An 11-year-old boy was injured in a shooting that occurred in Mims on Friday, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies responded to Parrish Medical Center in Titusville around 4 p.m. in response to a report of the shooting, the sheriff’s office said. The incident occurred in the area of Kennedy Street in Mims.According to BCSO, it’s unlikely the child was the target, and the round fired was “likely” intended for the people he was with. No other injuries were reported, BCSO said.WESH 2 has reached out for more information.>> This is a developing story and will be updated as new information is released.
MIMS, Fla. —
An 11-year-old boy was injured in a shooting that occurred in Mims on Friday, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to Parrish Medical Center in Titusville around 4 p.m. in response to a report of the shooting, the sheriff’s office said.
The incident occurred in the area of Kennedy Street in Mims.
According to BCSO, it’s unlikely the child was the target, and the round fired was “likely” intended for the people he was with.
No other injuries were reported, BCSO said.
WESH 2 has reached out for more information.
>> This is a developing story and will be updated as new information is released.
Top Los Angeles federal prosecutor Bill Essayli faced blistering criticism from gun rights groups, including the NRA, after he posted on X Saturday about the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers.
Essayli, the first assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, wrote: “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”
Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, was believed to be a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry,” according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. Bystander videos show Pretti holding a phone, but nothing appearing to be a weapon appeared in those that circulated in the hours after the shooting.
In response to Essayli’s tweet, the NRA posted on X: “This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong.”
The post continued: “Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”
After receiving significant backlash, Essayli accused another gun rights organization of “adding words to mischaracterize my statement.”
“I never said it’s legally justified to shoot law-abiding concealed carriers,” he posted on X. “My comment addressed agitators approaching law enforcement with a gun and refusing to disarm.
“My advice stands: If you value your life, do not aggressively approach law enforcement while armed. If they reasonably perceive a threat and you fail to immediately disarm, they are legally permitted to use deadly force.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in L.A. referred The Times to Essayli’s post on X clarifying what he initially said. He declined further comment.
Gov. Gavin Newsom joined in the criticism, writing on X, “Wow. Even the NRA thinks Trump’s DOJ stooge in California has gone too far for claiming federal agents were ‘legally justified’ to kill Alex Pretti.”
Earlier, a 2nd Amendment lobbying group, Gun Owners of America, also criticized Essayli.
“We condemn the untoward comments of @USAttyEssayli. Federal agents are not ‘highly likely’ to be ‘legally justified’ in ‘shooting’ concealed carry licensees who approach while lawfully carrying a firearm,” the group posted on X. “The Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms while protesting — a right the federal government must not infringe upon.”
Essayli’s post received a community note — a crowdsourced fact-check — noting that “the U.S. Constitution (particularly the 2nd, 4th, and 14th amendments) prohibit officers from shooting citizens merely for possessing a weapon that is not an “imminent threat.”
The shooting drew a large crowd of protesters in a city that had already seen widespread demonstrations after the fatal shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7.
Essayli, a former Riverside County assemblyman, was appointed as the region’s interim top federal prosecutor by U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi last April.
Since taking office, he has doggedly pursued President Trump’s agenda, championing hard-line immigration enforcement in Southern California, often using the president’s language verbatim at news conferences.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is “inclined” to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after its top executive was skeptical about oil investment efforts in the country after the toppling of former President Nicolás Maduro.“I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump said to reporters on Air Force One as he departed West Palm Beach, Florida. “They’re playing too cute.”Video above: President Trump asks oil giants for $100B to restart Venezuela’s oil industryDuring a meeting Friday with oil executives, Trump tried to assuage the concerns of the companies and said they would be dealing directly with the U.S., rather than the Venezuelan government.Some, however, weren’t convinced.“If we look at the commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today it’s uninvestable,” said Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company.An ExxonMobil spokesperson did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment.Also on Friday, Trump signed an executive order that seeks to ensure that Venezuelan oil revenue remains protected from being used in judicial proceedings.The executive order, made public on Saturday, says that if the funds were to be seized for such use, it could “undermine critical U.S. efforts to ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela.” Venezuela has a history of state asset seizures, ongoing U.S. sanctions and decades of political uncertainty.Getting U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela and help rebuild the country’s infrastructure is a top priority of the Trump administration after Maduro’s capture.The White House is framing the effort to “run” Venezuela in economic terms, and Trump has seized tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, has said the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan crude, and plans to control sales worldwide indefinitely.Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Florida.
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE —
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is “inclined” to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after its top executive was skeptical about oil investment efforts in the country after the toppling of former President Nicolás Maduro.
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump said to reporters on Air Force One as he departed West Palm Beach, Florida. “They’re playing too cute.”
Video above: President Trump asks oil giants for $100B to restart Venezuela’s oil industry
During a meeting Friday with oil executives, Trump tried to assuage the concerns of the companies and said they would be dealing directly with the U.S., rather than the Venezuelan government.
Some, however, weren’t convinced.
“If we look at the commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today it’s uninvestable,” said Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company.
An ExxonMobil spokesperson did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment.
Also on Friday, Trump signed an executive order that seeks to ensure that Venezuelan oil revenue remains protected from being used in judicial proceedings.
The executive order, made public on Saturday, says that if the funds were to be seized for such use, it could “undermine critical U.S. efforts to ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela.” Venezuela has a history of state asset seizures, ongoing U.S. sanctions and decades of political uncertainty.
Getting U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela and help rebuild the country’s infrastructure is a top priority of the Trump administration after Maduro’s capture.
The White House is framing the effort to “run” Venezuela in economic terms, and Trump has seized tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, has said the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan crude, and plans to control sales worldwide indefinitely.
Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Florida.
The U.S. has launched another round of retaliatory strikes against the Islamic State in Syria following last month’s ambush that killed two U.S. soldiers and one American civilian interpreter in the country.The large-scale strikes, conducted by the U.S. alongside partner forces, occurred around 12:30 p.m. ET, according to U.S. Central Command. The strikes hit multiple Islamic State targets across Syria.Video above: U.S. airstrikes target ISIS militants in NigeriaSaturday’s strikes are part of a broader operation that is part of President Donald Trump’s response to the deadly ISIS attack that killed Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, the civilian interpreter, in Palmyra last month.”Our message remains strong: if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement Saturday.The administration is calling the response to the Palmyra attacks Operation Hawkeye Strike. Both Torres-Tovar and Howard were members of the Iowa National Guard.It launched Dec. 19 with another large-scale strike that hit 70 targets across central Syria that had IS infrastructure and weapons.
WASHINGTON —
The U.S. has launched another round of retaliatory strikes against the Islamic State in Syria following last month’s ambush that killed two U.S. soldiers and one American civilian interpreter in the country.
The large-scale strikes, conducted by the U.S. alongside partner forces, occurred around 12:30 p.m. ET, according to U.S. Central Command. The strikes hit multiple Islamic State targets across Syria.
Video above: U.S. airstrikes target ISIS militants in Nigeria
Saturday’s strikes are part of a broader operation that is part of President Donald Trump’s response to the deadly ISIS attack that killed Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, the civilian interpreter, in Palmyra last month.
“Our message remains strong: if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement Saturday.
The administration is calling the response to the Palmyra attacks Operation Hawkeye Strike. Both Torres-Tovar and Howard were members of the Iowa National Guard.
It launched Dec. 19 with another large-scale strike that hit 70 targets across central Syria that had IS infrastructure and weapons.
When word came of Rob Reiner’s senseless death, America fell into familiar rites of mourning and remembrance. A waterfall of tributes poured in from the twin worlds — Hollywood and politics — that the actor, director and liberal activist inhabited.
Trump’s response, fairly shimmying on Reiner’s grave as he wrongly attributed his death to an act of political vengeance, managed to plumb new depths of heartlessness and cruelty; more than a decade into his acrid emergence as a political force, the president still manages to stoop to surprise.
But as vile and tasteless as Trump’s self-pitying statement was — Reiner, he averred, was a victim of “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and, essentially, got what he deserved — it also pointed out a singular truism of his vengeful residency in the Oval Office.
Still, each acted as though he was a president of all the people, not just those who voted him into office, contributed lavishly to his campaign or blindly cheered his every move, however reckless or ill-considered.
As Trump has repeatedly made clear, he sees the world in black-and-white, red-versus-blue, us-versus-them.
