When the news broke last week that Mark Walter was selling the Lakers just one year after buying the storied basketball franchise, executives working for another crown jewel in his sports empire — the Dodgers — were quick to say the billionaire had no plans to sell the team.

The Dodgers have won three of the last six World Series and 12 division titles since an ownership group led by Walter bought the then-bankrupt team in 2012, and the Dodgers now are considered the most successful — and lucrative — franchise in Major League Baseball.

Yet, amid Walter’s financial difficulties, including a federal inquiry into his insurance empire regarding $16 billion to $21 billion in undisclosed loans to his own companies, questions remain over whether the blowback will hit the Dodgers.

Walter has denied wrongdoing, and sports business experts say it’s far too soon to know whether the Dodgers will be in play. No charges have been filed against Walter or anyone associated with his businesses.

“If you’re judging on that — winning and revenue created — he’s been at the helm of all of that. … He does truly look like a white knight as it relates to his ownership of the Dodgers,” said Patrick Rishe, executive director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis. Still, “we don’t know what the issues are, and we don’t know the severity and the magnitude.”

Aside from the Lakers, the Dodgers are, by far, the most valuable of Walter’s handful of sports franchises, and industry sources not authorized to speak publicly about any potential sale told The Times that the team could fetch $10 billion to $13 billion.

Walter’s sports portfolio includes the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Assn.; the Cadillac Formula 1 racing team; a premier women’s tennis competition, the Billie Jean King Cup; and the entire Professional Women’s Hockey League. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates Walter has a net worth of $18.3 billion.

There have been reports that he is putting his shares of his most valuable professional soccer franchise, the Chelsea Football Club of the English Premier League, on the market.

But the Dodgers are the greatest show in baseball, playing before stadiums packed with fans willing to shell out top dollar to see a roster that includes international superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Last week, Dodgers president and part-owner Stan Kasten said the Lakers sale “really has nothing to do with the Dodgers” and that “there are no changes here or contemplated here.” And Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said at a news conference that he was “shocked” by news of the Lakers sale and had not heard of any potential changes to Dodgers ownership.

Andrew Granato, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in corporate finance and insurance, said that although it was not yet clear whether Walter would offload the Dodgers, it would not be impossible, given the speed and scale of the billionaire’s recent financial transactions and the mounting federal and public scrutiny.

“I imagine that no fan feels particularly comfortable if the owner of their favorite team is under … investigation. Certainly, it’s not an ideal situation,” he said.

Walter was riding high after the Dodgers’ success and his $10-billion purchase of the Lakers last year. But the last few months have been challenging.

The loans by two Delaware life insurers that Walter owns were made to companies tied to him or his TWG Global holding company but were not disclosed as “related party” transactions as required, the Wall Street Journal reported. Related-party transactions made by insurers are required to be reported to limit conflicts of interest and protect policyholders, who have an interest in the financial strength of their insurers.

Walter, the 66-year-old chief executive of Chicago investment firm Guggenheim Partners, led a group that included another Guggenheim executive and Magic Johnson in acquiring the Dodgers for $2.15 billion in 2012, then a record for an MLB team.

The Times has reported that he tapped the insurers he owned for financing, a deal that was later vetted by state insurance regulators.

However, the amount of related-party loans made by the two affiliated life insurers now under federal scrutiny is vastly more, amounting to 40% of the invested assets of Delaware Life as of Dec. 31, according to Fitch Ratings. The credit rating firm said that is the most of any North American life insurers it reviews.

It’s unclear where the money went, but the Wall Street Journal reported that billions were passed through a third party before being received by entities tied to Walter or his TWG Global holding company.

Last week, Walter stunned the sports world by selling a majority stake in the Lakers for $12.5 billion to former Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, who is the brother of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Walter has declined to comment on whether the sale was tied to the federal investigation.

The framework for a deal was consummated in a matter of days, Iger told interviewers last week. It still must be approved by the NBA Board of Governors, which meets in September.

Projecting an exact value for the Dodgers is difficult because MLB and its players union are engaged in contentious collective bargaining negotiations that many experts believe could result in a lockout when the current agreement expires in December.

Should a salary cap be agreed upon for the first time in MLB history, the valuation could jump to the high end, the source said. And about $1 billion of any sale would be subtracted to cover the Dodgers’ future commitments on deferred contracts.

The Dodgers’ massive local television deal with SportsNet LA directly elevates the franchise’s overall valuation.

Listing potential buyers should the Dodgers be for sale is challenging because the estimated value of the franchise is so much greater than almost any other MLB team. The record price for a sports franchise was the $12.5 billion for the Lakers.

Besides Kushner and Iger, those who have bid for teams aren’t in the $10-billion-plus ballpark. The San Diego Padres were sold last week for $3.9 billion to José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones.

Another question that has arisen as Walter’s financial troubles have garnered headlines is whether MLB would conduct its own investigation into Dodgers ownership or pressure the billionaire and his partners to sell the team.

