training

June 13 (UPI) — Five Indian Air Force personnel are dead after a transport plane crashed during training in Assam, officials said Saturday.

“The Indian Air Force deeply regrets the loss of five personnel in the An-32 accident at Jorhat, Assam. Sqn Ldr Prashant Singh, Flt Lt Shubham Kumar, Sgt Jitendra Sharma, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveervayu Danish Alam made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. IAF extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and stands firmly with them in this hour of grief,” the Indian Air Force posted on X.

Assam is in the northeastern part of the country.

“Crash site management and initial enquiries are on at this time,” the Air Force said. It added that an investigation to find the cause of the crash is underway.

India’s air force operates a fleet of about 105 AN-32 aircraft, Al Jazeera reported.

England have recovered the majority of the training equipment that was stolen prior to their arrival in Kansas City on Saturday.

Sources have confirmed the return of the items that were taken after vehicles transferring equipment to their Swope Soccer Village base in Kansas City were broken into.

Thomas Tuchel and his squad will arrive in Kansas City on Saturday afternoon and the equipment was due to be in place beforehand.

Police officers, who are in touch with the FA, were on site on Friday night dealing with the matter.

It is understood two arrests have been made in connection with the incident.

A spokesman for Kansas Police said before the recovery of the equipment: “We are investigating a possible theft of equipment from a team vehicle that arrived in Kansas City with items missing this evening. The investigation is ongoing.”

The theft occurred as Tuchel’s side began their preparations for their World Cup opener against Croatia on Wednesday (21:00 BST).

“We have plenty of pairs of boots throughout the season, but for the tournament a lot of them will have them personalised,” former England defender Phil Jagielka told BBC Sport.

“A lot of them may have their own special insoles. Then you could choose whether to have the flag, your initials, your kids’ [names], nicknames… All this would have been done months in advance.”

The England players will undertake their first full training day on Sunday.

Tim Ream is the only player on the American World Cup team who was alive the last time the tournament was played in the U.S. But he was only 5, so the memories are kind of sketchy.

“I remember bits and pieces of 1994,” he said.

Still, it’s fallen on Ream, as both the captain and the oldest man on the roster, to prepare the team for what they’re about to experience when the U.S. opens play Friday at SoFi Stadium.

“I’ve tried to tell guys and tried to convey the message that this is a once-in-a-career [opportunity] and with that comes more expectation, more pressure,” he said. “But at the same time we have to enjoy it.

“It’s about just opening your eyes and taking everything in because this is unique, this is completely different from anything that any of us as players has experienced.”

Only 22 men in history have suited up for a home World Cup game on U.S. soil. Players including Alexi Lalas, Eric Wynalda, Cobi Jones and Marcelo Balboa parlayed that fame into broadcasting careers. Others have become coaches. Fifteen of them were inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Ream, who played in the last World Cup in Qatar, said it’s difficult to compare the experience of that tournament with this one — especially since this one hasn’t started yet.

“It’s not our first rodeo, but it’s our first one on U.S. soil,” he said. “So it’s kind of our first rodeo in a way. It’s exciting.

“So take it in, enjoy it, embrace everything that it is. Because it’s so unique, it’s so special. And it’s not something that we will ever get to do again.”

Midfielder Cristian Roldan was also at the last World Cup, although he didn’t appear in a game. He says the energy is different this time around.

“You feel it when you’re there. You’re kind of isolated, you’re alone,” said Roldan, one of 13 players on this team who were also on the team in Qatar, half a world away. “But it’s different here. You see how many media members are here. You see how many people we’ve seen in training over the last few weeks. You feel that energy, you feel that support.

“Now it’s about translating that energy, that support, that pressure into something good.”

Goalkeeper Matt Turner agreed.

“This one, obviously, it’s a lot more tangible,” he told reporters Tuesday. “You guys are all here, right, real close to us. We have 5,000 fans for training yesterday. It’s very different. In Qatar, you’re in a lot more of a bubble.

“But us players, the ones that had the [World Cup] experiences, I think we’ve done a really good job of keeping that boundary.”

What’s lacking this time, Turner said, was the pressure of a qualifying campaign to bring the team together. Because the U.S. is one of the three host countries — alongside Mexico and Canada — it was assured a spot in 48-team field when it won the right to stage the tournament eight years ago. As a result it hasn’t played a competitive game in more than 11 months.

“The intensity of those games, the environments that you have to dip into and get results, you find out a lot about the players and find out a lot about the team,” he said. “This time around, it’s been different. We’ve had a lot of different looks, a lot of different players getting a chance to prove themselves and show themselves.

“It’s not anything bad or good. I just think it was a little bit different.”

Striker Folarin Balogun, one of 13 World Cup newbies on the U.S. team, said he doesn’t expect the gravity of the experience to hit him until he lines up for Friday’s opening game with Paraguay.

“It’s probably going to start to go more real to me when I’m preparing to go on to the pitch,” he said, sitting behind a table next to Ream. “I’m hearing the fans shouting and screaming, so I definitely think it’ll be real to me the closer I get.

“But you know, this is the first opportunity for me to play in the World Cup so I don’t really have any expectations.”

Balogun then looked over at a frowning Ream, who had just finished urging his teammates to be sure to stop and smell the flowers along this World Cup journey.

“Just trying to stay present, stay in the moment,” Balogun hastened to add. “You know, enjoying the experience. I think it can be a really memorable World Cup.”

TIJUANA — Iran’s soccer team arrived in Mexico on Sunday morning for training ahead of the World Cup, before its first two group matches at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood later this month.

Ehsan Hajsafi was the first player to exit the plane with markings for German charter airline USC, which arrived at about 5:05 a.m. He led the team, dressed in blue blazers over white T-shirts, through a brief security check with Mexican officials and dogs before boarding a bus.

The bus stopped briefly at the entrance to the Tijuana airport, where around 20 or so Iran fans waved flags.

The team’s participation in the World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, has been complicated by the Iran war. Problems with processing visas earlier led Iran to move its training base from Tucson to Tijuana.

The team has been training in the Turkish city of Antalya. It flew directly to Mexico on a private jet from the Mediterranean city’s airport.

Some members of their entourage were reportedly still without U.S. visas, according to Iranian state television Saturday. Those include the Iranian Football Federation’s secretary-general, Hedayat Mombeini, and its vice president, Mehdi Mohammad Nabi.

