A sweeping campaign by federal immigration agents to identify voter fraud by noncitizens through door knocks, street stops and other field interviews in California and eight other states must be reined in ahead of the Nov. 3 election, after a federal judge in Northern California ruled it has intimidated U.S. citizens and interfered with the work of voting rights groups.

Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguin said in a ruling Wednesday that limiting the Department of Homeland Security’s surging operations in those states — which she wrote “sweep in U.S. citizens for investigation” — does not prevent the Trump administration from “exercising their authority to investigate voter fraud by lawful means.”

A Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency is “laser focused on identifying, prosecuting, and removing aliens who vote,” and has “no plans to question or investigate people we believe to be U.S. citizens.”

The ruling was the latest to come out of an unprecedented legal war playing out between the Trump administration and California in recent days, in which an array of election cases are working their way through the federal courts at breakneck speed.

There is, for example, the lawsuit the U.S. Justice Department filed against California and state and local elections officials last week, demanding that they set aside any ballots from a list of 20,000 individuals identified by immigration officials as “likely noncitizens.”

There are also two cases out of Washington, D.C., in which a coalition of Democratic leaders, immigrant rights groups, voting rights experts and naturalized citizens in California are challenging the Trump administration’s use of Homeland Security data to target voters.

The litigation is playing out amid an intense political debate about election security at the national level — driven in part by President Trump, a longtime election denier — and a sweeping campaign by his administration to root out and parade examples of alleged voter fraud in the final days before the election.

White House, Homeland Security and Justice Department officials have all defended the administration’s efforts as necessary to ensure that noncitizens are not illegally diluting the votes of U.S. citizens. First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, the lead federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, has claimed to have “overwhelming evidence” that tens of thousands of noncitizens are doing so in California.

‘That is not normal’

Democratic leaders and prominent elections experts, meanwhile, have cast the administration’s claims as baseless and intentionally exaggerated to stoke uncertainty about election security and ultimately challenge midterm results the president doesn’t like, and the Justice Department’s legal arguments as fundamentally flawed and wildly out of line with long-established department policy to stay out of elections in the lead up to voting.

“That is not normal. We have literally never experienced that in American history. Not once,” said David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research and a former Justice Department elections attorney. “The fact that the administration appears poised for the first time to act as an adversary to the states and counties who have [the] undisputed constitutional authority to run elections? That is unusual.”

At the same time, Becker and other experts stressed that those efforts to date have failed, and state and local elections have largely proceeded in recent weeks without incident, with millions of Americans having already cast their ballots.

“California voters need to know that they’re in good hands, that we have leaders at the state and local levels who are protecting our ballots and are ensuring that these attempts by the federal government to root out supposed noncitizen voting are not going to prevent Californians from casting our ballots,” said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation. “Part of the strategy here is to distract people and scare people and raise fears, and the important thing is to continue to stay focused on … making a plan to vote.”

Status of cases

Federal courts have already rejected multiple Trump executive orders seeking to enforce nationwide voter ID and citizenship requirements. The Supreme Court blocked an administration plan for the U.S. Postal Service to vet mail ballots. The Justice Department has compiled a stunning record of losses in its 30 lawsuits demanding state voter rolls — with 26 of those cases, including the one in California, so far dismissed.

And election experts said they expect the Trump administration to rack up more losses in coming days — including in the Justice Department’s case challenging California officials’ refusal to segregate the ballots of some 20,000 voters based on the administration’s unsubstantiated claims they are noncitizens.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, shown in 2023, is overseeing a lawsuit in which the Department of Justice says 20,000 California ballots may have been sent to “likely noncitizens.”

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

That case was taken up — and scheduled for a Tuesday hearing — by Judge David O. Carter, an appointee of President Clinton who in January rejected the administration’s demand for California’s voter rolls, calling it a clear federal overreach that would have a “chilling effect” on voters and threaten American democracy.

California has called for the case to be dismissed outright, on the grounds that the administration has zero authority to make such demands, and that the demands are unlawful. The Trump administration has asked Carter to immediately rule in the matter.

“Every minute of [ballot] processing that occurs without segregating the ballots of suspected non-eligible voters causes untraceable disenfranchisement and dilution of the votes of United States citizens,” wrote Julie Hamill, an assistant U.S. attorney in Essayli’s office.

In D.C. federal court, Judge James E. Boasberg set an Oct. 30 hearing in a case in which UCLA Voting Rights Project attorneys, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, and a California voter named Pedro Trujillo are challenging the administration’s use of unproven federal databases to allege California voters aren’t citizens.

Carl Bergquist, an attorney for CHIRLA, said he looked forward to bringing a host of recent Trump administration actions to the court’s attention — including the administration’s lawsuit against California, the charging this week of 28 legal permanent residents in California with election-related crimes, and Trump’s threats to arrest California elections officials who don’t comply with his administration’s demands.

“The events of the last few days, from threats to state and local officials, increased general immigration operations, the random knocking on doors by federal agents and the recent arrests are causing a chill in the community,” Bergquist said. “People, including naturalized citizens, are making their plans to vote and the Federal Government is doing its utmost to quash their attempts to exercise this fundamental right that they have lawfully acquired.”

The argument that naturalized citizens are being intimidated also features prominently in a second lawsuit filed in D.C. federal court Tuesday, in which top Democrats in Congress joined Nevada party officials and a California immigrant named Erick Jose Jimenez to challenge the Trump administration’s unprecedented voter fraud probes.

That lawsuit, also assigned to Boasberg, says Jimenez, a naturalized citizen since 2006, fears being “unlawfully targeted for voting and disenfranchised (or worse).”

Justin Levitt, a Loyola Law School professor who studies elections and was a senior policy advisor on democracy and voting rights in the Biden White House, said there is “so much noise” around the election right now, in part because the administration has been making wild legal arguments about its authority over elections.

