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  • Commentary: This Las Vegas Republican had high hopes for Trump. But a ‘Trump slump’ made life worse

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    LAS VEGAS — Aaron Mahan is a lifelong Republican who twice voted for Donald Trump.

    He had high hopes putting a businessman in the White House and, although he found the president’s monster ego grating, Mahan voted for his reelection. Mostly, he said, out of party loyalty.

    By 2024, however, he’d had enough.

    “I just saw more of the bad qualities, more of the ego,” said Mahan, who’s worked for decades as a food server on and off the Las Vegas Strip. “And I felt like he was at least partially running to stay out of jail.”

    Mahan couldn’t bring himself to support Kamala Harris. He’s never backed a Democrat for president. So when illness overtook him on election day, it was a good excuse to stay in bed and not vote.

    He’s no Trump hater, Mahan said. “I don’t think he’s evil.” Rather, the 52-year-old calls himself “a Trump realist,” seeing the good and the bad.

    Here’s Mahan’s reality: A big drop in pay. Depletion of his emergency savings. Stress every time he pulls into a gas station or visits the supermarket.

    Mahan used to blithely toss things in his grocery cart. “Now,” he said, “you have to look at prices, because everything is more expensive.”

    In short, he’s living through the worst combination of inflation and economic malaise he’s experienced since he began waiting tables after finishing high school.

    Views of the 47th president, from the ground up

    Las Vegas lives on tourism, the industry irrigated by rivers of disposable income. The decline of both has resulted in a painful downturn that hurts all the more after the pent-up demand and go-go years following the crippling COVID-19 shutdown.

    Over the last 12 months, the number of visitors has dropped significantly and those who do come to Las Vegas are spending less. Passenger arrivals at Harry Reid International Airport, a short hop from the Strip, have declined and room nights, a measure of hotel occupancy, have also fallen.

    Mahan, who works at the Virgin resort casino just off the Strip, blames the slowdown in large part on Trump’s failure to tame inflation, his tariffs and pugnacious immigration and foreign policies that have antagonized people — and prospective visitors — around the world.

    “His general attitude is, ‘I’m going to do what I’m going to do, and you’re going to like it or leave it.’ And they’re leaving it,” Mahan said. “The Canadians aren’t coming. The Mexicans aren’t coming. The Europeans aren’t coming in the way they did. But also the people from Southern California aren’t coming the way they did either.”

    Mahan has a way of describing the buckling blow to Las Vegas’ economy. He calls it “the Trump slump.”

    ::

    Mahan was an Air Force brat who lived throughout the United States and, for a time, in England before his father retired from the military and started looking for a place to settle.

    Mahan’s mother grew up in Sacramento and liked the mountains that ring Las Vegas. They reminded her of the Sierra Nevada. Mahan’s father had worked intermittently as a bartender. It was a skill of great utility in Nevada’s expansive hospitality industry.

    So the desert metropolis it was.

    Mahan was 15 when his family landed. After high school, he attended college for a time and started working in the coffee shop at the Barbary Coast hotel and casino. He then moved on to the upscale Gourmet Room. The money was good; Mahan had found his career.

    From there he moved to Circus Circus and then, in 2005, the Hard Rock hotel and casino, where he’s been ever since. (In 2018, Virgin Hotels purchased the Hard Rock.)

    Mahan, who’s single with no kids, learned to roll with the vicissitudes of the hospitality business. “As a food server, there’s always going to be slowdowns and takeoffs,” he said over lunch at a dim sum restaurant in a Las Vegas strip mall.

    Mahan socked money away during the summer months and hunkered down in the slow times, before things started picking up around the New Year. He weathered the Great Recession, from 2007 to 2009, when Nevada led the nation in foreclosures, bankruptcies soared and tumbleweeds blew through Las Vegas’ many overbuilt, financially underwater subdivisions.

    This economy feels worse.

    Vehicle traffic is seen along the Las Vegas Strip.

    Over the last 12 months, Las Vegas has drawn fewer visitors and those who have come are spending less.

    (David Becker / For The Times)

    With tourism off, the hotel where Mahan works changed from a full-service coffee shop to a limited-hour buffet. So he’s no longer waiting tables. Instead, he mans a to-go window, making drinks and handing food to guests, which brings him a lot less in tips. He estimates his income has fallen $2,000 a month.

    But it’s not just that his paychecks have grown considerably skinnier. They don’t go nearly as far.

    Gasoline. Eggs. Meat. “Everything,” Mahan said, “is costing more.”

    An admitted soda addict, he used to guzzle Dr Pepper. “You’d get three bottles for four bucks,” Mahan said. “Now they’re $3 each.”

    He’s cut back as a result.

    Worse, his air conditioner broke last month and the $14,000 that Mahan spent replacing it — along with a costly filter he needs for allergies — pretty much wiped out his emergency fund.

    It feels as though Mahan is just barely getting by and he’s not at all optimistic things will improve anytime soon.

    “I’m looking forward,” he said, to the day Trump leaves office.

    ::

    Mahan considers himself fairly apolitical. He’d rather knock a tennis ball around than debate the latest goings-on in Washington.

    He likes some of the things Trump has accomplished, such as securing the border with Mexico — though Mahan is not a fan of the zealous immigration raids scooping up landscapers and tamale vendors.

    He’s glad about the no-tax-on-tips provision in the massive legislative package passed last spring, though, “I’m still being taxed at the same rate and there’s no extra money coming in right now.” He’s waiting to see what happens when he files his tax return next year.

    He’s not counting on much. “I’m never convinced of anything,” Mahan said. “Until I see it.”

    Something else is poking around the back of his mind.

    Mahan is a shop steward with the Culinary Union, the powerhouse labor organization that’s helped make Las Vegas one of the few places in the country where a waiter, such as Mahan, can earn enough to buy a home in an upscale suburb like nearby Henderson. (He points out that he made the purchase in 2012 and probably couldn’t afford it in today’s economy.)

    Mahan worries that once Trump is done targeting immigrants, federal workers and Democratic-run cities, he’ll come after organized labor, undermining one of the foundational building blocks that helped him climb into the middle class.

    “He is a businessman and most businesspeople don’t like dealing with unions,” Mahan said.

    There are a few bright spots in Las Vegas’ economic picture. Convention bookings are up slightly for the year, and look to be strengthening. Gaming revenues have increased year-over-year. The workforce is still growing.

    “This community’s streets are not littered with people that have been laid off,” said Jeremy Aguero, a principal analyst with Applied Analysis, a firm that provides economic and fiscal policy counsel in Las Vegas.

    “The layoff trends, unemployment insurance, they’ve edged up,” Aguero said. “But they’re certainly not wildly elevated in comparison to other periods of instability.”

    That, however, offers small solace for Mahan as he makes drinks, hands over takeout food and carefully watches his wallet.

    If he knew then what he knows now, what would the Aaron of 2016 — the one so full of hope for a Trump presidency — say to the Aaron of today?

    Mahan paused, his chopsticks hovering over a custard dumpling.

    “Prepare,” he said, “for a bumpy ride.”

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    Mark Z. Barabak

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  • Commentary: Dinosaurs, unicorns and ‘raging grannies’ — but no kings — in Sacramento

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    SACRAMENTO — Thousands of rebels gathered outside the state Capitol on Saturday, mindlessly trampling the lawn in their Hokas, even as the autumnal sun in Sacramento forced them to strip off their protective puffer vests.

    With chants of “No Kings,” many of these chaotic protesters spilled off sidewalks into the street, as if curbs held no power of containment, no meaning in their anarchist hearts.

    Clearly, the social order has broken. Where would it end, this reporter wondered. Would they next be demanding passersby honk? Could they dare offer fiery speeches?

    The answer came all too soon, when within minutes, I spotted clear evidence of the organized anti-fascist underground that U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi has been warning us about.

    The “Raging Grannies of Sacramento” had set up a stage, and were testing microphones in advance of bombarding the crowd with song. These women wore coordinating aprons! They had printed signs — signs with QR codes. If grandmothers who know how to use a QR code aren’t dangerous, I don’t know who it is.

    Ellen Schwartz, 82, told me this Canadian-founded group operates without recognized leaders — an “international free-form group of gaggles of grannies,” is how she put it, and I wrote it all down for Kash Patel.

    Within moments, they had robbed Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews of their most famous duet: “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” mutilating it into “super callous fragile racist narcissistic POTUS.”

    Ellen Schwartz, 82, is a member of the “Raging Grannies,” a group that protested at the “No Kings” rally in Sacramento on Saturday.

    (Anita Chabria / Los Angeles Times)

    Not to be outdone by the Silent Generation, 2-year-old Rhea also showed up, first clinging to her mom, then toddling around on her own as if she owned the place. This is a kid to keep an eye on.

    Since Rhea cannot yet speak about her political beliefs, her parents gave me some insight into why she was there.

    “I’m not sure if we’ll still have a civilization that allows protest very long, so I want her to at least have a memory of it,” said her dad, Neonn, who asked that their last names not be used. Like many Americans, he’s a bit hesitant to draw the eye of authority.

    Kara, Rhea’s mom, had a more hopeful outlook.

    “America is the people, so for me I want to keep bringing her here so that she knows she is part of something bigger: peace and justice,” she said, before walking off to see the dinosaurs.

    Kara holds her 2-year-old daughter, Rhea, at the rally in Sacramento.

    Kara holds her 2-year-old daughter, Rhea, at the rally in Sacramento.

    (Anita Chabria / Los Angeles Times)

    Dinosaurs, that’s right. And tigers. And roosters. And unicorns. Even a cow hugging a chipmunk, which I believe is now illegal in most of the South.

    Yes, folks, the Portland frog has started something. The place was full of un-human participants acting like animals — dancing with abandon, stomping around, saying really mean things about President Trump.

    Meanwhile, the smell of roasting meat was undeniable. People, they were eating the hot dogs! They were eating the grilled onions! There were immigrants everywhere selling the stuff (and it was delicious).

    I spoke to a Tyrannosaurus Rex and asked him why he went Late Cretaceous.

    “If you don’t do something soon, you will have democracy be extinct,” Jim Short told me from inside the suit.

    Two people in dinosaur costumes

    Jim Short, left, and his wife, Patty Short, donned dinosaur costumes at the “No Kings” rally in Sacramento.

    (Anita Chabria / Los Angeles Times)

    His wife, Patty, was ensconced in a coordinating suit, hers brown, his green. Didn’t they worry about being labeled anti-American for being here, as House Speaker Mike Johnson and others have claimed?

    “I’m not afraid,” Patty said. “I’m antifa or a hardened criminal or what’s the other one?”

    “Hamas?” Jim queried. “Or an illegal immigrant?”

    “I think people need more history,” Patty said.

    I agree.

    And the day millions of very average Americans turned out to peacefully protect democracy — again — may be part of it.

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    Anita Chabria

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  • Sacramento State celebrates homecoming win with postgame performance from rapper Lil Yachty

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    SOME DELAYS. RIGHT NOW, SACRAMENTO STATE FANS ARE CELEBRATING A HOMECOMING WHEN THEY WENT HEAD TO HEAD WITH NORTHERN COLORADO AND CAME OUT ON TOP 40 TO 35. WELL, AFTER THE GAME, THOUSANDS OF FANS STAYED FOR A PERFORMANCE FROM RAPPER LIL YACHTY. KCRA 3’S PEYTON HEADLEE TAKES US INSIDE THEIR HOMECOMING CELEBRATION. THOUSANDS OF FANS PACKING INTO HORNET STADIUM FOR SACRAMENTO STATE’S HOMECOMING GAME TONIGHT. WE TALKED TO A LOT OF FANS. THEY SAY THEY ARE EXCITED ABOUT THE DIRECTION THAT THIS PROGRAM IS HEADED IN. IT’S KIND OF FIGURE OUT FANS FOR THE KICKOFF. IT’S HOMECOMING NIGHT FOR THE HORNETS AND A CELEBRATION OF ALUMNI, STUDENTS AND STAFF. EVERYBODY. ALUMNI FELT LIKE THEY STILL WENT HERE. IT JUST FELT LIKE FAMILY. AND I LOVE THE COMMUNITY THAT SAC STATE HAS. SAC STATE FANS SHOWING THEIR GREEN AND GOLD PRIDE. AND HOPE FOR A SEASON THAT THEY SAY IS ALREADY OFF TO A STRONG START. YOU KNOW, THEY’VE BEEN GOING UP THIS YEAR. THIS IS THE MOST CROWDED. I’VE SEEN IT IN A LONG TIME, SO IT’S PRETTY EXCITING TO SEE. I THINK KIND OF JUST THE CULTURE THAT THE COACH HAS BROUGHT HERE FROM THE PLAYERS HAS TRANSLATED TO THE STUDENTS AND THE COMMUNITY. A LOT OF PEOPLE FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT SAC STATE. THIS AS SAC STATE IS LOOKING FOR A NEW HOME FOR THEIR FOOTBALL GAMES. THE UNIVERSITY IS IN TALKS WITH CAL EXPO, EXPLORING PLANS TO CONVERT THEIR HORSE RACING TRACK AND GRANDSTAND INTO A STADIUM FOR 25,000. IT’S GOOD FOR THE SCHOOL IF YOU CAN GET, YOU KNOW, MORE AND MORE SEATS IN THE STANDS, A BETTER PRODUCT, THEN WHY NOT? THE MORE SPACE THE BETTER. THE GOAL IS TO HAVE THE STADIUM READY BY FALL OF NEXT YEAR, MEANING THIS COULD BE THE LAST HOMECOMING GAME ON CAMPUS. BUT THERE’S NO QUESTION THERE’S A LOT OF EXCITEMENT SURROUNDING SAC STATE RIGHT NOW. WITH THE STANDS FILLED FOR HOME GAMES. SOME, EVEN WITH POST-GAME PERFORMANCES. RAPPER LIL YACHTY THIS WEEK AND QUAVO THE NEXT. I CAN’T REALLY THINK OF ANOTHER SCHOOL THAT HAS GOT LIKE, THESE CONCERTS OUT HERE. WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO COME SEE YACHTY? I LOVE THE ENERGY. I LOVE HOW THEY GOT THINGS TOGETHER. AS FOR THEIR NEXT GAME, THEY PLAY MONTANA ON FRIDAY AT 730 RIGHT HERE IN HORNET STADIUM IN SACRAMENTO. PEYTON HEADLEE. KCRA THREE NEWS TONIGHT AT THE GAME, THEY ANNOUNCED THIS WAS THE LARGEST HOMECOMING CROWD

    Sacramento State celebrates homecoming win with postgame performance from rapper Lil Yachty

    At the game, the announcer said it was the largest homecoming crowd ever and the third largest crowd in Hornet Stadium history.

    Updated: 10:48 PM PDT Oct 18, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Sacramento State fans celebrated a homecoming win against Northern Colorado, with the Hornets coming out on top 40-35, followed by a postgame performance from rapper Lil Yachty. Thousands of fans packed into Hornet Stadium. At the game, the announcer said it was the largest homecoming crowd ever and the third-largest crowd in Hornet Stadium history.”It just felt like family. Everybody, the alumni felt like they still went here. It just felt like family. And I love the community that Sac State has,” Joekeya Brewer, a student at Sac State, said. Fans expressed hope for a season that they say is already off to a strong start.”This is the most crowded I’ve seen it in a long time. So, it’s pretty exciting to see,” Joe Ochoa, Sac State alum, said.The university is in talks with Cal Expo, exploring plans to convert its horse racing track and grandstand into a stadium for 25,000 people. The goal is to have the new stadium ready by fall 2026, which means this could be the last homecoming game on campus.”If it’s good for the school, if you can get, you know, more and more seats in the stands, a better product, then why not?” Ochoa said.“I think us moving stadiums is perfect because there’s so many people that come and watch our players play and we need more space,” Brewer said. “The more space, the better.”Despite the potential move, excitement surrounding Sac State is palpable, with stands filled for home games and postgame performances. Rapper Lil Yachty performed Saturday, with Quavo scheduled for the next home game. A ticket for the game gets you into the performance.”I can’t really think of another school that has got, like, these concerts out here,” fan Jeremiah Winters said. As for their next game, Sac State will play Montana on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento.

