariffs. And that’s exactly what his administration has offered up in dramatic fashion. Some on Wall Street worry that the tariffs could turn the bull market into a bear. Here’s how a long-term investor should be thinking about this issue.

The tariffs are coming! The tariffs are coming!

To simplify what is a fairly complex issue, a tariff is a tax imposed on imported goods. The Trump administration has been using tariffs in an aggressive attempt to reshape global trade. This will have an impact on the economy and the stock market, but what that might be is hard to define today. Simply put, so many things are up in the air right now that nobody knows where the chips are going to fall.

Image source: Getty Images.

That said, one concern is that higher tariffs will eventually be passed through to consumers. That would increase inflation, crimp consumption, and lead to lower earnings for corporate America. The flip side of that argument is that companies have increased prices so much in recent years that they can’t easily push higher costs onto consumers, and, thus, companies are likely to absorb the tariff hit. That would mean lower profit margins. Even here, however, Wall Street could still end up in the dumps as companies earn less and investors react to that negative news.

It seems like nothing good can come of this whole tariff thing. Except that, so far, the market hasn’t really paid much attention. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO +0.00%) is up more than 10% so far in 2025. Yes, there was a brief market correction early in the year, but the S&P 500 index, which is what the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF tracks, seems to have shrugged that off, as it is again trading near all-time highs.

VOO data by YCharts.

Don’t get too caught up in the short term

Here’s the big takeaway from the tariff kerfuffle: It is shockingly hard to predict performance on Wall Street. Some people get market turns right once, but very few have been able to time the ups and downs with any consistency. For most investors, trying to jump in and out of the market — a practice known as market timing — is a mistake.

It is far better to buy and hold for the long term, perhaps including an exchange-traded fund (ETF) like Vanguard S&P 500 ETF in the mix. Indeed, focusing on a well-diversified portfolio is key, as it will help to soften the impact of the market’s gyrations over time. Which brings the story back to the potential for a bear market. Simply put, there will be one.

That’s not a prediction; it is just a statement of fact. Eventually, for some reason, investors will go from being bullish to being bearish. That’s just what market history tells us is the norm on Wall Street. Why it happens will be the topic of debate, and eventually, some common cause will be determined. Maybe it will be tariffs. It could also be geopolitical tensions, which are very high today. Or maybe artificial intelligence (AI) won’t turn out to be as profitable as investors expect, and that will lead the market lower, given that AI enthusiasm has helped lead the market higher.

Something will eventually give way, and there will be a bear market. Then, after some period of time, a bull market will arrive. It’s just how the market works. You should spend more of your time thinking about ways to save money and how to invest wisely. Investing wisely means taking into consideration the ever-present risk of a bear market.

Keep it simple and think long term

Far too often, investors get caught up in short-term market movements. The big picture is more important, including the sometimes erratic upward march of stocks over the long term. Sticking to an investment plan is hard, but it is likely to result in better long-term performance than trying to jump in and out of the market. Which is why a simple portfolio consisting of an S&P 500 index fund and a broadly diversified bond fund or ETF — say, in a 60% stock/40% bond breakdown — could be all you need.

^SPX data by YCharts.

Bonds help provide safety during market turmoil, and stocks provide growth over the long term. That combination will allow you to ride out bear markets without letting your emotions lead you into making investment mistakes (like selling everything you own and never investing again). Another option is just to buy a balanced mutual fund that does all the investing work for you. That leaves you to focus on saving money, which is where you will likely have the biggest impact on your long-term wealth, anyway.

If you do choose to buy individual stocks, which can be a lot of fun, don’t focus on the short term. Or to put it another way, think in decades, not days. When you do that, a bear market will probably end up looking like just a small hiccup. And it won’t really matter to you what precipitated the bear, anyway, because you will be too busy. You see, long-term investors often find their best investments during deep market declines.

President Trump declared Tuesday that federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., should seek the death penalty for murders committed in the capital, claiming without explanation that “we have no choice.”

“That’s a very strong preventative,” he said of his decision. “I don’t know if we’re ready for it in this country, but we have it.”

Trump’s pronouncement is about much more than deterring killings, though. With speed and brazenness, Trump seems intent on creating a new, federal arrest and detention system outside of existing norms, aimed at everyday citizens and controlled by his whims. The death penalty is part of it, but stomping on civil rights is at the heart of it — ruthlessly exploiting anxiety about crime to aim repression at whatever displeases him, from immigration protesters to murderers.

This administration “is using the words of crime and criminals to get themselves a permission structure to erode civil rights and due processes across our criminal, legal and immigration systems in ways that I think should have everyone alarmed,” Rena Karefa-Johnson told me. She’s a former public defender who now works with Fwd.us, a bipartisan criminal justice advocacy group.

Authoritarians love the death penalty, and have long used it to repress not crime, but dissent. It is, after all, both the ultimate power and the ultimate fear, that the ruler of the state holds the lives of his people in his hands.

Though we are far from such atrocities, Spain’s purge of “communists” and other dissenters under Francisco Franco, Rodrigo Duterte’s extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers in the Philippines (though the death penalty remains illegal there) and the routine executions, even of journalists, under the repressive rulers in Saudi Arabia are chilling examples.