But he said “none of the federal government’s attempts to assert power that they do not have are working,” and voting “for 99.999% of the public” will remain “wonderfully normal.”

Ron Duguay, a longtime New York Rangers star who finished his NHL career with the Kings, has died of cancer. He was 69.

The Rangers announced the loss of “one of the most popular players in franchise history” on Thursday morning after being informed by Duguay’s family.

“Ron’s signature skating style — with his hair flowing as he moved down the ice — captivated The Garden Faithful, and his skill, tenacity, and charisma earned him the admiration of all New Yorkers,” the team said in a statement. “We join the hockey community in sending our condolences to Ron’s friends, family, and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who dated Duguay over the last several years, posted on social media that the one-time NHL All-Star “passed away peacefully” Thursday “after a hard-fought battle with cancer.”

“It’s with a shattered heart, but also deep peace knowing Ron is with Jesus now,” Palin wrote. “He fought so hard. Love never ends.”

On Sunday, Palin posted photos that appeared to show her holding Duguay’s hand while he was in a hospital bed. “Prayers for Ron Duguay are felt & appreciated,” she wrote.

Born in Sudbury, Ontario, Duguay was selected by the Rangers at No. 13 overall in the 1977 draft. Known for his long, curly hair and flashy lifestyle — “why, he even danced with Cher at one of Manhattan’s best-known discos,” the New York Times wrote in 1983 — Duguay became a star during the six seasons of his initial stint in New York. He helped the Rangers make the 1979 Stanley Cup Final and earned his only All-Star nod in 1982.

Ron Duguay, front left, blocks out New York Rangers’ Carey Wilson as Kings teammate Marty McSorley winds up to shoot Feb. 27, 1989, at Madison Square Garden.

(Ron Frehm / Associated Press)

Duguay was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in the summer of 1983 and had the two best seasons of his career, including career highs of 89 points on 38 goals and 51 assists during the 1984-1985 season. He also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and a second time for the Rangers before wrapping up his career with the Kings from 1988 to 1989.

Overall, Duguay had 673 points (305 goals, 368 assists) in the NHL regular season and playoffs. He went on to play in the minor leagues, including two seasons with the IHL’s San Diego Gulls, and spent 12 years calling Rangers games as an MSG Network analyst.

“Ron greeted each day with the biggest smile, an incredible zest for life, and a positive outlook that shone through everything he saw, everything he did, and every life he touched,” the NHL Alumni Assn. wrote on X. “He will be remembered not only for the player he was, but for the extraordinary person he was. His warmth, his laughter, his kindness, and his beautiful spirit will forever remain in the hearts of his family, friends, teammates, and the entire NHL Alumni community.”

The Kings reposted the alumni association’s statement and added: “Our hearts are with Ron’s family & loved ones and we join them in mourning his passing.”

In 2024, Duguay was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, which had started in his colon before spreading to his liver and other parts of his body, according to a post on the GoFundMe page set up by his three adult children to help pay for his medical and travel costs. He lived in Florida but had to make regular trips to Orange County for treatment.

“Early this morning, our beloved father took his final breath after fighting a long and courageous battle. He fought with everything he had, right until the very end,” daughter Shay Thomas wrote on Thursday in a separate GoFundMe post. “Our hearts are shattered, and the world feels a little less bright without him in it. He will be missed by so many, but we find peace in knowing that he is finally free from pain and suffering.

“He fought the good fight until his very last breath, and today, Heaven gained a truly special angel.”

When the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony gets under way at the London Palladium this Monday, much of England will hope it serves as a good omen.

After all, the English haven’t seen one of their own lift the golden ball – football’s most prestigious individual award – in 25 years.

Michael Owen was the embodiment of English pride when he won the accolade in 2001. Now, it is Harry Kane who could bring his nation an honour every footballer dreams of.

So, what are Kane’s odds of winning the Ballon d’Or? Al Jazeera takes a look:

The best season of Kane’s career bodes well for Ballon d’Or

Remember the time when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo scored 50-plus goals for fun? When a football forward’s goal tally looked more like a batsman’s cricket score?

Kane’s 2025-26 goal-scoring exploit is the closest we have experienced to that in recent years.

The England captain’s 73-goal performance last season was the finest display the world has seen since Argentinian legend Messi’s 82-goal tally in 2011-12.

“I’ve never liked to talk about myself too much,” Kane said in an interview last month.

“The only thing I would say is that last season was incredible, on a personal level and as a team.

“It was, by far, the best season of my life.”

Age is no problem for England and Bayern Munich’s Kane

He scored an incredible 36 goals last season, making Kane the Bundesliga’s top scorer for the third year running and earning him a second European Golden Shoe, while finishing nine goals clear of Manchester City’s Erling Haaland in the continental race.

The Bayern Munich forward’s statistics look even more impressive given he is seemingly peaking at 33, an age when most forwards are far beyond their prime.

Kane is bidding to join the ranks of Messi, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema, some of the recipients of the last 10 editions who won the Ballon d’Or in their 30s.

Standing in his way, however, are two very talented juniors – Spain’s superstar-in-the-making, Lamine Yamal, who won the 2026 FIFA World Cup shortly after his 19th birthday, and France’s 2018 world champion, Kylian Mbappe, who is 27.

When Kane made his Premier League debut for Tottenham Hotspur in 2014, Yamal was still in primary school, and Mbappe was in high school.

Could Champions League and World Cup woes hurt Kane’s bid?

Since Kane moved from London to Munich, the forward has taken German club football by storm, and 2025-26 was no different. He finished the campaign with three trophies: the Bundesliga title, DFB-Pokal (the German Cup) and Franz Beckenbauer Supercup (the German Supercup).