Iran plays its first two games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21, then heads to Seattle to face Egypt on June 26. Iran and the U.S. could meet in the Round of 32 on July 3 in Arlington, Texas, if both teams finish second in their groups.

In March, President Trump discouraged Iran from participating in the tournament, saying he didn’t think it was “appropriate” and raising concerns over players’ “life and safety.” A day later, Iran’s national team countered, saying “no one can exclude” it from playing.

Iran finalized its team on Monday, including 17 home-based players whose clubs haven’t played since February because of the war. Star forward Sardar Azmoun was dropped in March, reportedly because of a social media post that angered Iranian authorities during the war.

Iran’s sports minister said in March that it would “not be possible” for the team to participate in the World Cup, but the Islamic Republic’s soccer federation said in May that it was moving ahead with a team. The federation had insisted that all players and staff be granted visas, including those who had military service in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo hit the training pitch as he readies for his sixth World Cup appearance. Portugal will play Chile in a friendly, before heading to the US for their first World Cup match on June 18. Punters say Portugal is a dark-horse contender to take the title.

TOMMY Fury raced to be by Molly-Mae’s side for the birth of their second child as he chartered a private jet from boxing training camp to make it in time.

Fans were concerned history would repeat itself and Tommy wouldn’t be around during the beginning stages of their baby’s life, due to his scheduled fight against World’s Strongest Man, Eddie Hall, on June 13.

But, the Netflix star has certainly put those rumours to bed as he stopped at nothing to put Molly at ease.

The 27-year-old flew on a private jet from his training camp in Manchester down to London earlier this week.

The loved-up couple announced the birth of their baby on Instagram today with a sweet snap at the hospital.

A source said: “The whole family is over the moon. Tommy flew down on private jet to be at the birth.

boss baby

Molly Mae’s daughter Bambi, 3, branded ‘iconic’ as she tells off builders at home

MINI MOL

Molly-Mae Hague gives birth as star welcomes second child with boxer Tommy Fury

“Mollie went into labour yesterday, she had been in London for the past week while Tommy continued his training camp in Manchester ahead of his Eddie Hall fight.”

“Tommy flew straight down last night to be by her side as soon as she told him labour had started. They went to hospital this afternoon and the baby was born a few hours later,” the source continued.

“The baby is absolutely perfect. Molly is exhausted but doing well. She’s so glad Tommy made it down for the birth as she was so worried he might not get there in time.”

But despite it all being a race against the clock, Molly’s boxer beau still managed to get there in time bearing gifts.

The source added: “Tommy rushed down with flowers, her favourite chocolates Ferrero Rocher and the blanket she wanted to wrap the baby in for the first pictures, as she’d forgotten it at home.”

In the first snap of their new babe, Tommy, Molly and Bambi all gathered around the hospital bed as they lay sleeping.

The picture appeared to be taken soon after the birth as stunning Molly was still in her hospital gown.

She looked utterly overjoyed as she beamed down at their new arrival.

The smitten couple captioned the announcement post: “…and then there were 4.”

There celebrity pals and fans went wild over the news and flooded their comments with congratulations.

Before the birth, Maebe creator Molly told fans over on her YouTube that she would be giving birth to her second bundle of joy at London’s Portland Hospital.

She explained how she would be having the same midwife that was present when she gave birth to her daughter Bambi, three.

Molly and Tommy are yet to reveal the baby’s gender or name.

In her latest video, Molly confessed she could announce the name by putting it on Tommy’s fight shorts as she normally take the lead on designing them.

Perhaps all could be revealed next week.

June 3 (UPI) — Markwayne Mullin, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will have to undergo more than 500 hours of training again, a return to the amount the department originally required.

“We had to rewrite the curriculum,” Mullin told members ofthe House Homeland Security Committee. “All training starting July 1 will be back up to the regular standards.”

News agencies first reported in early May that this change might be on the way. In fall 2025, ICE cut training for its officers from 584 hours to 336 hours, a move that came as part of a hiring push that brought in hundreds of new ICE agents. Senate Democrats released documents showing the cuts earlier this year, The New York Times reported.

The cuts were criticized by Democrats and some others, as critics said recruits did not receive enough training on how to handle firearms, First Amendment rights or other issues. Many people have called for ICE to be reformed or abolished, especially after ICE agents killed two U.S. citizens in January in Minneapolis. Then, in February, the Times reported, a former ICE attorney publicly criticized the changes in training at a forum in Washington, D.C.

“For the last five minutes, I watched ICE dismantle the training program,” Ryan Schwank said. “Cutting 240 hours of vital classes from a 584-hour program — classes that teach the Constitution, our legal system, firearms training, the use of force, lawful arrests, proper detention and the limits of officers’ authority.”

The agency responded at the time by saying hours had not been cut.

Mullin also said Wednesday that he’s reviewing contracts signed by Kristi Noem, the previous secretary of the department, that may have ties to her allies, The Hill reported. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the top Democrat on the committee, noted that Noem had signed contracts giving business to companies connected with her.

Mullin said he’d give the committee a list of any canceled contracts that hadn’t yet been signed. The department cannot nullify contacts that have been signed, but some are under review, he said.

A judge at the Old Bailey has fined UK Athletics £350,000 with £44,000 in costs after hearing how a paralympic athlete died when equipment fell on him at a training ground in east London.

Shot-putter Abdullah Hayayei was killed when a metal cage collapsed as he prepared for the World Para-athletics Championships in 2017.

He had previously represented the United Arab Emirates at the Rio Paralympics when he competed in the javelin and shot put.

Judge Richard Marks KC described Mr Hayayei’s death as “tragic, untimely and wholly avoidable.”

He also handed UKA’s former head of sport, 79-year-old Keith Davies, a 175-hour community service order after hearing how he was in charge of the equipment, which had been assembled with vital base plates missing.

The court heard how a strong gust of wind had collapsed the cage and Mr Hayayei had died of head injuries after being hit by a heavy metal bar.

The athlete was a 36-year-old wheelchair user who lived with cerebral palsy.

The court heard from his widow Badriah, who said his death had left her coping alone with five young children.

UK Athletics had pleaded guilty to a charge of corporate manslaughter at an earlier hearing in February. Mr Davies pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety law at the same hearing.

The investigation and legal process following Mr Hayayei’s death has taken nearly a decade to complete.

Police said their investigation had involved years of meticulous work by detectives which uncovered photos from around a dozen athletics events where the same cage had been used by the UK Athletics officials. They showed the restraints were not being used to secure the equipment.