What each of those regimes shares in common with this moment in America is the rhetoric of making a better society — often by purging perceived threats to order — even if that requires force, or the loss of rights.

Suddenly, violent criminals become no different than petty criminals, and petty criminals become no different than immigrants or protesters. They are all a threat to a nostalgic lost glory of the homeland that must be restored at any cost, animals that only understand force.

“We have no choice.”

The result is that the people become, if not accustomed to masked agents and the military on our streets, too scared to protest it, fearful they will become the criminal target, the hunted animal.

Already, the National Guard in D.C. is carrying live weapons. With great respect to the women and men who serve in the Guard, and who no doubt individually serve with honor, they are not trained for domestic law enforcement. Forget the legalities, the Constitution and the Posse Comitatus Act, which should prevent troops from policing American citizens, and does prevent them from making arrests.

Who do we want these soldiers to shoot? Who have they been told to shoot? A kid with a can of spray paint? A pickpocket? A drug dealer? A flag burner? A sandwich thrower?

We don’t even know what their orders are. What choices they will have to make.

But we do know that police do not walk around openly holding their guns, and certainly do not stroll with rifles. For civilian law enforcement, their guns are defensive weapons, and they are trained to use them as such.

Few walking by these troops, even the most law abiding, can fail to feel the power of those weapons at the ready. It is a visceral knowledge that to provoke them could mean death. That is a powerful form of repression, meant to stop dissent through fear of repercussion.

It is a power that Trump is building on multiple fronts. After declaring his “crime emergency” in D.C., Trump mandated a serious change in the mission of the National Guard.

President Trump with members of law enforcement and National Guard troops in Washington on Aug. 21, 2025.

(Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press)

He ordered every state to train soldiers on “quelling civil disturbances,” and to have soldiers ready to rapidly mobilize in case of protests. That same executive order also creates a National Guard force ready to deploy nationwide at the president’s command — presumably taking away states’ rights to decide when to utilize their troops, as happened in California.

Trump has already announced his intention to send them to Chicago, called Baltimore a “hellhole” that also may be in need and falsely claimed that, “in California, you would’ve not had the Olympics had I not sent in the troops” because “there wouldn’t be anything left” without their intervention.

Retired Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, a former acting vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, told ABC that “the administration is trying to desensitize the American people to get used to American armed soldiers in combat vehicles patrolling the streets of America. “

Manner called the move “extremely disturbing.”

Add to that Trump’s desire to imprison opponents. In recent days, the FBI raided the home of former National Security Advisor John Bolton, a Republican who has criticized Trump, especially on his policy toward Ukraine. Then Trump attempted to fire Lisa D. Cook, a Biden appointee to the Federal Reserve board, after accusing her of mortgage fraud in another apparent attempt to bend that independent agency to his will on the economy.

On Wednesday, Trump wrote on social media that progressive billionaire George Soros and his son Alex should be charged under federal racketeering laws for “their support of Violent Protests.”

“We’re not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more, never giving it so much as a chance to “BREATHE,” and be FREE,” Trump wrote. “Soros, and his group of psychopaths, have caused great damage to our Country! That includes his Crazy, West Coast friends. Be careful, we’re watching you!”

Consider yourselves threatened, West Coast friends.

But of course, we are already living under that thunder. Dozens of average citizens are facing serious charges in places including Los Angeles for their participation in immigration protests.

Whether they are found guilty or not, their lives are upended by the anxiety and expense of facing such prosecutions. And thousands are being rounded up and deported, at times seemingly grabbed solely for the color of their skin, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arguably the most Trump-loyal law enforcement agency, sees its budget balloon to $45 billion, enough to keep 100,000 people detained at a time.

Despite Trump’s maelstrom of dread-inducing moves, resistance is alive, well and far from futile.

A new Quinnipiac University national poll found that 56% of voters disapprove of the National Guard being deployed in D.C.

This week, the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. for a second time failed to convince a grand jury to indict a man who threw a submarine sandwich at federal officers — proof that average citizens not only are sane, but willing to stand up for what is right.

That comes after a grand jury three times rejected the same kind of charge against a woman who was arrested after being shoved against a wall by an immigration agent.

Californians will decide this in November whether to redraw their electoral maps to put more Democrats in Congress. Latino leaders in Chicago are protesting possible troops there. People are refusing to allow fear to define their actions.

Turns out, we do have a choice.

Background / Context
The 2015 Iran nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers curbed Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. The agreement has largely unraveled since the U.S. withdrawal in 2018, and with key provisions set to expire on Oct. 18, France, Britain and Germany ,the so-called E3,  have warned they may trigger the reimposition, or “snapback,” of U.N. sanctions unless Iran resumes compliance.

What Happened
Senior Iranian and E3 officials are scheduled to meet in Geneva on Tuesday.

The E3 have set conditions: a resumption of inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), accounting for Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, and renewed diplomatic engagement.

They have said they will decide by the end of August whether to revive sanctions, though a short extension remains possible if Iran shows progress.

The talks come after U.S. and Israeli strikes in June destroyed or damaged Iranian enrichment sites. Iran has since barred IAEA inspectors, citing safety concerns, and the status of its uranium stockpile remains unclear.