“Any time there is any kind of public question about owners, they look into it,” former Dodgers president Bob Graziano told The Times. “I would guess, because there is a federal investigation going on, they’re not launching their own investigation, but they are going to wait to see what comes out of the federal investigation.”

No investigation of any kind into the matter has been announced by MLB.

MLB has never formally stripped an owner of a franchise or forced an outright sale through a vote of franchise owners. But the league forced Frank McCourt to sell the Dodgers in 2012 by exerting pressure and threatening a financial takeover or disciplinary action that would have stripped operational control.

When McCourt sold the team to Walter’s Guggenheim group, the franchise was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

When Guggenheim purchased the team in 2012, it outbid billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen, who now owns the New York Mets. A group headed by former Yankees and Dodgers manager Joe Torre and L.A. developer Rick Caruso dropped out of the bidding ahead of Cohen. Additional bidders included media executive Leo Hindery, billionaire Tom Barrack, then-St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke and Jared Kushner.

Times staff writer Laurence Darmiento contributed to this report.

Walmart sales are slumping as US consumer spending pulls back, with the economic impact of tariffs and the United States’ tensions with Iran weighing on consumers, the big-box retailer’s most recent earnings report shows.

US same-store sales rose 2.6 percent in the second quarter, according to the company’s earnings released on Thursday, falling short of the 3.8 percent forecast by analysts at LSEG. That marked the slowest quarterly increase in six years.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said heightened petrol prices are to blame for the slowdown in spending.

“When fuel prices increase and get above $4, perhaps there’s a psychological impact to that … consumers are making trade-offs,” CFO John David Rainey said on a call with analysts on Thursday.

Prices are continuing to jump. The average price for a gallon (3.78 litres) of petrol rose to $4.10 on Thursday, up from $4.07 a week ago, according to the American Automobile Association, which tracks daily petrol prices. By comparison, the average price was $2.98 when the US and Israel first struck Iran.

The big-box retailer also said it expected $2bn in incremental fuel-related costs above its original guidance.

Sales dropped in Walmart’s US pharmacy business and also dipped elsewhere. Overall, quarterly revenue rose 3.4 percent, the slowest pace since the first quarter of fiscal 2023.

Consumers are spending more in the checkout line — 1.1 percent higher than the previous quarter — but it is still well below the 3.1 percent jump this time last year.

That comes as consumer inflation ticked up last month by 0.1 percent from the month prior and 3.4 percent from this time last year, according to the US Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The price of fresh fruit jumped 2.2 percent from a month ago, butter by 0.8 percent, and fresh fish by 1 percent, according to the BLS report.

This as overall retail sales dipped in July, dropping 0.6 percent, marking the biggest decrease since May 2025, according to the US Commerce Department data released last week.

Walmart also announced price cuts on Wednesday on 11,000 items, to be fuelled in part by the $2.9bn in tariff refunds it has received – a one-time boon – and a strategy also being deployed by rivals including Target.

Walmart said, however, that price changes took effect in July, so the effects might be more apparent in the company’s next earnings report.

“You don’t necessarily expect to have that offsetting benefit to the lower prices in the immediate period,” Rainey said.

However, fewer consumers are venturing into brick-and-mortar stores, with foot traffic increasing by 1.5 percent for the quarter, a drop from 3 percent in the previous quarter. However, Walmart’s e-commerce sales are on the upswing, with sales jumping 24 percent in the US.

As a result, Walmart upgraded its forecast for net sales growth, from 3.5–4.5 percent to 4–5 percent.

But that is limited because in-store sales are still the company’s premier offering.

“The bread and butter of the company is still in-store and in-person shopping,” Melius Research analyst Jacob Aiken-Phillips told the Reuters News Agency.

Mixed big-box earnings

Other big-box retailers also reported earnings in the last couple of days, with a pullback in consumer spending being an undertone. TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshalls, reported sales growth of 1 percent for the quarter, a slowdown from 6 percent the quarter before.

“Our fear is that it relates to lower ticket [less purchases per shopping trip] given wider signs of consumer weakness and price increases over the last year-and-a-half,” William Blair analyst Dylan Carden told Reuters.

That comes alongside earnings from Target, one of Walmart’s closest competitors. On Wednesday, the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based big-box retailer reported net sales jumping 5.3 percent for the quarter compared to this time last year, at $26.5bn.

That was driven by a 3.6 percent rise in in-store traffic. The company has also cut prices over the last year on more than 10,000 items and received a $1bn tariff refund.

On Wall Street, Walmart is taking a hit on the heels of its earnings report, with shares down by 9.6 percent since the market opened. Other big-box retailers are lower, but not showing nearly as stark a drop. TJX stock was down 1.7 percent, and Target was down by 0.1 percent.