By noteworthy contrast, when a gunman killed Minnesota’s Democratic former House speaker, Melissa Hortman, Trump couldn’t be bothered with even a simple act of grace. Asked if he’d called to offer his condolences to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a personal friend of Hortman, Trump responded, “Why waste time?”
This is not normal, much less humane.
This is not politics as usual, or someone rewarding allies and seeking to disadvantage the political opposition, as all presidents have done. This is the nation’s chief executive using the immense powers of his office and the world’s largest, most resonant megaphone to deliver retribution, ruin people’s lives, inflict misery — and revel in the pain.
There were the usual denunciations of Trump’s callous and contemptuous response to Reiner’s stabbing death.
“I’d expect to hear something like this from a drunk guy at a bar, not the president of the United States,” said Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who is retiring rather than seeking reelection in 2026. (Which may be why he was so candid and spoke so bracingly.)
But this time, the criticisms did not just come from the typical anti-Trump chorus, or heterodox Republicans like Bacon and MAGA-stalwart-turned-taunter Marjorie Taylor Greene. Even some of the president’s longest and loudest advocates felt compelled to speak out.
“This is a dreadful thing to say about a man who just got murdered by his troubled son,” British broadcaster Piers Morgan posted on X. “Delete it, Mr. President.”
More telling, though, was the response from the Republican Party’s leadership.
“I don’t have much more to say about it, other than it’s a tragedy, and my sympathies and prayers go out to the Reiner family and to their friends,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN when asked about Trump’s response. House Speaker Mike Johnson responded in a similarly nonresponsive vein.
Clearly, the see-and-hear-no-evil impulse remains strong in the upper echelons of the GOP — at least until more election returns show the price Republicans are paying as Trump keeps putting personal vendettas ahead of voters’ personal finances.
One of the enduring reasons supporters say they back the president is Trump’s supposed honesty. (Never mind the many voluminously documented lies he has told on a near-constant basis.)
Honesty, in this sense, means saying things that a more temperate and careful politician would never utter, and it’s an odd thing to condone in the nation’s foremost leader. Those with even a modicum of caring and compassion, who would never tell a friend they’re ugly or call a neighbor stupid — and who expect the same respect and decency in return — routinely ignore or explain away such casual cruelty when it comes from this president.
Those who insist Trump can do no wrong, who defend his every foul utterance or engage in but-what-about relativism to minimize the import, need not remain in his constant thrall.
When Trump steps so egregiously over a line, when his malice is so extravagant and spitefulness so manifest — as it was when he mocked Reiner in death — then, even the most fervent of the president’s backers should call him out.
Do it, and reclaim a little piece of your humanity.
Cleanup was underway Wednesday in a wooded, remote area of Ventura County after about 420 gallons of crude oil inundated a waterway, officials said, and crews were working to beat the upcoming storm.
An above-ground storage tank operated by Carbon California spilled the oil into a remote tributary of Sisar Creek near Ojai, contaminating about three-quarters of a mile of the waterway, according to state wildlife officials.
Although the waterway and spill are small compared to some other major oil spills, “everything counts,” said Kristina Meris, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response.
“There’s wildlife, there’s the environment, and people live in these areas,” she said. “We want to clean up everything we possibly can as quickly as we can safely.”
Initial reports of an oil spill were received Tuesday afternoon, Meris said. But steep terrain, limited road access and the approaching severe weather are complicating the cleanup.
Responders reached the creek bed Wednesday and “hit it pretty hard today,” Meris said, setting up a safety zone around the site. Officials will also conduct air quality tests to evaluate health hazards.
“It’s a super remote and super difficult area to get to,” Meris told The Times. “The only concern for the response tomorrow will be the bad weather coming in, so the safety of our responders could become an issue.”
The spill originated from a damaged gas tank owned by Carbon California, a company that operates oil and gas wells in the state, particularly in Ventura County. Officials said the cause remained under investigation, but the company has been designated the responsible party and is participating in a unified command with state and local agencies, which also includes personnel from the Environmental Protection Agency, Fish and Wildlife and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
Cleanup teams are skimming and pumping oil from the tributary and deploying absorbent booms and pads to recover oil trapped along the creek bed. Crews have been able to contain much of the spill, Meris said, but storm conditions could hamper their efforts.
They expect to begin reporting recovery totals Thursday morning, though those numbers will likely reflect an “oily water mixture,” not pure crude. “Sometimes it can be a little bit higher than the number [of gallons spilled] because there will be water mixed in,” she said.
No wildlife had been reported harmed as of Wednesday evening, but Meris emphasized that swift response was critical to preventing harm.
“The quicker you respond, the quicker you get this cleaned up, the better for the environment,” she said.
The spill site is far from major roadways, part of what officials described as a rugged stretch of watershed feeding into Sisar Creek. Cleanup operations will pause overnight for safety but are expected to resume Thursday morning, weather permitting.
Officials did not immediately provide a timeline for a complete cleanup but said the response would continue until the creek met “established environmental endpoints” and recoverable oil product was removed.
THANK YOU DAVID. MEANWHILE, SNAP RECIPIENTS ARE STILL STRUGGLING AS THE SHUTDOWN CONTINUES. JUST YESTERDAY, THE SUPREME COURT LET THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TEMPORARILY WITHHOLD ABOUT $4 BILLION IN BENEFITS. BUT HELP IS IN THE WORKS AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, THE VOLUSIA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, AS WELL, AND THE JEWISH FEDERATION PARTNERED TO PUT TOGETHER A FOOD DRIVE IN LESS THAN FOUR DAYS. TODAY. THE CARS KEPT COMING AND THE FOOD KEPT PILING UP UNTIL THEY COLLECTED 200,000 POUNDS OF FOOD, ENOUGH TO FEED 5000 FAMILIES WHO DEPEND ON SNAP. THAT’S BEEN AFFECTED BY THE LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN NOW IN U.S. HISTORY. THIS COMMUNITY DID THIS TOGETHER, AND IN A WORLD WHERE IT FEELS LIKE COMPASSION IS LOST, THIS COUNTY HAS SHOWN COMPASSION IS ALIVE AND WELL. AND I’LL TELL YOU WHAT’S MORE INSPIRING THAN THAT. ARE YOU AMAZED? STUNNED? IT WAS BREATHTAKING TO SEE THAT LINE THAT STILL. I MEAN, HERE’S PEOPLE STILL PULLING IN, DROPPING OFF BAGS AND BAGS AND BAGS OF FOOD AND THAT STUFF THAT WAS LAYING IN YOUR GARAGE WHEN WHEN YOU HAD A FLOOD. THESE WERE PEOPLE WHO, YOU KNOW, THEY WENT TO ALDI, THEY WENT TO WALMART, THEY WENT TO PUBLIX, GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND. TOMORROW AT THE SPEEDWAY, FOLKS IN NEED CAN TAKE FOOD. THAT WAS COLLECTED TODAY, BUT THERE ARE TWO REQUIREMENTS. YOU HAVE TO SHOW PROOF THAT YOU ARE IN THE SNAP PROGRAM AND THAT YOU ARE A VOLUSIA COUNTY RESIDENT.
‘Compassion is alive and well’: Volusia County food drive helps SNAP recipients
As the government shutdown continues, SNAP recipients are struggling, but Volusia County residents have rallied to collect 200,000 pounds of food for families affected by the suspension of benefits.Just yesterday, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to temporarily withhold about $4 billion in benefits. In response, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and the Jewish Federation organized a food drive at Daytona International Speedway in under four days.Today, cars arrived, and food donations accumulated until they reached 200,000 pounds, enough to feed 5,000 families who rely on the SNAP program.Rabbi Rob Lennick of the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties said, “We did this together, and in a world where it feels like compassion is lost, this county has shown compassion is alive and well. And I tell you, what’s more inspiring than that.”Sheriff Mike Chitwood of Volusia County expressed his amazement at the community’s response, saying, “Are you amazed? Stunned. It was breathtaking to see that line. There are still people pulling in and dropping off bags and bags of food. And not stuff that was lying in your garage from when you had a flood. These are people who went to Aldi’s, they went to Walmart, they went to Publix.”Tomorrow at the Speedway, those in need can collect the food gathered today. There are two requirements: proof of participation in the SNAP program and residency in Volusia County. The food distribution will begin at 11 a.m.
Just yesterday, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to temporarily withhold about $4 billion in benefits.