Why It Matters
The outcome could determine whether Iran faces the return of broad U.N. sanctions, deepening its economic isolation, or whether limited diplomacy revives the stalled nuclear framework. Western officials fear Tehran is edging closer to weapons-grade enrichment. Iran, while denying it seeks a bomb, had enriched uranium to 60% and held enough stock for several potential weapons before the strikes.

Stakeholder Reactions

E3 official: “We are going to see whether the Iranians are credible about an extension or whether they are messing us around. We want to see whether they have made any progress on the conditions we set.”

Iranian official: “Due to the damage to our nuclear sites, we need to agree on a new plan with the agency and we’ve conveyed that to IAEA officials.”

Western diplomats: Privately suspect Tehran is buying time and dragging talks out.

Tehran: Warned of a “harsh response” if sanctions are reimposed.

IAEA: Says it cannot confirm Iran’s program is peaceful, but has no credible indication of a coordinated weapons effort.

What’s Next
The Geneva talks will test whether Iran is prepared to resume inspections and engage diplomatically or risk a snapback of sanctions before the Oct. 18 deadline. The E3 are expected to decide by the end of this week whether to move forward with sanctions, grant a short extension, or continue talks.

With information from Reuters.

Mingus Reedus, son of “The Walking Dead” star Norman Reedus and Danish model Helena Christensen, made a concerning statement to a reporter in the wake of his arrest Saturday on suspicion of assault.

On Sunday, a New York Post reporter confronted the 25-year-old outside of his Manhattan apartment. “You want to watch me kill myself?” the model said when he spotted the journalist. He refused to answer questions after that, the Post reported.

The grim remark came just one day after Mingus Reedus was taken into custody by police who responded to a Saturday morning report of an assault in progress, according to USA Today. The Post reported that a 33-year-old female victim was subsequently taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue with “minor injuries.”

Reedus pleaded not guilty Saturday to charges of of third-degree assault, assault recklessly causing injury, criminal obstruction of breathing, second-degree harassment and aggravated harassment, NBC News said. He was released without posting bail.

It wasn’t Reedus’ first arrest on suspicion of assault. He faced accusations in 2021 of punching a woman at the San Gennaro festival in New York City. At the time, he told the New York Daily News that “it was instinct” after the woman was “swarming” his friend group.

“We didn’t think anything of it, but these five girls followed us for two blocks, throwing food at us and yelling,” he said. “We told them to leave us alone, but they kept following, threatening to hurt my girlfriend and her friend.”

He said one woman was “pulling my hair from the back, another throwing water in my face.” Soon after, police got involved, but Reedus claimed they “refused to listen to the context” and arrested him.

In March 2022, he struck a deal and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge — disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to a conditional discharge that required him to attend five private counseling sessions.

Footage shows far-right minister taunting 66-year-old Palestinian leader during jail visit.

Palestinian officials have condemned far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s taunting visit to the jail cell of long-imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.

Footage of the visit shared on social media on Thursday showed the minister making threatening remarks to the 66-year-old.

In the footage, Ben-Gvir is seen telling Barghouti, who has been in prison since 2002, including years in solitary confinement: “You won’t win. Whoever messes with the nation of Israel, whoever murders our children and women – we will wipe them out.”

“You should know this, [this happened] throughout history,” Ben-Gvir added.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the incident “in the strongest terms”.

In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said Ben-Gvir’s actions were “an unprecedented provocation and organised state terrorism, falling within the framework of the crimes of genocide, displacement, and annexation faced by the prisoners and our people”.

It added that the Palestinian Authority will take the threat seriously and will follow up with the International Committee of the Red Cross, relevant states, the international community, and its specialised organisations and councils.

Barghouti’s wife, Fadwa, said he and other Palestinian prisoners are subjected to inhumane treatment behind bars.

“They are still, Marwan, chasing you and pursuing you even in the solitary cell you’ve been living in for two years, and the struggle of the occupation and its figures with you continues. The shackles are on your hands, but I know your spirit and determination, and I know you will remain free, free, free,” she wrote in a statement on Facebook.

“I know that the only thing that can shake you is what you hear about your people’s pain, and the only thing that crushes and wounds you is the failure to protect our sons and daughters. You are of the people; wherever you are among the people, you are one of them and part of them.”

‘Shocking’

Israel’s Channel 12 broadcast a video clip of Ben-Gvir’s visit at Ganot Prison in central Israel. The channel reported that the minister’s visit was intended to oversee stricter conditions for Palestinian prisoners.

The video marks the first time for years that footage of Barghouti has been published. His family and rights groups said he has been in solitary confinement since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023 after Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel.

Relatives of Barghouti who viewed the footage told Al Jazeera Arabic there was a “shocking” appearance in his features, apparently from “exhaustion and hunger”, and expressed fear that he would die in custody.

In October, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society accused Israeli prison staff of “brutally assaulting” and injuring Barghouti while he was being held in solitary confinement.

The claims that he has several times been beaten by prison staff have been denied by the Israel Prisons Service.