Sentencing, Judge Marks said Mr Hayayei’s death was an accident which sooner or later was “waiting to happen”.

Earlier in the hearing, Prosecutor John Price KC told the court that in the years following the incident, UKA attempted to blame the athlete’s death on Mr Davies, and even “tried to point the finger” at the Newham venue.

He described a statement later submitted by UKA as “a deeply unworthy document by a national sporting body and one of which it should be ashamed”.

Fining UKA, the judge agreed that it had been “most unattractive” but it was “a stance” that was adopted by their previous team of managers.

It had been disavowed by the current leaders of the organisation who had expressed “sincere regret”.

UKA, he said, is essentially “a club of passionate members” and was aimed at developing elite athletes and sport at a grassroots level.

He noted that the organisation had a turnover of £13.8m in 2025 with a projected loss of £400,000. He granted UKA six years to pay the fine in instalments.

In a statement, UK Athletics said it was “deeply sorry” and that “substantial changes” have been made around safety and governance.

“While nothing can undo what happened, there has been a determined focus on learning from these events and ensuring stronger standards and safeguards are in place throughout athletics,” UK Athletics said.

“We respectfully accept the court’s decision today and remain committed to continuing that work with the seriousness and responsibility this case demands.”

A Paralympic athlete died “in an accident waiting to happen” when a metal bar fell on him, a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey has been told.

Abdullah Hayayei, a wheelchair using shot putter from the United Arab Emirates, was killed when a training cage collapsed in a gust of wind at a training facility in Newham, London, as he practised for the World Athletics Championships in July 2017.

UK Athletics, the event’s organiser, is being sentenced for corporate manslaughter.

Keith Davies, 78, UK Athletics’ former head of sport, is being sentenced for a breach of health and safety law. Both Mr Davies and UK Athletics pleaded guilty at a hearing earlier this year.

Prosecuting, John Price KC told judge Richard Marks KC that the equipment that killed Mr Hayayei, 36, was missing key components.

The entire structure collapsed in the wind, and a heavy metal bar weighing 25kg hit the athlete on the head. Mr Hayayei, who had a history of cerebral palsy, died at the scene.

The court heard a victim impact statement from Badriah Rashid Zayed Al-Yahyaei, the victim’s widow, who described how her husband’s death had left her alone with five young children.

“It was a huge shock to me because I was waiting for the news of his victory and success,” she said.

“Suddenly the news reached me. I could not comprehend it at first and refused to believe it, and today that moment is still in my mind.

“What happened was a result of gross negligence that could have been avoided had safety rules been adhered to.

“My husband went out to represent his country, raise the name of the UAE, and returned as a corpse.”

Mr Davies and representatives from UK Athletics listened as the prosecutor explained how key base support components from the heavy shot-putting cage had been missing that afternoon.

The KC said Mr Davies had told investigators that the equipment had been assembled according to the instructions.

“At the very least,” argued Mr Price, the official “ought to have known that it was incorrect”.

He added: “The evidence shows he actually knew it and therefore this was not a truthful statement by him.”

An expert called to the Newham site after the accident said some of the bolts were missing, and the KC claimed there was a “culture and practice” of assembling the cage without key pieces.

“It was an accident waiting to happen,” he told the court.

A legal statement which UK Athletics produced years after the incident was described by the prosecutor as ‘”a deeply unworthy document by a national sporting body and one of which it should be ashamed”.

UK Athletics, said the KC, had attempted to lay all the blame upon Mr Davies “and even appear to have pointed the finger at the Newham venue”.

Representing Mr Davies, Mark Balysz KC said his client had written to the court in advance of the sentencing.

Mr Davies says he has found it “so very hard” to come to come to terms with the athlete’s death.

“I have woken every night thinking about his loss, and his poor family,” he said.

“These feelings have intensified since I found out about the investigation for manslaughter.”

The hearing continues, and Judge Marks is expected to hand down his sentencing decisions on Tuesday.

Attention screenwriters, producers and agents: The Jonah Jeovany Vasquez story continues this weekend in Clovis, and it’s giving off Disney-like vibes.

The senior at Cathedral High is running in the 1,600 at the CIF state track and field championships on Friday at Buchanan High. He had never stepped on a “squishy” surface, otherwise known as a track, before this season.

“I never even knew what a track felt like,” he said. ”Everything was new to me.”

For three years, he attended Alliance Leichtman-Levine, a small Los Angeles charter school near his home in South Los Angeles. He ran cross country on his own with little coaching.

“They would hire a random coach off the street and we’d play flag football,” he said.

His training was jogging on a treadmill for two miles and maybe getting eight to 10 miles a week.

He finished third at the 2024 City Section Division V finals in 16:48 as the only representative from his school. In the state final, he finished 76th in Division V with a time of 16:58.60. That experience gave Vasquez motivation.

“Seeing so many people pass me bothered me,” he said. “I promised myself I was going to train hard so it wouldn’t happen again. I wanted to prove to myself I could run with the top guys.”

Jonah Jeovany Vasquez of Cathedral is on the podium after finishing second in the Division 3 1,600 at Moorpark.

(Cathedral)

He transferred to Cathedral last May, and coach Martin Farfan aggressively trained him to make up for lost time. Vasquez ran 15:35 on the state championship course in Fresno. But two weeks before the state championships, he was struck by an E-bike during a 10-mile workout running along the L.A. River. He went flying and had a gash on his knee.

“It was traumatic. I was at the peak of my power. I was super fit and faster than I had ever been,” he said.

He iced the knee and stopped training. He still ran in the CIF prelims. “I had no fitness,” he said. “I was like a deer in the headlights.”

Farfan started calling coaches telling them he had a talented runner but the recruiters were unimpressed. They took to the internet and couldn’t find a single track time for Vasquez. Farfan had a ringer about to try track for the first time.

Two weeks ago at the Southern Section divisional championships, he finished second in the Division 3 final in a personal-best 4:08.44.

Vasquez is healthy and eager to be the one passing runners with his late kick on Friday and Saturday night. He also has a scholarship waiting for him at Long Beach State.

“I’ve always had natural endurance,” he said. “I’ve been active since I was little. I honestly believe when I’m in college, I’m going to do some great things. I have that spark in me not every athlete has. I have the drive to be the best I can possibly be. Maybe not by my freshman year, but I will develop. I will not stop until reaching my goal. It’s all I want. When I sleep or do activities with my family, all I think about is running.”