But his failure to make an impact in the Champions League semifinal cost Bayern Europe’s most coveted club trophy, and the same was the case at the recent World Cup, where he finished third with England.

While World Cup success is not a strict requirement to win the Ballon d’Or, having a world title on your CV definitely helps. Furthermore, being pitted against 2026 World Cup winners Yamal and Rodri – also the 2024 Ballon d’Or recipient – could hurt Kane’s odds.

Recent history suggests that winning a title in one of the major tournaments has become almost a prerequisite.

Only four of the previous 19 Ballon d’Or winners failed to lift either the Champions League, World Cup, European Championship or Copa America during the year they won the honour.

Those exceptions include record eight-time Ballon d’Or recipient Messi and five-time winner Ronaldo.

Kane is the bookmakers’ favourite to win the Ballon d’Or

Only time will tell whether falling short in major competitions’ crucial knockout rounds will decide Kane’s fate, but for now, he is the bookmakers’ leading candidate for the trophy.

As of Tuesday, Kane holds about 65-70 percent market share to become the successor to Ousmane Dembele, the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner.

Unlike other Ballon d’Or contenders, especially the outspoken Yamal and Mbappe, who are campaigning hard for the award, Kane has been relatively quiet.

Bayern are speaking up for their leader, having put together a video in which teammates said Kane should win.

“He deserves to win it, 100 percent, without a doubt,” said Colombian Luis Diaz, who is also on the shortlist.

If Kane wins the award, he would become only the fifth English player to do so after Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen.

US actor Tom Skerritt, who starred in the TV series Picket Fences, and the films Alien and Top Gun, has died aged 93, his family says.

Skerritt died on Wednesday of natural causes, his family said: “While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humor, curiosity, wisdom, generosity, and the love he brought into our lives.”

In a six-decade career, he took on film and television roles, appearing in the film Mash, A River Runs Through It and Ted. He also co-founded TheFilmSchool in Seattle to support next-generation filmmakers and storytellers.

His family said he will be remembered “for his belief that stories can help people heal, find purpose, and create change.”

The mustachioed star of several 20th century hit films was born on 25 August 1933 in Detroit, Michigan, and served in the US Air Force before pursuing an acting career that boasted several military roles.

He made his film debut in 1962 alongside a young Robert Redford ​in War Hunt and years later re-teamed with Redford in the 1992 period drama A River Runs Through It, which starred Brad Pitt.

Skerritt’s breakthrough role came when he played US army surgeon Duke Forrest in the 1970 Korean War comedy Mash, which also starred Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould and Sally Kellerman.

The hit film, which was released amid unrest over the Vietnam War, was nominated for five Academy Awards and was adapted for television two years later.

He also starred alongside Sigourney Weaver in the 1979 sci-fi film Alien, which earned two Oscar nominations, and led to three sequels and several crossover projects.

“It is spontaneity and impulse ​that make the difference, and that is ⁠what I felt we had with ‘Alien,'” Skerritt said in a 2019 interview, according to Reuters news agency.

“Every one of us had that immediate rapport with each other.”

Skerritt said that one of the things he liked most when he first read the script was that “the woman becomes a hero”, referring to Weaver’s character, Ripley.

During his career, he starred opposite several strong female leads.

He appeared with Shirley MacLaine in the 1977 film Turning Point and played Sally Field’s husband in 1989’s Steel Magnolias.

As Commander Mike “Viper” Metcalf in the 1986 classic Top Gun, the versatile actor appeared alongside a young Tom Cruise in the blockbuster.

On television, he won an Emmy Award in 1993 for his role as Sheriff Jimmy Brock in David E Kelley’s drama Picket Fences.

The procedural’s ensemble cast was nominated for SAG Awards in 1995 and 1996, and he received a nod for male actor in a drama series in 1995.

Skerritt also had guest roles on the small screen in The West Wing, Madam Secretary, Law & Order: SVU and Huff. He reteamed with Field as the family patriarch, William Walker, in the drama Brothers & Sisters from 2007-09.

He had a six-episode stint on Cheers playing Rebecca Howe’s crush-worthy boss Evan Drake.

In a statement, Skerritt’s family said that he leaves behind a “legacy that reaches far beyond the screen”

A deep believer in the power of storytelling, Skerritt helped found the TheFilmSchool in Seattle and co-founded the Red Badge Project, which helps veterans work through PTSD, anxiety and depression by writing and sharing their experiences.

Inspired in part by his experience filming A River Runs Through It, he also believed in protecting the natural world.

He created the documentary series Reflections of the River about America’s rivers and supported river conservation.

KATIE PRICE has been left furious after she was snubbed by the Pride of Britain Awards as she admitted she “didn’t get an invite.”

The former glamour model’s kids, Princess, 19, and Junior Andre, attended the Awards on Monday and were seen posing up on the red carpet.

But, Katie didn’t quite make the cut.

While discussing their booming careers on her podcast, The Katie Price Show, she confessed they were invited to the prestigious event – but she wasn’t.

Katie’s sister, Sophie, asked her what career advice she would give the kids, who she shares with Mysterious Girl singer Peter Andre.

“Well I don’t feel I need to give them any advice because they’re doing fantastic, because they’ve grown up with it,” said Katie.

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“They know what it’s all about. They’re not media trained. They’ve literally lived and grieved it. So they know what they’re doing.

“I’m very, very lucky and they’re lucky. They’re media savvy. They’re bot stupid. They’re naturally trained.”

Katie added: “I’m annoyed I didn’t get an invite to the Pride of Britain did I? Again.”

“No but like you never do,” pointed out Sophie.

Swiftly moving on, Sophie and Katie gave their thoughts on Princess and Junior taking part in Celebrity Race Across The World.