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

    Sacramento State fans celebrated a homecoming win against Northern Colorado, with the Hornets coming out on top 40-35, followed by a postgame performance from rapper Lil Yachty.

    Thousands of fans packed into Hornet Stadium. At the game, the announcer said it was the largest homecoming crowd ever and the third-largest crowd in Hornet Stadium history.

    “It just felt like family. Everybody, the alumni felt like they still went here. It just felt like family. And I love the community that Sac State has,” Joekeya Brewer, a student at Sac State, said.

    Fans expressed hope for a season that they say is already off to a strong start.

    “This is the most crowded I’ve seen it in a long time. So, it’s pretty exciting to see,” Joe Ochoa, Sac State alum, said.

    The university is in talks with Cal Expo, exploring plans to convert its horse racing track and grandstand into a stadium for 25,000 people.

    The goal is to have the new stadium ready by fall 2026, which means this could be the last homecoming game on campus.

    “If it’s good for the school, if you can get, you know, more and more seats in the stands, a better product, then why not?” Ochoa said.

    “I think us moving stadiums is perfect because there’s so many people that come and watch our players play and we need more space,” Brewer said. “The more space, the better.”

    Despite the potential move, excitement surrounding Sac State is palpable, with stands filled for home games and postgame performances.

    Rapper Lil Yachty performed Saturday, with Quavo scheduled for the next home game. A ticket for the game gets you into the performance.

    “I can’t really think of another school that has got, like, these concerts out here,” fan Jeremiah Winters said.

    As for their next game, Sac State will play Montana on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento.

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  • Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire, Qatar says

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    Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday. It follows more than a week of fighting that has killed dozens of people and injured hundreds.Related video above: After historic hostage release, experts say lasting peace for Israel, Gaza is far from certainThe two sides agreed to establish mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability, as well as hold follow-up talks in the coming days to ensure the ceasefire’s sustainability, the Qatari statement said.Delegations from Afghanistan and Pakistan were in Doha for talks to resolve the deadliest crisis between them in several years. The talks were mediated by Qatar and Turkey.Both governments had sent their defense ministers to lead the talks, which Pakistan said would focus on “immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and restore peace and stability along the border.”Each country has said it was responding to aggression from the other. Afghanistan denies harboring militants who carry out attacks in border areas.Regional powers, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have called for calm, as the violence threatened to further destabilize a region where groups, including the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, are trying to resurface.A 48-hour ceasefire intended to pause hostilities expired Friday evening. Hours later, Pakistan struck across the border.Pakistani security officials confirmed to The Associated Press Saturday that there were strikes on two districts in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province.The targets were hideouts of the militant Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. One said the operation was a direct response to the suicide bombing of a security forces compound in Mir Ali, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province a day earlier.The Pakistani Air Force raids killed dozens of armed fighters and there were no civilian deaths, they said.But Afghan officials said the aerial assaults killed at least 10 civilians, including women, children and local cricketers. The attacks prompted the national cricket board to boycott an upcoming series in Pakistan.On Saturday, several thousand people attended funeral prayers in Paktika. They sat in the open air as loudspeakers broadcast sermons and condemnation.Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, in a statement, criticized the “repeated crimes of Pakistani forces and the violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty.”Such acts were deemed provocative and viewed as “deliberate attempts” to prolong the conflict, he added.The two countries share a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) border known as the Durand Line, but Afghanistan has never recognized it.Pakistan is grappling with surging militancy, especially in areas bordering Afghanistan. It also accuses its nuclear-armed neighbor and rival India of backing armed groups, without providing any evidence.Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, urged Afghans to choose “mutual security over perpetual violence and progress over hardline obscurantism.””The Taliban must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan,” he told an audience on Saturday at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.___Associated Press writers Abdul Qahar Afghan in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Sajjad Tarakzai in Islamabad, and Riaz Khan, in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

    Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday. It follows more than a week of fighting that has killed dozens of people and injured hundreds.

    Related video above: After historic hostage release, experts say lasting peace for Israel, Gaza is far from certain

    The two sides agreed to establish mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability, as well as hold follow-up talks in the coming days to ensure the ceasefire’s sustainability, the Qatari statement said.

    Delegations from Afghanistan and Pakistan were in Doha for talks to resolve the deadliest crisis between them in several years. The talks were mediated by Qatar and Turkey.

    Both governments had sent their defense ministers to lead the talks, which Pakistan said would focus on “immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism emanating from Afghanistan and restore peace and stability along the border.”

    Each country has said it was responding to aggression from the other. Afghanistan denies harboring militants who carry out attacks in border areas.

    Regional powers, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have called for calm, as the violence threatened to further destabilize a region where groups, including the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, are trying to resurface.

    A 48-hour ceasefire intended to pause hostilities expired Friday evening. Hours later, Pakistan struck across the border.

    Pakistani security officials confirmed to The Associated Press Saturday that there were strikes on two districts in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province.

    The targets were hideouts of the militant Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. One said the operation was a direct response to the suicide bombing of a security forces compound in Mir Ali, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province a day earlier.

    The Pakistani Air Force raids killed dozens of armed fighters and there were no civilian deaths, they said.

    But Afghan officials said the aerial assaults killed at least 10 civilians, including women, children and local cricketers. The attacks prompted the national cricket board to boycott an upcoming series in Pakistan.

    On Saturday, several thousand people attended funeral prayers in Paktika. They sat in the open air as loudspeakers broadcast sermons and condemnation.

    Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, in a statement, criticized the “repeated crimes of Pakistani forces and the violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty.”

    Such acts were deemed provocative and viewed as “deliberate attempts” to prolong the conflict, he added.

    The two countries share a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) border known as the Durand Line, but Afghanistan has never recognized it.

    Pakistan is grappling with surging militancy, especially in areas bordering Afghanistan. It also accuses its nuclear-armed neighbor and rival India of backing armed groups, without providing any evidence.

    Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, urged Afghans to choose “mutual security over perpetual violence and progress over hardline obscurantism.”

    “The Taliban must rein in the proxies who have sanctuaries in Afghanistan,” he told an audience on Saturday at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Abdul Qahar Afghan in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Sajjad Tarakzai in Islamabad, and Riaz Khan, in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

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  • ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump bring a street party vibe as GOP calls them ‘hate America’ rallies

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    Protesting the direction of the country under President Donald Trump, people gathered Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities across the U.S. for “ No Kings ” demonstrations — what the president’s Republican Party is calling “Hate America” rallies.(Video player above: Coverage of the “No Kings” protest in June) With signs such as “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism,” in many places the events looked more like a street party. There were marching bands, a huge banner with the U.S. Constitution’s “We The People,” preamble that people could sign, and protesters wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.This is the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.Trump himself is spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. fundraiser at his club. Protests are expected nearby Saturday.Nationwide protests plannedDemonstrators packed New York City’s Times Square, Boston Common, Chicago’s Grant Park and hundreds of smaller public spaces. More than 2,600 rallies were planned for Saturday, organizers said.Many protesters were angered by attacks on their motives. In Washington, Brian Reymann said being called a terrorist all week by Republicans was “pathetic.”“This is America. I disagree with their politics, but I don’t believe that they don’t love this country,” Reymann said, carrying a large American flag. “I believe they are misguided. I think they are power hungry.”More than 1,500 people gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, evoking and openly citing the city’s history of protests and the critical role it played in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement two generations ago.“It just feels like we’re living in an America that I don’t recognize,” said Jessica Yother, a mother of four. She and other protesters said they felt camaraderie by gathering in a state where Trump won nearly 65% of the vote last November.“It was so encouraging,” Yother said. “I walked in and thought, ‘Here are my people.’”Organizers hope to build opposition movement“Big rallies like this give confidence to people who have been sitting on the sidelines but are ready to speak up,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said in an interview with The Associated Press.While protests earlier this year — against Elon Musk’s cuts and Trump’s military parade — drew crowds, organizers say this one is uniting the opposition. Top Democrats such as Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders are joining what organizers view as an antidote to Trump’s actions, from the administration’s clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.“We’re here because we love America,” Sanders said, addressing the crowd from a stage in Washington. He said the American experiment is “in danger” under Trump but insisted “We the people will rule.”The national march against Trump and Musk this spring had 1,300 registered locations, while the first “No Kings” day in June registered 2,100 locations.Republicans denounce ‘Hate America’ ralliesRepublicans sought to portray Saturday’s protesters as far outside the mainstream and a prime reason for the government shutdown, now in its 18th day.From the White House to Capitol Hill, GOP leaders disparaged the rallygoers as “communists” and “Marxists.” They say Democratic leaders, including Schumer, are beholden to the far-left flank and willing to keep the government shut to appease those liberal forces.“I encourage you to watch — we call it the Hate America rally — that will happen Saturday,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.“Let’s see who shows up for that,” Johnson said, listing groups including “antifa types,” people who “hate capitalism” and “Marxists in full display.”Many demonstrators, in turn, said they were responding such hyperbole with humor, noting that Trump often leans heavily on theatrics such as claiming U.S. cities he sends troops to are war zones.“So much of what we’ve seen from this administration has been so unserious and silly that we have to respond with the same energy,” said Glen Kalbaugh, a Washington protester who wore a wizard hat and held a sign with a frog on it.Democrats try to regain their footing amid shutdownDemocrats have refused to vote on legislation that would reopen the government as they demand funding for health care. Republicans say they are willing to discuss the issue later, only after the government reopens.The situation is a potential turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats and their allies were divided and despondent. Schumer in particular was berated by his party for allowing an earlier government funding bill to sail through the Senate without using it to challenge Trump.“What we are seeing from the Democrats is some spine,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, a key organizing group. “The worst thing the Democrats could do right now is surrender.”

    Protesting the direction of the country under President Donald Trump, people gathered Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities across the U.S. for “ No Kings ” demonstrations — what the president’s Republican Party is calling “Hate America” rallies.

    (Video player above: Coverage of the “No Kings” protest in June)

    With signs such as “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism,” in many places the events looked more like a street party. There were marching bands, a huge banner with the U.S. Constitution’s “We The People,” preamble that people could sign, and protesters wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.

    This is the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.

    Trump himself is spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

    “They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. fundraiser at his club. Protests are expected nearby Saturday.

    Nationwide protests planned

    Demonstrators packed New York City’s Times Square, Boston Common, Chicago’s Grant Park and hundreds of smaller public spaces. More than 2,600 rallies were planned for Saturday, organizers said.

    Many protesters were angered by attacks on their motives. In Washington, Brian Reymann said being called a terrorist all week by Republicans was “pathetic.”

    “This is America. I disagree with their politics, but I don’t believe that they don’t love this country,” Reymann said, carrying a large American flag. “I believe they are misguided. I think they are power hungry.”

    More than 1,500 people gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, evoking and openly citing the city’s history of protests and the critical role it played in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement two generations ago.

    “It just feels like we’re living in an America that I don’t recognize,” said Jessica Yother, a mother of four. She and other protesters said they felt camaraderie by gathering in a state where Trump won nearly 65% of the vote last November.

    “It was so encouraging,” Yother said. “I walked in and thought, ‘Here are my people.’”

    Organizers hope to build opposition movement

    “Big rallies like this give confidence to people who have been sitting on the sidelines but are ready to speak up,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said in an interview with The Associated Press.

    While protests earlier this year — against Elon Musk’s cuts and Trump’s military parade — drew crowds, organizers say this one is uniting the opposition. Top Democrats such as Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders are joining what organizers view as an antidote to Trump’s actions, from the administration’s clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.

    “We’re here because we love America,” Sanders said, addressing the crowd from a stage in Washington. He said the American experiment is “in danger” under Trump but insisted “We the people will rule.”

    The national march against Trump and Musk this spring had 1,300 registered locations, while the first “No Kings” day in June registered 2,100 locations.

    Republicans denounce ‘Hate America’ rallies

    Republicans sought to portray Saturday’s protesters as far outside the mainstream and a prime reason for the government shutdown, now in its 18th day.

    From the White House to Capitol Hill, GOP leaders disparaged the rallygoers as “communists” and “Marxists.” They say Democratic leaders, including Schumer, are beholden to the far-left flank and willing to keep the government shut to appease those liberal forces.

    “I encourage you to watch — we call it the Hate America rally — that will happen Saturday,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

    “Let’s see who shows up for that,” Johnson said, listing groups including “antifa types,” people who “hate capitalism” and “Marxists in full display.”

    Many demonstrators, in turn, said they were responding such hyperbole with humor, noting that Trump often leans heavily on theatrics such as claiming U.S. cities he sends troops to are war zones.

    “So much of what we’ve seen from this administration has been so unserious and silly that we have to respond with the same energy,” said Glen Kalbaugh, a Washington protester who wore a wizard hat and held a sign with a frog on it.

    Democrats have refused to vote on legislation that would reopen the government as they demand funding for health care. Republicans say they are willing to discuss the issue later, only after the government reopens.

    The situation is a potential turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats and their allies were divided and despondent. Schumer in particular was berated by his party for allowing an earlier government funding bill to sail through the Senate without using it to challenge Trump.

    “What we are seeing from the Democrats is some spine,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, a key organizing group. “The worst thing the Democrats could do right now is surrender.”