On July 23, Volodymyr Zelensky told Ukrainians that Raytheon wanted to help produce Patriot interceptors on Ukrainian-linked lines. Five days later, Lockheed Martin signed a second license, this one for the PAC-3 MSE — the hit-to-kill missile that has spent three years picking Russian ballistic warheads out of the sky over Kyiv. For a moment it looked like a watershed: the United States handing a country still absorbing nightly missile and drone barrages the blueprint to build its own air defense. Then, within days, the story came apart in public. US Ambassador Matthew Whitaker said Washington would not allow Ukraine to build PAC-3s at all. Donald Trump called the technology transfer “a hard thing to give away.” NATO’s own envoy said no agreement would close before winter. Something had clearly been decided. Nobody could agree on what.

The Patriot system is the closest thing the West has to a proven shield against ballistic missiles, and it is scarce almost everywhere it is needed. Roughly twenty countries now compete for a production line that turns out about 650 PAC-3 MSE interceptors a year worldwide — Lockheed Martin’s entire global output, shared among Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, Gulf states and the US Army’s own depleted stocks. Russia, meanwhile, has been firing 55 to 60 Iskander ballistic missiles a month at Ukraine alone, before counting the nightly Shahed drone waves that push crews to expend scarce interceptors on cheaper threats out of necessity. The Pentagon has spent much of the past two years quietly rationing Patriot allocations across allies, reportedly diverting orders meant for Taiwan and Ukraine to replenish American stockpiles. Against that backdrop, “Ukraine will build its own Patriots” is not primarily a sovereignty story. It is a story about whether the system that makes Patriots for everyone else can keep up at all.

What the deal actually requires

Start with what was actually signed, because the headlines overstate it. Raytheon’s license covers the PAC-2 GEM-T, an older blast-fragmentation interceptor effective against aircraft and cruise missiles. Lockheed Martin’s covers the PAC-3 MSE, the missile that actually stops Iskanders and Kinzhals. Neither license includes the radar, the fire-control system or the launchers; those still come from existing Patriot batteries. And neither company has committed to building these missiles on Ukrainian soil in the near term. Reporting from Reuters and Ukrainian officials both point to Germany, which already runs its own PAC-2 line, as the likely first production site, with capacity shifting to Ukraine only “after the war ends.” What was announced in July, in other words, is not a factory. It is paperwork that keeps a door open.

Even so, the paperwork matters, because of what it concedes. Every PAC-3 MSE round carries a 24-month production lead time for the missile itself and 30 months for its solid rocket motor. Boeing manufactures every active radar seeker that guides it from a single facility in Alabama, capped at 650 to 700 units a year — a bottleneck no amount of Ukrainian factory floor changes. Aerojet Rocketdyne is the sole source for the motor. These are not obstacles a co-production agreement dissolves; they are structural limits on how fast the United States can arm anyone, Ukraine included. A government does not open its most tightly export-controlled missile program to a country still under nightly bombardment unless it has concluded that the existing pipeline, working alone, cannot meet demand. That is the admission buried in the announcement: not that Ukraine’s industrial base is ready, but that Lockheed’s and Raytheon’s are strained, and Washington needs help from a country it would ordinarily be supplying, not licensing.

The contradictions among American officials sharpen the point rather than undermine it. Whitaker’s flat denial that Ukraine would ever build PAC-3s, arriving days after Zelensky announced the license, is not really about Ukraine’s trustworthiness. A Republican congressional official close to the process gave the more candid version: the manufacturers are less worried about Ukraine leaking American technology to Moscow than about Ukraine improving on it and producing it “at scale, faster and for much less money.” That fear has a track record behind it. Fire Point’s Flamingo cruise missile, built in Ukraine during the war, reportedly costs around $600,000 — roughly a sixth of a Tomahawk and a fraction of a $2 million PAC-3 ACE round — while Ukraine’s home-grown Freyja interceptor is priced at roughly a fifth of the Patriot missile it is meant to substitute for. A country that has spent three years learning to manufacture air defense under fire, at a fraction of Western unit costs, is not the industrial partner a legacy prime wants loose inside its own supply chain. The reluctance is commercial before it is strategic.

The strongest objection to this reading is that Kyiv already produces a large share of its own weapons, so extending that into Patriots is a natural next step rather than a crisis signal. Zelensky puts the domestically produced share of Ukraine’s frontline weapons at close to 60 percent, up from roughly 40 percent a year earlier — drones, the Bohdana howitzer, the Neptune and Flamingo missiles. That is true, and it matters. But those are systems Ukraine designed and built from scratch under wartime pressure, with no legacy export-control regime standing in the way. Patriot is different: it is Washington’s most sensitive interceptor program, run by companies that have spent decades keeping production onshore for precisely the security reasons Whitaker cited. Handing over any piece of it, even nominally, to a country under active bombardment breaks with everything the export-control system was built to prevent. That the United States is doing it anyway — however slowly, however contested internally — says less about confidence in Ukraine than about how thin the interceptor pipeline has become.

Three ways this goes

What happens next depends on which of the deal’s obstacles proves harder to move: engineering or politics.