The Fatah leader was sentenced to five life sentences plus 40 years for his alleged role in planning attacks that caused the deaths of five civilians during the second Intifada.

Aug. 13 (UPI) — Britain, Germany and France told U.N. officials that snapback sanctions are on the table if Iran does not sit down to negotiate over its nuclear weaponry.

The letter delivered to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, signed by the three foreign ministers, indicated the E3 was prepared to enforce severe sanctions if Iran did not agree to limit it’s nuclear program and gave Iranian officials until the end of the month.

“We have made it clear that if Iran is not willing to reach a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not seize the opportunity of an extension, E3 are prepared to trigger the snapback mechanism,” read a letter in part signed by Britain’s David Lammy, Jean-Noel Barrot of France and Germany’s Johann Wadephul.

The sixth round of American-Iranian negotiations were abandoned in June after a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on known parts of Iran’s nuclear facilities. The 12-day conflict escalated regional tension amid Israel’s war in Gaza and spiked oil prices.

The “snapback” guardrail built into Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, officially titled the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” was set to trigger if an instance arose in which Iran committed an act of “significant non-performance.”

Signed by Tehran with Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, the European Union and United States it removed sanctions and curbed Iran’s nuclear program. Initially the United States left the JCPOA in 2018 during U.S. President Donald Trump‘s first term in the White House.

Iran, however, has periodically violated parts of the agreement for years and the snapback mechanism threatened more than once by Europe and the E3 as far back as 2019 nearly four years after the deal was inked.

In addition to limiting Iranian nuclear activities, it thawed U.S. sanctions against Tehran that hampered its economy for years.

On Wednesday, Germany’s Wadephul said Iran “must never acquire a nuclear weapon” and reiterated that the E3 had “every right” to resort to snapback.

“Iran has the opportunity to return to diplomacy and resume full cooperation with the IAEA,” he wrote in an X post a little before 11 a.m. local time.

“The ball is now in Iran’s court,” Germany added.

WASHINGTON — As Gov. Gavin Newsom and the University of California consider whether to sue the Trump administration to restore more than half a billion dollars in federal grants to ULCA, the White House on Tuesday had a terse response.

“Bring it on, Gavin,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt when asked about Newsom’s opposition to a Trump plan demanding more than $1 billion and sweeping campus changes at UCLA to resolve federal antisemitism findings against the university.

“This administration is well within its legal right to do this, and we want to ensure that our colleges and our universities are respecting the First Amendment rights and the religious liberties of students on their campuses and UCLA has failed to do that, and I have a whole list of examples that I will forward to Gavin Newsom’s press office, if he hasn’t seen them himself,” Leavitt said.

The statement was the first public comment from the White House about the high-stakes conflict between the nation’s premier public university system and the Trump administration, which has accused UCLA of violating the civil rights of Jewish students, illegally considering race in admissions and treating transgender people in sports, healthcare and campus life in ways that the government claims hinder women’s rights.

Leavitt spoke after a question from The Times about how Trump would response Newsom’s comments late last week that the settlement offer for UCLA was “extortion” and “ransom.”

“We’ll sue,” Newsom said Friday.

Responding to Leavitt’s comments, a Newsom spokesperson pointed The Times to a meme posted on X after the press conference.

“Glorious leader is entitled to all treasures of the realm, especially from universities,” said the post from Newsom’s press office account. The graphic features an image of what appears to a be a North Korean news anchor with a North Korea flag in the background.

In an earlier joint statement with California legislative leaders, Newsom said that the action against UCLA “isn’t about protecting Jewish students — it’s a billion-dollar political shakedown from the pay-to-play president. Trump has weaponized the Department of Justice to punish California, crush free thinking, and kneecap the greatest public university system in the world.”

No lawsuit has been filed and the UC board of regents, who held an emergency meeting Monday afternoon over the grant cuts, has not announced how it will proceed aside from calling Trump’s current terms “unacceptable.”

Newsom sits as a voting member on the 24-person board, has appointed several of its members and can wield influence on the body, although the final decision on a lawsuit or settlement rests with the regents. Newsom did not attend Monday’s meeting.

In a statement after the meeting, a UC spokesperson said the $1 billion price tag would be “devastating.”

“UC’s leadership spent recent days evaluating the demand, updating the UC community, and engaging with stakeholders,” said Meredith Turner, UC senior vice president of external relations. “Our focus remains on protecting students’ access to a UC education and promoting the academic freedom, excellence, and innovation that have always been at the heart of UC’s work.”

Hundreds of grants — from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and Department of Energy — are on hold at UCLA. The money funds research into cancer, math, brain science and other areas, and helps pay for graduate student stipends and tuition as well as lab upkeep. If the freezes stay for the long-term, administrators are considering layoffs and other budget reductions.

Citing the reasons for the freezes, a July 30 NSF leter to UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk alleged UCLA “engages in racism, in the form of illegal affirmative action, UCLA fails to promote a research environment free of antisemitism and bias; UCLA discriminates against and endangers women by allowing men in women’s sports and private women-only spaces.”

Frenk, in a campuswide message the next day, disputed the funding halt.

“This far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination,” he wrote.

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.