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  • ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump planned across the nation today

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    Protesting the direction of the country under President Donald Trump, people gathered Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities across the U.S. for “ No Kings ” demonstrations — what the president’s Republican Party is calling “Hate America” rallies.They rallied with signs like “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism,” and in many places it looked more like a street party. There were marching bands, a huge banner with the U.S. Constitution’s “We The People,” preamble that people could sign, and protesters in frog costumes, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.This is the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.Demonstrators packed places like New York City’s Times Square, the historic Boston Commons, Chicago’s Grant Park, Washington, D.C., and hundreds of smaller public spaces.Many protesters were especially angered by attacks on their motives. In Washington, Brian Reymann said being called a terrorist all week by Republicans was “pathetic.”“This is America. I disagree with their politics — but I don’t believe that they don’t love this country. I believe they are misguided. I think they are power hungry,” Reymann said, carrying a large American flag.Trump himself is spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. fundraiser at his club. Protests are expected nearby Saturday.Organizers hope to build opposition movementMore than 2,600 rallies are planned Saturday in cities large and small, organized by hundreds of coalition partners.“Big rallies like this give confidence to people who have been sitting on the sidelines but are ready to speak up,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said in an interview with The Associated Press.While protests earlier this year — against Elon Musk’s cuts in the spring and Trump’s June military parade — drew crowds, organizers say this one is uniting the opposition. Top Democrats such as Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders are joining in what organizers view as an antidote to Trump’s actions, from the administration’s clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.“There is no greater threat to an authoritarian regime than patriotic people-power,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, among the key organizers. In April, the national march against Trump and Elon Musk had 1,300 registered locations. In June, for the first “No Kings” day, there were 2,100 registered locations.Before noon, several thousand people had gathered in Times Square, chanting “Trump must go now,” and waving sometimes-profane signs with slogans insulting the president and condemning his immigration crackdown. Some people carried American flags.Retired family doctor Terence McCormally was heading to Arlington National Cemetery to join others walking across the Memorial Bridge that enters Washington directly in front of the Lincoln Memorial. He said the recent deployment of the National Guard made him more wary of police than in the past.“I really don’t like the crooks and conmen and religious zealots who are trying to use the country” for personal gain, McCormally said, “while they are killing and hurting millions of people with bombs.”Republicans denounce ‘Hate America’ ralliesRepublicans have sought to portray Saturday’s protesters as far outside the mainstream and a prime reason for the government shutdown, now in its 18th day.From the White House to Capitol Hill, GOP leaders disparaged the rallygoers as “communists” and “Marxists.” They say Democratic leaders, including Schumer, are beholden to the far-left flank and willing to keep the government shut down to appease those liberal forces.“I encourage you to watch — we call it the Hate America rally — that will happen Saturday,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.“Let’s see who shows up for that,” Johnson said, listing groups including “antifa types,” people who “hate capitalism” and “Marxists in full display.”Many demonstrators responded to such hyperbole with silliness in part because they say Trump leans heavily on theatrics — like claiming cities he sends troops to are war zones — said Glen Kalbaugh, a Washington protester.“So much of what we’ve seen from this administration has been so unserious and silly that we have to respond with the same energy,” said Kalbaugh, who wore a wizard hat and held a sign with a frog on it.Democrats try to regain their footingDemocrats have refused to vote on legislation that would reopen the government as they demand funding for health care. Republicans say they are willing to discuss the issue later, only after the government reopens.But for many Democrats, the government closure is also a way to stand up to Trump, and try to push the presidency back to its place in the U.S. system as a co-equal branch of government. It’s also a way to draw a moral line in the sand, said Murphy, the senator from Connecticut.“Trump does think that he’s a king,” Murphy said at the Washington rally, “and he thinks that he can act more corruptly when the government is shut down. But he cannot.”The situation is a potential turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats and their allies were divided and despondent. Schumer in particular was berated by his party for allowing an earlier government funding bill to sail through the Senate without using it to challenge Trump.“What we are seeing from the Democrats is some spine,” said march organizer Levin. “The worst thing the Democrats could do right now is surrender.”___Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking, and Chris Megerian in Washington, Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Safiya Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to this report.

    WASHINGTON —

    Protesting the direction of the country under President Donald Trump, people gathered Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities across the U.S. for “ No Kings ” demonstrations — what the president’s Republican Party is calling “Hate America” rallies.

    They rallied with signs like “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism,” and in many places it looked more like a street party. There were marching bands, a huge banner with the U.S. Constitution’s “We The People,” preamble that people could sign, and protesters in frog costumes, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.

    This is the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.

    Demonstrators packed places like New York City’s Times Square, the historic Boston Commons, Chicago’s Grant Park, Washington, D.C., and hundreds of smaller public spaces.

    Many protesters were especially angered by attacks on their motives. In Washington, Brian Reymann said being called a terrorist all week by Republicans was “pathetic.”

    “This is America. I disagree with their politics — but I don’t believe that they don’t love this country. I believe they are misguided. I think they are power hungry,” Reymann said, carrying a large American flag.

    Trump himself is spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

    “They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. fundraiser at his club. Protests are expected nearby Saturday.

    Organizers hope to build opposition movement

    More than 2,600 rallies are planned Saturday in cities large and small, organized by hundreds of coalition partners.

    “Big rallies like this give confidence to people who have been sitting on the sidelines but are ready to speak up,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said in an interview with The Associated Press.

    While protests earlier this year — against Elon Musk’s cuts in the spring and Trump’s June military parade — drew crowds, organizers say this one is uniting the opposition. Top Democrats such as Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders are joining in what organizers view as an antidote to Trump’s actions, from the administration’s clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.

    “There is no greater threat to an authoritarian regime than patriotic people-power,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, among the key organizers. In April, the national march against Trump and Elon Musk had 1,300 registered locations. In June, for the first “No Kings” day, there were 2,100 registered locations.

    Before noon, several thousand people had gathered in Times Square, chanting “Trump must go now,” and waving sometimes-profane signs with slogans insulting the president and condemning his immigration crackdown. Some people carried American flags.

    Retired family doctor Terence McCormally was heading to Arlington National Cemetery to join others walking across the Memorial Bridge that enters Washington directly in front of the Lincoln Memorial. He said the recent deployment of the National Guard made him more wary of police than in the past.

    “I really don’t like the crooks and conmen and religious zealots who are trying to use the country” for personal gain, McCormally said, “while they are killing and hurting millions of people with bombs.”

    Republicans denounce ‘Hate America’ rallies

    Republicans have sought to portray Saturday’s protesters as far outside the mainstream and a prime reason for the government shutdown, now in its 18th day.

    From the White House to Capitol Hill, GOP leaders disparaged the rallygoers as “communists” and “Marxists.” They say Democratic leaders, including Schumer, are beholden to the far-left flank and willing to keep the government shut down to appease those liberal forces.

    “I encourage you to watch — we call it the Hate America rally — that will happen Saturday,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

    “Let’s see who shows up for that,” Johnson said, listing groups including “antifa types,” people who “hate capitalism” and “Marxists in full display.”

    Many demonstrators responded to such hyperbole with silliness in part because they say Trump leans heavily on theatrics — like claiming cities he sends troops to are war zones — said Glen Kalbaugh, a Washington protester.

    “So much of what we’ve seen from this administration has been so unserious and silly that we have to respond with the same energy,” said Kalbaugh, who wore a wizard hat and held a sign with a frog on it.

    Democrats try to regain their footing

    Democrats have refused to vote on legislation that would reopen the government as they demand funding for health care. Republicans say they are willing to discuss the issue later, only after the government reopens.

    But for many Democrats, the government closure is also a way to stand up to Trump, and try to push the presidency back to its place in the U.S. system as a co-equal branch of government. It’s also a way to draw a moral line in the sand, said Murphy, the senator from Connecticut.

    “Trump does think that he’s a king,” Murphy said at the Washington rally, “and he thinks that he can act more corruptly when the government is shut down. But he cannot.”

    The situation is a potential turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats and their allies were divided and despondent. Schumer in particular was berated by his party for allowing an earlier government funding bill to sail through the Senate without using it to challenge Trump.

    “What we are seeing from the Democrats is some spine,” said march organizer Levin. “The worst thing the Democrats could do right now is surrender.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking, and Chris Megerian in Washington, Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Safiya Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to this report.

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  • ‘No Kings’ protests getting underway across Southern California

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    Protesters are beginning to gather Saturday in Los Angeles and elsewhere in Southern California for “No Kings” demonstrations, a nationwide effort to push back against President Trump.

    In June, millions of demonstrators took to the streets across the nation for the first “No Kings” protests as the Trump administration’s agenda began coming into focus. At that time, the Department of Homeland Security had begun carrying out large-scale immigration raids across Southern California, and Trump deployed military troops to Los Angeles in response to mass protests.

    Since then, many Americans believe that Trump’s actions — doubling down on immigration raids in major cities, deploying National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and embarking on an aggressive campaign against political opponents — have only become more severe.

    Trump pushed back against the underlying premise of the protest in an interview with Fox News on Friday.

    “They’re referring to me as a king,” he said. “I’m not a king.”

    More than 2,700 “No Kings” demonstrations are scheduled across the country, roughly 600 more events than in June, in which more than 5 million people participated. Demonstrations are already underway in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Boston, drawing massive crowds.

    In an attempt to broaden the scope of “No Kings,” organizers are appealing to Americans upset over the rising cost of living, gutting of environmental protections, sweeping overhauls of federal agencies, and the government shutdown over looming healthcare cuts.

    The protest in Los Angeles’ Grand Park is expected to begin by 2 p.m. In Orange County, demonstrators are expected to arrive at Centennial Park in Santa Ana on Saturday afternoon to protest not only Trump’s immigration actions, but also his policies on healthcare, environmental protections and education.

    “We the People have had enough of the illegal actions being carried out by this sham administration,” Amy Stevens, one of the Orange County demonstration’s organizers, said in a statement. “Change starts from the bottom up.”

    Organizers say the goal of “No Kings” goes beyond just getting Americans out on the streets, hoping to connect people who are upset and frustrated with the Trump administration to local organizing groups.

    “Getting involved in those groups, making those face to face connections and joining them will have a much larger impact over the next few days, the next few weeks, next few months, the next few years, than just one day of protest,” said Hunter Dunn, a spokesman for 50501, one of the “No Kings” coalition’s core organizing partners.

    Saturday’s rallies are happening amid a major disruption to one of Southern California’s major freeways.

    The state announced Saturday morning that it would close a 17-mile stretch of Interstate 5 for several hours after military officials confirmed that live-fire artillery rounds will be shot over the freeway during a Marine Corps event at Camp Pendleton.

    The unprecedented closure is expected to cause massive gridlock, but it is not clear what impact, if any, it will have on the day’s demonstrations.

    “Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength — it’s reckless, it’s disrespectful, and it’s beneath the office he holds,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “Law and order? This is chaos and confusion.”

    Staff writers Jenny Jarvie and Nathan Solis contributed to this report.

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    Hannah Fry, Jack Flemming, Christopher Buchanan

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  • US developer builds homes for displaced Ukrainians, offering hope despite war and crisis

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    The Russian invasion of Ukraine has displaced millions, scattering families across the country and abroad. For many, heavy fighting in the east means crowded shelters, borrowed beds and fading hope.Related video above: President Trump signals he’s holding back on long-range missiles for UkraineAbout 400 miles west of the front line, however, a privately built settlement near Kyiv offers a rare reprieve: stable housing, personal space and the dignity of a locked door.This is Hansen Village. Its rows of modular homes provide housing for 2,000 people who are mostly displaced from occupied territories. Children ride bikes along paved lanes, passing amenities like a swimming pool, basketball court, health clinic and school.The village is the creation of Dell Loy Hansen, a Utah real estate developer who has spent over $140 million building and repairing homes across Ukraine since 2022.At 72, he’s eager to do more.A new missionHansen’s arrival in Ukraine followed a public reckoning. In 2020, he sold his Major League Soccer team, Real Salt Lake, after reports that he made racist comments. He denied the allegations in an interview with The Associated Press but said the experience ultimately gave him a new mission.“I went through something painful, but it gave me humility,” he said. “That humility led me to Ukraine.”Seeing people lose everything, Hansen said he felt compelled to act. “This isn’t charity to me, it’s responsibility,” he said. “If you can build, then build. Don’t just watch.”Hansen now oversees more than a dozen projects in Ukraine: expanding Hansen Village, providing cash and other assistance to elderly people and families, and supporting a prosthetics clinic.He’s planning a cemetery to honor displaced people, and a not-for-profit affordable housing program designed to be scaled up nationally.Ukraine’s housing crisis is staggering. Nearly one in three citizens have fled their homes, including 4.5 million registered as internally displaced.Around the eastern city of Dnipro, volunteers convert old buildings into shelters as evacuees arrive daily from the war-torn Donbas region. One site — a crumbling Soviet-era dorm — now houses 149 elderly residents, mostly in their seventies and eighties.Funding comes from a patchwork of donations: foreign aid, local charities and individual contributions including cash, volunteer labor or old appliances and boxes of food, all put together to meet urgent needs.“I call it begging: knocking on every door, and explaining why each small thing is necessary,” said Veronika Chumak, who runs the center. “But we keep going. Our mission is to restore people’s sense of life.”Valentina Khusak, 86, was evacuated by charity volunteers from Myrnohrad, a coal-mining town, after Russian shelling cut off water and power. She lost her husband and son before the war.“Maybe we’ll return home, maybe not,” she said. “What matters is that places like this exist — where the old and lonely are treated with warmth and respect.”A nation under strainUkraine’s government is struggling to fund shelters and repairs as its relief budget buckles under relentless missile and drone attacks on infrastructure.By late 2024, 13% of Ukrainian homes were damaged or destroyed, according to a U.N.-led assessment. The cost of national reconstruction is estimated to be $524 billion, nearly triple the country’s annual economic output.Since June, Ukraine has evacuated over 100,000 more people from the east, expanding shelters and transit hubs. New evacuees are handed an emergency government subsidy payment of $260.Yevhen Tuzov, who helped thousands find shelter during the 2022 siege of Mariupol, said many feel forgotten.“Sometimes six strangers must live together in one small room,” Tuzov said. “For elderly people, this is humiliating.“What Hansen is doing is great — to build villages — but why can’t we do that too?”’People here don’t need miracles’Hansen began his work after visiting Ukraine in early 2022. He started by wiring cash aid to families, then used his decades of experience to build modular housing.Mykyta Bogomol, 16, lives in foster care apartments at Hansen Village with seven other children and two dogs. He fled the southern Kherson region after Russian occupation and flooding.“Life here is good,” he said. “During the occupation, it was terrifying. Soldiers forced kids into Russian schools. Here, I finally feel safe.”Hansen visits Ukraine several times a year. From Salt Lake City, he spends hours daily on video calls, tracking war updates, coordinating aid, and lobbying U.S. lawmakers.“I’ve built homes all my life, but nothing has meant more to me than this,” he said. “People here don’t need miracles — just a roof, safety, and someone who doesn’t give up on them.”A fraction of what’s neededLast year, Hansen sold part of his businesses for $14 million — all of it, he said, went to Ukraine.Still, his contribution is a fraction of what’s needed. With entire towns uninhabitable, private aid remains vital but insufficient.Hansen has met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who thanked him for supporting vulnerable communities. Later this year, Hansen will receive one of Ukraine’s highest civilian honors — an award he says is not for himself.“I don’t need recognition,” he said. “If this award makes the elderly and displaced more visible, then it means something. Otherwise, it’s just a medal.” Associated Press journalists Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Vasilisa Stepanenko and Dmytro Zhyhinas in Pavlohrad, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

    TARASIVKA, Ukraine —

    The Russian invasion of Ukraine has displaced millions, scattering families across the country and abroad. For many, heavy fighting in the east means crowded shelters, borrowed beds and fading hope.

    Related video above: President Trump signals he’s holding back on long-range missiles for Ukraine

    About 400 miles west of the front line, however, a privately built settlement near Kyiv offers a rare reprieve: stable housing, personal space and the dignity of a locked door.

    This is Hansen Village. Its rows of modular homes provide housing for 2,000 people who are mostly displaced from occupied territories. Children ride bikes along paved lanes, passing amenities like a swimming pool, basketball court, health clinic and school.

    The village is the creation of Dell Loy Hansen, a Utah real estate developer who has spent over $140 million building and repairing homes across Ukraine since 2022.

    At 72, he’s eager to do more.

    A new mission

    Hansen’s arrival in Ukraine followed a public reckoning. In 2020, he sold his Major League Soccer team, Real Salt Lake, after reports that he made racist comments. He denied the allegations in an interview with The Associated Press but said the experience ultimately gave him a new mission.

    “I went through something painful, but it gave me humility,” he said. “That humility led me to Ukraine.”

    Seeing people lose everything, Hansen said he felt compelled to act. “This isn’t charity to me, it’s responsibility,” he said. “If you can build, then build. Don’t just watch.”

    Hansen now oversees more than a dozen projects in Ukraine: expanding Hansen Village, providing cash and other assistance to elderly people and families, and supporting a prosthetics clinic.

    He’s planning a cemetery to honor displaced people, and a not-for-profit affordable housing program designed to be scaled up nationally.

    Ukraine’s housing crisis is staggering. Nearly one in three citizens have fled their homes, including 4.5 million registered as internally displaced.

    Around the eastern city of Dnipro, volunteers convert old buildings into shelters as evacuees arrive daily from the war-torn Donbas region. One site — a crumbling Soviet-era dorm — now houses 149 elderly residents, mostly in their seventies and eighties.