Base case (our estimate: roughly 55 percent probability). The license survives, but production stays offshore. Germany’s existing PAC-2 line absorbs the first Ukrainian-linked output sometime in 2027; Lockheed and Raytheon leave the seeker and motor bottlenecks unresolved; and Zelensky’s own target of “production capability by the end of 2026” slips the way most Patriot-related deadlines have slipped since 2022. The deal functions mainly as a signal — to Moscow, to Congress, to the manufacturers themselves — that the West is willing to widen its supplier base, without actually widening it before the war’s most dangerous phase has passed.

Downside case. Export-control friction, not battlefield risk, kills momentum outright. Boeing declines to license seeker technology, Congress balks at formally notifying an ITAR transfer into an active conflict zone, and the agreement quietly becomes what several earlier Patriot-adjacent announcements already have: a signed memorandum with no factory behind it. Unable to close its ballistic-missile gap through licensed production, Ukraine leans harder into Flamingo and Freyja — cheap and available, but not full substitutes for hit-to-kill interception. Iskander and Kinzhal strikes on Ukrainian cities continue at close to current tempo through 2027.

Upside case. Ukraine’s wartime manufacturing culture forces the restructuring the primes have been resisting. Facing a credible cheaper competitor, Lockheed and Raytheon accelerate second-sourcing of seekers and motors — the actual chokepoints — to defend market share rather than out of goodwill toward Kyiv. Patriot output rises for every operator, not only Ukraine, and Kyiv becomes the proving ground for a lower-cost interceptor variant that outlives the war. This is the scenario in which an admission of scarcity turns into a fix for it — plausible, but it requires the manufacturers to treat competition, not politics, as the threat that finally moves them.

The takeaway

So: is licensing Patriot production to a country under bombardment an admission? Yes — but not the one the announcements were built to convey. It does not say Ukraine’s industrial base has arrived. It says the American one has not kept pace with a war of attrition it did not plan for, and that Washington is now willing to test its most sensitive export controls against the same scarcity that has Israel, Taiwan and its own Army competing for the same missiles.

Watch for: whether groundbreaking on a German or Polish production line actually begins before the end of 2026 — Zelensky’s own deadline for “technical capability.” If it hasn’t started by then, treat every subsequent announcement as the political theatre this one increasingly resembles: a scarcity confession dressed up as an industrial handshake.

HAYDEN Panettiere’s on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson has broken his silence on the actress’ sudden death from a suspected overdose.

The Nashville star died on Sunday afternoon at her South Carolina Airbnb, where she was staying with Brian and his brother Zach Hickerson.

An investigation is currently ongoing into what led to the 36-year-old’s death, and the Drug Enforcement Administration has joined the team.

Brian, 37, has spoken out for the first time since the incident through his attorney, Sloan Ellis, from the Ellis Hinton law firm.

“Hayden’s death remains under investigation, and it is important to allow that investigation to proceed,” Brian’s attorney told The U.S. Sun on Thursday.

“As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play.”

SECRET STRUGGLE

Hayden got ‘nitrous oxide & booze’ delivered to hotel 3 months before death

The statement concluded, “Out of respect for Hayden’s loved ones and the ongoing investigation, there will be no further comment at this time.”

Brian was spotted on Wednesday in Greenville, South Carolina, close to where Hayden died, wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a hoodie.

He’d been keeping a low profile since his brother discovered Hayden unconscious in a chair in the living room, where she was later declared dead, per a police report obtained by The U.S. Sun.

Police said that while Zach was very emotional upon the discovery, Brian apparently didn’t shed a tear until Hayden was officially declared dead.

Brian also told cops that the Remember the Titans star regularly took a “bag of medication.”

All eyes have since been on Brian’s family, as more questions surface about Hayden’s unexpected passing.

Hayden’s estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, slammed Brian in an interview with NBC News on Tuesday, saying, “This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death, and that was Brian Hickerson.”

It wasn’t a secret that Hayden and Brian had a tumultuous, years-long relationship since meeting in 2018.

Brian was arrested for domestic violence and served 45 days in jail in 2021 for hitting Hayden with a closed fist.

He pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring the former child star.

However, they appeared to have reconciled as Brian has been staying with Hayden in her Los Angeles apartment for the last two years, The U.S. Sun exclusively reported.

The Heroes star’s neighbors have also raised alarm about the pair’s relationship and were even warned by the Homeowner’s Association to call the police if they saw Brian on the property last August.

Hayden’s neighbor, Mia Terrazzas, claimed to Inside Edition that notices were distributed on the property urging residents to be wary of Brian.

Mia also said she herself even called 911 numerous times over disturbances involving Brian inside Hayden’s unit.

Hayden’s history with addiction is also of great concern, as sources claimed she sought out whippets and booze just months earlier at a Nashville hotel, despite her efforts to get clean.

As the Buss siblings battle each other for the right to sell their minority stake in the Lakers, at least one of the other minority shareholder is sticking with the team.