Popstar Peter Andre has opened up about his terrifying experience of being stalked during a chat with his daughter Princess on her new ITV show, The Princess Diaries

Peter Andre has opened up about a terrifying ordeal where he was targeted by a persistent stalker who sent him numerous death threats during his daughter Princess’ ITV show, The Princess Diaries.

During a deep chat with her dad, the 18-year-old opened up about the “weird messages” she received online – leaving Peter horrified. Princess revealed people would ask to see feet pics, with others asking if she was now legal.

Expressing why he was so worried Peter explained: “I had one stalker, who was a violent stalker that had threatened to kill me on one of the shows. I was touring with Bobby Brown, and on the night of the Sydney show, 26 police officers came and surrounded the building,” he said. It comes after Katie Price worries fans with appearance in family photo after explaining weight loss.

READ MORE: Katie Price shares cryptic post about motherhood amid Princess Andre ‘rift’READ MORE: Katie Price and Princess Andre ‘feud’ deepens: 18th birthday ‘blow out’ and ‘jealousy’

“They thought the guy was going to come and kill me that night,” Peter explained, leaving his daughter in utter shock. He then revealed he was 19 at the time.

Peter has previously spoken about the terrifying ordeal, shortly after Strictly’s Shirley Ballas‘ stalker, Kyle Shaw, had been sentenced.

Kyle Shaw, 37, pleaded guilty at Liverpool’s Crown Court on February 25, admitting the charges that took place between August 31, 2017, and November 9, 2023.

In his column for OK!, the father-of-five shared his own chilling experience with a stalker, which led to 26 police officers being called to the venue where he was performing in Australia due to the barrage of death threats he had received.

He penned: “I was reading about Shirley Ballas’s stalker avoiding jail. It’s strange – I think some people read these terrible stories and somehow don’t believe they’re real. They’re very real. It happens to a lot of people in the public eye.”

He went on to say: “Now, you may not believe me but it happened to me. In 1992 or 93, I was touring with Bobby Brown in Australia.

“At one of the concerts in Sydney, there were 26 police at the venue who were present on this particular night because of a series of death threats that had been made to me from someone who’d been stalking me for a long time. One day, I’ll tell the whole story..”

Peter previously demanded action to “eliminate” the crime of stalking following Shirley’s terrifying experience which grabbed headlines.

In an earlier column, the pop star revealed he’d “seen a lot of stories about stalking”, including a disturbing incident involving tennis ace Emma Raducanu.

The 22 year old was compelled to halt a match against Karolina Muchova at the Dubai Tennis Championships after spotting a man in the crowd who had given her a letter at her hotel the day before.

“It’s really interesting because stalking has been going on for years,” Peter said.

“I remember the 1992 movie, The Bodyguard, focused on the stalking of celebrities. Social media isn’t helping, as it makes it easier to track someone down. But this has been going on for a long time and I hope we find a way to eliminate this sort of thing. My thoughts are with both Shirley and Emma.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

VIKTOR GYOKERES got his eye in and his first Arsenal goal in the Emirates Cup win over Atletico Bilbao.

It was the last opportunity for the striker and the club’s other new signings to impress the fans before the season starts.

9

9

9

And Gyokeres, 27, made his mark on the game as he scored the opening goal at the Emirates.

It would have been a relief for the Swede to see the net bulge as he had squandered chances beforehand.

Arsenal‘s second came just moments later after a brilliant passage move led to Bukayo Saka tapping into an empty net.

The only thing is that the Gunners’ players will be hoping the Emirates Cup is not the only trophy they lift this season.

In the irrelevant penalty shootout after the game Adama Boiro missed the crucial spotkick as Arsenal won that too.

Here’s how SunSport reporter Henry Tomlinson rated the Arsenal players…

David Raya – 6

A comfortable outing for the goalkeeper, who had little to do but dealt with what did come his way.

Made a key save in the shootout and went the right way for a lot of them.

Riccardo Calafiori 45′ – 4

Almost gifted Bilbao the lead in the 16th minute as his weak pass in the Arsenal box was cut out by Íñigo Ruiz de Galarreta – who was denied by Raya.

Going forward, he blazed over from the edge of the box after being presented with a great opportunity when the game was goalless.

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Was subbed off at half time for Ben White.

William Saliba – 6

Like Raya, was a reasonably quiet game for the centre-back with little threat coming from Bilbao.

The Frenchman will be hoping for a similar requirement when Arsenal face Manchester United next Sunday.

Took a brilliant penalty in the shootout.

Gabriel Magalhaes 62′ – 6

Gabriel was the other beneficiary of an easy time on the pitch as the Gunners maintained a lot of control of the ball.

But for the Brazilian is more important to have minutes in the legs after he made his return from injury.

Jurrien Timber 62′ – 6

Made sure he was getting forward to support the attacks early on.

Looked like he picked up a knock after one burst up the pitch but was able to soldier on.

Martin Zubimendi – 7

9

Fairly quiet game from the Spanish midfielder, which is what can be expected from him.

The former Real Sociedad man is there to do the dirty work and offload the ball and he managed to do that.

He did show one brilliant bit of quality as his whipped cross was on a dime for Gyokeres’ goal.