They told how one of their family members “took the p*ss” out of Junior, 21, for his map reading skills.

This week, Katie, 48, put her wedding ring back on after dumping her ex-husband Lee Andrews via WhatsApp.

In a shock move, the reality star was seen rocking the huge sparkler on her wedding finger while out and about in Sussex.

Sparking rumours that she’s back with Lee, she was seen emerging from a nail salon after a pampering session with the ring firmly back on her finger.

This comes after she refollowed him on Instagram despite slamming him on social media.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Trump said Thursday that Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, should keep running a controversial ad featuring the estranged mother of Democratic opponent Amy Acton, posting on social media that it was “hitting pay dirt.”

Trump also denounced Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who criticized the ad as “deeply, deeply troubling” earlier in the day. Acton previously served in DeWine’s administration as a health official. Her mother lost custody of Acton and her brother after her husband — the children’s stepfather — was indicted on a charge of raping Acton.

“He strongly suggested that Vivek should, ‘take down the Ad,’ ” Trump wrote. “He probably wants a Dumocrat to win, and certainly doesn’t want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing. I suggested, on the other hand, that Vivek should keep it up, and let everyone listen to the mother of a defective, dishonest, and incapable Candidate, explain how the daughter is a DISASTER who, uncontrollably, lies, cheats, and steals!”

At a gathering with reporters at the Ohio Statehouse, DeWine recalled the painful experiences of rape victims he dealt with as a county prosecutor and state attorney general.

“It’s wrong to run this ad,” he said. “And, even at this late time — my wife, Fran, saw the ad just run this morning on TV — I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down.”

The term-limited DeWine’s remarks place him at odds with Ramaswamy, whom he has endorsed. The biotech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate plans to spend $4 million to broadcast it online and on television.

DeWine stops short of pulling his endorsement

But the governor stopped short of pulling his backing of the Republican for now. DeWine recalled a previous line of attack by the Acton campaign had mentioned Ramaswamy’s mother and said that also was wrong — “family members have always historically been off limits” — though he noted it was never used in a multimillion-dollar ad campaign.

That critique from the summer cited an investigative report into Geetha Ramaswamy’s role at a pharmaceutical company run by her son, whom Acton and Democrats described as “hiring his own mother to manipulate clinical trial data.”

The Ramaswamy campaign called those claims “slanderous” and said he’s being held to a different standard than Acton and other Democrats who have attacked Republicans’ families.

“Governor DeWine is correct that the first and only candidate to attack the mother of her opponent in this race was Amy Acton,” spokesperson Connie Luck said in a statement, adding, “We refuse to accept the media’s double standards.”

Ohio Republicans divided over the ad

By chiming in, DeWine has entered the fray of a growing rift among Ohio Republicans over the advertisement — as both the governor’s race and a race for U.S. Senate appear far tighter than expected in a state Trump won handily three times. The video features Acton’s birth mother, Donna Arthur, calling her “a liar” and insinuating she has mental health issues.

Acton, Ohio’s COVID-19-era health director, has made no secret of facing homelessness and abuse as a child. Arthur lost custody of her children after their stepfather, Arthur’s husband, was indicted on a charge of rape involving Acton. Acton’s campaign on Tuesday posted a video of her brother, who supported her backstory about living in a tent and being abused.

Republican Vice President JD Vance, an Ohio native son, expressed disgust during an Ohio campaign swing Wednesday with Republicans “whining” about the ad as low and in poor taste. But Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, DeWine’s former lieutenant governor — running in a tight retention race against Democrat Sherrod Brown — has said he would not have run the ad, as has Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is running for state auditor.

Another influential Ohio Republican, former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, posted a lengthy essay on X overnight, suggesting that “the floor may have just fallen out from under the Republican campaign for Ohio Governor” and urging every Republican to distance themselves from it.

Amid the turmoil, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou posted what sounded like a warning, or a threat.

“The final days of a tough campaign are always the best time to find out who is really with you and who just posts and pretends,” he wrote. “Yes—we are keeping score.” The quote was followed by a winking-eye emoji.

Ad has faced bipartisan rebukes, support in conservative media

The ad is also dividing Republicans nationally.

Nikki Haley, who sparred with Ramaswamy during the 2024 Republican presidential primary over the personal nature of his attacks, called him “a bad guy” in a social media post Tuesday. “It’s a shame he continues to get away with it,” she wrote.

At the same time, Media Matters for America, a left-leaning media watchdog group, has reported that many within the national conservative media are promoting and praising the ad. Ramaswamy’s campaign manager, Jonathan Ewing, characterized it as “a campaign-ending moment for Amy Acton.”

Wayne Allyn Root, of Gateway Pundit, called it “absolutely hilarious” and Daily Wire host Michael Knowles described it as “brilliant.”

Police and court records show Cledith Arthur was arrested and charged with the rape of Acton in July 1978, when she was 12, after her biological father lodged a formal complaint against him. The abuse allegedly happened from December 1976 to April 1978. Cledith Arthur failed to show for a court appearance and became a fugitive.

Donna Arthur remained married to him until his death in 2004.

Smyth writes for the Associated Press.

Mohammed Annour spent much of his youth living in a flimsy shelter in a dusty, overcrowded refugee camp in east Africa, where the days were long, the food was poor and the future nonexistent.

“Go to the army and fight. That’s one option,” said Annour, who fled war in Sudan for the refugee camp in Chad when he was 9. “The other one is you stay there. But you don’t have a future.”

If he had stayed, Annour, now 33, has little doubt how his story would have ended.

“Probably,” he said, “I’m dead.”

Mohammed Annour, a refugee soccer player who became a coach, and Alan Barker, chairman of the Mighty Cosmos, look across a field in Sweden.