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, is not selling his stake in the Lakers.

Soon-Shiong bought a 4% stake in the team from Magic Johnson in 2010. His family attorney, Chuck Kenworthy, said that Soon-Shiong has no interest in selling his stake amid a high-stakes ownership transition.

“We love the Lakers,” Kenworthy told The Times. “We believe in the Lakers. We believe in the future of the Lakers and the championship years they are going to have. And we believe they are still undervalued.”

A group led by former Disney chief Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner agreed last week to buy controlling interest in the Lakers from Mark Walter at a $12.5-billion valuation — a record price for an American sports team. The sale is still pending approval by the NBA board of governors. Walter, who owns a majority stake in the Dodgers, is the subject of multiple federal investigations.

Jeanie Buss, whom Walter had agreed could remain as the Lakers’ governor for five years, is challenging her siblings’ decision to sell the family’s 17.8% stake in the team.

Real estate developer Edward P. Roski, one of the Lakers’ other known minority owners, has not disclosed whether he intends to sell his 3% stake in the team. He has owned a stake in the team since 1998. Todd Boehly purchased a minority stake in the Lakers in 2021, but it’s unclear whether all his shares folded into business partner Walter’s majority stake.

A first group of deportees, out of an expected total of 1,200, has landed at the Roberts International Airport in Monrovia, Liberia, from the United States.

Thursday’s flight is part of an expanding trend of third-country deportations under the administration of US President Donald Trump, whereby foreign nationals are sent to countries that are not their own.

The inaugural flight carried 20 people, largely from Latin American countries like Venezuela and Cuba.

After landing, the group boarded a bus and was taken away by Liberian authorities without being allowed to speak to reporters.

The flight follows an agreement, announced on Tuesday, between the US and Liberia that will bring up to 1,200 deportees to the African country over the coming year.

Liberia is part of a growing list of countries striking agreements with the Trump administration.

Since taking office for a second term as US president in 2025, Trump has inked deals with at least 35 countries to accept third-country deportees, according to the nonprofit Human Rights First.

In exchange, some of those countries have received financial aid and trade deals. Senate Democrats in February estimated that at least $40m had been spent on such deals in the first year of Trump’s second term.

The US, for example, awarded Liberia $5m this year for “migration management activities”.

But in announcing the transfer deal earlier this week, Liberia’s Ministry of Information denied any reports that it agreed to the deportations for financial motives.

“The transfer of persons to Liberia is not a transaction with a quid pro quo,” the ministry said in a statement. “Liberia has not demanded or received any compensation or promise of reward in exchange for its consent to participate in the program.”

Liberia’s Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah also told the news agency Reuters that the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations refugee agency would help provide services for the deportees.

Those brought to Liberia will be allowed to apply for asylum and are “free to depart the country when they so desire”, according to Tuesday’s statement.

Liberia has said that the deportees are not “criminals and are not being prosecuted in any manner”.

“Liberia, the first black African independent nation on the African continent, has a long history of accepting people seeking refuge from political and other crises,” the ministry’s statement said.

“As a matter of fact, Liberia itself was founded as a refuge for freed slaves from the United States of America and other parts of the world.”

But critics have questioned whether smaller countries in Africa and elsewhere are being used as a “dumping ground” for US deportees, and whether the immigrants forcibly sent abroad will have adequate access to the resources they need.

Some have characterised such third-country deportations as excessively punitive, stranding migrants and asylum seekers in places where they sometimes cannot even speak the language.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has framed the third-party deportations as necessary for immigrants whose home countries will not accept them. It has also framed the removals as a form of deterrence.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo on Thursday estimated that, this year alone, roughly 2,300 Mexican citizens have been deported from the US to his country, as opposed to being sent directly to Mexico.

Media outlets, including CBS News, have reported that the manouevre is part of an effort to disincentivize Mexican nationals from returning to the US without legal immigration status.

Arevalo explained, however, that such deportees are swiftly sent back to Mexico. “They are arriving in planes of Guatemalan returnees, and what we have done is process them as in transit, ‌in coordination with the Mexican immigration authorities,” he said.

A wonderful Oval Office perk is what Thomas Jefferson dubbed “The President’s Own.” At the president’s beck and call is the United States Marine Band, created by an act of Congress in 1798.

But for an acquisitive current occupant of the White House, the oldest continuously active musical organization hasn’t seemed enough. In his appropriating the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, also created and officially named by Congress, the president obtained the National Symphony Orchestra. Unlike its “President’s Own” sibling, which is supported by the Defense Department annual allotment of some $400 million for military bands, the NSO is administered, funded (between a third and half of its $35-million budget) and lately threatened by what are now the whims of the Kennedy Center.

The NSO appeared at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday night, however, with a collective sigh of relief. A week earlier the Kennedy Center Board, without congressional input or legal approval, approved an imminent, two-year closure of the venue for repairs and remodeling, with little word about the homeless or economic future of its artist affiliate. By early August, no new NSO season, which would begin in September, had been announced.