Converted the winning penalty in the shootout.

Declan Rice 81′ – 6

Helped maintain the pace of the game from midfield with his passing and linking of the play.

A perfectly acceptable performance but not as impressive as Zubimendi.

Martin Odegaard 81′ – 6

9

Constantly involved with the forward play as expected and led the team to a comfortable victory.

He lacked cutting edge at times as the Gunners could have had even more.

Bukayo Saka – 8

Looked dangerous from the start and almost put the hosts ahead after a good move as he was only denied by Unai Simon.

Was in the right place at the right time to slot home the second into an empty net.

Hit the bottom corner with his penalty.

Gabriel Martinelli 45′ – 6

9

Wasted a good chance in the opening exchanges as he fired wide after picking up a loose ball from the Bilbao defence.

Showed his quick thinking to perfectly lay off the ball for Saka to double the lead.

Mikel Arteta sacraficed the winger at half time to give more minutes to Noni Madueke.

Viktor Gyokeres 69′ – 8

It looked to be a frustrating afternoon for the striker as he fluffed his lines on a couple of early chances.

But it was a case of third time lucky as he fantastically headed past Simon for the opener.

Following the goal, Gyokeres was clearly more confident as his link-up play was much improved.

He almost made it two for himself after the hour mark but this header was denied by the post.

Subs

Noni Madueke 45′ – 6

9

Showed flashes of pace when he could but was mostly up against a deep block.

Almost grabbed an assist for Gyokeres before full time.

Converted his spot kick emphatically.

Ben White 45′ – 6

Immediately got into the action with an overlapping run into the box, but just failed to control the ball well enough.

Myles Lewis-Skelly 62′ – 5

9

Replaced Jurrien Timber just after the hour mark and picked up a yellow card just minutes later.

Cristhian Mosquera 62′ – 6

Was subbed on in place of Gabriel and partnered, but had little to do.

Kai Havertz 69′ – 7

9

Had a great chance to put the Gunners out of sight, but his tame effort was saved by Simon.

Made amends for the missed with a neat finish in the 81st minute to show that Gyokeres still has some competition.

Slotted his penalty past Simon very coolly.

Ethan Nwaneri 81′ – N/A

Replaced Odegaard late on and gained some minutes.

His penalty did not go to plan as he fired over from 12 yards.

Mikel Merino 81′ – N/A

He was played in the midfield for a change as he replaced Rice for the closing stages.

Smashed his penalty into the top corner. Unsaveable.

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SACRAMENTO — California became center stage for the national political fight over House seats Friday when Gov. Gavin Newsom welcomed Democratic lawmakers from Texas who fled their home state to foil President Trump’s plans to redraw Congressional districts.

California lawmakers plan to respond with their own plan to gerrymander districts to favor Democrats and neutralize any Republican seats gained in Texas in 2026, with a proposed map expected to become public next week, Newsom said at a press conference after meeting with the lawmakers.

“Make no mistake, California is moving forward,” the governor said. “We are talking about emergency measures to respond to what’s happening in Texas, and we will nullify what happens in Texas.”

He noted that while Democrats still support the state’s independent redistricting commission, they must counter Trump’s plan in GOP-led states to give their party a better chance in next year’s midterm election.

“They drew first blood,” he later added of Republicans.

Asked about the gathering, a Trump administration spokesperson said Newsom was seeking the limelight to further his political ambitions.

“Gavin Newsom is a loser of the highest order and he will never be president, no matter how hard he prostitutes himself to the press,” said the spokesperson, Steven Cheung.

Friday marked the second time in two weeks that Texas Democrats have stood next to Newsom at the California Governor’s Mansion and warned that Republican efforts to draw a new map in their state would dilute the power of Black and brown voters.

The Democrats hoped that their departure would leave the state Legislature with too few members present to change the map in a special session. They face $500 fines for each day of absence, as well as threats of arrest and removal from office by Gov. Greg Abbott and other Texas GOP officials. Some of the Democratic lawmakers were evacuated from a Chicago hotel where they were staying after a bomb threat on Wednesday.

“We are now facing threats — the threat that we’re going to lose our jobs, the threat of financial ruin, the threat that we will be hunted down as our colleagues sit on their hands and remain silent, as we all get personal threats to our lives,” said Texas state Rep. Ann Johnson (D-Houston), one of six Texas lawmakers at the press conference, who was among those evacuated from the Chicago hotel. “We as Democrats are standing up to ensure that the voices of every voter is lifted up in this next election, and that the next election is not stolen from them.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco); Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), chair of the California Democratic congressional delegation; Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg); Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and other elected officials joined the meeting in a show of unity as California Democrats attempt to convince their own state’s voters to fight back.

Pelosi noted that the state’s congressional delegation is united in backing the redistricting proposal to counter Trump.

“The President has paved over the Rose Garden. He’s paved over freedom of speech. He’s paved over freedom of education, [an] independent judiciary, the rule of law,” Pelosi said. “He’s gone too far. We will not let him pave over free and fair elections in our country, starting with what he’s trying to do in Texas.”

She fought back against an argument some have made — that two wrongs don’t make a right.

“This is self-defense for our democracy,” she said.