In response, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and the Jewish Federation organized a food drive at Daytona International Speedway in under four days.
Today, cars arrived, and food donations accumulated until they reached 200,000 pounds, enough to feed 5,000 families who rely on the SNAP program.
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Rabbi Rob Lennick of the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties said, “We did this together, and in a world where it feels like compassion is lost, this county has shown compassion is alive and well. And I tell you, what’s more inspiring than that.”
Sheriff Mike Chitwood of Volusia County expressed his amazement at the community’s response, saying, “Are you amazed? Stunned. It was breathtaking to see that line. There are still people pulling in and dropping off bags and bags of food. And not stuff that was lying in your garage from when you had a flood. These are people who went to Aldi’s, they went to Walmart, they went to Publix.”
Tomorrow at the Speedway, those in need can collect the food gathered today. There are two requirements: proof of participation in the SNAP program and residency in Volusia County. The food distribution will begin at 11 a.m.
British police said Sunday that two people remain in life-threatening condition after a mass stabbing attack on a London-bound train the previous evening. Police also said they do not consider the attack to be a terrorist incident.Overnight, police said nine of the 10 people injured were in a life-threatening condition. British Transport Police Superintendent John Loveless said four of those have now been discharged and that one other person had arrived at the hospital on their own, taking the number injured in the attack to 11.He also said that the two people arrested remain in custody and confirmed that they were born in the United Kingdom. One is a 32-year-old Black British man, the other is a 35-year-old man of Caribbean descent, he said.“There is nothing to suggest this is a terrorist incident,” Loveless said.On Saturday night, bloodied passengers had spilled out of the long-distance train when it made an emergency stop in the town of Huntingdon, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of London, where dozens of police waited, soon after multiple stabbings were reported onboard.The police force said that “Plato,” the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to what could be a “marauding terror attack,” was initiated. That declaration was later rescinded but no motive for the attack was disclosed.The attack took place as the train from Doncaster in northern England to London’s King’s Cross station was about halfway through its 2-hour journey and approaching Huntingdon, a market town a few miles northwest of the university city of Cambridge.Passenger Olly Foster told the BBC he heard people shouting “run, run, there’s a guy literally stabbing everyone,” and initially thought it might have been a Halloween prank. But as passengers pushed past him to get away, he noticed his hand was covered in blood from a chair he had leaned on.Emergency services, including armed police and air ambulances, responded quickly as the train drew into Huntingdon. The attack appears to have been contained swiftly after the train arrived at the station, and police officers wearing forensic suits, with a police dog, could be seen on the platform.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his “thoughts are with all those affected” after the “appalling incident.”Paul Bristow, the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said he had heard of “horrendous scenes” on the train.London North Eastern Railway, or LNER, which operates the East Coast Mainline services in the U.K., confirmed the incident had happened on one of its trains and said there would be major disruption on the route until Monday.
British police said Sunday that two people remain in life-threatening condition after a mass stabbing attack on a London-bound train the previous evening. Police also said they do not consider the attack to be a terrorist incident.
Overnight, police said nine of the 10 people injured were in a life-threatening condition. British Transport Police Superintendent John Loveless said four of those have now been discharged and that one other person had arrived at the hospital on their own, taking the number injured in the attack to 11.
He also said that the two people arrested remain in custody and confirmed that they were born in the United Kingdom. One is a 32-year-old Black British man, the other is a 35-year-old man of Caribbean descent, he said.
“There is nothing to suggest this is a terrorist incident,” Loveless said.
CHRIS RADBURN
Emergency personnel inspect a train at the Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire after people were stabbed Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025.
On Saturday night, bloodied passengers had spilled out of the long-distance train when it made an emergency stop in the town of Huntingdon, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of London, where dozens of police waited, soon after multiple stabbings were reported onboard.
The police force said that “Plato,” the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to what could be a “marauding terror attack,” was initiated. That declaration was later rescinded but no motive for the attack was disclosed.
The attack took place as the train from Doncaster in northern England to London’s King’s Cross station was about halfway through its 2-hour journey and approaching Huntingdon, a market town a few miles northwest of the university city of Cambridge.
Passenger Olly Foster told the BBC he heard people shouting “run, run, there’s a guy literally stabbing everyone,” and initially thought it might have been a Halloween prank. But as passengers pushed past him to get away, he noticed his hand was covered in blood from a chair he had leaned on.
Emergency services, including armed police and air ambulances, responded quickly as the train drew into Huntingdon. The attack appears to have been contained swiftly after the train arrived at the station, and police officers wearing forensic suits, with a police dog, could be seen on the platform.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his “thoughts are with all those affected” after the “appalling incident.”
Paul Bristow, the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said he had heard of “horrendous scenes” on the train.
London North Eastern Railway, or LNER, which operates the East Coast Mainline services in the U.K., confirmed the incident had happened on one of its trains and said there would be major disruption on the route until Monday.
People walk through a flooded street following Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on Oct. 30, 2025.
CLARENS SIFFROY
AFP via Getty Images
The death toll from Hurricane Melissa in Haiti continued to climb Thursday, with authorities saying that at least 30 people are now dead and 20 others are missing.
The biggest toll occurred in the country’s gang-ridden West region, when a swollen Digue River overflowed its banks and caused widespread flooding in the coastal town of Petit-Goâve, southwest of the capital. At least 23 people died, including 10 children, Haiti’s Office of Civil Protection said in the disaster.
“The search for victims is still under way,” the disaster office said in its latest report. “The Grise River is also swollen and has swept away a house in Tabarre.”
The hurricane, which made landfall on Tuesday in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, didn’t make a direct hit on Haiti. But as it battered the southwestern coast of Jamaica, Melissa winds and rains lashed the southern coast of Haiti, causing deadly floods that washed out roads, submerged cars, wiped out crops and buried homes under landslides.
The head of the United Nations Office for Migration, speaking to reporters in New York on Thursday, said aid agencies still do not yet have a full view of the storm’s devastation after Haitians were forced to endure more than a week of rainfall.
“We need to do the assessments to really understand the extent of the damage and the human toll,” Gregoire Goodstein, the head of mission for office, said.
Those assessments require traveling on a World Food Program helicopter to the affected regions due to gangs’ control of key roads. “Because of the weather we’ve had to interrupt a lot of the flights,” Goodstein said.
But the report from Haiti’s disaster office is starting to give some idea of not just the damages, but also how the deaths and the devastation occurred.
In the town of Dame-Marie in the Grand’Anse, a man was injured when a tree fell as he rode his motorcycle. “His passenger is missing,” the report said.
A woman walks past her house that was destroyed by Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on October 30, 2025. CLARENS SIFFROY AFP via Getty Images
In the Artibonite region one person died, and 250 people were displaced in the town of Saint-Marc, where residents have been fighting against a take-over by armed gangs.
Several cities were under water, particularly the town of Corail, where the downtown area was flooded. There was also coastal flooding in Anse-d’Hainault and the offshore Cayemites Islands.
The roofs of schools were blown off and at least 659 homes in the region of the Nippes were flooded.
Melissa caused significant damage to roads, particularly in the southeast region of the country. The Gosseline River washed away part of a major road that links the town of Jacmel with the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Blockages were also eeported by local authorities in the towns of Belle-Anse and Marigot in the southeast. Rivers flooded in the regions of the Grand’Anse.
The impact in Haiti is complicated by its ongoing humanitarian crisis, which Goodstein said is creating “immense suffering.”
“We have 1.4 million people that are displaced because of gang violence,” he said. “So all of this is coming on top of the very critical situation that we’re facing now.”
Cars are submerged in mud following Hurricane Melissa in Petit-Goave, southwest of Port-au-Prince, on October 30, 2025. CLARENS SIFFROY AFP via Getty Images
In addition to the roads, farms in the south have also sustained damage due to flooding.
That will likely worsen the country’s already dire food crisis. There are currently 5.7 million people, about half the country’s population, who are going hungry every day, Goodstein said. There have also been cases of cholera
“So we’re also having a public health emergency on top of all the existing vulnerabilities,” he added, stressing that the U.N.’s ongoing humanitarian response plan remains “grossly underfunded.”
“This is really putting at risk.. our ability to continue with life-saving operations, whether it’s linked to hurricanes or to the existing crisis linked to gang violence,” Goodstein said.
“What we need right now is the funding,” he said. “We have the teams on the ground, we have the coordination structures with the government, but we don’t have the resources.”