His father immigrated from Nicaragua. His mother has family in Guatemala. They’ve supported Vasquez as running became his passion.

“I honestly believe I have a 4:04 or 4:05 in me,” he said.

Never doubt what can happen when a teenager finds something they love and devotes time and energy to achieving their dreams.

Mauricio Pochettino knows the joy of making a World Cup roster. But he also knows the misery of being left off one.

In the first case, you want to celebrate; in the second, you want to be left alone.

The U.S. coach said he kept both emotions in mind when informing players they had — or had not — made the roster for next month’s tournament, a roster that was formally announced Tuesday during a sun-splashed, made-for-TV rally in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, about 13 miles from where July’s World Cup final will be played.

“The most important event is to be in any single roster,” said Pochettino, who made Argentina’s team for the 2002 World Cup after being passed over four years earlier.

So when Pochettino decided which 26 men would be on his team this summer, each of them got a WhatsApp message, followed by a video, sent out at 1 p.m. Eastern Time Friday. Defender Tim Ream said he received the message as he walked to his car after training with his club team in Charlotte, N.C.

“It made me stop in my tracks and immediately call my wife to let her know,” he said. “We both had been anxious and excited for the announcement.

“I’m not overly emotional, but it was definitely a relief and there was a little bit of bit of quivering, for sure, with my family when I found out.”

Christian Pulisic was alone in Milan, where he plays in Italy’s Serie A, when his phone lit up.

“I was just relaxing. Then I saw the message pop up and got excited,” he said.

The 29 players from the provisional roster who didn’t make the cut? They each got a simple email. And no explanation.

“I know it is so painful. It was so painful for me,” Pochettino said.

“When I didn’t make the roster, I didn’t want my coach to call me,” he added. “Because we care a lot, we don’t want to say nothing to confuse the player. A player who didn’t make the roster, they don’t want to hear me say, ‘Oh [too bad].’”

Christian Pulisic holds up his U.S. jersey during a rally Tuesday in New York.

(Adam Hunger / Getty Images)

Ream and Pulisic are two of 13 players who are returning to the World Cup after making the team in Qatar four years ago, part of a list that includes midfielders Tyler Adams, Gio Reyna and Weston McKennie and defenders Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson. They will be joined by defenders Miles Robinson and Chris Richards, both of who missed the last World Cup because of injury, and forward Ricardo Pepi, one of the final cuts in 2022.

Richards was chosen despite tearing two ligaments in his left ankle playing for Crystal Palace earlier this month. Pochettino had no new information on the injury Tuesday but said the final World Cup roster doesn’t need to be filed with FIFA until Sunday; after that, teams can replace players up to 24 hours before their opening match in the event of injury or illness.

Reyna’s inclusion was also a minor surprise since he has played just one full 90-minute game for club or country in the last four years. In the last World Cup in Qatar, he was nearly sent home for a perceived lack of effort in training after he learned he wouldn’t be a starter in the tournament.

But Pochettino said picking him was an easy decision.

“I really trust in him,” Pochettino said. “He’s a different player. A different talent. The roster needs to have a player like him.”

There were also notable omissions, among them midfielders Diego Luna and Tanner Tessmann. Luna, who plays in MLS for Real Salt Lake, has been a regular under Pochettino, playing in 17 of the U.S. team’s 18 games in 2025. But he missed time earlier this season with a knee injury and sat out of his club team’s last two games with a muscle problem

Tessmann had been called into six training camps under Pochettino and was seen as a potential starter for the U.S. before being shut down by his French club, Lyon, at the end of the season, leaving his fitness for the World Cup in question.

Pochettino declined to talk about either player — or anyone else left off the team.

“We are not going to talk about the players that are not on the roster,” he said. “That’s disrespectful to the players who are on the roster.”

Raising questions about who should have been included, the coach said, necessarily leads to questions about who should have been left off.

“That was my decision to pick that 26,” he said

Pochettino said he didn’t settle on a roster until the day before players got the WhatsApp videos — or the simple email.

“We wanted the right balance with the right players,” he said.

Among the first-time World Cup selections are midfielder Malik Tillman, the German-born brother of LAFC midfielder Timothy Tillman; Mexican-born attacker Alejandro Zendejas, who plays for Club América in the Liga MX; and Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, son of Gregg Berhalter, the U.S. coach in the last World Cup.

Berhalter said he was in Qatar four years ago, cheering on his dad’s team. This year, his dad will be cheering for him.

“If you believe in your dream and put in the work, you never know what might happen,” he said from the stage after being introduced to the crowd at Tuesday’s rally.

The team will open training camp in Atlanta on Wednesday ahead of friendlies with Senegal in Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday and against Germany on June 6 in Chicago. The team will then move to the Orange County Great Park in Irvine for final preparations for its World Cup opener against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on June 12.

ROSTER

Goalkeepers: Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese (New York City), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)

Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Sergiño Dest (PSV), Alex Freeman (Villarreal), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse) Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Auston Trusty (Celtic)

Midfielders: Tyler Adams (AFC Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen)

Forwards: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United),Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco), Ricardo Pepi (PSV), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Tim Weah (Marseille), Haji Wright (Coventry City), Alejandro Zendejas (Club América)

DRC’s public sendoff in the capital was also cancelled before their departure for the FIFA World Cup.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) football team have cancelled a three-day World Cup preparation training camp and a planned public farewell to fans in the capital, Kinshasa, because of an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country.

DRC are scheduled to play World Cup warm-up games against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, on June 3, and Chile in southern Spain on June 9. Both matches are going ahead as planned, team spokesman Jerry Kalemo told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

“There were three stages of preparation: In Kinshasa to say goodbye to the public, Belgium and Spain with two friendly matches against Denmark in Liege and Chile in Spain, and the third stage from June 11 in Houston, United States. Only one stage was canceled – the one in Kinshasa,” Kalemo said.

The team’s pre-tournament preparations will now take place elsewhere after an outbreak of a rare type of Ebola known as Bundibugyo, which is thought to have killed more than 130 people and caused nearly 600 suspected cases.

The World Health Organization has declared it a public health emergency of international concern.

All of the DRC players and the team’s French coach, Sebastien Desabre, are based outside of the central African country, with most of them playing in France.

A number of team staff who are based in DRC “are leaving in the next hours”, Kalemo said.

Football’s governing body FIFA issued a statement that “it is aware of and monitoring the situation regarding an Ebola outbreak and is in close communication with the DRC Football Association to ensure that the team are made aware of all medical and security guidance.”