(Courtesy of Darren Hamlin)

Instead, he’s in Sweden, raising two boys, working as a quality control inspector for a textile company and playing amateur soccer for a team in the country’s fifth division. And the only thing that separates his experience from the tens of thousands of desperate people he left behind in the camp is the fact someone believed in him enough to give him a chance.

“Everybody needs a chance,” Annour said. “Don’t throw people out. People just need a chance in life.”

“And we got that chance,” he continued, “because of Katie-Jay and Gabriel.”

That would be Katie-Jay Scott and Gabriel Stauring, a pair of South Bay activists who showed up at Annour’s camp on a blazing hot day in 2011, rolled a battered soccer ball across a barren field and transformed an untold number of lives.

Scott and Stauring founded the humanitarian group iACT largely to respond to the crisis in Darfur, a semi-desert plateau in western Sudan that has known nothing but war this century. But unlike many of the dozens of other similarly minded people and groups working in Africa, Scott and Stauring came not to preach, but to listen. They came with questions, not answers.

And what they were told was that the children in the camps needed more than food and shelter. They needed a routine, they needed recreation, they needed joy and they needed hope.

Founders of iACT Gabriel Stauring, left, and Katie-Jay Scott hold up gifts they received after a training session in the Central African Republic. Stauring and Scott were killed in a car crash in 2021, but their nonprofit continues to support refugees.

(Courtesy of iACT)

In other words, they needed soccer.

“Many organizations came into the camps. They just came around and took some pictures and then they leave,” said Annour, a slight man with a serious countenance. “I think [Scott and Stauring] understood us as humans, not just these kids or these people who need food or shelter.

“They saw another side. They saw these people that can make something in life.”

Stauring and Scott were killed in a car accident in Manhattan Beach five years ago, but their legacy lives on in the unique advocacy and aid program they created, one that uses soccer to teach skills and provide structure to refugees stranded in camps, shelters and intolerable poverty in four countries on two continents.

“They were so kind, careful,” Annour said. “Listening to everyone. It didn’t matter where you came from, which color you are. They were open and gave time to everyone they met.”

“Honestly, I didn’t know they were going to change my life or anything,” added Moubarak Abdallah, another refugee introduced to soccer by Scott and Stauring. “I saw them as other people who just come and go. But they were quite special people.

Grace Tanda, of the Mighty Cosmos, strikes the ball during a match. The soccer team in Sweden is comprised of refugees.

(Courtesy of Darren Hamlin)

“They wanted to help our ideas shine, to [give] other people hope. They were listening to what I needed.”

Today, there are more than 5,000 children participating in iACT soccer academies in Chad, the Central African Republic, Cameroon and Mexico. Another 1,800 children are enrolled in the group’s Little Ripples preschool program, which also served 475,000 meals to students and staff last year.

But the organization, like many similarly focused humanitarian groups, is fighting for its survival amid a global backlash against refugees and migrants.

The hostility has been especially strong in the U.S., where the second Trump administration has sharply restricted immigration and asylum access and drastically cut congressionally approved spending for life-sustaining programs previously funded through USAID. Many European countries have followed that lead, adopting a stauncher approach to border enforcement and deportations and slashing support for development assistance by 13.8% in 2025, the largest cut in a decade.

This summer, violent anti-immigrant protests in South Africa forced more than 178,000 people to flee to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Nigeria and other countries, reversing a trend that has seen the region’s richest country welcome migrants to work on farms, in construction and other low-paid jobs. Public sentiment toward refugees and migrants has also hardened elsewhere, creating a crisis for nonprofit aid groups.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, this month warned the gap between humanitarian needs and donor contributions is widening, leading to deep cuts and forcing aid groups to fight one another for the shrinking dollars that remain — all at a time when conflicts in Syria, Gaza and Ukraine have swelled the number of refugees worldwide to nearly 42 million; another 69 million people are displaced.

That’s more than 1 out of every 70 people on Earth, according to the UNHCR.

Annour and his family were once part of that wave, fleeing their home in Sudan in 2003, stepping around dead bodies and witnessing unimaginable horror, to escape one in a series of continuing civil wars that have given way to genocide. More than 15 million people have been displaced in the 23 years of fighting, with more than 1.3 million still stranded in teeming refugee camps in eastern Chad.

Annour said he would have perished there if not for Stauring and Scott, who introduced soccer to their camp. Three years after the pair arrived, an international tournament for stateless players, the CONIFA World Football Cup, was held and iACT entered a 20-man team comprised of players from 12 camps. Annour, a left back, made the cut as did Abdallah, a physical midfielder with a perpetual smile who would become the team captain.

“No one is thinking this [is] going to be life-changing,” Abdallah remembers thinking. “You know, there was like a small chance but it became big dreams for us.”

The team, Darfur United, was outscored 39-0 in its two games in Ostersund, Sweden, but most of the players chose to stay in Ostersund rather than return to their camps and were welcomed by the Swedish government. They received asylum and eventually formed an integration team, the Mighty Cosmos, that advanced as high as the fifth division of Swedish soccer.

Abdallah is a natural leader, said Alan Barker, chairman of the Mighty Cosmos, and the kind of person who receives total respect from the other players.

Mugenyi Ngabu, left, cheers during the Mighty Cosmos’ match in Sweden. The team is comprised entirely of refugees.

(Courtesy of Darren Hamlin)

“He is a sort of guy you can rely on 100%,” Barker said. “Personally, I would trust him with my life. He is a doer, not a talker. A problem solver not a problem creator. And he always wants the best for everybody.”

Annour, he added, has been troubled by knee injuries on the field but remains “a strong and quiet yet forceful personality of the group.”