Jacqueline Charles has reported on Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean for the Miami Herald for over a decade. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was awarded a 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize — the most prestigious award for coverage of the Americas.
The Rio Cobre overflows its banks near St. Catherine, Jamaica, on October 28, 2025, as Hurricane Melissa tore into the island.
RICARDO MAKYN
AFP via Getty Images
When catastrophic Hurricane Dorian became the strongest storm ever to hit The Bahamas six years ago, submerging the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama under floodwaters, the U.S. government was among the most generous of responders.
Washington, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, deployed search-and-rescue teams, airlifted over 50 metric tons of critical relief supplies from a warehouse in Miami and dispatched a disaster team. The $33 million response included seaplanes the humanitarian agency chartered to ferry responders and visiting lawmakers to the devastation.
That was during the first Trump administration — before USAID was dismantled.
Now, as Hurricane Melissa threatens Cuba, the southern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands after battering Jamaica with 185 mph winds and torrential rains on Tuesday, people re bracing not only for the storm’s aftermath, but also for the stark reality of recovering without the safety net that USAID once provided.
The scale of support seen after Dorian will almost certainly not be repeated this year.
“My fear after this hurricane passes is that that’s only going to be the tip of the iceberg. Food, water, shelter. If all of that is disrupted, then it’s going to take time to put it back in place. And USAID was that safety net in the past,” said Andy Ingraham, a prominent Fort Lauderdale businessman who serves as president of The Bahamas Diaspora Association and is president and founder of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers.
A man looks at a fallen tree in St. Catherine, Jamaica, on October 28, 2025, as ferocious winds and torrential rain from Hurricane Melissa tore into Jamaica. RICARDO MAKYN AFP via Getty Images
Miami Democratic U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, who helped secure American assistance after Dorian, told the Miami Herald that with USAID’s dismantling, “there is real uncertainty about whether help will come,” in the aftermath of Melissa.
“I have consistently opposed efforts by the administration to gut USAID. The administration must be ready to fill any gaps and move resources immediately to support Jamaica and other affected nations,” she said. “In Congress, I stand ready to approve the funds required to help them recover.”
Ahead of Melissa’s landfall on the southwestern coast of Jamaica on Tuesday, Caribbean emergency responders said they were awaiting to hear from the U.S. government about what will take the place of USAID.
The storm is the first major natural disaster to hit the region since the Trump administration dismantled USAID earlier this year. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the agency’s functions would be absorbed by the State Department.
The Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration was given the responsibility for international disaster relief. But much of the staff in that bureau was later laid off.
The White House referred an inquiry about its plan for hurricane assistance to the State Department.
A spokesperson for the department said there won’t be a decision on aid deployment “until a need is identified.”
“The State Department maintains warehouses around the world from which we can distribute lifesaving aid in the aftermath of natural disasters,” a State Department spokesperson told The Miami Herald. “The department has pre-positioned emergency relief supplies in six warehouses that will allow for the distribution of emergency relief supplies to people affected by the storm.”
Residents evacuate under pouring rain from Playa Siboney to safe locations ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Melissa, in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on Tuesday. YAMIL LAGE AFP via Getty Images
A former senior official at USAID said that agency would act as a lead and coordinate the U.S. government response during these disasters.
“When you see a storm of this scale, it is so large and so devastating that it really can overwhelm the capacity of the government. Historically, a country like Jamaica has been able to count on U.S. support,” the official said.
Typically, staff at USAID would start hurricane preparations in June, which included meeting with local officials, building networks between Caribbean nations, and conducting exercises with the U.S. military to help with logistical needs.
These systems, which are now very frayed, “helped save lives and reduce the cost of these emergencies.”
Some USAID staff with hurricane response experience were folded into the State Department but, the official added, “they are very buried in bureaucracy and don’t have the partner networks, tools and resources they would have at USAID.”
Other Democrats on Capitol Hill have expressed concern.
Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Joaquin Castro, ranking member of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, and Yvette D. Clarke said on Monday, the U.S. “must stand with Jamaica and the entire Caribbean before, during, and after Hurricane Melissa makes landfall.”
A congressional aide later told the Herald/McClatchy newspapers that while it makes sense for the U.S. government to evaluate the need immediately after the hurricane’s landfall, lawmakers have had no information on whether the State Department has pre-positioned any supplies or resources like boats.
“We haven’t been briefed yet by State on the disaster response setup, so we don’t really know the details of how many staff they have available, what kind of advanced planning they’re doing,” the aide said.
One source familiar with the situation said Jamaica has requested support from the United States.
“We understand that State has activated a Disaster Assistance Response team and plans to deploy staff to the Dominican Republic, Bahamas and Jamaica,” the person said. “We do not know whether supplies were pre-positioned or what resources have been made available for the response.”
The Trump administration has been much more selective in deciding what disaster it responds to. In August, for example, the administration sent no aid after an earthquake in Afghanistan.
Amid the questions about the U.S humanitarian response, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations have been touting their readiness to respond, not just in Jamaica but in Haiti — where three people died before Melissa reached hurricane strength — and in Cuba. Melissa was expected to make landfall Tuesday night or Wednesday morning in the eastern part of the island.
Working the phones
Ingraham, who is Bahamian, said he is concerned about the region not being able to rely on USAID in the way countries have been accustomed to. However, he believes the U.S. government will “do something to help in the region as great partners.”
“The fact that they have a lot of assets in the Caribbean now, I’m sure some of those may be directed to help Jamaica, The Bahamas and some of the other islands that have been impacted,” he said, referring to warships the U.S. has deployed to the southern Caribbean to combat narco-trafficking.
Small island nations have neither the infrastructure nor the money to withstand the devastation from a major hurricane, Ingraham said.
“For us in the Caribbean, it’s not a good time. The only salvation that we have, quite frankly, is the private sector,” he added.
On Tuesday, as Melissa tore off rooftops in the Jamaican communities of Westmoreland and Black River, and drenched agriculture farmland under floodwaters, Ingraham began working the phone, asking contacts if they could spare airplanes to begin evacuations from the southern Bahamas. Among them was Fort Lauderdale based Tropic Ocean Airways, which dispatched one of its seaplanes. Other companies helped with fuel, and the Bahamian government removed bureaucratic red tape to get the help to the islands.
“I think we go back to the same old adage,” Ingraham said. “We’ve got to plan for the hurricane instead of reacting to the hurricane. We’ve been down this road…. We understand hurricanes. They’re going to come, they’re going to drop a lot of rain, they’re going to have a lot of wind damage. We just need to plan, if we got to evacuate people, let’s plan in advance. If we need assets, let’s organize those assets so they’ll be ready at a moment’s notice.”
Miami Herald staff writers Antonio María Delgadoand David Goodhue contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 8:42 PM.
Jacqueline Charles has reported on Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean for the Miami Herald for over a decade. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was awarded a 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize — the most prestigious award for coverage of the Americas.
Sami Hamdi, a British political commentator who was on a speaking tour in the U.S., was detained by immigration enforcement officers on Sunday at San Francisco International Airport after his visa was revoked.
A Muslim civil rights group said his arrest was retaliation for his criticism of Israel.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, announced on social media that Hamdi’s visa had been revoked, that he was being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement until he could be removed. In her post, she also made unsubstantiated claims that Hamdi supported terrorism.
“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country,” McLaughlin wrote in her Sunday social media post.
Hamdi, who is based in London, had been on a speaking tour in the United States, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights advocacy group. His visitor visa was supposed to last for several months, a leader at the organization said.
The group said in a statement that Hamdi had been detained “because he dared to criticize the Israeli government’s genocide” while on his tour, and called his detention “a blatant affront to free speech.”
Hamdi had attended the organization’s annual gala on Friday night in Sacramento and was scheduled to speak at an event in Florida on Sunday night.
Hamdi is a journalist and commentator who appears on British television networks to analyze developments in the Middle East, as well as domestic U.K. politics. According to his LinkedIn page, he is the managing director and editor in chief of International Interest, which “advises on political environments across the globe.”
Hamdi appears to be the latest of several immigrants and international travelers to have a U.S. visa revoked over political speech. The Trump administration was rebuked in September by a federal judge, who ruled that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had unconstitutionally targeted noncitizens for their pro-Palestinian advocacy in order to suppress critiques of Israel and the war it has waged in Gaza for two years with backing from the U.S.