The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that the US would ban the entry of all foreign nationals who had been in DRC, Uganda and South Sudan within the past three weeks. The ban lasts for 30 days.

A US official said the Congolese World Cup team would not be affected by the CDC entry ban because they had been training in Europe for the past several weeks. That means team members, coaches and other officials who have not returned to DRC in the past three weeks would not be subject to the entry ban, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the policy has not been publicly announced.

Those members of the Congolese World Cup delegation who did return to DRC during the 21 days will be subject to the same quarantine requirements as US citizens seeking to return from affected countries, according to the official. That exception will not apply to Congolese fans who want to attend the World Cup, the official said.

The White House World Cup Task Force, housed under the Department of Homeland Security, stressed that it is “coordinating closely” with various agencies on health and security matters and that the government is “closely monitoring” the outbreak.

DRC, who qualified for the World Cup after winning a playoff tournament in Mexico, have been drawn in Group K. They face Portugal in their opening game in Houston on June 17.

The Leopards then face Colombia in Guadalajara on June 23 before playing Uzbekistan in Atlanta for their final group game on June 27.

DRC’s first World Cup qualification since 1974, when the country was called Zaire, led to scenes of jubilation across the nation, which has been battered by decades of conflict.

THEIR podcast was supposed to be a safe space for unfiltered conversations about relationships and families, but instead, it’s become a cause for concern for Louise Thompson and Ryan Libbey’s fans.

This week, things reached boiling point as Louise, 36, and her fiancé, 35, giggled about children going to school without being potty trained or being able to eat on their own on the He Said, She Said podcast. Listeners branded the conversation “disgusting and disappointing”, and now insiders tell us how the bubble is about to burst for the Made In Chelsea star.

Our source explained: “Louise has, of course, been through a hell of a lot in her life and is entitled to an opinion, but she has really hit a nerve with this one.

“She seems to have forgotten that she is in an incredibly privileged position with a healthy four-year-old son and lots of time and money, which of course all play a part.

“It’s a real shame she didn’t think before she started laughing because it would have upset a lot of people.

“It’s very surprising considering how much work she has done for mothers in the past.”

In a clip, which has now been deleted from social media, Louise and Ryan discuss the number of children who are attending school without being potty-trained. 

Outraged by the stats, Louise insisted: “I think a basic human right is to teach your child before the age of four how to use the loo and how to wipe their bum.”

Clearly amused, Louise is heard giggling as she explained: “One in four children are sent to school before they’re potty trained, which means that the teachers are having to change their nappies and then wipe their bum. 88% of kids are going to reception, unable to eat and drink on their own.”

Looking horrified, Ryan replied: “They’ve got nappies on, and they can’t feed or drink themselves.”

Musing on why she thinks it might be the case, Louise said: “Maybe it’s like a bit of a cop out there, like, oh my child’s crying, and they’re being a bit difficult, I can’t be bothered with the hassle. 

“I think that people are so distracted these days with screens that they can’t be bothered to dedicate the time.”

But shockingly, they then revealed that their own son Leo was potty-trained by Ryan’s parents while they were on holiday without him.

He admitted: “My parents pretty much broke the back on the potty training for us with Leo because we went away for a week and he went to his grandparents and they got him out of nappies in a week. It was quite convenient to be honest.”

A recent survey found that one in four children who started reception in 2025 were not toilet-trained. The stats did not count delays that may be related to disabilities or special educational needs. 

It’s a highly sensitive topic, and understandably, the comments have sparked a huge debate.

Reality star, entrepreneur and mum-of-three Lateshya Grace has been vocal in her upset. She shared: “Mocking children for wearing nappies, struggling with toileting, feeding, communication, or developmental delays is honestly disgusting.

“So many families are already dealing with enough without hearing people laugh at situations they clearly don’t understand. Not every child develops the same, and many children facing these challenges have disabilities, additional needs or medical conditions that are nobody else’s business to judge.

“Calling parents “lazy” because their child needs extra support is such an ignorant and privileged take. Most parents in these situations are doing everything they possibly can behind closed doors while fighting battles people never even see.”

Lateshya continued: “Deleting the clip without properly addressing it or apologising doesn’t take away from the damage caused either.

“Children deserve compassion, patience and understanding, not to be mocked for content or podcast conversation. Please educate yourselves before speaking on topics that affect vulnerable children and families.

“You should be ashamed of yourself. Some people honestly don’t even deserve a platform.”

Her thoughts were echoed by lots of parents online as the clip went viral, despite their best efforts to remove it. 

Holly Steer, who runs the Instagram account autismandourworld, dedicated a whole post to the podcast.

She wrote: “Platforms that should be used to promote kindness, compassion, and understanding are instead being used to mock and ridicule children with special needs, and to blame parents for developmental delays that are often far more complex than people realise.”

Her own harrowing story and her past work have only added to her fans’ confusion.

Indeed, Louise has dedicated much of the past few years to improving maternity care after her own life-threatening situation, which means she now wears a colostomy bag.

In 2021, she suffered a near-fatal birth with son, Leo, after an emergency C-section led to catastrophic bleeding. She later required a stoma bag and revealed how she suffered PTSD from the traumatic labour.

She also suffers from lupus, a chronic autoimmune condition that has left her with exhaustion and joint pain, and said she was diagnosed with hydrosalpinx – a condition where a fallopian tube becomes blocked and swells with watery fluid.

Others also pointed out that Louise’s own brother – fellow TV star Sam – was recently diagnosed with ADHD and ASD, adding: “I really expected more from a person who has a brother who is neurodivergent.”

And she won’t be getting much sympathy from her former Made In Chelsea co-stars either, after she made it clear how she had moved on after the show.

After attending the Baftas this weekend, Louise took a swipe at the likes of ex Spencer Matthews and her one-time arch nemesis Lucy Watson as she failed to acknowledge them.

Posing with Millie Mackintosh at the awards, she also shared a throwback with her former cast mates, and wrote: “Here are some photos of Millie and I (and other cast members) attending the BAFTAs in 2013, when we won a Bafta for Made in Chelsea… THIRTEEN years ago.”

Our insider said: “Louise has made it quite clear that she’s got very little interest in some of her old castmates. After what she went through having her son, she made a decision to distance herself from MIC drama, and it’s fair to say there’s no love lost with some of them.”