    Funding comes from a patchwork of donations: foreign aid, local charities and individual contributions including cash, volunteer labor or old appliances and boxes of food, all put together to meet urgent needs.

    “I call it begging: knocking on every door, and explaining why each small thing is necessary,” said Veronika Chumak, who runs the center. “But we keep going. Our mission is to restore people’s sense of life.”

    Valentina Khusak, 86, was evacuated by charity volunteers from Myrnohrad, a coal-mining town, after Russian shelling cut off water and power. She lost her husband and son before the war.

    “Maybe we’ll return home, maybe not,” she said. “What matters is that places like this exist — where the old and lonely are treated with warmth and respect.”

    A nation under strain

    Ukraine’s government is struggling to fund shelters and repairs as its relief budget buckles under relentless missile and drone attacks on infrastructure.

    By late 2024, 13% of Ukrainian homes were damaged or destroyed, according to a U.N.-led assessment. The cost of national reconstruction is estimated to be $524 billion, nearly triple the country’s annual economic output.

    Since June, Ukraine has evacuated over 100,000 more people from the east, expanding shelters and transit hubs. New evacuees are handed an emergency government subsidy payment of $260.

    Yevhen Tuzov, who helped thousands find shelter during the 2022 siege of Mariupol, said many feel forgotten.

    “Sometimes six strangers must live together in one small room,” Tuzov said. “For elderly people, this is humiliating.

    “What Hansen is doing is great — to build villages — but why can’t we do that too?”

    ‘People here don’t need miracles’

    Hansen began his work after visiting Ukraine in early 2022. He started by wiring cash aid to families, then used his decades of experience to build modular housing.

    Mykyta Bogomol, 16, lives in foster care apartments at Hansen Village with seven other children and two dogs. He fled the southern Kherson region after Russian occupation and flooding.

    “Life here is good,” he said. “During the occupation, it was terrifying. Soldiers forced kids into Russian schools. Here, I finally feel safe.”

    Hansen visits Ukraine several times a year. From Salt Lake City, he spends hours daily on video calls, tracking war updates, coordinating aid, and lobbying U.S. lawmakers.

    “I’ve built homes all my life, but nothing has meant more to me than this,” he said. “People here don’t need miracles — just a roof, safety, and someone who doesn’t give up on them.”

    A fraction of what’s needed

    Last year, Hansen sold part of his businesses for $14 million — all of it, he said, went to Ukraine.

    Still, his contribution is a fraction of what’s needed. With entire towns uninhabitable, private aid remains vital but insufficient.

    Hansen has met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who thanked him for supporting vulnerable communities. Later this year, Hansen will receive one of Ukraine’s highest civilian honors — an award he says is not for himself.

    “I don’t need recognition,” he said. “If this award makes the elderly and displaced more visible, then it means something. Otherwise, it’s just a medal.”

    Associated Press journalists Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Vasilisa Stepanenko and Dmytro Zhyhinas in Pavlohrad, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

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  • ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump planned across the nation today

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    Protesting the direction of the country under President Donald Trump, people will gather Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities across the U.S. for “No Kings” demonstrations — what the president’s Republican Party is calling “Hate America” rallies.This is the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and it is expected to be the largest. It comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.Trump himself is away from Washington at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday. He later departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. super PAC fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago. Protests are expected nearby Saturday.While the earlier protests this year — against Elon Musk’s cuts in spring, then to counter Trump’s military parade in June — drew crowds, organizers say this one is building a more unified opposition movement. Top Democrats such as Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders are joining in what organizers view as an antidote to Trump’s actions, from the administration’s clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.“There is no greater threat to an authoritarian regime than patriotic people-power,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, among the key organizers.As Republicans and the White House dismiss the protests as a rally of radicals, Levin said their own sign-up numbers are growing. More than 2,600 rallies are planned in cities large and small, organized by hundreds of coalition partners. They said rallies are being planned within a one-hour drive for most Americans.Overseas, a few hundred Americans already gathered in Madrid to chant slogans and hold signs at a protest organized by Democrats Abroad, with similar rallies planned in other major European cities.Republicans have sought to portray participants in Saturday’s rallies as far outside the mainstream of American politics, and a main reason for the prolonged government shutdown, now in its 18th day.From the White House to Capitol Hill, GOP leaders disparaged the rallygoers as “communists” and “Marxists.”They say Democratic leaders, including Schumer, are beholden to the far-left flank and willing to keep the government shut down to appease those liberal forces.“I encourage you to watch — we call it the Hate America rally — that will happen Saturday,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.“Let’s see who shows up for that,” Johnson said, listing groups including “antifa types,” people who “hate capitalism” and “Marxists in full display.”Democrats have refused to vote on legislation that would reopen the government as they demand funding for health care. Republicans say they are willing to discuss the issue later, only after the government reopens.But for many Democrats, the government closure is also a way to stand up to Trump, and try to push the presidency back to its place in the U.S. system as a co-equal branch of government.In a Facebook post, Sanders of Vermont, himself a former presidential contender, said, “It’s a love America rally.”“It’s a rally of millions of people all over this country who believe in our Constitution, who believe in American freedom and,” he said, pointing at the GOP leadership, “are not going to let you and Donald Trump turn this country into an authoritarian society.”The situation is a potential turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats and their allies were divided and despondent, unsure about how best to respond to Trump’s return to the White House. Schumer in particular was berated by his party for allowing an earlier government funding bill to sail through the Senate without using it to challenge Trump.In April, the national march against Trump and Elon Musk had 1,300 registered locations. In June, for the first “No Kings” day, there were 2,100 registered locations. The march Saturday will have more than 2,600 registered locations, Levin said.“What we are seeing from the Democrats is some spine,” Levin said. “The worst thing the Democrats could do right now is surrender.”House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he wasn’t sure if he would join the rallygoers Saturday, but he took issue with the Republicans’ characterization of the events.“What’s hateful is what happened on January 6th,” he said, referring to the 2021 Capitol attack, as Trump’s supporters stormed the building to protest Joe Biden’s election victory. “What you’ll see this weekend is what patriotism looks like, people showing up to express opposition to the extremism that Donald Trump has been unleashing on the American people.”Riddle reported from Montgomery, Alabama. Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed.

    WASHINGTON —

    Protesting the direction of the country under President Donald Trump, people will gather Saturday in the nation’s capital and communities across the U.S. for “No Kings” demonstrations — what the president’s Republican Party is calling “Hate America” rallies.

    This is the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and it is expected to be the largest. It comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.

    Trump himself is away from Washington at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

    “They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday. He later departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. super PAC fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago. Protests are expected nearby Saturday.

    While the earlier protests this year — against Elon Musk’s cuts in spring, then to counter Trump’s military parade in June — drew crowds, organizers say this one is building a more unified opposition movement. Top Democrats such as Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders are joining in what organizers view as an antidote to Trump’s actions, from the administration’s clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.

    “There is no greater threat to an authoritarian regime than patriotic people-power,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, among the key organizers.

    As Republicans and the White House dismiss the protests as a rally of radicals, Levin said their own sign-up numbers are growing. More than 2,600 rallies are planned in cities large and small, organized by hundreds of coalition partners. They said rallies are being planned within a one-hour drive for most Americans.

    Overseas, a few hundred Americans already gathered in Madrid to chant slogans and hold signs at a protest organized by Democrats Abroad, with similar rallies planned in other major European cities.

    Republicans have sought to portray participants in Saturday’s rallies as far outside the mainstream of American politics, and a main reason for the prolonged government shutdown, now in its 18th day.

    From the White House to Capitol Hill, GOP leaders disparaged the rallygoers as “communists” and “Marxists.”

    They say Democratic leaders, including Schumer, are beholden to the far-left flank and willing to keep the government shut down to appease those liberal forces.

    “I encourage you to watch — we call it the Hate America rally — that will happen Saturday,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

    “Let’s see who shows up for that,” Johnson said, listing groups including “antifa types,” people who “hate capitalism” and “Marxists in full display.”

    Democrats have refused to vote on legislation that would reopen the government as they demand funding for health care. Republicans say they are willing to discuss the issue later, only after the government reopens.

    But for many Democrats, the government closure is also a way to stand up to Trump, and try to push the presidency back to its place in the U.S. system as a co-equal branch of government.

    In a Facebook post, Sanders of Vermont, himself a former presidential contender, said, “It’s a love America rally.”

    “It’s a rally of millions of people all over this country who believe in our Constitution, who believe in American freedom and,” he said, pointing at the GOP leadership, “are not going to let you and Donald Trump turn this country into an authoritarian society.”

    The situation is a potential turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats and their allies were divided and despondent, unsure about how best to respond to Trump’s return to the White House. Schumer in particular was berated by his party for allowing an earlier government funding bill to sail through the Senate without using it to challenge Trump.

    In April, the national march against Trump and Elon Musk had 1,300 registered locations. In June, for the first “No Kings” day, there were 2,100 registered locations. The march Saturday will have more than 2,600 registered locations, Levin said.

    “What we are seeing from the Democrats is some spine,” Levin said. “The worst thing the Democrats could do right now is surrender.”

    House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he wasn’t sure if he would join the rallygoers Saturday, but he took issue with the Republicans’ characterization of the events.

    “What’s hateful is what happened on January 6th,” he said, referring to the 2021 Capitol attack, as Trump’s supporters stormed the building to protest Joe Biden’s election victory. “What you’ll see this weekend is what patriotism looks like, people showing up to express opposition to the extremism that Donald Trump has been unleashing on the American people.”

    Riddle reported from Montgomery, Alabama. Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed.

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  • Heightened sense of urgency around this ‘No Kings Day’

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    When millions of demonstrators took to the streets in June for “No Kings Day” — depicting President Trump as a wannabe monarch intent on violating American democratic norms — it was still fairly early in his administration.

    The immigration raids in Los Angeles were just getting under way and Trump had deployed military troops to the city to clamp down on protests.

    But four months later, many Americans feel Trump’s threats and norm-shattering actions have only gotten more intense as protesters prepare to take part Saturday in more than 2,700 “No Kings” demonstrations scheduled across the country.

    In that period, the Trump administration has ramped up immigration raids across L.A. and Chicago and deployed National Guard troops to Washington D.C. It has also pressured universities to comply with his agenda or lose funding, fired government officials he deems insufficiently loyal and embarked on an aggressive sweep of prosecutions of political opponents.

    “We’re seeing an escalation, right?,” said Hunter Dunn, a spokesman for 50501, one of the “No Kings” coalition’s core organizing partners. “We are watching as ICE’s mass deportation program is speeding up and becoming even more aggressive than it was. What happened in Los Angeles is now happening in Memphis, in D.C., in Chicago.”

    But the second “No Kings” protest comes with some existential questions for organizers who trying to mount a sustained protest movement. What is the most effective way to challenge Trump? And how do you make noise without playing into the president’s hands?

    Saturday’s revival of the massive series of demonstrations — organized around the slogan “No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings” — will voice left-wing concerns that the Trump administration is embracing authoritarian tactics and unraveling U.S. democracy. But it will also include a broader range of issues, including rising prices and rollbacks of environmental protections.

    For Dunn, a 22-year-old organizer in Los Angeles County who is part of a coalition of thousands of groups, the threat Trump poses goes beyond immigration. Trump, he noted, had used the Federal Communications Commission to try to silence broadcasters he does not like, brought “spurious” charges against protesters and demonstrators outside of ICE facilities and signed a so-called “big, beautiful bill” that Dunn said had funneled trillions of dollars from the average American to billionaires who supported the Trump regime.

    “We’re seeing the Trump administration repeatedly try and fail to shake the pillars of democracy, and in doing so, escalate the threat level,” Dunn said.

    The June 14 event inspired more than five million people to rally against Trump. One test will be whether they can increase that number on Saturday.

    In both Los Angeles and Chicago, Trump has tried to use protests — many of them peaceful — to claim that the streets are unsafe and in need of military troops. Trump pushed back against the underlying premise of the protest in an interview with Fox News Friday.

    “They’re referring to me as a king,” he said. “I’m not a king.”

    Protesters also face increasing attacks from Trump’s allies on the right, some of whom are branding their demonstrations as anti-American.

    “We call it the ‘hate America’ rally,” U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday at a news conference. “Let’s see who shows up for that. I bet you you’ll see Hamas supporters, I bet you’ll see Antifa types, I bet you’ll see the Marxists on full display, the people who don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic.”

    Organizers expect a broad and diverse group of Americans to attend Saturday’s “No Kings” demonstrations. About 600 more events are scheduled than the 2,100 demonstrations that took place in June, and slightly more people have signed up, even though the organization is discouraging registrations.

    David S. Meyer, a professor of sociology at UC Irvine who studies social movements, said that people’s opinions about the Trump administration have not changed too much since June. Rather, he argued, people felt a higher level of urgency about the danger of the Trump administration.

    “What’s increased is the willingness of people to take more action, to do something,” he said. “I think there’s a hunger for action.”

    Meyer said he was surprised to see key GOP leaders falling into line with Trump and pushing the idea that “No Kings” is anti-American.

    “There are plenty of presidents who’ve encountered protests against their policies,” Meyer said. “That’s part of what America is all about. And usually presidents say, ‘I have to represent everybody and do what I think is best for the country. And I understand that there are other Americans who disagree with me.’”

    In an attempt to broaden the scope of “No Kings,” Meyer noted, organizers are appealing to Americans upset over the rising cost of living, gutting of environmental protections, sweeping overhauls of federal agencies and the government shutdown over looming healthcare cuts. These issues, Meyer argued, are connected to the theme of American democracy.

    “Trump doesn’t consult with people who disagree with him … and the people surrounding him, and this is by design, are explicitly chosen because of their loyalty rather than their specific competencies,” Meyer said. “The strategy of the ‘No Kings’ organizers is to provide a kind of large and inclusive bucket for all the grievances to fit into and for people with all kinds of different gripes to show up.”

    Another reason “No Kings” touches on so many issues, Dunn said, is in response to the Republican tactic — articulated by Trump’s former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon as “flooding the zone” — of overwhelming the public with a barrage of information, disinformation and controversy.

    “Republicans’ strategy is to worsen the economy for everyone, to worsen the cost of living for the average American… to try to weaken the American people and make it harder for them to stand up against this administration’s abuses,” Dunn said. “So that’s why we’re standing up on all those fronts, because we have to meet them at every front that they’re using to harm the American people.”

    The goal of “No Kings” goes beyond just getting Americans out on the streets together in solidarity against Trump. They want to connect people who are upset and frustrated with the Trump administration to local organizing groups.

    “Getting involved in those groups, making those face to face connections and joining them will have a much larger impact over the next few days, the next few weeks, next few months, the next few years, than just one day of protest,” Dunn said.

    Going forward, Dunn said, one of the key questions facing the Trump resistance movement is how to pressure leading Democratic elected officials to get on board.

    While legislators such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders and Chris Van Hollen had done a lot to resist the Trump administration, he said, he wanted to put more pressure on mainstream Democrats across the country.

    “How do we get support from what is supposed to be the opposition party?”

    Dunn said he was not worried about the prospect of violence Saturday when millions take to the streets. The rallies and demonstrations that took place on the June demonstrations were overwhelmingly peaceful, he noted. Organizers put a major emphasis on de-escalation and protest safety, bringing in community and faith leaders and training tens of thousands of volunteers across the country in de-escalation. He scoffed at the idea extremists might hijack any of the demonstrations.

    “The biggest threat to safety at every protest I’ve ever been at — unless law enforcement gets involved — is always dehydration and heat exhaustion,” Dunn said.

    Olivia Negron, 73, an organizer with Studio City Rising who has protested in that L.A. neighborhood every weekend since April, said she was alarmed not just by the president’s rhetoric, but by the Trump administration’s actions against immigrants through the courts and in the streets.