Hussam Ayloush, chief executive of CAIR’s California chapter, said he attended the Sacramento gala with Hamdi and was shocked to receive a text from him Sunday around 7 a.m. informing him that Hamdi had been stopped by federal agents who told him he had to come with them.
Ayloush visited Hamdi along with two attorneys on Monday afternoon at the Golden State Annex, an ICE detention center in McFarland, where he is being held.
“When I went inside to meet him and check on him, I felt embarrassed that my country treated him that way,” Ayloush said. “He hasn’t caused or instigated any harm to our country.”
Ayloush said Hamdi was only guilty of “being critical of what Israel is doing to Palestinians, and the complicit role the U.S. government has played.”
CAIR said that its legal team as well as attorneys from the Muslim Legal Fund of America were working toward Hamdi’s release.
The organization said Hamdi’s arrest came after pressure from right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who publicly took credit for his detention. She said on social media that ICE acted in response to her “relentless pressure.” Loomer had smeared Hamdi with anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, the organization said.
Loomer has said she successfully lobbied the U.S. government to bar Palestinian children injured by American weapons in Israel’s war from seeking medical care in the U.S. In August, the Trump administration announced it had stopped approving visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza, including young children in need of serious medical care.
In response to a question from The Times about whether Hamdi’s detention came in response to his critiques of the U.S. and Israel, the Department of Homeland Security linked to a statement the U.S. State Department made on its X account, in which it reposted McLaughlin’s announcement about Hamdi and added a comment: “We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who support terrorism and actively undermine the safety of Americans. We continue to revoke the visas of persons engaged in such activity.”
The firestorms that broke out in January ravaged two distinctly different stretches of Los Angeles County: one with grand views of the Pacific Ocean, the other nestled against the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.
But so far, a push from congressional Republicans to investigate the Jan. 7 firestorm and response has been focused almost exclusively on the Palisades fire, which broke out in L.A.’s Pacific Palisades and went on to burn parts of Malibu and surrounding areas.
In a letter to City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, two U.S. senators this week intensified that investigation, saying they want an enormous trove of documents on Los Angeles Fire Department staffing, wildfire preparations, the city’s water supply and many other topics surrounding the devastating blaze.
U.S. Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) asked for records related to several issues raised during and after the Palisades fire, including an empty reservoir and the failure to fully extinguish a previous fire that was later identified as the cause.
In contrast, the letter only briefly mentions the Eaton fire, which broke out in the unincorporated community of Altadena and spread to parts of Pasadena. That emergency was plagued by delayed evacuation alerts, deployment issues and allegations that electrical equipment operated by Southern California Edison sparked the blaze.
Both fires incinerated thousands of homes. Twelve people died in the Palisades fire. In the Eaton fire, all but one of the 19 who died were found in west Altadena, where evacuation alerts came hours after flames and smoke were threatening the area.
Scott and Johnson gave Harris-Dawson a deadline of Nov. 3 to produce records on several topics specific to the city of L.A.: “diversity, equity and inclusion” hiring policies at the city’s Fire Department; the Department of Water and Power’s oversight of its reservoirs; and the removal of Fire Chief Kristin Crowley by Mayor Karen Bass earlier this year.
Officials in Los Angeles County said they have not received such a letter dealing with either the Palisades fire or the Eaton fire.
A spokesperson for Johnson referred questions about the letter to Scott’s office. An aide to Scott told The Times this week that the investigation remains focused on the Palisades fire but could still expand. Some Eaton fire records were requested, the spokesperson said, because “they’re often inextricable in public reports.”
The senators — who both sit on the Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs — opened the probe after meeting with reality TV star Spencer Pratt, who lost a home in the Palisades fire and quickly became an outspoken critic of the city’s response to the fire and subsequent rebuilding efforts. At the time, the senators called the Palisades fire “an unacceptable failure of government to protect the lives and property of its citizens.”
The investigation was initially billed as a look at the city’s emergency preparations, including the lack of water in a nearby reservoir and in neighborhood fire hydrants the night of the fire. The Times first reported that the Santa Ynez Reservoir, located in Pacific Palisades, had been closed for repairs for nearly a year.
The letter to Harris-Dawson seeks records relating to the reservoir as well as those dealing with “wildfire preparation, suppression, and response … including but not limited to the response to the Palisades and Lachman fires.”
Officials have said the Lachman fire, intentionally set Jan. 1, reignited six days later to become the Palisades fire. A suspect was recently arrested on suspicion of arson in the Lachman fire. Now, the senators are raising concerns about why that fire wasn’t properly contained.
The sweeping records request also seeks communications sent to and from each of the 15 council members and or their staff that mention the Palisades and Eaton fires. At this point, it’s unclear whether the city would have a substantial number of documents on the Eaton fire, given its location outside city limits.
Harris-Dawson did not provide comment. But Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who serves on the council’s public safety committee, made clear that he thinks the senators are confused by Southern California’s geography — and the distinctions between city and county jurisdictions.
“MAGA Republicans couldn’t even look at a map before launching into this ridiculous investigation,” he said. “DEI did not cause the fires, and these senators should take their witch hunts elsewhere,” he said in a statement.
Officials in L.A. County, who have confronted their own hard questions about botched evacuation alerts and poor resource deployment during the Eaton fire, said they had not received any letters from the senators about either fire.
Neither Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger — who currently serves as board chair — nor Supervisor Lindsey Horvath had received such a document request, according to their aides. Barger represents Altadena, while Horvath’s district includes Pacific Palisades, Malibu and unincorporated communities affected by the Palisades fire.
Monday’s letter also seeks records “referring or relating to any reports or investigations of arson, burglary, theft, or looting” in fire-affected areas, as well as the arrest of Jonathan Rinderknecht, the Palisades fire arson suspect. It also seeks documents on the council’s efforts to “dismantle systemic racism” — and whether such efforts affected the DWP or the Fire Department.
Alberto Retana, president and chief executive of Community Coalition, a nonprofit group based in Harris-Dawson’s district, said he too views the inquiry from the two senators as a witch hunt — one that’s targeting L.A. city elected officials while ignoring Southern California Edison.
“There’s been reports that Edison was responsible for the Eaton fire, but there’s [nothing] that shows any concern about that,” he said.
Residents in Altadena have previously voiced concerns about what they viewed as disparities in the Trump administration’s response to the two fires. The Palisades fire tore through the mostly wealthy neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Malibu — home to celebrities who have since kept the recovery in the spotlight. Meanwhile, many of Altadena’s Black and working-class residents say their communities have been left behind.
In both areas, however, there has been growing concern that now-barren lots will be swiftly purchased by wealthy outside investors, including those who are based outside of the United States.
Scott, in a news release issued this week, said the congressional investigation will also examine whether Chinese companies are “taking advantage” of the fire recovery. The Times has not been able to independently verify such claims.
WASHINGTON — Two House Republicans launched an investigation on Wednesday that will, in part, examine how a California charitable organization used a $500,000 grant that was meant to support victims of the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires, a move that is expanding congressional scrutiny over the response to the disaster.
Reps. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter to the head of the California Volunteers Fund asking for financial records related to a $500,000 grant it received from the disaster-relief charity FireAid, which raised an estimated $100 million for fire victims through its flagship benefit concerts in January.
“It is not publicly known how the California Volunteers Fund distributed this $500,000, or what individuals or entities received funds,” Kiley and Jordan wrote in a letter Wednesday to Dave Smith, the fund’s chief executive. “It is also unclear whether the state-based California Volunteers, run out of the Governor’s Office, received any of the FireAid-originated funds via the California Volunteers Fund.”
Kiley and Jordan added that they want to examine all documents and communications related to the California fires between the California Volunteers Fund and California Volunteers, an entity that the charity supports and is housed within Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.
In their letter, they said FireAid has “come under scrutiny for diverting donations to nonprofits instead of providing direct relief to fire victims.”
The California Volunteers Fund and the governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
The congressional inquiry into the distribution of disaster relief funds comes after months of pressure from Republican politicians, including President Trump, who have questioned FireAid’s methods and priorities. In July, Kiley called for an investigation into the charitable funds, urging the attorney general to open an investigation into the matter.
Politically, the investigation comes as Newsom — whose office was mentioned several times in the letter — becomes a frequent political target of Trump and Republicans amid speculation that he could be eyeing a potential 2028 presidential run.