Just last week, Louise met the then Health Secretary Wes Streeting to discuss her petition to appoint a maternity commissioner and improve care for mothers and babies. She left feeling “genuinely optimistic”.

Some NHS practitioners have expressed concerns about her appraisal of the service, which they believe could be damaging to expectant mothers.

One midwife, who has worked for the NHS for ten years, expressed upset about “being blamed for women’s traumas” and pointed out that there have been issues with funding and resources for more than twenty years, which is something midwives have been fighting for day in, day out. 

Louise is clearly playing an important part in advocating for change, but whether her fans will be able to forgive her faux pas is yet to be seen. 

WASHINGTON — Before being deployed to Los Angeles during anti-ICE protests last summer, U.S. Marines were given 12 rules for engaging with protesters, and Rule 1 was clear: Force “of any kind” was allowed only as a last resort.

If force were used, the rule stated, it “should be the minimum necessary to accomplish the mission.”

That detail is among 178 pages of federal documents released by the Marine Corps to the nonprofit watchdog group American Oversight through the Freedom of Information Act and shared exclusively with The Times.

The documents paint a thorough picture of how Marines prepared to deploy in Southern California, where they stood alongside National Guard members and agents with the Department of Homeland Security.

The documents also illuminate a glaring contrast between the training of Marines and that of immigration agents, who have been accused repeatedly of using unnecessary force against peaceful protesters, bystanders and immigrants during enforcement operations.

“Ironically, I would’ve felt much safer with Marine engagement than with DHS because of the depth of training,” said Ryan Schwank, a former instructor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruits at the ICE Academy within the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia.

Schwank is a whistleblower who resigned in February after revealing that the Trump administration had slashed immigration officer training. After reviewing the documents obtained by American Oversight, he said the training given to Marines on crowd control was “significantly more in-depth and longer than training given to an ICE officer, even under the best of circumstances.”

An ICE agent walks through tear gas that was fired to push protesters back during a raid on Atlantic Boulevard in the city of Bell on June 20, 2025.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions and instead pointed to a February news release that said training has not been cut back and that new hires receive additional training after leaving the academy.

“ICE law enforcement officers are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations to prioritize the safety of the public and our officers,” said Lauren Bis, a department spokesperson. “Officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training.”

Schwank noted that the Marines and ICE officers came to Southern California with different objectives: As protectors of people and property, the Marines had a more limited, reactive mission, while ICE officers were charged with making arrests, a confrontational role.

“We’re giving [ICE officers] less training on it and fewer refreshers than the Marines are getting and yet we’re putting them in a situation where they’re taking the more confrontational actions to where they’re more likely to have to make split-second decisions,” Schwank said.

For most of history, he added, ICE agents detained people who were already in the custody of another law enforcement agency. He said ICE was never meant to act as riot police.

“The real fundamental problem isn’t ICE agents using force,” Schwank said. “It’s ICE agents using force in an environment they are not trained for.”

The training of Marines, and the lead-up to their deployment, is outlined in the documents reviewed by The Times.

On June 6, a commanding general emailed other generals to say that “national-level leadership” had directed Marines to assume an “alert posture” and be ready to support the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and ICE officers who were already responding to civil unrest in downtown Los Angeles.

The Marines would safeguard federal facilities and thus “protect lives and property through the restoration of civil order,” the email said.

The Trump administration directed 4,200 California National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines to Southern California starting June 7.

Marines push back anti-ICE protesters in front of the Federal Building during a “No Kings Day” in downtown Los Angeles last June.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

First, though, they needed to be trained.

The five-day course reviewed use-of-force policies, less-lethal weapons and handling of civil disturbances.

Overall, the 12 rules emphasized safety, urging Marines to be reasonable, to de-escalate tensions and to avoid confrontations with individuals who posed no threat.

Marines could use non-deadly force, if necessary, to control a situation or protect themselves or other federal personnel, and deadly force “only when all lesser means have failed.”

“Exercise due regard for the safety of innocent bystanders when using any type of force,” the rules state.

Schwank said there is no equivalent to the Marines course at Homeland Security. When he left the academy in February, he said, “there was no crowd control training, period.”

Crowd control was briefly added to the curriculum in 2021 for experienced law enforcement officers, he said, but it was later removed. ICE recruits may also have gotten lessons on crowd control after leaving the academy and joining their respective field offices, he said.

When Schwank left the agency, a six-hour class called “Public Order Public Safety” was in development for the 2026 curriculum, according to documents he provided to Congress. Homeland Security did not respond when asked if the class had started.

“I wouldn’t assume that any of the ICE officers on scene in L.A. had received any sort of actual crowd control class,” Schwank said. “They might have gotten a one-to-two-hour PowerPoint slideshow, but that would’ve been it.”

Marine Col. Beth R. Smith confirmed that the entire 2nd Battalion 7th Marines received academic and practical training before deploying to Los Angeles.

Managing civil disturbances has been an issue for Homeland Security since at least 2021, according to an audit conducted by the agency’s internal watchdog review of a 2020 deployment to Portland, Ore.

That year, President Trump mobilized federal power against the protests that spilled into Portland streets after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Trump sent 755 Homeland Security agents to defend federal property in what would come to be seen as a dry run for much larger operations of his second term.

A protester damages a Waymo vehicle at Los Angeles Street and Arcadia Street in L.A. on June 8, 2025.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Nested on rooftops, agents launched chemical weapons against protesters. Ground forces fired less-lethal rounds at point-blank range and forced participants into unmarked vans without explanation.

The audit by the Homeland Security inspector general found that only seven of 63 officers reviewed had received any level of riot and crowd control training. Some officers told investigators that they needed additional training, and many “questioned their involvement in the operation” due to the lack of preparation.

”Without the necessary policies, training, and equipment, DHS will continue to face challenges securing Federal facilities during periods of civil disturbance that could result in injury, death, and liability,” the audit concluded.

As of spring 2025, Homeland Security records show, the department had not corrected the training failures flagged in the audit years earlier.

Schwank agreed that the concerns raised in the inspector general’s report were never addressed.

Liz Hempowicz, deputy executive director of American Oversight, said the Marine Corps’ emphasis on de-escalation and on using force only as a last resort stands in stark contrast to what happened on the ground in Los Angeles with immigration agents.

The practices outlined in the documents “differ from positions taken by senior DHS leadership, whose separate internal communications revealed a mindset that appeared far more encouraging of violence,” she said.