But Tuesday morning, the NSO, in fact, did lay out a full and musically substantial season, the 10th for its music director, Gianandrea Noseda. Not taking a chance on the courts preventing a Kennedy Center closure, the NSO will become next season a peripatetic ensemble performing in various venues in and around D.C., as well undertake a national tour in the spring. Uncertainty remains, but for now all is as well as can be expected.

The NSO, however, offered little of what to expect. I can only find one program next season as unimaginative as Tuesday’s at the Bowl. The orchestra looks forward to several premieres of new works by lively composers and a variety of significant guest conductors, including the venturesome Teddy Abrams (who will lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s season-opening gala) and eclectic former NSO music director Leonard Slatkin (who is also the former L.A. Phil principal guest conductor for the Hollywood Bowl). Noseda’s only other bland program will be the one he brings on tour to The Soraya in April.

Hearing the NSO at the Bowl, moreover, is an act of guess work. With the new immersive sound system, orchestra impact becomes a matter of technology, giving individual instruments paranormal prominence and turning full orchestra glory into a sensual sound bath. Still, with its smooth strings, creamy brass, pungent winds and friendly percussion, Noseda’s NSO came across as a gracious orchestra meant to please, and, consequently, a seemingly marvelous anomaly in an otherwise divisive present-day D.C.

But that offered few favors for Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story” or Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” where the Bowl has regularly hosted far more idiomatic, swinging performances. Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” in the second half was, on the other hand, satisfyingly full-bodied. While Noseda sometimes practices likability to a fault, his sense of drama is ever sure, and it is hard to get enough of the lyrical sweetness he conveys. As an encore, Noseda led the overture to Bernstein’s “Candide” with real flair.

But why commonplace “Candide” and “West Side Story,” when Bernstein wrote “Slava! A Political Overture,” for the NSO as tribute in 1977 to its Russian music director, Mstislav Rostropovich? Might not the NSO make a point with “Three Mediations” from “MASS,” Bernstein’s multimedia masterpiece that controversially opened Kennedy Center in 1974. Bernstein also wrote a major late work for the NSO, “Songfest.” Bernstein, himself, conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the West Coast premiere at the Bowl in 1983, which had special significance because his collaborator on “Songfest,” Tom Cothran, who happened to have grown up in Pasadena.

For his part, Noseda has done an exceptional job in championing major Black composers at home and on record. Carlos Simon has been the NSO’s composer in residence for the last five years, and Noseda has revived and recorded an essential album of works by George Walker. In October, Noseda and the NSO will release a recording of two symphonies by William Grant Still, who lived in L.A. Deeply evocative of a post-Dvorak new world, they are beautifully played on the new recording and would have been ideal for the Bowl.

The NSO has given up on the Kennedy Center, but must we? There are many questions that have not been considered. The current plan for infrastructure improvements and slapdash redecorating at the cost of $250 million. In fact, the facility’s playhouse, opera theater and concert hall are due for major renovations. But that requires significant planning, the hiring of a major architecture firm with concert hall experience, a first-rate acoustician and, ideally, four times the allotted budget.

This is clearly a long-term job for Congress and consultants who would do well to study the approach of the Salzburg Festival. It has been planning for several years to rehabilitate its large concert hall (which is of similar vintage to the Kennedy Center), which will require five years and a cost of around $600 million. It is also carefully examining alternate performance sites to be used during construction.

The Kennedy Center is a memorial, and before another new idea is allowed out, let the Kennedy Center board visit Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for a moment of reflection on how and why to bring the NSO, America’s Own, back home. In the background, the U.S. Marine Band could offer its kin moral support by playing in the background Ives’ mysteriously transcendental “Unanswered Question.”

I spent my 10-year-old niece’s last week of summer freedom with her, jumping into and swimming in our family’s lake and overall being feral in nature.

She told me after our trip that she was dreading her return to school, communicating her Gen Alpha feelings via a simple broken heart emoji. It felt too soon for me too.

That energy is what inspired this week’s edition of The Wild, our weekly outdoors newsletter. Below I outline three great hikes around Los Angeles that are kid-friendly and great options to decompress after your family’s first week back to school (including if you’re a kid-free household with a tired educator). I hope you find these trails as rejuvenating as I did!

Before we dive in, a few quick reminders:

• You will not have cellphone reception for at least two of these hikes. Download trail maps ahead of time on your hiking navigation app, and also download an offline map of your driving route on your phone’s GPS navigation app.
• Pack extra water, especially if traveling to the San Gabriel Mountains, as mountain weather can be hard to predict, and it can be hotter than you anticipate.
• Take your time on twisting mountain roads; use paved vehicle turnouts to let faster traffic pass you, and watch out for cyclists; turn on your headlights when entering Angeles National Forest, regardless of the time of day.
• Let someone know where you’re going, including what time you’ll be back. Place a completed version of this form (or something like it) on your vehicle’s dashboard — just in case!
• And practice Leave No Trace principles, including not feeding any wildlife, picking up after yourself (including toilet paper) and not playing any loud music, as it bothers grumpy hikers like me and also the wildlife (the latter being more important than the former).