In response to the criticism, FireAid commissioned two audit reports, including an independent review led by law firm Latham & Watkins that found no evidence of fraud or misuse of funds. The reports were sent to local and federal officials and the Department of Justice.
“The law firm conducted an independent review of the charity, and shared conclusive findings affirming that FireAid has acted in accordance with mission, has strong accountability measures and aid is reaching affected communities,” the FireAid organization said in a statement about the review findings at the time.
Governor Gavin Newsom today issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration deploying 300 California National Guard personnel into Portland, Oregon, after a federal district court blocked the attempted federalization of Oregon’s National Guard:“In response to a federal court order that blocked his attempt to federalize the Oregon National Guard, President Trump is deploying 300 California National Guard personnel into Oregon. They are on their way there now. This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power. The Trump Administration is unapologetically attacking the rule of law itself and putting into action their dangerous words — ignoring court orders and treating judges, even those appointed by the President himself, as political opponents.This isn’t about public safety, it’s about power. The commander-in-chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens. We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the President of the United States.” —Governor Gavin NewsomTrump illegally sends California troops to OregonDespite a federal court order finding no legal basis to deploy state National Guard troops to the streets of Portland and ordering that control of the Oregon National Guard be returned to state command, the Trump Administration is now sending 300 federally controlled members of the California National Guard to Portland to take their place. The troops had originally been federalized months ago in response to unrest in Los Angeles — conditions that never necessitated their deployment in the first place, and have long since subsided anyway. Courts rebuke Trump’s lawlessnessIn its ruling yesterday, the federal judge appointed by President Trump rejected the Trump Administration’s justification for deploying federalized troops, writing in its order: “This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law. Defendants have made a range of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power — to the detriment of this nation.”The court found that the President’s own statements regarding the deployment of federalized National Guard were not “conceived in good faith” and were “simply untethered to the facts.”
Governor Gavin Newsom today issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration deploying 300 California National Guard personnel into Portland, Oregon, after a federal district court blocked the attempted federalization of Oregon’s National Guard:
“In response to a federal court order that blocked his attempt to federalize the Oregon National Guard, President Trump is deploying 300 California National Guard personnel into Oregon. They are on their way there now. This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power. The Trump Administration is unapologetically attacking the rule of law itself and putting into action their dangerous words — ignoring court orders and treating judges, even those appointed by the President himself, as political opponents.
This isn’t about public safety, it’s about power. The commander-in-chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens. We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the President of the United States.” —Governor Gavin Newsom
Trump illegally sends California troops to Oregon
Despite a federal court order finding no legal basis to deploy state National Guard troops to the streets of Portland and ordering that control of the Oregon National Guard be returned to state command, the Trump Administration is now sending 300 federally controlled members of the California National Guard to Portland to take their place. The troops had originally been federalized months ago in response to unrest in Los Angeles — conditions that never necessitated their deployment in the first place, and have long since subsided anyway.
Courts rebuke Trump’s lawlessness
In its ruling yesterday, the federal judge appointed by President Trump rejected the Trump Administration’s justification for deploying federalized troops, writing in its order:
“This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law. Defendants have made a range of arguments that, if accepted, risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power — to the detriment of this nation.”
The court found that the President’s own statements regarding the deployment of federalized National Guard were not “conceived in good faith” and were “simply untethered to the facts.”
JERUSALEM — Hamas accepted most of President Trump’s terms for ending the war in Gaza on Friday, delivering a “Yes, but …” response that agreed to handing over all hostages and relinquishing control of the enclave, but stopped short of the full surrender outlined in the agreement.
The response came the day Trump said that the Palestinian militant group had until Sunday to accept what was essentially a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum.
“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, then all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” wrote Trump on his messaging platform, Truth Social.
After days of what it said was “thorough study” — and intense pressure from its Arab interlocutors in Qatar, Egypt and others — Hamas issued a statement late Friday saying it would release all Israeli hostages, dead or alive, according to “the exchange formula outlined in President Trump’s proposal, provided that field conditions for carrying out the exchange are secured.”
Trump’s deal, which comprises 20 points and amounts to more of a framework than a comprehensive agreement, represents his administration’s most concerted push to not only end the Hamas-Israel war, but achieve a more comprehensive peace in the region.
Upon acceptance from both sides, the agreement says, hostilities must immediately end and aid be allowed into Gaza, where Israel’s months-long blockade has triggered famine. Hamas fighters who lay down their arms would be granted amnesty and Gazans would not be forced to leave the enclave.
The agreement was negotiated with Israel along with a raft of Arab and Muslim nations. Media reports after the deal’s terms were published said Israel had inserted eleventh-hour modifications more in line with the wishes of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has refused during two years of war any ceasefire deal that would see Hamas remain in power.
His move infuriated Arab nations. Still, they nevertheless issued statements cautiously lauding Trump’s initiative, which he unveiled Monday after meeting with Netanyahu at the White House.
A few hours after Hamas’ affirmative response, Trump wrote on Trump Social that he believed the group was “ready for a lasting PEACE,” adding “Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!”
“Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out,” he said. “This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East.”
The deal stipulates Israel will release 1,700 Gaza residents detained by Israel after Oct. 7, 2023, along with some 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences. It gives Hamas 72 hours to release the remaining 48 hostages, 20 of whom are still alive.
Hamas also agreed to another Trump condition, all but relinquishing its 18-year-rule over the Gaza Strip and handing it over to what Trump said was a body of “technocratic” Palestinians overseen by a “Board of Peace” to be headed by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
But Hamas’ acceptance Friday fell short of what could be an essential point for Israel: The notion of surrendering its weapons.
Through Trump’s agreement stipulates the group should disarm and not be involved in any future governance, Hamas has long insisted it would hand over its weapons only as part of a deal that would lead to an independent Palestinian state — a position it reiterated again in its Friday statement, saying that any other issues would be discussed through a comprehensive national Palestinian framework that would include Hamas.
“Regarding the future of the Palestinian issue, this is not a matter of Hamas alone. Hamas is a part of the Palestinian people, but it’s not alone,” said Moussa Abu Marzouk, a top-ranking Hamas official, speaking to Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera after the release of Hamas’ statement.
Abu Marzouk also emphasized the logistical difficulties the group faces in gathering all the remaining hostages within the 72-hour time frame, describing the condition to be “unreasonable.” He added that there would need to be further negotiations to specify withdrawal lines.
The response, said Bader Al-Saif, a professor of history at Kuwait University, was “in the same style of the offer it received — vague and incomplete.”
“We have a quasi response to a quasi offer — one in need of more details, guarantees and enforcement ability on both Hamas and Israel,” he said, adding that Hamas was throwing the ball back into Israel’s court, knowing the divisions within the Israeli government over any plan that falls short of annihilating the group and excising it from any future negotiations.
Netanyahu’s government is composed of a fractious coalition that relies on hard-right figures to have sufficient numbers for its survival. Those figures want Netanyahu to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed and the territory of Gaza given over to settlements.
Other Israelis point to Israel’s growing isolation with every day of the war’s passing, with the U.N., rights and aid groups and governments, including Western allies of the U.S. and Israel, accusing Israel of committing genocide in the enclave. Israel denies the charge.
With Hamas’ “conditional acceptance,” said Mouin Rabbani, a nonresident fellow at the Qatar-based Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, negotiations could be on a potential crash course.
“It’s crunch time,” Rabbani said. “Hamas says, ‘We accept the proposal if the following issues are clarified to our satisfaction.’
“We’ll now find out if the U.S. accepts entering discussions for these clarifications, or that Israel will persuade the Americans that Hamas has rejected it and the genocide should continue in full force.”
Hamas’ action comes just days before the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that launched the conflict. On that day, Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 others. Israel’s response has been punishing, leaving vast portions of Gaza in ruins; more than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health officials.
Iran’s foreign minister has held *** telephone call with his counterparts in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom over their threat to potentially snap back sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. Now the snap back mechanism is part of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal it struck with world powers that saw Tehran limit its enrichment of uranium. In exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions now in the deal, there was *** part of it that said that any of those members of the deal could go and declare Iran in noncompliance with it, setting forth the clock that ultimately would snap back those UN sanctions. Now Iran contends that these European nations can’t do that. They point to the fact. America unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018, setting up years of tensions over the program that saw Iran up its enrichment to about 60% purity, *** short step away from weapons grade levels. That enrichment and other issues saw Israel launch its unprecedented 12 day war on Iran back in June. Now as of right now, the European nations and Iran are both saying that there will be another round of talks next week, but the clock is ticking. The Europeans had said if Iran doesn’t reach an agreement by the end of the month, that it will start the snapback process, and that could mean more pressure on Iran’s ailing economy.