Internal Homeland Security emails also obtained by American Oversight revealed that the agency’s lead attorney said federal agents in Los Angeles should have “just started hitting the rioters and arresting everyone that couldn’t get away.”

“These records underscore that the difference between disciplined restraint and unnecessary harm can come down to the tone set at the top — and when that tone shifts toward hostility, the human cost can be devastating,” Hempowicz said.

Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, a military research group, said that for Homeland Security, the issue is partly a training deficiency and partly a cultural shift against agent accountability.

“Trump talks about ‘the enemy within’ — this is what he’s talking about,” she said. “To some at DHS, the enemy within is all immigrants, it’s cartels — it’s also groups that are protesting the government.”

Conversely, the Marines’ documents emphasized personal liability and responsibility. For example, one page said that “if you either use more force than is necessary, or respond with DEADLY-force to a NON-deadly threat — You will likely lose your right to self-defense, and you will be viewed, under the law, as the ‘Aggressor.’”

Marines were told to immediately report anyone violating the 12 rules of engagement.

The high level of training for Marines shows that command considered the optics of military personnel harming or even killing civilians, Kavanagh said. But just because the deployment worked out last year doesn’t make it a good idea in the long run, she said.

Kavanagh, alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor Karen Bass, and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, opposed the military deployments to Los Angeles last year, maintaining that Marines are trained for foreign combat, not domestic crowd control.

“I see these deployments as a recipe for disaster,” she said.

Schwank said ICE’s training touches on personal liability but not in as much depth. Last fall, Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, said ICE officers “have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties, and anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop you or tries to obstruct you is committing a felony.”

On the ground in Los Angeles, ICE agents and other local law enforcement fired a range of less-lethal weapons at protesters, such as pepper balls, hard foam rounds or canisters delivering flash-bang grenades and tear gas.

At a June 12 protest, a federal agent shoved freelance journalist Anna Sophia Moltke to the ground, causing sprains on her left arm and leg and deep scrapes to her hip and knee that have since scarred. She was carrying a camera, she said, and wore clear press credentials and a helmet that said “PRESS.”

“I remember distinctly there being no violence at all until police and ICE showed up,” she said. “We saw them firing rubber bullets into the crowd. People started running away. I was halfway turned around when they started rushing the crowd, and a tall, 6-foot-4 masked man used both hands to push me onto the concrete.”

Moltke said she recalled a large group of protesters gathered near the Marines stationed at the northern end of the detention center, just before police and ICE swept through and forced her to the ground. To her knowledge, she said the Marines remained at their post and didn’t participate in street skirmishes.

Wiffen said that he was “already planning” on moving to Dublin even before the Irish Open.

He had targeted a time of seven minutes 42 seconds in the 800m, but came in at 7:58.08 on his way to winning gold in Bangor and also said his performance in the 1500m was “confirmation in my head that I wasn’t in the shape I wanted to be in” and that he should switch to Dublin.

“In 1500m I got to the 1000m mark in a second off PB [personal best] pace and I could feel it fading and it was all down to the training,” he added.

“I wasn’t doing the right type of work I used to do, so when it came to the decision, I sat down with Andy Reid [National Performance Director at Swim Ireland] and talked to him. We had talked of the back-up plan if California didn’t work when he was first appointed, so this was already in the thinking.”

Reflecting on his time in California, Wiffen was critical of the training in the US and says he “feels a lot fitter” since he started training in Dublin.

“In California it felt like you kind of didn’t know what you were doing. You were having to push yourself, there wasn’t much guidance or criticising technique.

“They didn’t want to mess up the Olympic champion is what I felt. They were trying to do what they wanted to do, not what’s good for me.”

Wiffen is now gearing up for a big summer with the Commonwealth Games and European Championships on the horizon and hopes a solid block of training in his new surroundings can get him up to speed to break more records.

“I don’t know how fast I’m going to be in the summer, but I have two benchmark meets before that I can compare to other years.

“I need to see how those go and how the training works. I have eyes on the world record in the summer, but if not I need to readjust some things.”

However, he returned to Naples to hold what have been described as “calm, collaborative and constructive” talks with his club. The discussions also included his agent Federico Pastorello and Napoli sporting director Giovanni Manna.

The talks are understood to have led to an amicable solution, with sources insisting the matter is now closed.

During the discussions, Lukaku updated Napoli on his recovery. It is hoped the striker will be available for selection in about two weeks.

After record-setting performances in the 4×100 relays last weekend at the Arcadia Invitational, the Servite and Rosary relay teams will try to do it again on Saturday at the Mt. SAC Relays at Mt. San Antonio College.

The Servite relay team of sophomores Jace Wells, Jorden Wells and Kamil Pelovello and junior Benjamin Harris ran it in 39.70 seconds at Arcadia, the fastest in state history.

Rosary, which is the sister school for Servite, featured sophomore Tra’via Flournoy, senior Justine Wilson, junior Pfeiffer Lee and sophomore Maliyah Collins running 44.23, breaking Long Beach Poly’s 22-year-old state record of 44.50.

Coach Brandon Thomas works with both teams and said he wanted to support the track community by having both participate.

Defending state high jump champion JJ Harel will compete in his specialty after winning at Arcadia with a mark of 6 feet, 9 inches. He’s still only a few weeks into training because of a previous injury.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Their backgrounds stand out. And not in a good way.

Two bankruptcies and six law enforcement jobs in three years. An allegation of lying in a police report to justify a felony charge against an innocent woman — an incident that led to a $75,000 settlement and criticism of his integrity. A third job candidate once failed to graduate from a police academy, then lasted only three weeks in his only job as a police officer.

Their common bond: All were hired recently by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during an unprecedented hiring spree — 12,000 new officers and special agents to double its force — after the agency received a $75-billion windfall from Congress to enact President Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

The president put a premium on swift action, and for ICE that meant rapid-fire recruitment and hiring, which in turn led to new employees with questionable qualifications. Their backgrounds and training have come under scrutiny after numerous high-profile incidents in which ICE agents used excessive force.

“If vetting is not done well and it’s done too quickly, you have higher risk of increased liability to the agency because of bad actions, abuse of power and the lack of ability to properly carry out the mission because people don’t know what they are doing,” said Claire Trickler-McNulty, who served as an ICE official during the Obama, first Trump and Biden administrations.

The agency has said the majority of new hires are police and military veterans. But evidence is mounting that applicants with questionable histories were either not fully vetted before they were brought on or were hired in spite of their past, an investigation by the Associated Press found.