“He is a passionate believer in fair play and honesty and has no room for dishonesty or deception in any aspect of life,” Barker continued. “Maybe that’s a reflection of his childhood in the refugee camps and Chad, where there was no time for such things. He’s a sort of guy whose name would be first on the team sheet. The team sheet of football and life.”

More important is the fact that the players, teenagers or young adults when they arrived in Sweden, have married, had children of their own, become citizens and integrated into the local community, where their civic work was this year recognized with one of Sweden’s most prestigious awards.

“I never dreamed to be in this position when I was a kid. I was trying to survive, to live day by day,” said Annour, who is working three jobs to support his sons, aged 1 ½ and 4.

“I’m here. I can provide for my family. Moubarak provides for his family. It’s like saving a generation, not just me and Moubarak.”

“It’s about the chances,” agreed Abdallah, 35, who also lives in Sweden where he coaches the Mighty Cosmos while raising a 5-year-old son.

“The door has to open. That’s all.”

iACT offered a way to open those doors when it first rolled that battered soccer ball onto a dirt lot. Without that, “these guys wouldn’t be here, wouldn‘t have the lives they have,” said Darren Hamlin, a British filmmaker who has started a Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary on the refugee players.

By focusing on single players and their game and not the vastness of the sprawling global refugee crisis, Hamlin says the film has the power to redefine these former refugees not as obscure numbers but as flesh-and-blood people with dreams and talents and aspirations. That was what inspired Scott and Stauring when they founded iACT.

“Football has this power to transcend sports. It becomes an emotional thing,” said Hamlin, who is behind on his goal of raising $66,000 by the end of the month to expand work on the documentary. “It doesn’t matter how many stats or things we put in front of people; they don’t really pay attention.

“But football kind of goes deeper sometimes. Football is kind of the vehicle that delivers the message.”

Getting that message out, however, is becoming increasingly difficult. As government funding for refugee programs around the world has dried up, groups like iACT have found themselves fighting for the same slice of a much smaller funding pie.

“Fundraising at all levels has become more difficult with the gutting of USAID, especially with the increase in larger NGOs [non-government organizations] applying for foundation grants,” said Merri Weir, a retired teacher and iACT board member since 2016. “It is becoming harder and harder because we’re competing with larger NGOs. The funding stream has become tighter.”

At the same time, the need has swelled.

“The refugee camps in Chad are still very unstable,” said Weir, who has visited the camps multiple times. “The current war has not ended and shows no sign of ending. Refugees are still coming across the border, which has more than doubled the number of Sudanese refugees.

“It is critical that we are able to sustain our current refugee-led programs.”

In response, Weir’s group, which will hold its annual fundraising event in Manhattan Beach next month, has considered everything short of a corner lemonade stand and selling chocolate door to door to make up for the lost financial backing it needs to continue what Scott and Stauring started.

“In the past, it is our uniqueness and our innovation and our refugee-led action [that] set us apart,” said Weir. “It was very appealing.”

The Trump administration complicated things even further in June 2025 when it instituted a travel ban and entry restriction list on Chad, leading the Chadian government to retaliate by revoking visas for American citizens, including aid workers. That means fewer children playing soccer and attending preschool, fewer meals being served — and fewer success stories like the ones told by Abdallah and Annour.

“I spent 12 years in a refugee camp,” Abdallah said. “People just hope to get a meal for the day. [iACT] brought the footballs and then just brought the idea. A chance to change our lives. Opportunity.

“There’s a lot of people in the refugee camps [that] could be pilots, doctors, better football players. Maybe there is the next Lionel Messi, Cristiano [Ronaldo], Lamine Yamal in the camp. But they don’t have any opportunity to get out.”

“The world is crazy. It’s just war everywhere,” added Annour, who is about to begin a college course on sports science. “Those people who don’t like refugees, who don’t want the United Nations to bring more refugees, they need to put themselves in our shoes.

“People are so naive to think they can just ignore what’s going on. It’s getting bigger every day.“

Abdallah and Annour may have left the camps, but the camps have not left them. The work they have done in Sweden includes the construction of a community sports and culture center, addressing crime prevention and mental health, refugee resettlement, and fundraising efforts that support the work of iACT and other groups working with the people they left behind.

“My mom is still in the same camp, so I’ve been back three times now with a lot of footballs, football boots and football equipment,” Abdallah said.

Scott and Stauring, who lived in Redondo Beach before the fatal car crash, thought they were bringing soccer to the camps in Africa, but what they really brought was hope and proof that if someone just opens the door, you might be surprised what you find on the other side.

United States President Donald Trump has long touted himself as a political outsider, someone who would expose the elites’ abuse of power and shift government focus from far-off conflicts to problems at home. Phrases like “drain the swamp” and “America first” have proved to be powerful rallying cries, sparking a whole cadre of “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) Republicans.

Halfway through his final term as president, though, Trump has backpedalled on many of those ideas, cosying up to the ultra-wealthy, sidelining investigations into convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and launching an ongoing war with Iran.

That about-face appears to be having a real impact on Republicans running in the US midterm elections in November, said Rina Shah, a geopolitical adviser and strategist and a former senior GOP congressional aide.

“In competitive races, some are quietly distancing,” Shah said, adding that they are “talking about gas prices, local issues, or [saying] ‘I’m focused on my district’ – because the Iran war and the Epstein drip are already showing up in attack ads and soft polling.”

Here’s what you need to know about whether the Republican Party has softened its stance on these issues.

Which Republicans have broken with Trump over the Epstein files?

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump said he would declassify troves of files kept by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about Epstein and his global network of contacts. Trump’s future cabinet members, too, were enthusiastic about this, with Kash Patel, now head of the FBI, saying it was time to “put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are”.

Yet a few months after taking office, Trump began dragging his feet, sparking a backlash from influential MAGA figures. Trump began calling the entire issue a “hoax” and saying Republicans were being duped by Democrats into calling for an investigation into Epstein’s network.