Iran said Monday it hanged a man accused of spying for Israel, the latest as Tehran carries out its largest wave of executions in decades.Iran identified the executed man as Bahman Choobiasl, whose case wasn’t immediately known in Iranian media reports or to activists monitoring the death penalty in the Islamic Republic. However, the execution came after Iran vowed to confront its enemies after the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program this weekend.Video above: Iran confers with European nations on its nuclear program as sanctions deadline nearsIran accused Choobiasl of meeting with officials from the Israeli spy agency Mossad. Iran’s Mizan news agency, which is the judiciary’s official mouthpiece, said Choobiasl worked on “sensitive telecommunications projects“ and reported about the “paths of importing electronic devices.”Iran is known to have hanged nine people for espionage since its June war with Israel. Israel waged an air war with Iran, killing some 1,100 people, including many military commanders. Iran launched missile barrages targeting Israel in response.Earlier this month, Iran executed Babak Shahbazi, who it alleged spied for Israel. Activists disputed that, saying Shahbazi was tortured into a false confession after writing a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offering to fight for Kyiv.Iran has faced multiple nationwide protests in recent years, fueled by anger over the economy, demands for women’s rights and calls for the country’s theocracy to change.In response to those protests and the June war, Iran has been putting prisoners to death at a pace unseen since 1988, when it executed thousands at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights and the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran put the number of people executed in 2025 at over 1,000, noting the number could be higher as Iran does not report on each execution.Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
DUBAI, Dubai —
Iran said Monday it hanged a man accused of spying for Israel, the latest as Tehran carries out its largest wave of executions in decades.
Iran identified the executed man as Bahman Choobiasl, whose case wasn’t immediately known in Iranian media reports or to activists monitoring the death penalty in the Islamic Republic. However, the execution came after Iran vowed to confront its enemies after the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program this weekend.
Video above: Iran confers with European nations on its nuclear program as sanctions deadline nears
Iran accused Choobiasl of meeting with officials from the Israeli spy agency Mossad. Iran’s Mizan news agency, which is the judiciary’s official mouthpiece, said Choobiasl worked on “sensitive telecommunications projects“ and reported about the “paths of importing electronic devices.”
Iran is known to have hanged nine people for espionage since its June war with Israel. Israel waged an air war with Iran, killing some 1,100 people, including many military commanders. Iran launched missile barrages targeting Israel in response.
Earlier this month, Iran executed Babak Shahbazi, who it alleged spied for Israel. Activists disputed that, saying Shahbazi was tortured into a false confession after writing a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offering to fight for Kyiv.
Iran has faced multiple nationwide protests in recent years, fueled by anger over the economy, demands for women’s rights and calls for the country’s theocracy to change.
In response to those protests and the June war, Iran has been putting prisoners to death at a pace unseen since 1988, when it executed thousands at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.
The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights and the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran put the number of people executed in 2025 at over 1,000, noting the number could be higher as Iran does not report on each execution.
Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — The F-35 is the most advanced fighter jet on the planet, capable of waging electronic warfare, of dropping nuclear weapons, of evading the surveillance and missile defenses of America’s most fearsome enemies at supersonic speeds.
It is the latest example of the Trump administration using disproportionate military force to supplement, or substitute for, traditional law enforcement operations — first at home on the streets of U.S. cities and now overseas, where the president has labeled multiple drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and has vowed a “tough” response.
On Tuesday, that response began with an inaugural “kinetic strike” targeting a small vessel in the Caribbean allegedly carrying narcotics and 11 members of Tren de Aragua, one of the Venezuelan gangs President Trump has designated a terrorist group. Legally designating a gang or cartel as a terrorist entity ostensibly gives the president greater legal cover to conduct lethal strikes on targets.
The operation follows Trump’s deployment of U.S. forces to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., for operations with dubious justifications, as well as threats of similar actions in San Francisco, Chicago and New Orleans, moves that a federal judge said last week amount to Trump “creating a national police force with the President as its chief.”
Trump has referred to both problems — urban crime and drug trafficking — as interlinked and out of control. But U.S. service members have no training in local law or drug enforcement. And experts question a strategy that has been tried before, both by the United States and regional governments, of launching a war against drugs only to drive leaders in the trade to militarize themselves.
U.S. drug policy “has always been semi-militarized,” said Jeremy Adelman, director of the Global History Lab at Princeton University. Trump’s latest actions simply make more explicit the erasure of a line “that separates law enforcement from warfare.”
“One side effect of all this is that other countries are watching,” Adelman said. “By turning law enforcement over to the military — as the White House is also doing domestically — what’s to stop other countries from doing the same in international waters?
“Fishermen in the South China Sea should be worried,” he added.
The Trump administration has not provided further details on the 11 people killed in the boat strike. But officials said the departure of a drug vessel from Venezuela makes Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s dictatorial president labeled by the White House as a top drug kingpin, indirectly responsible.
“Let there be no doubt, Nicolás Maduro is an indicted drug trafficker in the United States, and he’s a fugitive of American justice,” Marco Rubio, Trump’s secretary of State and national security advisor, said on a tour of the region Thursday, citing a grand jury indictment in the Southern District of New York.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference Wednesday in Mexico City.
(Hector Vivas / Getty Images)
The president’s war on drug cartels will continue, Rubio said, adding that regional governments “will help us find these people and blow them up.”
Maduro has warned the strike indicates that Washington seeks regime change in Caracas. The Venezuelan military flew two aircraft near a U.S. vessel in international waters Thursday night, prompting an angry response from Pentagon officials and Trump to direct his Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, to “do what you want to do” in response.
“Despite how dangerous this performance could be, because of its political consequences, it can’t be taken seriously as a drug policy,” said Lina Britto, an expert on Latin America and the Caribbean at Northwestern University with a focus on the history of the drug trade. “It lacks rigorousness in the analysis of how drug trafficking operates in the hemisphere.”
Most drugs entering the U.S. homeland from South America arrive in shipping containers, submarines and more efficient modes of transportation than speedboats — and primarily come through the Pacific, not the Caribbean, Britto said.
Trump has flirted with military strikes on drug cartels since the start of his second term, working with Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to coordinate drone strikes over Mexican territory for surveillance of cartel activity.
But Sheinbaum has ruled out the use of force against cartels, or the deployment of U.S. forces within Mexico to combat them, warning that U.S. military action would violate Mexican sovereignty and upend collaboration between the two close-knit trade and security partners.
Girls walk in front of a politically charged mural near the Bolivar Square in the center of Caracas, Venezuela, on Aug. 25. The Iranian Forest vessel depicted in the right side of the mural arrived in Venezuela during fuel shortages in 2020.
(Andrea Hernández Briceño / For The Times)
In comparison, Venezuela offers Trump a cleaner opportunity to test the use of force against drug cartels, with diplomatic ties between the two governments at a nadir. But a war with Maduro over drugs could create unexpected problems for the Trump administration, setting off a rare military conflict in a placid region and fueling further instability in a country that, over the last decade, already set off the world’s largest refugee crisis.
Ryan Berg, director of the Americas Program and head of the Future of Venezuela Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that Trump’s use of foreign terrorist designations changes the rules of engagement in ways that allow for action “where law enforcement solutions failed in the past.”
“What we are witnessing is a paradigm shift in real time,” Berg said. “Many of Latin America’s most significant criminal organizations are now designated foreign terrorist organizations. The administration is demonstrating that this is not only rhetorical.”
But Paul Gootenberg, a professor at Stony Brook University and author of “Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug,” characterized Trump’s military operation as a “simplistic” approach to complex social problems.
“This is more a performative attack on the Venezuelan regime than a serious attempt at drug policy,” Gootenberg said.
“Militarized drug policy is nothing new — it was tried and intensified in various ways from the mid-1980s through 2000s, oftentimes under U.S. Southern Command,” he added. “The whole range and levels of ‘war on drugs’ was a long, unmitigated policy failure, according to the vast, vast majority of drug experts.”
Times staff writer Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.