OK, now that you’re prepared to be safe and good to nature, let’s talk about those hikes!

The view of the L.A. area and our local mountains from Bee Rock in Griffith Park.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

1. Old Zoo — Bee Rock Loop (Griffith Park Explorer Segment 7)

Distance: 5 miles
Elevation gained: 930 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Dogs allowed: Yes
Nearest to: Atwater Village
Accessible alternative: Rio de Los Angeles Park loop

The Old Zoo — Bee Rock Loop is a 5-mile hike that takes you up to Bee Rock, an epic lookout point in Griffith Park. The route is part of Friends of Griffith Park’s Griffith Park Explorer, which organizes official trails into 15 hikeable segments (rather than you getting lost or ending your hike far from where you parked — not that I’ve ever experienced that).

I have passed Bee Rock at least a dozen times and each time told my hiking companion, “I really need to hike up there sometime!” I finally did last week, and I am already itching to return.

After leaving, I wanted to know how this local monolith got its name. I went to The Times’ archives, where I couldn’t find a precise answer.

Bee Rock as seen from the Bill Eckert Trail in Griffith Park.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

“Bee Rock acquired its name from the millions of bees which store their honey in its tiny caves which honeycomb it,” a March 1940 Times story read. Seems reasonable.

Retired ranger Bill Eckert told hikers per a 1985 story that Bee Rock got its name “because bees were attracted to the sweets at the old zoo’s refreshment stands and made their homes in the rock’s crevices.”

Eckert has a trail named after him, so I did feel inclined to believe his story.

As I searched for a clear answer, I felt better when I discovered that even experts like Gerry Hans, president of nonprofit Friends of Griffith Park, aren’t sure.

“There are theories and legends,” Hans wrote in a blog post in 2022. “The first is that the outcrop simply looks like a beehive. Another tale describes maintenance workers at the Old Zoo dumping spoiled soda syrup off the cliff, which lured swarms of bees. A third theory suggests that bees naturally take up residence in the holes and pocks on the cliff side overlooking Spring Canyon.”

Hans wrote that he had seen bees in the rock’s small caverns, but to do so, you must have good binoculars.

Armed with those facts and maybe some binocs, you can head out on the trail.

To begin your hike, you’ll park at Merry Go Round Lot One and head to the Lower Beacon Trail just past the southeast corner of the parking lot. Take good care in selecting where to start, as there are about five different paths you could take here.

You will head west on the Lower Beacon Trail, briefly walk southwest along the Fern Canyon Trail before taking the Upper Zoo Trail for much of the way. You’ll reach the Bee Rock Trail at 1 mile into your hike.

Views from the Bee Rock Trail around golden hour in Griffith Park.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

You will follow the Bee Rock trail northwest for a short jag before you come to what might feel like a dead end.

The Bee Rock Trail narrows and heads south. You will take a few switchbacks up, wondering how you suddenly became surrounded in tree canopy. Hopefully the sky is helicopter-free and you can hear the local chatter of acorn woodpeckers and California scrub jays.

You’ll arrive at a chain-link fence where you can take a narrow dirt path to the rocky outcropping atop Bee Rock. If hiking with children, it’d be good for the adults to go first, as there are a few spots where the fence has been cut, and the allure of venturing farther than one should out onto boulders is high.

The view is stunning, and on a Thursday evening, I had it all to myself as the sun lowered near the horizon. It was a clear day, and I could see a large swath of Glendale and nearby Mt. Thom and Tongva Peak in the Verdugos and farther away Josephine Peak, Strawberry Peak and several other summits in the San Gabriel Mountains.

From here, you can turn around and head back to your car, especially if the smaller hikers among you are tired, or continue onward to complete the loop. The rest of the trail is not challenging, as you’re either walking on a flat trail or headed downhill. And it’s generally not crowded. If you’re hiking with a teenager, the rest of the trail offers a quiet few miles to talk together about the school day.

One of the pools along Soldier Creek.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

2. Lewis Falls

Distance: About a mile out and back
Elevation gained: About 300 feet
Difficulty: Easy, but requires proper footwear
Dogs allowed: Yes
Nearest to: North of Azusa
Accessible alternative: West Fork National Scenic Bikeway

The 1-mile out-and-back trek to Lewis Falls offers hikers a gorgeous journey along Soldier Creek, lined with California bay laurels, oak trees and hulking old conifers. The trail runs mostly parallel to the creek until you reach its end, where you must cross the creek, rocks and logs to reach Lewis Falls.

You will start by finding parking, its own adventure, as there is no lot. Rather, you will need to find a spot along Highway 39 near the trailhead. I didn’t have any trouble on a weekday, but on a weekend, it might be more challenging. That is essentially the only real downside of this trail.