Congress did eventually force the release of the files, with help from a handful of Republicans who broke with Trump. The Trump administration has released batches of the heavily redacted files, but has continued to withhold some. Meanwhile, all the Republican lawmakers who voted to mandate releases have paid a price for their insubordination, with three even losing their offices.

US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene left her Georgia seat in January 2026, after publicly clashing with Trump over Epstein. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, lost her bid to become the party’s candidate in her home state after Trump refused to endorse her. Colorado’s Lauren Boebert barely won the primary in her own contest after angering Trump by supporting calls for transparency from Thomas Massie, another Republican bent on exposing what the files held. Massie, of Kentucky, also drew Trump’s ire, which likely cost him the primary.

No more foreign wars?

Trump had long said he would be reducing foreign military involvement, breaking with the interventionist tendencies of other recent Republican presidents. Now he and his party face tough questions about the US-Israel war on Iran, which influential figures in the MAGA movement like political commentator Tucker Carlson have called a mistake, saying, “This is Israel’s war. This is not the United States’ war.”

Amongst disgruntled MAGA supporters, a narrative has emerged of Trump using the war to also distract from the Epstein issue. Massie, the former congressman, summed up the sentiment by saying, “Bombing a country on the other side of the globe won’t make the Epstein files go away.”

Trump has tried to downplay the war’s impact, but voters, even in the Republican Party, think he broke his own promise, driving the overall approval rating for the ratings-obsessed president down to record lows. “Seven months into an open-ended campaign with shifting goals,” said Shah, “that promise looks different to a lot of his voters.”

Few Republicans, however, have responded to that public sentiment with their votes in Congress, where Democrats have tried repeatedly to curtail Trump’s war on Iran by passing resolutions pointing out he failed to get the body’s approval.

In September, just seven Republican House members joined Democrats to pass an anti-war bill. In the Senate, similar efforts have been supported by just a handful of Republicans. Trump called the Republican lawmakers supporting the anti-war bills “unpatriotic,” and said, “They should be ashamed of themselves.”

As with the Epstein files, Trump took action against rebellious Republicans over the Iran war, for instance backing a rival of Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted in favour of the anti-war bill, in a primary in Louisiana that the Republican senator ended up losing.

What happened to Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp”?

One of Trump’s most appealing promises had been to purge the government of a “deep state” establishment he says is running the country without being accountable to the public on social issues, and fiscal and foreign policy.

In a way, Trump did keep that promise. An entire federal government division – the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – forced tens of thousands of federal workers out of their jobs and dismantled institutions like the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The military threw out notions of racial, gender, and economic diversity. Everything from universities to the Smithsonian Institution was subjected to a campaign against an unqualified, diversity-obsessed elitist class.

But lobbying groups, including some supporting foreign governments, have been given a free hand, and ethics rules and watchdogs who would tackle political corruption have been weakened, said Shah, the Republican strategist.

At his presidential inauguration, Trump literally surrounded himself with the wealthiest people in the world, some of whom have gone on to play some part in his administration.

Libya’s eastern parliament has walked back its objection to an agreement with Turkiye, demarcating boundaries in the Mediterranean Sea.

Its rival administration, the internationally recognised Government of National Unity, signed the deal seven years ago.

The ratification has revived a simmering dispute over exploring a potentially gas-rich region. Greece, Cyprus and Egypt were quick to object, with Athens referring the issue to the UN Security Council.

They say Libya and Turkiye are ignoring their sovereign rights.

So what are the geopolitical implications of this deal in the eastern Mediterranean?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Sinan Ulgen – Chairman of the Centre for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies

Maria Gavouneli – Professor of international law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Tarek Megerisi – Director of Informmi, a geopolitical research and advisory firm

HOLLYWOOD legend Tom Skerritt has died at the age of 93 after a six-decade career.

Tom is best known for his roles in Top Gun, Alien, and Picket Fences.

The veteran actor died on Wednesday from natural causes, his family confirmed to TMZ.

“We are heartbroken by his loss,” Tom’s family told the outlet.

The Detroit native’s acting credits span six decades, starting with his breakout role in the 1970 war series, M*A*S*H.

He later played Captain Dallas in the 1979 sci-fi Alien, before landing the part of Tom Cruise’s instructor, Viper, in the 1986 film Top Gun.

Tom is also remembered as Sheriff Jimmy Brock in Picket Fences, which earned him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1993.

Some of his other notable credits include A River Runs Through It (1992), Steel Magnolias (1989), and a six-episode stint on Cheers (1987-1988).

Tom’s final on-screen role was playing Cliff in the 2025 contemporary Western drama Broke, with Dennis Quad and Wyatt Russell.

Years before his Hollywood fame took off, Tom served in the U.S. Air Force.

He later became an advocate for veterans as co-founder of The Red Badge Project.

Tom maintained close friendships with many of the people he met in the industry over the years.

He shared photos from a reunion with Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges in one of his final Instagram posts in April.

The TV star shared his support for Jeff, who is opening an art gallery in Santa Barbara, as the pair hugged and linked arms.

“Got to see my talented friend Jeff Bridges’ photography while in Santa Barbara. Truly inspiring work, and even better catching up with the best people,” Tom wrote in his caption.

Tom also posted a heartfelt tribute last September to his “dear friend” Robert Redford following the actor’s passing.

“We grew up in this industry together – his art and friendship over these many years has profoundly changed my life. The world simply won’t be the same without him,” his post read.

The duo worked together as co-stars of the Korean War drama, War Hunt in 1962, and when Robert directed Tom in A River Runs Through It.

The mayor of the small Central Valley farm town of Kerman pulled up to a bakery, her cellphone camera recording, and confronted federal immigration agents conducting an early-morning operation in which multiple people were detained.