    “The president doesn’t know what it is to be American,” said Negron, a Latina and the child of a U.S. Navy officer. “The American dream is about inclusivity and making sure that immigrants are welcomed into the United States.”

    Negron, who marched against the war in Vietnam, said she felt the people in power have taken away what it means to be American and made it difficult to fly the American flag. But she said she was hopeful that the Trump administration’s actions since the last “No Kings” day would push more people to protest.

    “We need to turn the ship of state around and get this democracy heading in the right direction,” Negron said. “Absolutely more inclusion, more equity, more diversity. Diversity is our strength and empathy is our superpower.”

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    Jenny Jarvie, Nathan Solis

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  • Federal troops in San Francisco? Locals, leaders scoff at Trump’s plan

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    SAN FRANCISCO — About 24 hours after President Trump declared San Francisco such a crime-ridden “mess” that he was recommending federal forces be sent to restore order, Manit Limlamai, 43, and Kai Saetern, 32, rolled their eyes at the suggestion.

    The pair — both in the software industry — were with friends Thursday in Dolores Park, a vibrant green space with sweeping views of downtown, playing volleyball under a blue sky and shining autumn sun. All around them, people sat on benches with books, flew kites, played with dogs or otherwise lounged away the afternoon on blankets in the grass.

    Both Limlamai and Saetern said San Francisco of course has issues, and some rougher neighborhoods — but that’s any city.

    “I’ve lived here for 10 years and I haven’t felt unsafe, and I’ve lived all over the city,” Saetern said. “Every city has its problems, and I don’t think San Francisco is any different,” but “it’s not a hellscape,” said Limlamai, who has been in the city since 2021.

    Both said Trump’s suggestion that he might send in troops was more alarming than reassuring — especially, Limlamai said, on top of his recent remark that American cities should serve as “training grounds” for U.S. military forces.

    “I don’t think that’s appropriate at all,” he said. “The military is not trained to do what needs to be done in these cities.”

    Across San Francisco, residents, visitors and prominent local leaders expressed similar ideas — if not much sharper condemnation of any troop deployment. None shied away from the fact that San Francisco has problems, especially with homelessness. Several also mentioned a creeping urban decay, and that the city needs a bit of a polish.

    But federal troops? That was a hard no.

    A range of people on Market Street in downtown San Francisco on Thursday.

    “It’s just more of [Trump’s] insanity,” said Peter Hill, 81, as he played chess in a slightly edgier park near City Hall. Hill said using troops domestically was a fascist power play, and “a bad thing for the entire country.”

    “It’s fascism,” agreed local activist Wendy Aragon, who was hailing a cab nearby. Her Latino family has been in the country for generations, she said, but she now fears speaking Spanish on the street given that immigration agents have admitted targeting people who look or sound Latino, and troops in the city would only exacerbate those fears. “My community is under attack right now.”

    State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said troop deployments to the city were “completely unnecessary” and “typical Trump: petty, vindictive retaliation.”

    “He wants to attack anyone who he perceives as an enemy, and that includes cities, and so he started with L.A. and Southern California because of its large immigrant community, and then he proceeded to cities with large Black populations like Chicago, and now he’s moving on to cities that are just perceived as very lefty like Portland and now San Francisco,” Wiener said.

    Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, defended such deployments and noted crime reductions in cities, including Washington, D.C., and Memphis, where local officials — including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat — have embraced them.

    “America’s once great cities have descended into chaos and crime as a result of Democrat policies that put criminals first and law-abiding citizens last. Making America Safe Again — especially crime-ridden cities — was a key campaign promise from the President that the American people elected him to fulfill,” Jackson said. “San Francisco Democrats should look at the tremendous results in DC and Memphis and listen to fellow Democrat Mayor Bowser and welcome the President in to clean up their city.”

    A police officer shuts the door to his vehicle

    A police officer shuts the door to his car after a person was allegedly caught carrying a knife near a sign promoting an AI-powered museum exhibit in downtown San Francisco.

    A presidential ‘passion’

    San Francisco — a bastion of liberal politics that overwhelmingly voted against Trump in the last election — has been derided by the conservative right for generations as a great American jewel lost to destructive progressive policies.

    With its tech-heavy economy and downtown core hit hard by the pandemic and the nation’s shift toward remote work, the city has had a particularly rough go in recent years, which only exacerbated its image as a city in decline. That it produced some of Trump’s most prominent political opponents — including Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris — has only made it more of a punching bag.

    In August, Trump suggested San Francisco needed federal intervention. “You look at what the Democrats have done to San Francisco — they’ve destroyed it,” he said in the Oval Office. “We’ll clean that one up, too.”

    Then, earlier this month, to the chagrin of liberal leaders across the city, Marc Benioff, the billionaire Salesforce founder and Time magazine owner who has long been a booster of San Francisco, said in an interview with the New York Times that he supported Trump and welcomed Guard troops in the city.

    “We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it,” Benioff said, just as his company was preparing to open its annual Dreamforce convention in the city, complete with hundreds of private security officers.

    The U.S. Constitution generally precludes military forces from serving in police roles in the U.S.

    On Friday, Benioff reversed himself and apologized for his earlier stance. “Having listened closely to my fellow San Franciscans and our local officials, and after the largest and safest Dreamforce in our history, I do not believe the National Guard is needed to address safety in San Francisco,” he wrote on X.

    He also apologized for “the concern” his earlier support for troops in the city had caused, and praised San Francisco’s new mayor, Daniel Lurie, for bringing crime down.

    Billionaire Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, also called for federal intervention in the city, writing on his X platform that downtown San Francisco is “a drug zombie apocalypse” and that federal intervention was “the only solution at this point.”

    Trump made his latest remarks bashing San Francisco on Wednesday, again from the Oval Office.

    Trump said it was “one of our great cities 10 years ago, 15 years ago,” but “now it’s a mess” — and that he was recommending federal forces move into the city to make it safer. “I’m gonna be strongly recommending — at the request of government officials, which is always nice — that you start looking at San Francisco,” he said to leading members of his law enforcement team.

    Trump did not specify exactly what sort of deployment he meant, or which kinds of federal forces might be involved. He also didn’t say which local officials had allegedly requested help — a claim Wiener called a lie.

    “Every American deserves to live in a community where they’re not afraid of being mugged, murdered, robbed, raped, assaulted or shot, and that’s exactly what our administration is working to deliver,” Trump said, before adding that sending federal forces into American cities had become “a passion” of his.

    Kai Saetern poses in Dolores Park

    Kai Saetern, 32, was playing volleyball in Dolores Park on Thursday. Saetern said he has never felt unsafe living in neighborhoods all over the city for the last 10 years.

    Crime is down citywide

    The responses from San Francisco, both to Benioff and Trump, came swiftly, ranging from calm discouragement to full-blown outrage.

    Lurie did not respond directly, but his office pointed reporters to his recent statements that crime is down 30% citywide, homicides are at a 70-year low, car break-ins are at a 22-year low and tent encampments are at their lowest number on record.

    “We have a lot of work to do,” Lurie said. “But I trust our local law enforcement.”

    San Francisco Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins was much more fiery, writing online that Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had turned “so-called public safety and immigration enforcement into a form of government sponsored violence against U.S. citizens, families, and ethnic groups,” and that she stood ready to prosecute federal officers if they harm city residents.

    Attendees exit the Dreamforce convention downtown on Thursday in San Francisco.

    Attendees exit the Dreamforce convention downtown on Thursday in San Francisco.

    “If you come to San Francisco and illegally harass our residents … I will not hesitate to do my job and hold you accountable just like I do other violators of the law every single day,” she said.

    Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) — whose seat Wiener is reportedly going to seek — said the city “does not want or need Donald Trump’s chaos” and will continue to increase public safety locally and “without the interference of a President seeking headlines.”

    Newsom said the use of federal troops in American cities is a “clear violation” of federal law, and that the state was prepared to challenge any such deployment to San Francisco in court, just as it challenged such deployments in Los Angeles earlier this year.

    The federal appellate court that oversees California and much of the American West has so far allowed troops to remain in L.A., but is set to continue hearing arguments in the L.A. case soon.

    Trump had used anti-immigration enforcement protests in L.A. as a justification to send troops there. In San Francisco, Newsom said, he lacks any justification or “pretext” whatsoever.

    “There’s no existing protest at a federal building. There’s no operation that’s being impeded. I guess it’s just a ‘training ground’ for the President of United States,” Newsom said. “It is grossly illegal, it’s immoral, it’s rather delusional.”

    Nancy DeStefanis, 76, a longtime labor and environmental activist who was at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday to complain about Golden Gate Park being shut to regular visitors for paid events, was similarly derisive of troops entering the city.

    “As far as I’m concerned, and I think most San Franciscans are concerned, we don’t want troops here. We don’t need them,” she said.

    Passengers walk past a cracked window from the Civic Center BART station

    Passengers walk past a cracked window from the Civic Center BART station in downtown San Francisco.

    ‘An image I don’t want to see’

    Not far away, throngs of people wearing Dreamforce lanyards streamed in and out of the Moscone Center, heading back and forth to nearby Market Street and pouring into restaurants, coffee shops and take-out joints. The city’s problems — including homelessness and associated grittiness — were apparent at the corners of the crowds, even as chipper convention ambassadors and security officers moved would-be stragglers along.

    Not everyone was keen to be identified discussing Trump or safety in the city, with some citing business reasons and others a fear of Trump retaliating against them. But lots of people had opinions.

    Sanjiv, a self-described “techie” in his mid-50s, said he preferred to use only his first name because, although he is a U.S. citizen now, he emigrated from India and didn’t want to stick his neck out by publicly criticizing Trump.

    He called homelessness a “rampant problem” in San Francisco, but less so than in the past — and hardly something that would justify sending in military troops.

    “It’s absolutely ridiculous,” he said. “It’s not like the city’s under siege.”

    Claire Roeland, 30, from Austin, Texas, said she has visited San Francisco a handful of times in recent years and had “mixed” experiences. She has family who live in surrounding neighborhoods and find it completely safe, she said, but when she’s in town it’s “predominantly in the business district” — where it’s hard not to be disheartened by the obvious suffering of people with addiction and mental illness and the grime that has accumulated in the emptied-out core.

    “There’s a lot of unfortunate urban decay happening, and that makes you feel more unsafe than you actually are,” she said, but there isn’t “any realistic need to send in federal troops.”

    She said she doesn’t know what troops would do other than confront homeless people, and “that’s an image I don’t want to see.”

    Times staff writer Dakota Smith contributed to this report.

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    Kevin Rector

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  • Trump hosts Zelenskyy at the White House after call with Putin

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    WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday. The meeting between the two leaders comes after Trump’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin discussing the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

    In recent days, Trump signaled openness to selling Ukraine long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, despite warnings from Putin that the move could further strain U.S.-Russia relations.

    But after Thursday’s call with Putin, Trump appeared to downplay Ukraine’s chances of receiving the missiles, which can reach up to 995 miles (1,600 kilometers).

    President Donald Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Monday, August 18, 2025, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

    Here’s the latest updates from the meeting of the two leaders on Friday:

    Zelenskyy suggests he’s interested in trading Ukrainian military drones for Tomahawk missiles

    2 p.m. ET: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that while his country has thousands of military drones, they don’t have the strong missiles that the U.S. makes and suggested both countries can work together for their military goals.

    Trump, when asked if the U.S. was interested in such a deal, said, “We are.”

    He said that drone warfare has “really come to the fore” over the last few years because of the Russia-Ukraine war.

    It’s unclear if Zelenskyy will join Trump’s meeting in Hungary with Putin

    1:45 p.m. ET: President Donald Trump told reporters, “To be determined” as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Cabinet room at the White House.

    He said it most likely would be a “double meeting,” but that Zelenskyy would be in touch throughout.

    Trump said there is “bad blood” between Putin and Zelenskyy, the Associated Press reported. 

    “These two leaders do not like each other and we want to make it comfortable for everybody,” he said.

    Zelenskyy arrives at the White House to meet with Trump

    1:25 p.m. ET: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the White House on Friday, greeted by members of the U.S. military holding state flags.

    It’s the fourth meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump as they’ve sought to resolve Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trump spoke separately on Thursday by phone with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and plans to meet with him in roughly two weeks in Budapest, Hungary.

    Tensions over missile deal

    “We need Tomahawks for the United States of America too,” Trump said. “We have a lot of them, but we need them. I mean we can’t deplete our country.”

    Zelenskyy has been pushing for weapons that would let Ukrainian forces strike deep into Russian territory, targeting military sites, energy facilities, and key infrastructure.

    He argues such strikes could pressure Putin to take Trump’s calls for direct negotiations more seriously.

    But during the call, Putin warned Trump that sending Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv “won’t change the situation on the battlefield, but would cause substantial damage to the relationship between our countries,” according to Yuri Ushakov, his foreign policy adviser.

    Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the discussion around supplying Tomahawk missiles had already helped push Putin toward talks. 

    “The conclusion is that we need to continue with strong steps. Strength can truly create momentum for peace,” Sybiha wrote on X late Thursday.

    READ MORE: The relationship between President Trump and Ukraine President Zelenskyy

    President Donald Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Monday, August 18, 2025, in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

    It marks the fourth in-person meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy since the Republican returned to office in January, and their second in less than a month.

    Following Thursday’s call with Putin, Trump announced plans to meet the Russian leader soon in Budapest to discuss ending the war. 

    Both sides also agreed their senior aides, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will meet next week at an undisclosed location.

    Fresh off brokering a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, Trump says ending the war in Ukraine is now his top foreign policy priority, and he’s newly confident about the chances of making it happen.

    Before his call with Putin, Trump had shown growing frustration with the Russian leader.

    READ MORE: Trump and Zelensky’s White House meeting expected to ‘stay on the rails’ this time, experts say

    Push for peace talks

    Last month, Trump said he believes Ukraine can reclaim all territory lost to Russia, a sharp shift from his earlier calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end the war.

    Since his 2024 campaign, Trump has vowed to end the war quickly, but his peace push appeared to stall after a flurry of diplomacy in August, including a summit with Putin in Alaska and a White House meeting with Zelenskyy and European allies.

    Trump left those meetings confident he was paving the way for direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin. 

    But the Russian leader has shown no interest in meeting and Moscow has only stepped up its bombardment of Ukraine.

    Trump, for his part, struck a more neutral tone on Ukraine after what he called a “very productive” call with Putin.

    He also suggested that talks between Putin and Zelenskyy may need to be conducted indirectly.

    “They don’t get along too well those two,” Trump said. “So we may do something where we’re separate. Separate but equal.”

    READ MORE: Trump, Zelenskyy meet in DC amid heavy traffic, tight security

    President Donald Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, during the 2025 NATO Summit at the World Forum in The Hague, Netherlands. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

    The Source: Information in this article comes from the Associated Press. 

    NewsVladimir PutinDonald J. TrumpRussia-Ukraine

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  • Echoing the raids in L.A., parts of Chicago are untouched by ICE, others under siege

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    CHICAGO — Since the Trump administration announced its intention to accelerate and forcefully detain and deport thousands of immigrants here, the Chicago area is a split screen between everyday life and a city under siege.

    As many people shop, go to work, walk their dogs and stroll with their friends through parks, others are being chased down, tear-gassed, detained and assaulted by federal agents carrying out immigration sweeps.

    The situation is similar to what occurred in Los Angeles in summer, as ICE swept through Southern California, grabbing people off the street and raiding car washes and Home Depots in predominantly Latino areas, while leaving large swaths of the region untouched.

    Take Sunday, the day of the Chicago Marathon.