PORTLAND, Ore. – A 911 call was made last week by a man named Ben, who saw a woman laying down on the sidewalk as he was walking to class at OHSU.
As Ben walked up to the woman, he tells the Lars Larson Show that he noticed what looked like blood on the back of her head, and called 911. Ben told the operator that the woman looks like she is sleeping, and the operator asked him if he could wake her up. Ben did, asked the woman if she was okay, and asked her if she needed an ambulance.
The woman declined, but Ben was still concerned about her head injury, and thought paramedics should still be sent to check on the woman. Ben asked the 911 operator if they were going to send someone to check on her, but the operator said if she is declining medical attention, they won’t be sending anyone out. You can listen to the entire 911 call made by Ben below:
BOEC, the agency responsible for taking and dispatching 911 calls made this statement in regards to Ben’s call. “BOEC calls are evaluated through a stringent quality assurance process. We are on the path toward accreditation level performance. BOEC’s typical protocol is to triage calls by asking the caller a series of questions that would inform whether a first responder is dispatched. This call did not meet our standards for following protocol and did not demonstrate our value of compassion for the community we serve. BOEC will be following up with appropriate next steps.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will visit hurricane-ravaged areas in the Southeast Wednesday to assess the damage and coordinate relief efforts and funding.Biden will travel to North and South Carolina, while Harris will head to Georgia.On Tuesday, Biden directed “every available resource” to rescue and recovery efforts and has committed to helping devastated communities, saying he is prepared to ask Congress for more emergency relief funding.”We have to jump-start this recovery process. People are scared to death. People wonder whether they’re going to make it. We still haven’t heard from a whole lot of people,” Biden said. “This is urgent. People have to know how to get the information they need. So, we’ll be there until this work is done.”Biden says he has been in constant contact with state and local officials and is urging people to apply for federal assistance, including basics like food and water and for funds to help with repairing homes.More than 4,500 federal workers, including 1,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are deployed across the Southeast. Many are working to distribute millions of meals and water, thousands of tarps, and over a hundred generators, while rescue teams hope to help those who remain trapped.Biden and Harris emphasized the timing of their trips, saying they must ensure they do not detract from ongoing rescue and recovery.The White House suggested an earlier visit, like former President Donald Trump’s trip to Georgia on Monday, could take away from resources needed for hurricane victims.During that trip, Trump falsely accused Biden of “sleeping” at his beach house, ignoring the disaster and purposely neglecting Republican states and storm victims. He also falsely stated Biden did not respond to calls for help from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.Kemp and Biden had already spoken a day earlier. Kemp and other Republican leaders also said their states were getting everything they need.Wednesday’s trip to Georgia may also present a political opportunity for Harris — a chance to show empathy in the midst of a humanitarian crisis as she campaigns for president.Harris says she also plans to visit North Carolina in the coming days.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will visit hurricane-ravaged areas in the Southeast Wednesday to assess the damage and coordinate relief efforts and funding.
Biden will travel to North and South Carolina, while Harris will head to Georgia.
On Tuesday, Biden directed “every available resource” to rescue and recovery efforts and has committed to helping devastated communities, saying he is prepared to ask Congress for more emergency relief funding.
“We have to jump-start this recovery process. People are scared to death. People wonder whether they’re going to make it. We still haven’t heard from a whole lot of people,” Biden said. “This is urgent. People have to know how to get the information they need. So, we’ll be there until this work is done.”
Biden says he has been in constant contact with state and local officials and is urging people to apply for federal assistance, including basics like food and water and for funds to help with repairing homes.
More than 4,500 federal workers, including 1,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are deployed across the Southeast. Many are working to distribute millions of meals and water, thousands of tarps, and over a hundred generators, while rescue teams hope to help those who remain trapped.
Biden and Harris emphasized the timing of their trips, saying they must ensure they do not detract from ongoing rescue and recovery.
The White House suggested an earlier visit, like former President Donald Trump’s trip to Georgia on Monday, could take away from resources needed for hurricane victims.
During that trip, Trump falsely accused Biden of “sleeping” at his beach house, ignoring the disaster and purposely neglecting Republican states and storm victims. He also falsely stated Biden did not respond to calls for help from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Kemp and Biden had already spoken a day earlier. Kemp and other Republican leaders also said their states were getting everything they need.
Wednesday’s trip to Georgia may also present a political opportunity for Harris — a chance to show empathy in the midst of a humanitarian crisis as she campaigns for president.
Harris says she also plans to visit North Carolina in the coming days.
Faculty across the state have accused the University of California system of carrying out a sweeping campaign to suppress pro-Palestinian speech and protests in violation of state labor law.
The Council of University of California Faculty Associations said UC administrators have threatened faculty for teaching about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and launched disciplinary proceedings against faculty for supporting on-campus student encampments as well as backing a strike by student academic workers this spring.
The faculty group made the allegations in a 581-page complaint filed Thursday with California’s Public Employment Relations Board, which oversees labor-management interaction for public employees in the state. The unfair labor practice charge was co-signed by faculty associations at seven UC campuses, including Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Berkeley, Davis and San Francisco.
Faculty members gathered at UCLA midday Thursday to announce the charge. At the news conference, Constance Penley, president of the Council of UC Faculty Associations, described the university’s actions as a “relentless campaign to chill faculty’s exercise of their academic freedom and to deter them from teaching about the war in a way that does not align with the university’s position.”
Faculty have also been investigated for pro-Palestine social media posts, arrested for exercising their free speech rights and were surveilled and intimidated by university representatives, the filing alleged.
The push from faculty highlights how, months after police cleared pro-Palestinian encampments at universities, the fallout has continued on various campuses, with university officials implementing new protest rules and students grappling with ongoing suspensions and holds on their records.
The faculty claims build on an earlier charge filed by the UCLA Faculty Assn. in the aftermath of attacks and mass arrests faced by students and faculty participating in an on-campus encampment in April and May. And they parallel similar allegations made by unions representing UC employees, including United Auto Workers Local 481, which represents student academic workers and the University Council-American Federation of Teachers, which represents 6,500 librarians and teaching faculty across the university system.
The various charges, filed earlier this year with the state labor board allege essentially that the university had failed to maintain safe working conditions, disregarded the free speech rights of its employees, and unlawfully made changes to working conditions in response to campus protests.
The university defends its course of action. In response to a request for comment, UC spokesperson Heather Hansen pointed to a university statement previously filed with the state labor board in response to the UCLA Faculty Assn.’s charge.
The university stated that while it “supports free speech and lawful protests,” it must also “ensure that all of its community members can safely continue to study, work, and exercise their rights, which is why it has in place policies that regulate the time, place, and manner for protest activities on its campuses.”
“The University has allowed — and continues to allow — lawful protesting activities surrounding the conflict in the Middle East. But when protests violate University policy or threaten the safety and security of others, the University has taken lawful action to end impermissible and unlawful behavior,” the university said.
The filing details instances of the university allegedly investigating and disciplining faculty.
Soon after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the start of Israel’s bombing siege of Gaza, the university began sending emails to faculty threatening that they could be investigated and disciplined for teaching content outside the scope of their courses. In November, UC San Diego investigated two lecturers for teaching about the history of the Palestinian territories, the filing said. A UC Irvine faculty member was sent a “letter of warning” by the administration for holding a vote on whether to conduct class at the on-campus encampment, with optional attendance.
In another example cited, a medical school lecturer at UC San Francisco who delivered a talk in April about trauma-informed care at a health equity conference was barred from participating in future educational activities after she devoted some six minutes of a 50-minute course to discussing the topic as it related to Palestinians’ health challenges. A campus administrator informed the lecturer they had received complaints that her talk was “biased and antisemitic,” and took down an online video of the talk. The ban was eventually lifted, but the video remains offline.
The complaint says the university’s “harsh crackdown against professors for expressing pro-Palestinian viewpoints stands in stark contrast to its treatment of vocal pro-Israeli faculty.”
The university refused to initiate a formal disciplinary investigation into a pro-Israel faculty member at UC Irvine accused of harassing and physically intimidating an undergraduate student, although video footage was provided of the faculty member “cornering, physically intimidating, and interrogating a visibly scared student,” the filing said.
After an unfair labor practice charge is filed, the Public Employee Relations Board will review and evaluate the case, and decide whether to dismiss the charge or proceed with having parties negotiate a settlement. If no settlement is reached, the case would be scheduled for a formal hearing before an administrative law judge.