“You’re not welcome in my city,” Maria Pacheco told the masked agents, identifying herself as the mayor. “You’ve taken enough people yesterday. We don’t want you here. You need to leave.”

As the men wearing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vests drove away, she shouted: “How can you make a living kidnapping people? How can you sleep at night doing what you’re doing? … You are a sorry piece of sh—!”

Pacheco, who is running for a seat on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, posted video of the Oct. 8 confrontation in Kerman — a mostly Latino city of 17,000 west of Fresno — on social media, labeling it: “Mayor Maria Pacheco Stands Up to ICE.”

The footage went viral. TikTok commentators praised her bravery. Comedian and actor George Lopez posted about it on Facebook — writing, “We need more politicians like Maria Pacheco!” — and she shared her campaign fundraising link in the comments.

A few days later, Pacheco allegedly drove through Fresno, closely following a vehicle driven by a man she assumed was an ICE agent.

Except, he wasn’t one.

Eric Bridges, a Fresno hairdresser, has accused Pacheco of closely trailing him in an orange Nissan Altima for more than 20 minutes on Oct. 14 and taking photos of his vehicles as she followed him to his sister’s house.

“I’m looking for ICE, and you look like ICE,” Pacheco told him, according to a signed statement submitted to the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office this week in which Bridges wrote that he wanted “to press charges to the fullest extent of the law.”

Bridges’ attorney, Roger Bonakdar, told The Times that Pacheco used his client “as a political trampoline so she could create social media clickbait” to benefit her political campaign.

“There are real concerns as to whether or not she is acting as some sort of vigilante law enforcement person, that she’s wrongfully abusing her position as an elected official,” Bonakdar said.

Bonakdar added that he filed complaints about the incident with the Fresno Police Department and county prosecutor.

Taylor Long, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office, said in an email that the information provided by Bonakdar had been referred to its Public Integrity Unit, which investigates public officials for potential crimes related to their office, but that “the receipt and review of information” does not mean a crime had occurred or that charges were warranted.

No charges had been filed by the district attorney’s office in connection with the incident as of Wednesday, Long wrote.

In an email to The Times, Pacheco wrote: “Regarding recent allegations, my only comment is this: If he wants to go to court, we will go to court.”

“Meanwhile, the Kerman Food Bank and other local organizations are experiencing food shortages as families face fear and uncertainty caused by recent immigration enforcement actions,” Pacheco wrote. “Parents are afraid to go to work or leave home, even to buy groceries, leaving more families struggling to put food on the table. … That is where our attention belongs, and where my time, energy and heart will remain.”

The encounter comes at a tense time in the Central Valley, where a surge this month in federal immigration operations and detentions has rattled agricultural communities, causing workers to stop showing up to farm fields and construction sites and families to keep their children home from school.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for information about the Oct. 8 operation outside La Princesa Real Bakery in Kerman, where Pacheco filmed her interaction with agents. Pacheco told the Fresno Bee that four of the bakery’s customers had been detained and that one was eventually released because he had lawful immigration status.

In his signed statement, Bridges wrote that he was driving near Kearney Park just west of Fresno on the afternoon of Oct. 14 when he noticed an orange car “pull behind me quickly and follow me into the park.” Bridges said he stopped his vehicle and was on the phone with his sister, telling her that he was being followed and that the driver was taking photos of him.

As he sat in the parking lot, he wrote, the car circled him for five minutes, and he could overhear the driver on the phone through her vehicle’s speaker system.

He then drove to his sister’s neighborhood, where the car tailed him into a cul-de-sac and stopped beside his white Mercedes sport utility vehicle — an encounter recorded by a home security camera.

When the female driver rolled down her car window, Bridges wrote, she asked who he was and he did the same. According to Bridges’ statement, the driver told him he was “in [her] ‘hood driving an unmarked car.”

Bridges wrote that he had a California Department of Motor Vehicles print-out affixed to the back of his vehicle and asked if she was a police officer or DMV employee.

She replied, “Don’t worry about who I am; I’m someone important” then accused him of being an ICE agent, Bridges wrote. Outraged, he began filming her.

In the home security footage, Bridges can be heard from a distance saying, “I didn’t know you owned the neighborhood,” and shouting in apparent surprise: “I look like I’m ICE?” after the woman speaks to him.

A close-up video that Bridges recorded shows a woman in sunglasses smiling as she drives away, with him saying, “Don’t you ever in your … life follow me, you weird-ass b—.”

Bridges wrote that she flipped him off as she left and that he learned she was the mayor of Kerman after reviewing the video footage.

Bonakdar, his attorney, said Bridges is a grandfather and hair stylist who has never worked for ICE or the Department of Homeland Security. When the driver of the orange vehicle saw him, Bonakdar said, Bridges was not wearing a face covering, as immigration agents often do, or a badge or tactical vest.

Pacheco “claims to be an advocate for minority groups, or to somehow have an interest in helping those people,” Bonakdar said. “I mean, she just victimized somebody who is a member of two minority groups. [Bridges] is a thin-framed, middle-aged Black gay man.”

Bonakdar said Bridges had received threats from people accusing him of being an undercover ICE agent and that some had told him he was not welcome in certain places.

On Oct. 15, the day after the alleged encounter with Bridges, Pacheco wrote a Facebook post about a street corner near agricultural fields just west of Fresno city limits: “I have spotted ICE on Shaw and Dickenson. White SUV. No plates. Driver is masked and hooded.”

Two days later, she took to Facebook again, writing: “I never imagined we’d live in a time when communities would fear masked men in unmarked vehicles. It’s exhausting living on constant high alert, watching for out-of-state or missing license plates, never knowing who’s next.”