    Some 50,000 runners hailing from more than 100 countries and 50 states, gathered downtown to dash, jog and slog over 26.3 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and city streets.

    The sun was bright, the temperatures hovered in the upper-60s, and leaves of maple, oak, aspen and ginkgo trees colored the city with splashes of yellow, orange and red.

    Demonstrators march outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Broadview, Ill., on Oct. 10.

    (Kayana Szymczak/For The Times)

    It was one of those rare, glorious Midwestern fall days when everyone comes outside to soak in the sunlight, knowing the gloom and cold of winter is about to take hold.

    At 12:30, Ludwig Marchel and Karen Vanherck of Belgium strolled west along East Monroe Street, through Millennium Park. They smiled and proudly wore medals around their necks commemorating their marathon achievement. They said they were not concerned about coming to Chicago, despite news stories depicting violent protests and raids, and the Trump administration’s description of the city as “war torn,” a “hellhole,” a “killing field” and “the most dangerous city in the world.”

    “Honestly. I was mostly worried that the government shutdown was somehow going to affect my flight,” said Marchel. He said he hadn’t seen anything during his few days in town that would suggest the city was unsafe.

    Another man, who declined to give his name, said he had come from Mexico City to complete the race. He said he wasn’t concerned, either.

    “I have my passport, I have a visa, and I have money,” he said. “Why should I be concerned?”

    At that same moment, 10 miles northwest, a community was being tear-gassed.

    Dozens of residents in the quiet, leafy neighborhood of Albany Park had gathered in the street to shout “traitor” and “Nazi” as federal immigration agents grabbed a man and attempted to detain others.

    According to witness accounts, agents in at least three vehicles got out and started shoving people to the ground before throwing tear gas canisters into the street. Videos of the event show masked agents tackling a person in a red shirt, throwing a person in a skeleton costume to the ground, and violently hurling a bicycle out of the street as several plumes of smoke billow into the air. A woman can be heard screaming while neighbors yell at the agents.

    Last week, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order requiring agents to issue two warnings before using riot control weapons such as tear gas, chemical sprays, plastic bullets and flash grenades.

    Witnesses told the Chicago Sun-Times that no warnings had been given.

    Deirdre Anglin, community member from Chicago, takes part in a demonstration

    Deirdre Anglin, community member from Chicago, takes part in a demonstration near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Broadview, Ill., on Oct. 10.

    (Kayana Szymczak/For The Times)

    Since Trump’s “Operation Midway Blitz” was initiated more than six weeks ago, roughly 1,000 people have been arrested or detained.

    At the ICE detention facility, in Broadview — a suburb 12 miles west of downtown — there have been daily protests. While most have been peaceful, some have devolved into physical clashes between federal agents or police and protesters.

    In September, federal agents shot pepper balls and tear gas at protesters peacefully gathering outside the facility. On Saturday, local law enforcement forced protesters away from the site with riot sticks and threats of tear gas. Several protesters were knocked to the ground and forcefully handcuffed. By the end of the evening, 15 people had been arrested.

    Early Sunday afternoon, roughly two dozen protesters returned to the site. They played music, danced, socialized and heckled ICE vehicles as they entered and exited the fenced-off facility.

    In a largely Latino Chicago neighborhood called Little Village, things appeared peaceful Sunday afternoon.

    Known affectionately by its residents as the “Midwestern capital of Mexico,” the district of 85,000 is predominantly Latino. Michael Rodriguez, a Chicago city councilman and the neighborhood’s alderman, said 85% of the population is of Mexican descent.

    On Sunday afternoon, traditional Mexican music was being broadcast to the street via loudspeakers from the OK Corral VIP, a western wear store.

    Officers in riot gear confront a protester wearing a sun hat and serape

    Demonstrators protest near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Broadview, Ill., on Oct. 10.

    (Kayana Szymczak/For The Times)

    Along East 26th Street, where shops and buildings are painted with brightly colored murals depicting Mexican folklore, history and wildlife — such as a golden eagle and jaguar — a family sat at a table eating lunch, while two young women, in their early 20s, laughed and chattered as they strolled west toward Kedzie Avenue.

    Rodriguez said that despite appearances, “people are afraid.”

    He said he spoke with a teacher who complained that several of her elementary-school aged students have stopped coming to class. Their parents are too afraid to walk them or drive them to school, hearing stories of other parents who have been arrested or detained by ICE agents at other campuses in the city — in front of their terrified children.

    Rodriguez’s wife, whom he described as a dark-skinned Latina with degrees from DePaul and Northwestern universities, won’t leave the house without her passport.

    At a barber shop called Peluqueria 5 Star Fades Estrellas on 26th, a coiffeur named Juan Garcia sat in a chair near the store entrance. He had a towel draped over the back of his neck. He said his English was limited, but he knew enough to tell a visitor that business was bad.

    “People aren’t coming in,” he said. “They are afraid.”

    Victor Sanchez, the owner of a taco truck parked on Kedzie Road, about a half-mile south of town, said his clientele — mostly construction workers and landscapers — have largely disappeared.

    “Business is down 60%,” he said to a customer. “I don’t know if they have been taken, or if they are too afraid to come out. All I know is they aren’t coming here anymore.”

    Rodriguez said that ICE agents have arrested people who live in his neighborhood, but those arrests took place outside the borders of his district.

    “I think they know this is a well-organized and aware neighborhood,” he said. “I think they’ve cased it and decided to grab people on the outskirts.”

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    Susanne Rust

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  • Exclusive: $1 billion canned water brand Liquid Death names new CFO as it gears up for expansion | Fortune

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    Good morning. Liquid Death has tapped Ricky Khetarpaul, a PepsiCo alum, as finance chief of the popular L.A.-based water startup that’s expanded into other beverages.

    “It’s a truly healthy beverage platform with a proven track record as an innovator across categories,” Khetarpaul told me. “I’ve been a big fan of Liquid Death.”

    Founded in 2017 by CEO Mike Cessario, Liquid Death is valued at approximately $1.4 billion and is known for its edgy, skeleton-stamped tallboy cans filled with water, sparkling water, or iced tea with fruit juice—not alcohol.

    In 2024, the company’s scanned sales were north of $300 million, and it has achieved a 380% CAGR since its 2019 launch. This month, Liquid Death announced a new distribution deal with Big Geyser in New York.

    Khetarpaul succeeds Karim Sadik-Khan, who joined Liquid Death as finance chief in June 2024. Sadik-Khan is currently the CFO at Spindrift, according to his LinkedIn profile.

    Before joining Liquid Death, Khetarpaul was the CFO of Health-Ade, a kombucha and gut-health soda brand. He previously served as North America CFO for Lavazza, spent over eight years in finance at PepsiCo, leading reporting, forecasting, and planning for a $5 billion beverage portfolio, and held leadership roles at Sabra Dipping Co. and Walgreens Boots Alliance.

    He noted that the biggest challenge for CPG (consumer packaged goods) brands is building strong consumer loyalty. “Even bigger brands I’ve worked with have struggled,” he said. “But in just a few years, Liquid Death has built one of the biggest fan bases in the beverage industry.”

    Strategic marketing

    According to a recent NCSolutions survey, half of Gen Zers said they are alcohol-free by choice, and 43% believe Gen Z is driving the “sober curious” movement. Gen Z and millennials account for over 70% of Liquid Death’s customers.

    Cessario, a former marketing executive, credits the company’s entertainment-first, social media-centric marketing for its strong appeal among young consumers. Liquid Death has 14.5 million followers across TikTok and Instagram.

    Khetarpaul sees marketing as a growth center, drawing on his own experience in sales and marketing at PepsiCo before moving into finance. “I view the CFO role as a growth driver, not just a traditional controller,” he said. “Liquid Death’s marketing converts brand awareness into sales; the company is very metrics-driven. We measure marketing investments both strategically and in terms of ROI, which is music to any CFO’s ears.”

    The brand has also run campaigns with celebrities and partners. For example, it recently launched a limited-edition Fruity Pebbles sparkling water called Cereal Criminal on Amazon. Liquid Death plans to enter the $23 billion energy drink market in 2026 with Liquid Death Sparkling Energy, which is naturally caffeinated from coffee beans rather than synthetic sources, Khetarpaul said.

    However, the segment is highly competitive, dominated by brands such as Red Bull and Monster. As CFO, Khetarpaul is set to play a key leadership role in helping Liquid Death become the “next true multi-category beverage brand,” Cessario said in a statement.

    Backed by a loyal fan base and an ambitious CFO, Liquid Death is ready to disrupt the beverage aisle—again.

    Sheryl Estrada
    sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

    Leaderboard

    Lydia Brown has been appointed CFO of Citrin Cooperman, a professional services provider for private, middle market businesses and high net-worth individuals, effective Oct. 13. Brown succeeds Larry Diamond, who will retire after three years of dedicated service as the firm’s CFO. Brown brings more than 30 years of experience in the professional services industry, including senior financial leadership roles across both private-equity-backed and publicly traded companies. Most recently, she served as CFO for HKA, a global consultancy.

    Craig Chamberlin was appointed EVP and CFO of Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE: VRT), a digital infrastructure company, effective Nov. 10. Chamberlin succeeds David Fallon, who previously announced his intention to retire from Vertiv and serve as a consultant to the company through Dec. 31. Chamberlin joins Vertiv from Wabtec Corporation, where he most recently served as group VP and CFO of the company’s transit segment.

    Big Deal

    The 2025 Fortune Most Powerful Women (MPW) Summit began on Monday in Washington, D.C., and continues through Wednesday. You can join us at MPW via livestream for the main stage sessions. View the agenda here.

    The MPW franchise started in 1998 with the publication of the first-ever Most Powerful Women in Business ranking. The response to this list made it clear that these trailblazing women needed a platform to come together and discuss the unique challenges they were facing. And so, Fortune MPW evolved into a community of leaders that gathered at invite-only events, such as the annual Summit. This year’s theme is “Leading in a Dynamic World.” 

    Going deeper

    The latest EY Global IPO Trends report found that in Q3 2025, global equity markets rebounded strongly, with major indices in the U.S., Asia, and Europe reaching new highs after months of pressure from tariffs, interest rate uncertainty, and debt concerns. The rally was driven by looser monetary policy and solid corporate earnings, according to the report.

    Overheard

    “Frankly, this thing that trade is dead is completely overstated. Trade is like water. You put [up an] obstacle, it goes around it.”

    —Kristalina Georgieva, head of the International Monetary Fund, said during the Fortune Most Powerful Women summit in Washington, D.C., on Monday. Georgieva downplayed any fears of a trade war but recognizes the world is becoming “foggier” and full of uncertainty. She said one of the biggest challenges comes from getting buy-in that cooperation is better than division: “We are in this one big boat. It is a rough sea. We’d better row together,” Fortune reported.

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    Sheryl Estrada

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  • One killed, dozens rescued after storm slams western Alaska as search for missing continues

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    Rescuers in western Alaska are working to find missing residents and help the more than 1,000 people displaced after ferocious, hurricane-force wind gusts from what once was Typhoon Halong tore through remote, coastal communities, unleashed record-breaking storm surge and shoved homes completely off their foundations.At least one person, an adult woman, was found dead in the village of Kwigillingok Monday, the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a statement. Officials are working to notify the woman’s family before releasing her name.Two people were still unaccounted for in Kwigillingok as of Monday, officials said. At least 51 people and two dogs have been rescued in Kwigillingok and the nearby village of Kipnuk since the weekend, and about 1,400 others were displaced to shelters, a local tribal health agency and state officials said. Authorities said Monday evening there were no missing people in Kipnuk after previously saying they were working to confirm reports of additional missing individuals.The sparsely populated villages are more than 400 miles southwest of Anchorage. “Both communities experienced strong winds and heavy flooding overnight, which caused significant damage, including at least eight homes being pushed from their foundations,” Alaska State Troopers said Sunday, although officials said Monday afternoon that they are not sure how many buildings or homes are impacted overall.Search efforts from Sunday throughout Monday involved help from the Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard, according to the state troopers and the state’s Department of Public Safety. The Alaska National Guard response includes about 60 to 80 soldiers on the ground as of Monday, and upwards of 200 soldiers near the end of the week, said Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, who runs the state’s National Guard. It is the “largest I’ve seen in quite some time,” he said.Some search and rescue efforts involved helicopters rescuing people off the roofs of houses as they were surrounded by several feet of flooding, images that are reminiscent to rescues conducted during Hurricane Katrina, said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Christopher Culpepper.“If you imagine the worst case scenario, that’s what we are dealing with,” he said.The storm generated wind gusts 100 mph or more in western Alaska Sunday, akin to the gusts Category 1 or 2 hurricanes are capable of. Wind gusts hit 107 mph in Kusilvak while nearby Toksook Bay recorded a gust of 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service.These winds also drove dangerous storm surge, pushing feet of water onto land, which triggered major flooding in coastal areas. Water levels in Kipnuk soared to 14.5 feet Sunday — more than 2 feet above major flood stage and 1.5 feet above the previous record flood level set in 2000.The storm was once Typhoon Halong, a powerful tropical system that formed in the northern Philippine Sea earlier this month, skirted by Japan without making landfall and then crossed the north Pacific Ocean. It was no longer tropical by the time it entered the Bering Sea this weekend, but that did not eliminate its power.The storm moved through northern Alaska late Sunday and pushed into the Arctic Sea early Monday, leaving communities to pick up the pieces in its wake.“Every effort will be made to help those hit by this storm. Help is on the way,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement Sunday announcing the expansion of a state disaster declaration to include the areas impacted by the weekend storm. He emphasized Monday there will be support for residents in the short term as well as for long-term needs.The initial declaration, issued on Thursday, addressed damage in western Alaska caused by another powerful coastal storm earlier in the week that brought extensive flooding.Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska said he has “been in frequent conversations with Acting FEMA Director David Richardson, and also in contact with local, tribal and state officials, including the Governor, and with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.”“FEMA is in direct contact with state and local officials and has an incident management team traveling to Alaska as we speak with a FEMA search-and-rescue group pre-positioned in Washington on standby. According to FEMA, the government shutdown is not impacting the agency’s response to this emergency,” Sullivan said in a statement.

    KWIGILLINGOK, Alaska —

    Rescuers in western Alaska are working to find missing residents and help the more than 1,000 people displaced after ferocious, hurricane-force wind gusts from what once was Typhoon Halong tore through remote, coastal communities, unleashed record-breaking storm surge and shoved homes completely off their foundations.

    At least one person, an adult woman, was found dead in the village of Kwigillingok Monday, the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a statement. Officials are working to notify the woman’s family before releasing her name.

    Two people were still unaccounted for in Kwigillingok as of Monday, officials said. At least 51 people and two dogs have been rescued in Kwigillingok and the nearby village of Kipnuk since the weekend, and about 1,400 others were displaced to shelters, a local tribal health agency and state officials said. Authorities said Monday evening there were no missing people in Kipnuk after previously saying they were working to confirm reports of additional missing individuals.

    The sparsely populated villages are more than 400 miles southwest of Anchorage. “Both communities experienced strong winds and heavy flooding overnight, which caused significant damage, including at least eight homes being pushed from their foundations,” Alaska State Troopers said Sunday, although officials said Monday afternoon that they are not sure how many buildings or homes are impacted overall.

    Search efforts from Sunday throughout Monday involved help from the Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard, according to the state troopers and the state’s Department of Public Safety. The Alaska National Guard response includes about 60 to 80 soldiers on the ground as of Monday, and upwards of 200 soldiers near the end of the week, said Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, who runs the state’s National Guard. It is the “largest [response] I’ve seen in quite some time,” he said.

    Some search and rescue efforts involved helicopters rescuing people off the roofs of houses as they were surrounded by several feet of flooding, images that are reminiscent to rescues conducted during Hurricane Katrina, said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Christopher Culpepper.