The California plan calls for the state Legislature to approve a constitutional amendment establishing new Congressional voting districts crafted to make GOP members vulnerable.

Passage of the bill would result in a special election on Nov. 4, with California voters deciding if the state should temporarily pause the congressional boundaries created by an independent redistricting commission in 2021 and adopt new maps for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.

If approved by voters, the measure would include a “trigger” specifying that it would only take effect if Texas or other Republican-led states follow through with redrawing their maps to boost GOP seats before the midterm election. California would revert to its existing redistricting law after the next census and before the 2032 election.

At least so far, California voters appear uncertain about whether they want to swap Newsom’s plan for the independent redistricting system they previously adopted at the ballot box.

An Emerson College poll found support for redrawing California’s congressional map at 33% and opposition at 25%. The survey of 1,000 registered voters, conducted Aug. 4 and 5, found that 42% were undecided.

Newsom has expressed confidence that California voters will back his plan, which he is casting as a rebuttal to Trump’s efforts to “rig” the midterm elections.

“I’m confident we’ll get it when people know what it is and what it’s not, and I think, at the end of the day, they understand what’s at stake,” Newsom said Thursday.

Newsom argues that California’s process is more transparent than Trump’s because voters here will see the map and decide if the state should go forward with it.

To fulfill Trump’s request for five additional seats, Abbott is attempting to redraw House districts in Texas through a state legislative process that does not require voter approval. It’s unclear what will happen in Austin, with Democrats determined to block the effort and Abbott and other Texas Republicans insisting they will keep pressing it.

The current special session ends on Aug. 19. But in an interview with NBC News Thursday evening, Abbott vowed “to call special session after special session after special session with the same agenda items on there.”

In addition to arrest on civil warrants, the Democrats are facing threats of being removed from office. Direct-deposit payments to the legislators have been curtailed, forcing them to pick up their checks in person at the state capitol in Austin or go without the money.

The redistricting fight has strengthened Newsom’s national platform as a potential 2028 presidential contender and bolstered his reputation as a Democrat willing to take the fight to Trump and his allies.

Since Trump took office in January, Newom had been walking a fine line between calling out the president and playing nice in hopes of being able to work together to rebuild from the California wildfires.

But the gloves came off after Trump deployed the National Guard during federal immigration raids in Los Angeles in June, prompting the governor and his administration to much more aggressively push back on the president’s conservative agenda.

Stanford University’s student newspaper is suing the Trump administration, claiming the threat to deport foreign students for speaking out against Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza is chilling free speech.

That threat is hampering the paper’s ability to cover campus demonstrations and to get protesters to speak on the record, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Northern California.

Some Stanford Daily writers, who are foreigners in the country on student visas, have even turned down assignments to write about unrest in the Middle East because they’re afraid they’ll be deported. Writers have also asked the paper to remove previously published stories from its website, citing the same concerns, the lawsuit says.

“In the United States of America, no one should fear a midnight knock on the door for voicing the wrong opinion,” the newspaper’s lawyers wrote in their complaint.

The suit accuses Trump administration officials, specifically Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristin Noem, of placing their statutory authority to deport a foreign visa holder whose beliefs they deem un-American ahead of the constitutional right — guaranteed by the 1st Amendment— to free speech.

“When a federal statute collides with First Amendment rights,” the newspaper’s lawyers wrote, “the Constitution prevails.”

Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, scoffed at the lawsuit, calling it “baseless.”

“There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” she said in a statement.

The lawsuit — which was filed by the 133-year-old student newspaper, not by the university itself — is the most recent salvo in an increasingly bitter fight between Trump and many of the nation’s elite universities. The president has made clear he sees top schools as hotbeds of liberal ideology and breeding grounds for anti-American sentiment.

His weapon of choice is to threaten to withhold billions of dollars in federal research grants from institutions that refuse to adopt policies on issues such as diversity, transgender rights and Israel that fall in line with his Make America Great Again ideology.

Critics call Trump’s campaign an attack on academic freedom, but fearing massive budget cuts, several Ivy League schools — including the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and Brown — have recently cut deals with the Trump administration in an attempt to limit the damage.

Stanford announced this week that it will be forced to lay off hundreds of employees as a result of cuts to research funding and changes to federal tax laws.

The Stanford Daily’s lawsuit focuses on two unnamed students, John and Jane Doe, who the paper’s lawyers say began self-censoring out of a well-founded fear of having their visas revoked and being deported.

Rubio has claimed that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 allows the secretary of State to revoke a noncitizen’s legal status if it is decided the person’s actions or statements “compromise a compelling United States foreign policy interest.”

Rubio used that interpretation to justify the March arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University who was held in a Louisiana jail before a federal judge ordered his release.

The complaint cites the cases of two other foreign students — one at Columbia and one at Tufts — who were arrested for participating in pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations.

At Stanford, the plaintiff referred to as Jane Doe was a member of the group Students for Justice in Palestine. She has published online commentary accusing Israel of committing genocide and perpetuating apartheid, according to the lawsuit. She has also used the slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which has become a flash point in the Israel-Gaza debate.

Referencing the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea — which includes Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — the slogan is viewed as a call for freedom and self-determination by Palestinians. To many Israelis, it sounds like a call for their total destruction.