ICE’s acting director, Todd Lyons, said during a congressional hearing in February that he was proud of the hiring campaign, which drew more than 220,000 applications. “This expansion of a well-trained and well-vetted workforce will help further ICE’s ability to execute the president’s and secretary’s bold agenda,” he said.

AP finds legal issues in new ICE hires’ backgrounds

Unlike many local law enforcement agencies, ICE said it shields the identity of employees to protect them from harassment, making a full accounting of the new hires impossible.

The AP focused on more than 40 officers who recently made public their new jobs as ICE officers on LinkedIn pages, using public records to check their backgrounds. All but one were male.

While most of them had conventional qualifications as former correctional officers, security guards, military veterans and police officers, it’s unclear how many should have potentially been disqualified because AP did not have access to their full personnel files. But several had histories of unpaid debts that resulted in legal action, two had filed for bankruptcy and three others had faced lawsuits that alleged misconduct in prior law enforcement jobs, the AP found.

Marshall Jones, an expert on police recruiting at the Florida Institute of Technology, said it’s hard to get a full picture of ICE’s new employee pool without more data. But he said ICE has likely hired some “less than ideal candidates” who meet minimum requirements but would be passed over in a normal hiring cycle.

“If you’re hiring hundreds or thousands of people, even with the best of background processes, there are going to be outliers,” he said. “The question is, are these normal outliers from human beings doing things, or is there a systemic challenge in properly vetting folks if there are issues?”

DHS says ‘vetting is an ongoing process’

The Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, did not answer questions about specific hiring decisions. But it acknowledged some applicants received “tentative selection letters” and offers to begin working on a temporary status before they had been subjected to full background checks.

“ICE is committed to ensuring its law enforcement personnel are held to the highest standards and rigorously vets them throughout the hiring process,” the department said. “Vetting is an ongoing process, not a one-time occurrence.”

The process includes reviewing their criminal histories and credit scores and conducting background investigations that include interviewing prior employers and other associates, which can take weeks. But the deluge of hires has strained the agency, which promised signing bonuses of up to $50,000 and advertised that college degrees were not required.

An internal memo, first reported by Reuters in February, told ICE supervisors that if they receive “derogatory information about a newly hired employee’s conduct” they should refer the allegations to an internal affairs unit for investigation. Such information could include the employees’ termination or forced resignations, the memo said.

Two bankruptcies, six jobs before ICE hired him

Among the new hires is Carmine Gurliacci, 46, who resigned as a police officer in Richmond Hill, Ga., to join ICE in Atlanta in December, according to a resignation letter obtained by AP.

He filed for bankruptcy in 2022, saying he had no income and had been unemployed for two years after moving from New York to Georgia, court filings show. He said he was living with a friend and doing chores in exchange for housing, listing tens of thousands of dollars of unpaid loans, bills, child support and other debts. He also had filed for bankruptcy in 2013 in New York, when he listed $95,000 in liabilities, records show.

Serious financial problems are “a pretty big red flag” because they might make employees susceptible to bribes or extortion, which have been problems at ICE, Trickler-McNulty said.

After his 2022 bankruptcy petition was approved, Gurliacci rejoined the work force, hopping to six Georgia law enforcement agencies within three years, each time resigning before moving on, records obtained by AP show.

He left one campus security job in 2023, citing “unforeseen personal issues that render me unable to fulfill my duties,” a resignation letter shows. But he then began working for the Butts County Sheriff’s Office soon after.

He lasted months there before moving to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office, where he quit after two months on the job, records show. The federal government recently obtained his Chatham County personnel file as part of a background check, two months after he started at ICE.

Reached by phone, Gurliacci told a reporter he would call back. He never did and did not respond to follow-up messages.

Critic says new ICE hire ‘abuses his power’

Another new hire is Andrew Penland, 29, who joined ICE after resigning in December as a sheriff’s deputy in Greenwood County, Kansas.

Penland had spent most of his career as a deputy in Bourbon County, Kansas, but left last year after facing a lawsuit alleging he arrested a woman on false allegations in 2022. The county’s insurer paid $75,000 to settle the case, the agreement shows.

The woman, June Bench, recounted in an interview what happened. One of her neighbors, a county official, claimed Bench had purposely made a wide turn and nearly hit him with her car.

Penland responded to the property. Body camera video shows he urged the neighbor to press charges and told the man Bench would go to jail but he would not have to testify in court because it would get resolved through a plea.

Bench denied the allegation and said it was part of a personal dispute. But Penland arrested her on a felony assault charge, took her to jail and seized her car. Penland wrote in a report that he watched surveillance video showing her neighbor jumping out of the way of her speeding car.

It took a week for Bench to get out of jail and more than a year to defeat the charge, which was dismissed for lack of evidence. When she obtained the video Penland cited as proof, it showed her car appearing to make a routine turn and no near-collision with the neighbor.

Bench said she was outraged to learn Penland had been hired by ICE.

“That’s scary to me. He abuses his power,” she said.

After being reached for comment, Penland deactivated his LinkedIn account and alerted ICE to the inquiry but did not respond to AP.

New hire struggled at police academy

A third new ICE hire, Antonio Barrett, initially failed to graduate from a Colorado law enforcement academy in 2020, one of two students who did not “complete portions of the academy” and received “an incomplete grade,” an email obtained by AP shows.

He finished the program after a community college arranged a special one-day training and test for him, and landed a job at the police department in La Junta, Colo., in July 2020. But he worked only three weeks before resigning and never worked in local policing again.

Previously, Barrett worked as a corrections officer at a Colorado prison.

He was accused in a lawsuit of excessive force for inflicting pain on a handcuffed inmate when he and another colleague forcibly removed the man from a wheelchair in 2017. But state officials argued their actions were not excessive and a court agreed, dismissing the case.

Barrett didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

Ex-ICE instructor says training is inadequate

ICE has denied removing any training requirements, saying new recruits receive 56 days of training and 28 days of on-the-job training. The agency said that most of the new officers have already completed law enforcement academies.

But former ICE academy instructor Ryan Schwank testified in February that agency leaders cut training on the use of force, firearms safety and the rights of protesters. He said the new recruits include some as young as 18 who lack college degrees and whose primary language is not English.

“We’re not giving them the training to know when they’re being asked to do something that they’re not supposed to do, something illegal or wrong,” he said.

Foley writes for the Associated Press.