    “If you imagine the worst case scenario, that’s what we are dealing with,” he said.

    The storm generated wind gusts 100 mph or more in western Alaska Sunday, akin to the gusts Category 1 or 2 hurricanes are capable of. Wind gusts hit 107 mph in Kusilvak while nearby Toksook Bay recorded a gust of 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

    These winds also drove dangerous storm surge, pushing feet of water onto land, which triggered major flooding in coastal areas. Water levels in Kipnuk soared to 14.5 feet Sunday — more than 2 feet above major flood stage and 1.5 feet above the previous record flood level set in 2000.

    The storm was once Typhoon Halong, a powerful tropical system that formed in the northern Philippine Sea earlier this month, skirted by Japan without making landfall and then crossed the north Pacific Ocean. It was no longer tropical by the time it entered the Bering Sea this weekend, but that did not eliminate its power.

    The storm moved through northern Alaska late Sunday and pushed into the Arctic Sea early Monday, leaving communities to pick up the pieces in its wake.

    “Every effort will be made to help those hit by this storm. Help is on the way,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement Sunday announcing the expansion of a state disaster declaration to include the areas impacted by the weekend storm. He emphasized Monday there will be support for residents in the short term as well as for long-term needs.

    The initial declaration, issued on Thursday, addressed damage in western Alaska caused by another powerful coastal storm earlier in the week that brought extensive flooding.

    Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska said he has “been in frequent conversations with Acting FEMA Director David Richardson, and also in contact with local, tribal and state officials, including the Governor, and with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.”

    “FEMA is in direct contact with state and local officials and has an incident management team traveling to Alaska as we speak with a FEMA search-and-rescue group pre-positioned in Washington on standby. According to FEMA, the government shutdown is not impacting the agency’s response to this emergency,” Sullivan said in a statement.

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  • Missed paychecks, federal layoffs: The government shutdown heading into another weekend

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    The White House has begun laying off federal workers as the government shutdown drags into the weekend, affecting employees at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education, according to the Office of Management and Budget. Military families could miss their first paycheck next Wednesday if the government does not reopen. Although the Senate is set to return on Tuesday, the President has publicly assured service members that they will receive pay regardless of the shutdown, though it remains unclear how this will be achieved.Rep. Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, says some people will receive partial paychecks while others won’t receive a check at all. “Real people are being hurt. You got 700,000 federal workers that will receive paychecks today, followed by an additional 400,000 workers on 10/14. That’s their last paycheck. That is the last paycheck they’re going to have until the Democrats reopen the government,” Johnson said.The House Speaker has rejected a standalone bill to pay troops during the shutdown, urging Democrats to support his short-term plan to reopen the government. Democrats have repeatedly voted against this measure, demanding health care extensions.Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Minority Leader, said, “Extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, address the Republican health care crisis, reopen the government, pay our troops, pay our hardworking federal employees, and enact a spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people.”The Agriculture Department has stated that the WIC program, which provides food benefits for women, infants, and children, will continue operating “for the foreseeable future” using tariff revenue to remain functional.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=

    WASHINGTON —

    The White House has begun laying off federal workers as the government shutdown drags into the weekend, affecting employees at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

    Military families could miss their first paycheck next Wednesday if the government does not reopen. Although the Senate is set to return on Tuesday, the President has publicly assured service members that they will receive pay regardless of the shutdown, though it remains unclear how this will be achieved.

    Rep. Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, says some people will receive partial paychecks while others won’t receive a check at all.

    “Real people are being hurt. You got 700,000 federal workers that will receive paychecks today, followed by an additional 400,000 workers on 10/14. That’s their last paycheck. That is the last paycheck they’re going to have until the Democrats reopen the government,” Johnson said.

    The House Speaker has rejected a standalone bill to pay troops during the shutdown, urging Democrats to support his short-term plan to reopen the government. Democrats have repeatedly voted against this measure, demanding health care extensions.

    Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Minority Leader, said, “Extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, address the Republican health care crisis, reopen the government, pay our troops, pay our hardworking federal employees, and enact a spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people.”

    The Agriculture Department has stated that the WIC program, which provides food benefits for women, infants, and children, will continue operating “for the foreseeable future” using tariff revenue to remain functional.

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  • Missed paychecks, federal layoffs: The government shutdown heading into another weekend

    [ad_1]

    The White House has begun laying off federal workers as the government shutdown drags into the weekend, affecting employees at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education, according to the Office of Management and Budget. Military families could miss their first paycheck next Wednesday if the government does not reopen. Although the Senate is set to return on Tuesday, the President has publicly assured service members that they will receive pay regardless of the shutdown, though it remains unclear how this will be achieved.Rep. Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, says some people will receive partial paychecks while others won’t receive a check at all. “Real people are being hurt. You got 700,000 federal workers that will receive paychecks today, followed by an additional 400,000 workers on 10/14. That’s their last paycheck. That is the last paycheck they’re going to have until the Democrats reopen the government,” Johnson said.The House Speaker has rejected a standalone bill to pay troops during the shutdown, urging Democrats to support his short-term plan to reopen the government. Democrats have repeatedly voted against this measure, demanding health care extensions.Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Minority Leader, said, “Extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, address the Republican health care crisis, reopen the government, pay our troops, pay our hardworking federal employees, and enact a spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people.”The Agriculture Department has stated that the WIC program, which provides food benefits for women, infants, and children, will continue operating “for the foreseeable future” using tariff revenue to remain functional.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=

    WASHINGTON —

    The White House has begun laying off federal workers as the government shutdown drags into the weekend, affecting employees at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

    Military families could miss their first paycheck next Wednesday if the government does not reopen. Although the Senate is set to return on Tuesday, the President has publicly assured service members that they will receive pay regardless of the shutdown, though it remains unclear how this will be achieved.

    Rep. Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, says some people will receive partial paychecks while others won’t receive a check at all.

    “Real people are being hurt. You got 700,000 federal workers that will receive paychecks today, followed by an additional 400,000 workers on 10/14. That’s their last paycheck. That is the last paycheck they’re going to have until the Democrats reopen the government,” Johnson said.

    The House Speaker has rejected a standalone bill to pay troops during the shutdown, urging Democrats to support his short-term plan to reopen the government. Democrats have repeatedly voted against this measure, demanding health care extensions.

    Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Minority Leader, said, “Extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, address the Republican health care crisis, reopen the government, pay our troops, pay our hardworking federal employees, and enact a spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people.”

    The Agriculture Department has stated that the WIC program, which provides food benefits for women, infants, and children, will continue operating “for the foreseeable future” using tariff revenue to remain functional.

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  • Israel prepares to welcome the last living hostages from Gaza

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    Hamas released seven hostages into the custody of the Red Cross on Monday, the first to be released as part of a breakthrough ceasefire after two years of war between Israel and Hamas in the devastated Gaza Strip.There was no immediate information on their condition. Hamas has said 20 living hostages will be exchanged for over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.Video above: Israel prepares to welcome the last living hostages from Gaza as a ceasefire holdsFamilies and friends of hostages broke out into wild cheers as Israeli television channels announced that the hostages were in the hands of the Red Cross. Tens of thousands of Israelis were watching the transfers at public screenings across the country, with a major event being held in Tel Aviv.Palestinians awaited the release of hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump was arriving in the region along with other leaders to discuss the U.S.-proposed deal and postwar plans. A surge of humanitarian aid was expected into famine-stricken Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless.While major questions remain about the future of Hamas and Gaza, the exchange of hostages and prisoners marked a key step toward ending the deadliest war ever between Israel and the militant group.The ceasefire, which began noon Friday (0900 GMT), is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Hamas militant group.The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, that killed some 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. The war in Gaza has killed over 67,000 Palestinians, local health officials there say.Israelis on Monday prepared to welcome home the last 20 living hostages from devastated Gaza and mourn the return of the dead, in the key exchange of the breakthrough ceasefire after two years of war.Palestinians awaited the release of hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump was arriving in the region along with other leaders to discuss the U.S.-proposed deal and postwar plans. A surge of humanitarian aid was expected into famine-stricken Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless.While major questions remain about the future of Hamas and Gaza, the exchange of hostages and prisoners marked a key step toward ending the deadliest war ever between Israel and the militant group.Living hostages expected firstHamas released a list early Monday morning of the 20 living hostages it will free as part of the ceasefire.Major Israeli TV stations were airing special overnight broadcasts ahead of the hostages’ release as anticipation grew. People began to gather near a large screen in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv before dawn.“It’s very exciting,” said Meir Kaller, who spent a sleepless night there.Video below: President Trump to visit Middle East amid U.S.-mediated ceasefireThe hostages’ return caps a painful chapter for Israel. Since they were captured in the October 2023 Hamas attack that ignited the war, newscasts have marked their days in captivity and Israelis have worn yellow pins and ribbons in solidarity. Tens of thousands have joined their families in weekly demonstrations calling for their release.As the war dragged on, demonstrators accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dragging his feet for political purposes, even as he accused Hamas of intransigence. Last week, under heavy international pressure and increasing isolation for Israel, the bitter enemies agreed to the ceasefire.With the hostages’ release, the sense of urgency around the war for many Israelis will be effectively over.Israel expects the living hostages to be released together Monday. They will be handed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and then to the Israeli military, which will take them to the Reim military base to be reunited with families.It is unlikely that the remains of up to 28 other hostages will be returned at the same time. An international task force will work to locate deceased hostages who are not returned within 72 hours, said Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the hostages and the missing.The timing has not been announced for the release of Palestinian prisoners. They include 250 people serving life sentences for convictions in attacks on Israelis, in addition to 1,700 seized from Gaza during the war and held without charge. They will be returned to the West Bank or Gaza or sent into exile.While Israel considers the prisoners to be terrorists, Palestinians view them as freedom fighters against Israeli occupation. Israel has warned Palestinians in the West Bank against celebrating after people are released, according to a prisoner’s family and a Palestinian official familiar with the plans. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution.Red Cross vehicles were seen driving in both Gaza and Israel early Monday.Trump in Israel and EgyptTrump was first visiting Israel, where a White House schedule said he will meet with families of the hostages and speak at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Vice President JD Vance said Trump was likely to meet with newly freed hostages.“The war is over,” Trump asserted to reporters as he departed, adding he thought the ceasefire would hold.Trump will continue to Egypt, where President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s office said he will co-chair a “peace summit” Monday with regional and international leaders.Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, will attend, a judge and adviser to Abbas, Mahmoud al-Habbash, told The Associated Press. Netanyahu has rejected any role in postwar Gaza for Abbas, though the U.S. plan leaves the possibility open if his Palestinian Authority undergoes reforms. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.Other key questions in the ceasefire deal have yet to be resolved, including the future governance of Gaza and who will pay for a billion-dollar reconstruction process. Israel wants to ensure that the weakened Hamas disarms, and Netanyahu has warned Israel could do it “the hard way.” Hamas refuses to disarm and wants to ensure Israel pulls its troops completely out of Gaza.The Israeli military has withdrawn from much of Gaza City, the southern city of Khan Younis and other areas. Troops remain in most of the southern city of Rafah, towns of Gaza’s far north and the wide strip along Gaza’s border with Israel.Under the U.S. plan, an international body will govern Gaza, overseeing Palestinian technocrats running day-to-day affairs. Hamas has said Gaza’s government should be worked out among Palestinians.The plan calls for an Arab-led international security force in Gaza, along with Palestinian police trained by Egypt and Jordan. It said Israeli forces would leave areas as those forces deploy. About 200 U.S. troops are now in Israel to monitor the ceasefire.The plan also mentions the possibility of a future Palestinian state, another nonstarter for Netanyahu.‘Much of Gaza is a wasteland’The United Nations has said Israel so far has approved 190,000 metric tons of aid to enter Gaza, which was besieged after Israel ended the previous ceasefire in March.The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza said the amount of aid entering was expected to increase Sunday to around 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the agreement.“Much of Gaza is a wasteland,” U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the AP on Sunday. He said the U.N. has a plan for the next two months to restore basic medical and other services, bring in thousands of tons of food and fuel and remove rubble.Two years of warThe war began when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.Video below: Vigil held for Israeli hostages in Northwest BaltimoreIn Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.The toll will grow as bodies are pulled from rubble previously made inaccessible by fighting.The war has destroyed large swaths of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its 2 million residents. It has also triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.Federman reported from Truro, Massachusetts. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Jalal Bwaitel in Ramallah, West Bank, and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.

    CAIRO, Cairo Governorate —

    Hamas released seven hostages into the custody of the Red Cross on Monday, the first to be released as part of a breakthrough ceasefire after two years of war between Israel and Hamas in the devastated Gaza Strip.

    There was no immediate information on their condition. Hamas has said 20 living hostages will be exchanged for over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

    Video above: Israel prepares to welcome the last living hostages from Gaza as a ceasefire holds

    Families and friends of hostages broke out into wild cheers as Israeli television channels announced that the hostages were in the hands of the Red Cross. Tens of thousands of Israelis were watching the transfers at public screenings across the country, with a major event being held in Tel Aviv.

    Palestinians awaited the release of hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump was arriving in the region along with other leaders to discuss the U.S.-proposed deal and postwar plans. A surge of humanitarian aid was expected into famine-stricken Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless.

    While major questions remain about the future of Hamas and Gaza, the exchange of hostages and prisoners marked a key step toward ending the deadliest war ever between Israel and the militant group.

    The ceasefire, which began noon Friday (0900 GMT), is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Hamas militant group.

    The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, that killed some 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. The war in Gaza has killed over 67,000 Palestinians, local health officials there say.

    Israelis on Monday prepared to welcome home the last 20 living hostages from devastated Gaza and mourn the return of the dead, in the key exchange of the breakthrough ceasefire after two years of war.

    Palestinians awaited the release of hundreds of prisoners held by Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump was arriving in the region along with other leaders to discuss the U.S.-proposed deal and postwar plans. A surge of humanitarian aid was expected into famine-stricken Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless.

    While major questions remain about the future of Hamas and Gaza, the exchange of hostages and prisoners marked a key step toward ending the deadliest war ever between Israel and the militant group.

    Living hostages expected first

    Hamas released a list early Monday morning of the 20 living hostages it will free as part of the ceasefire.

    Major Israeli TV stations were airing special overnight broadcasts ahead of the hostages’ release as anticipation grew. People began to gather near a large screen in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv before dawn.

    “It’s very exciting,” said Meir Kaller, who spent a sleepless night there.

    Video below: President Trump to visit Middle East amid U.S.-mediated ceasefire

    The hostages’ return caps a painful chapter for Israel. Since they were captured in the October 2023 Hamas attack that ignited the war, newscasts have marked their days in captivity and Israelis have worn yellow pins and ribbons in solidarity. Tens of thousands have joined their families in weekly demonstrations calling for their release.

    As the war dragged on, demonstrators accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dragging his feet for political purposes, even as he accused Hamas of intransigence. Last week, under heavy international pressure and increasing isolation for Israel, the bitter enemies agreed to the ceasefire.

    With the hostages’ release, the sense of urgency around the war for many Israelis will be effectively over.

    Israel expects the living hostages to be released together Monday. They will be handed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and then to the Israeli military, which will take them to the Reim military base to be reunited with families.

    Emilio Morenatti

    People gather prior to the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, at a plaza known as the hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025.

    It is unlikely that the remains of up to 28 other hostages will be returned at the same time. An international task force will work to locate deceased hostages who are not returned within 72 hours, said Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the hostages and the missing.

    The timing has not been announced for the release of Palestinian prisoners. They include 250 people serving life sentences for convictions in attacks on Israelis, in addition to 1,700 seized from Gaza during the war and held without charge. They will be returned to the West Bank or Gaza or sent into exile.