As a result, Doe’s profile appeared on the Canary Mission, a pro-Israel website that creators say is devoted to outing “hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews.” Department of Homeland Security officials have acknowledged they consult the website’s profiles — most of which are of students and faculty at elite universities — for information on people worthy of investigation.

As a result, since March, Jane Doe has deleted her social media accounts and has “refrained from publishing and voicing her true opinions regarding Palestine and Israel,” the lawsuit claims.

John Doe has participated in pro-Palestine demonstrations, has accused Israel of genocide and chanted, “From the river to the sea.” But after the Trump administration started targeting campus demonstrators for deportation, he “refrained from publishing a study containing criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza,” according to the lawsuit.

Unlike Jane Doe, John has since resumed public criticism of Israel despite the threat of deportation, according to the lawsuit.

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who shot a man in the back in 2021 will not face criminal charges, according to records made public by the district attorney’s office late last month.

Los Angeles County prosecutors found there was “insufficient evidence” to prove Deputy Yen Liu was not acting in lawful self-defense when he shot Adrian Abelar at a Rosemead auto body shop four years ago, firing a round that fractured several vertebrae and nearly paralyzed him, according to court records and Abelar’s attorney.

Abelar, 29, had just thrown a gun from the car and was face down on the pavement when Liu opened fire at point blank range, according to body-worn-camera footage. Deputies were responding to reports that Abelar — a convicted felon who could not legally possess a firearm — had threatened to shoot several people at the auto body shop.

But when Liu and two other deputies arrived at the scene, they found Abelar sitting calmly in his car. The deputies approached Abelar, who lied about the fact that he was on probation. Abelar said he decided to flee because he feared if deputies found him with a gun, they would arrest him or kill him.

Abelar said he tossed the weapon as soon as he got out of the car. In video from the incident, deputies can be heard shouting, “Gun!” right before Liu closes in on Abelar, whose right arm is clearly outstretched and empty at the time Liu opens fire.

Ultimately, prosecutors decided the reported threats made by Abelar and the fact that he was in possession of a gun precluded them from charging the deputy.

“Since one reasonable interpretation of the evidence leads to the conclusion that Liu acted in response to an apparent danger, insufficient evidence exists to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Liu did not act in self-defense when he shot Abelar in the back,” prosecutors wrote in a 10-page declination memo made public in late July.

Abelar’s case gained renewed attention in late 2023, when high-ranking members of then-Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s administration became concerned with the amount of time it was taking the sheriff’s department to complete its investigation of the shooting. There were only four other cases since 2013 in which more than two years elapsed between a deputy-involved shooting and a charging decision being made by prosecutors, according to a 2021 report by the L.A. County Office of the Inspector General. Such delays, the report said, reduce the chances of a successful prosecution.

“The D.A.’s office bent over backward to claim they can’t prove a criminal violation … they clearly can and don’t want to,” said Abelar’s civil attorney, Thomas Beck. He claimed the investigation was “purposefully stalled for more than two years.”

Liu has returned to active duty and is assigned to the Temple Station, where he worked when the shooting occurred, according to Nicole Nishida, a sheriff’s department spokeswoman. An internal review to determine whether or not Liu violated department policy has been launched, Nishida said.

Use-of-force experts who reviewed footage in the case previously told The Times that Liu’s decision to shoot was problematic.

“The guy clearly does not have a weapon in his hand and the deputy who is on top of him draws his firearm, jams it in the guy’s back and fires it immediately upon contact,” said Ed Obayashi, a lawyer and former Plumas County sheriff’s deputy who advises police departments throughout California about use-of-force incidents.

Abelar’s lawyer disputed claims made by Richard Doktor, the auto body shop owner, who summoned deputies to the scene by claiming Abelar had made threats and brandished a gun.

According to recordings made public by law enforcement, Doktor said Abelar arrived at his shop that day demanding car repairs because he was fleeing from the cops due to an active murder warrant. Doktor separately alleged to The Times in an interview that Abelar was threatening his employees with a gun.

While there was a warrant out for Abelar’s arrest on a probation violation at the time of the shooting, he was not wanted for any violent crime, according to the sheriff’s department. Abelar has not been charged with a crime in relation to the incident at Doktor’s shop.

Beck said statements given to the sheriff’s department by other auto shop employees do not corroborate Doktor’s claims. Neither the sheriff’s department nor the district attorney’s office responded to questions about the veracity of Doktor’s allegations. Doktor has also criticized the sheriff’s department’s response, contending Abelar was “no threat” when Liu fired his gun.

Doktor did not respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment this week.

Abelar’s civil suit was settled last year for $700,000, according to Beck. But his client has not been paid yet and will not be able to claim that money for a while.

Abelar fell into homelessness after his “only living relative” died last year, Beck said. While living on the street, Abelar was arrested last May on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, resisting arrest and having a forged driver’s license, records show.

In February, he pleaded no contest to the weapons charge and a sentencing enhancement for having a prior violent felony conviction and was sentenced to four years in state prison, records show. Even with jail credits, Abelar likely won’t get out of prison until 2028.