    While Israel considers the prisoners to be terrorists, Palestinians view them as freedom fighters against Israeli occupation. Israel has warned Palestinians in the West Bank against celebrating after people are released, according to a prisoner’s family and a Palestinian official familiar with the plans. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution.

    Red Cross vehicles were seen driving in both Gaza and Israel early Monday.

    Trump in Israel and Egypt

    Trump was first visiting Israel, where a White House schedule said he will meet with families of the hostages and speak at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Vice President JD Vance said Trump was likely to meet with newly freed hostages.

    “The war is over,” Trump asserted to reporters as he departed, adding he thought the ceasefire would hold.

    Trump will continue to Egypt, where President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s office said he will co-chair a “peace summit” Monday with regional and international leaders.

    Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, will attend, a judge and adviser to Abbas, Mahmoud al-Habbash, told The Associated Press. Netanyahu has rejected any role in postwar Gaza for Abbas, though the U.S. plan leaves the possibility open if his Palestinian Authority undergoes reforms. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.

    Other key questions in the ceasefire deal have yet to be resolved, including the future governance of Gaza and who will pay for a billion-dollar reconstruction process. Israel wants to ensure that the weakened Hamas disarms, and Netanyahu has warned Israel could do it “the hard way.” Hamas refuses to disarm and wants to ensure Israel pulls its troops completely out of Gaza.

    The Israeli military has withdrawn from much of Gaza City, the southern city of Khan Younis and other areas. Troops remain in most of the southern city of Rafah, towns of Gaza’s far north and the wide strip along Gaza’s border with Israel.

    Under the U.S. plan, an international body will govern Gaza, overseeing Palestinian technocrats running day-to-day affairs. Hamas has said Gaza’s government should be worked out among Palestinians.

    The plan calls for an Arab-led international security force in Gaza, along with Palestinian police trained by Egypt and Jordan. It said Israeli forces would leave areas as those forces deploy. About 200 U.S. troops are now in Israel to monitor the ceasefire.

    The plan also mentions the possibility of a future Palestinian state, another nonstarter for Netanyahu.

    ‘Much of Gaza is a wasteland’

    The United Nations has said Israel so far has approved 190,000 metric tons of aid to enter Gaza, which was besieged after Israel ended the previous ceasefire in March.

    The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza said the amount of aid entering was expected to increase Sunday to around 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the agreement.

    “Much of Gaza is a wasteland,” U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the AP on Sunday. He said the U.N. has a plan for the next two months to restore basic medical and other services, bring in thousands of tons of food and fuel and remove rubble.

    Two years of war

    The war began when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.

    Video below: Vigil held for Israeli hostages in Northwest Baltimore

    In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

    The toll will grow as bodies are pulled from rubble previously made inaccessible by fighting.

    The war has destroyed large swaths of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its 2 million residents. It has also triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.

    Federman reported from Truro, Massachusetts. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Jalal Bwaitel in Ramallah, West Bank, and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.

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  • Hostages freed, prisoners released, as Trump hails ‘golden age’ in Mideast

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    REIM, Israel — Israelis and Palestinians cried, cheered and gave thanks Monday as Hamas militants released their last 20 living hostages in exchange for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

    It was the first phase of a ceasefire deal put in place last month even as President Trump — the driving force behind the agreement — gave what amounted to a victory speech in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, before departing for a peace summit in Egypt.

    Greeted with a standing ovation before he said a word, Trump heralded the deal as ushering in “a golden age” for Israel and the Middle East.

    “After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today, the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace,” he said.

    Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah celebrate the release of prisoners by Israel on Oct. 13, 2025.

    (Issam H.S. Alasmar / Anadolu / Getty Images)

    His words belied the many complications facing an agreement that remains far from a comprehensive road map that could definitively end a war that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and pulverized much of the Gaza Strip, even as it scarred Israeli society with the deaths of 1,200 people and brought unprecedented international condemnation of the country’s leadership.

    The night before the scheduled morning handover, tens of thousands Israelis streamed into Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, as well as to the roadside near southern Israel’s Reim military base, where the hostages were to be brought after their release.

    A party atmosphere prevailed on the road to Reim, as Sikorsky Super Stallion helicopters landed in a dusty field to the cheers of a nearby crowd, which raised Israeli and American flags and swayed to a song whose lyrics promised, “I’m coming home, tell the world I’m coming home.”

    Passing cars honked in salute, with one passenger rolling down her window and shouting, “The kidnapped are returning!”

    “Since Thursday my smile has been stuck, my jaw hurts from it, after two years of not doing it at all,” said Sarit Kenny, 65, a resident of a kibbutz nearby who said she had attended a rally every week since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, to call for the hostages’ return.

    She pointed to the American flag in her hand, saying she wanted it to be an expression of her appreciation of Trump.

    A smiling woman with long dark hair, in a white top, holds a smiling young man's face with her hands

    Matan Zangauker is reunited with his mother at the initial reception point after his release by the militant group Hamas.

    (Israel Defense Forces / Associated Press)

    “He’s the one who actually did this. He did what our prime minister didn’t do,” she said.

    Jonathan Kaneh, 46, who owned a polymer factory in the kibbutz of Orim, saw in the release a more somber moment. On Oct. 7, Hamas militants on a truck shot at him as he was riding his bicycle; the bullet grazed his arm but he was otherwise unhurt. At the same time, the war precipitated by the attack had forced him to shutter his business.

    He had arrived early at the site to mark the start of the attack two years ago, which began at 6:29 a.m.

    “It was important to me to come here, to close this circle. A lot of people, their lives stopped in this place,” he said, his voice turning deep with emotion.

    For many others, the day represented a moment combining religion and the sense of history, with the hostages’ release falling on the religious holiday of Simchat Torah, just as their kidnapping had been on Simchat Torah two years earlier.

    “It’s my luck to be here now, and most of the people are feeling same, that we had to be here,” said 70-year-old Uzi Bar-On, as he sat on a lawn chair and made coffee on a portable stove, with Jimmy, his dog, by his side.

    People in dark clothes and one in a T-shirt bearing images of two men, hug one another

    At a gathering at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, people react in anticipation of the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

    (Oded Balilty / Associated Press)

    Bar-On said that the last two years had seen him consumed with thoughts of revenge against Hamas and the people of Gaza, but that the hostage release could help Israelis to move on.

    “First I want to see the hostages. When I see them with my own eyes, not through the press, then maybe I can start to think differently,” he said.

    When the convoy of vans and military vehicles bearing the first group passed by, the crowd erupted in a flurry of cheers.

    It seemed timed to coincide with the moment Air Force One was about to land at Ben Gurion International Airport, before Trump would be whisked away to Jerusalem to meet hostage families before his Knesset address.

    Aside from touting the achievements of his administration (and impugning former Presidents Obama and Biden), Trump gave a full-throated endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a deeply unpopular figure with many Israelis, who blame their leader for embroiling the country in the war in the first place and accuse him of prolonging it for his own political purposes.

    But Trump insisted that Netanyahu did “a great job,” and diving into Israel’s domestic affairs, urged the president to pardon Netanyahu of corruption charges he’s facing. Trump also heaped praise on envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner for their efforts in brokering the deal, while musing about the idea of Israel making peace with Iran.

    Later he flew to Egypt for a summit in Sharm el Sheikh, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi and a raft of Arab and Islamic leaders to discuss the next steps for Gaza.

    “We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us,” Trump said at the summit, which saw Sisi award Egypt’s highest civilian honor to Trump.

    Netanyahu did not attend, with his office saying that the timing conflicted with the Jewish holiday.

    A blond man, in dark suit and red tie, extends his palm while speaking at a lectern, with a blue-and-white flag behind him

    President Trump addresses the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem on Oct. 13, 2025.

    (Evelyn Hockstein / Associated Press)

    The Trump-brokered deal stipulates Hamas will release the bodies of 28 hostages who died in captivity, with each one returned in exchange for 15 bodies of Palestinians killed during Oct. 7.

    Four bodies were released Monday. In recent days, Hamas said it was facing difficulties retrieving corpses from the rubble of Gaza’s war-ravaged buildings.

    A few hours after the release of the second batch of hostages, buses carrying about 1,700 Gaza residents detained in Israel without charge over the last two years left for the Palestinian enclave, along with 250 prisoners serving life sentences for convictions in attacks on Israelis.

    Two busloads of 88 people were released in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where families assembled at the Ramallah Cultural Palace — a place normally reserved for performances — to greet relatives, some they hadn’t seen in decades.

    When the buses arrived, Palestinian security forces tried to maintain order but were soon overwhelmed by the crowd. The prisoners and detainees emerged with their heads shaved, looking gaunt and pale in the afternoon sun — a measure, many said, of the harsh treatment they received.

    Despite their joy at the release, few were willing to be interviewed, saying Israeli authorities had warned them to not celebrate or speak to the media under threat of rearrest.

    “When I saw all the people here, we forgot all of our pain. But our brothers detained inside are still suffering,” said one released prisoner who had spent 20 years in an Israeli jail. One hand held a cigarette, while the other carried a phone he was using to talk to his niece for the first time.

    “I’m tired, but thank God for everything,” said Yahya Nimr Ahmad Ibrahim, a Fatah member arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 23 years. Wrapped in a Palestinian black-and-white kaffiyeh, he looked frail as family members carried him on their shoulders in celebration.

    The list of Palestinian detainees to be released was a point of contention up to the very last minute, according to Palestinian rights groups, which count at least 100 additional prisoners with lifetime sentences who would not be released.

    The head of the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Raed Abu Al-Hummus, said the commission had received hundreds of phone calls from people enraged that their loved ones weren’t being released.

    People make the peace sign as they peer out the window of a bus

    Palestinians rejoice over their release from Israeli prisons.

    (Ayman Nobani / DPA / Picture Alliance / AP Images)

    For others, the prisoner release was bittersweet: 154 of the 250 prisoners were to be exiled to Gaza, Egypt, Malaysia or Turkey, and with their family members subject to travel restrictions, it was unlikely they would see them anytime soon.

    Elsewhere in the crowd, bewilderment laced with anger when families who had been informed that their loved ones would be released discovered they weren’t on the buses after all.

    “We don’t know what happened. The Israeli army called me last night, told me my brother was coming here. They even came and smashed up our house so we wouldn’t celebrate. Then we heard he’s to be exiled, but no one knows where he is,” said Raed Imran, the brother of Mohammad Imran, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member who was serving 13 life sentences.

    Beside him was his sister, Ibtisam, crying.

    “We prepared all his favorite foods, all of them,” she said, barely able to keep her voice steady from crying. “We’ve been working since two days for this moment. We even have the dishes in the car, ready for him when he came out.”

    Imran began to tear up as well.

    “We just don’t know. No one has told us anything,” he said.

    As the afternoon sun waned, the crowd began to thin out, save for a few families asking anyone who seemed in authority to give them information about their missing loved ones. But soon enough, they too walked away.

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    Nabih Bulos

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  • 5 hospitalized after helicopter crashes in busy oceanfront area of Huntington Beach

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    Five people, including a child, were hospitalized when a helicopter crashed in the Southern California city of Huntington Beach on Saturday afternoon.It happened just after 2 p.m. local time near a parking lot off Pacific Coast Highway, between Beach Boulevard and Twin Dolphins Drive, according to Huntington Beach firefighters. City officials tell CBS News that the two people on the helicopter were safely pulled from the wreckage. Three pedestrians on the street were also injured in the incident, and all five people were taken to the hospital for treatment. None of their conditions was known.Police closed PCH between Huntington Street and Beach Boulevard at around 3 p.m., as they began to investigate the crash. They asked people to avoid the area and use alternate routes for at least several hours after the closure was put into place. A dramatic video posted on social media shows the helicopter spinning several times before crashing into palm trees and the outdoor stairway of the pedestrian bridge that runs over PCH to the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa. Other video footage shows an object falling from the helicopter moments before it plummeted from the sky. With SkyCal over the scene, scattered debris was seen in the beach access parking lot, a large part of which was blocked off by police tape. The tail of the aircraft broke off in the crash, with the rest of the helicopter still wedged between the staircase and palm trees as of 4:30 p.m.There were several other small helicopters parked in the parking lot near where the crash happened, just in front of the Hyatt Regency and Waterfront Beach Resort. An “exclusive helicopter landing party” was being hosted by MD Helicopters at the Offshore 9 Rooftop Lounge on Saturday afternoon, where attendees were invited to “watch helicopters arrive from a bird’s eye view.” The landing party was scheduled ahead of the Cars ‘N Copters On the Coast main event on Sunday.Event organizers said that the event was not going to be canceled. “We are sending our prayers out to all involved in the unfortunate incident today,” said a statement. “Our plan for now is to move forward with our event tomorrow, Sunday, October 12th. We will advise everyone at the earliest possible opportunity if that plan changes.”Witnesses said that the helicopter appeared to dip towards the bridge before it lost control and crashed. “You can hear this odd sound that didn’t sound right,” said Kevin Bullat, who saw the scene unfold. “I looked out and I see the helicopter spiraling out of control. … My friend saw shrapnel, or just debris, catapulting across PCH.”It’s unclear what caused the helicopter to crash. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified of the crash, city officials said. The helicopter was a Bell 222, which is powered by two turboshaft engines, and was manufactured in 1980.

    KCAL,KCBS —

    Five people, including a child, were hospitalized when a helicopter crashed in the Southern California city of Huntington Beach on Saturday afternoon.

    It happened just after 2 p.m. local time near a parking lot off Pacific Coast Highway, between Beach Boulevard and Twin Dolphins Drive, according to Huntington Beach firefighters.

    City officials tell CBS News that the two people on the helicopter were safely pulled from the wreckage. Three pedestrians on the street were also injured in the incident, and all five people were taken to the hospital for treatment. None of their conditions was known.

    Police closed PCH between Huntington Street and Beach Boulevard at around 3 p.m., as they began to investigate the crash. They asked people to avoid the area and use alternate routes for at least several hours after the closure was put into place.

    A dramatic video posted on social media shows the helicopter spinning several times before crashing into palm trees and the outdoor stairway of the pedestrian bridge that runs over PCH to the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa.

    Other video footage shows an object falling from the helicopter moments before it plummeted from the sky.

    With SkyCal over the scene, scattered debris was seen in the beach access parking lot, a large part of which was blocked off by police tape. The tail of the aircraft broke off in the crash, with the rest of the helicopter still wedged between the staircase and palm trees as of 4:30 p.m.

    There were several other small helicopters parked in the parking lot near where the crash happened, just in front of the Hyatt Regency and Waterfront Beach Resort. An “exclusive helicopter landing party” was being hosted by MD Helicopters at the Offshore 9 Rooftop Lounge on Saturday afternoon, where attendees were invited to “watch helicopters arrive from a bird’s eye view.” The landing party was scheduled ahead of the Cars ‘N Copters On the Coast main event on Sunday.

    Event organizers said that the event was not going to be canceled.

    “We are sending our prayers out to all involved in the unfortunate incident today,” said a statement. “Our plan for now is to move forward with our event tomorrow, Sunday, October 12th. We will advise everyone at the earliest possible opportunity if that plan changes.”

    Witnesses said that the helicopter appeared to dip towards the bridge before it lost control and crashed.

    “You can hear this odd sound that didn’t sound right,” said Kevin Bullat, who saw the scene unfold. “I looked out and I see the helicopter spiraling out of control. … My friend saw shrapnel, or just debris, catapulting across PCH.”

    It’s unclear what caused the helicopter to crash. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified of the crash, city officials said.

    The helicopter was a Bell 222, which is powered by two turboshaft engines, and was manufactured in 1980.

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