A large old conifer provides shade along Soldier Creek.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

You will hike slightly northeast for about half a mile before reaching the falls. Along the way, you’ll have ample opportunity to take a dip in Soldier Creek, as multiple pools remain, even this late in our summer.

If you find yourself saying, “Wow, this trail is really steep,” you are likely on the wrong path. You will spot multiple spur trails, likely created by either an impatient human or dexterous deer. You can identify them mostly by looking them over and realizing they offer a quicker, more dangerous option than the trail before you.

Soldier Creek features several shorter waterfalls as well as nearby Lewis Falls.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Although it is generally called Lewis Falls by hikers, the cascade historically had a different name.

“Longtime San Gabriel Mountains visitors and old maps refer to Soldier Creek Falls as ‘Lewis Falls,’ in honor of forest ranger Anselmo Lewis, who once patrolled these parts,” former Times outdoors writer John McKinney wrote in a 1998 article.

Although this trail is short, it does require a bit of technical expertise but nothing too tricky. You will find yourself navigating boulders and, at one point, using a root to step down onto the rest of the trail. It requires just a little patience and looking ahead of yourself to determine the safest route.

I was greeted by small blue dragonflies as I hiked along the creek. Instead of racing back to my car, I lay down on a log and listened to the sounds of rushing water and chirping birds. Soldier Creek provides any hiker willing to slow down with an opportunity to reset, regardless of whether you have homework waiting for you at home.

And if you aren’t ready to go home, consider heading five miles north on Highway 39 to the Crystal Lake Recreation Area, where further adventure — and a snack at the Crystal Lake Cafe — awaits.

Once you reach Mt. Hillyer, you’ll be greeted by large rocks that are fun to scramble along.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

3. Mt. Hillyer via Silver Moccasin Trail

Distance: 5.8-mile lollipop loop
Elevation gained: About 1,100 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Dogs allowed: Yes
Nearest to: About 45 minutes northeast of La Cañada Flintridge
Accessible alternative: Paved paths through Chilao Campground

This 6-mile jaunt along the Silver Moccasin Trail, which is just over 50 miles when fully open, takes you through high desert and pine trees.

Shaped like a lollipop, the trailhead sits about half a mile northwest of the Chilao Visitor Center, which is typically open on the weekend. You will head north for a mile before turning left (or west) off the Silver Moccasin Trail.

You will follow Horse Flats Road to the Rosenita Saddle trailhead, where you’ll take the trail southwest to Mt. Hillyer.

Views of the San Gabriel Mountains from the trail to Mt. Hillyer.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Keep an eye out for Jeffrey pines, which will have deeply furrowed bark and round prickly cones. Their bark smells like butterscotch or vanilla, which I always love pausing to sniff.

The trail also features Coulter pines that produce massive cones nicknamed widowmakers because of their size. The Coulter pine cones can weigh up to 11 pounds. If you’re in the area when it’s windy, please watch your head.

To reach Mt. Hillyer, you’ll follow a short spur trail about half a mile southwest from the Rosenita Saddle trailhead. Mt. Hillyer features several large boulders, perfect for kids to scramble and play on. It’ll also offer you sweeping views of the San Gabriel Mountains.

A hiker takes the path to Mt. Hillyer in the winter in Angeles National Forest.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

You can make the trail a loop by continuing south until it jags back east, meeting back up with the paved road you previously took.

And for the ultimate weekend adventure, grab a first-come, first-served campsite at Chilao Campground, and then you can hike and check out the Chilao Visitor Center, which is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday through November. As a bonus, there’s a short, flat nature trail at the east end of the nature center parking lot where you can typically find massive Coulter pine cones to inspect. A seasonal creek flows through this area too.

Regardless of which option you choose, I hope you make great memories in our local public lands.

3 things to do

The Milky Way is seen in the western night sky near Mt. Pinos in the Los Padres National Forest.

(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times)

1. Ponder astrophysics in Pasadena
Caltech will host a stargazing lecture from 8 to 10 p.m. Friday at the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (1216 E. California Blvd. in Pasadena). Philosophy professor Charles “Chip” T. Sebens will lecture about basic questions that remain regarding atoms. A Q&A and then guided stargazing will follow. The event is free, and no registration is required. Learn more at events.caltech.edu.

2. Improve insect habitat near Altadena
The Invertebrate Club of Southern California needs volunteers from 8 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Eaton Canyon. Participants will yank invasive plants to help restore the canyon. Volunteers must be 14 years or older. Registration is required. Sign up at signupgenius.com.

3. Peek at sandpipers in Pacoima
The San Fernando Valley Audubon Society will host a bird walk from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday. Guests will meet at the ranger station (10965 Dronfield Ave. in Pacoima) before heading out on a 1- to 3-mile walk through riparian areas, grassy lawns and unique rock formations. Birders can expect to see 30 to 50 species. Learn more at the group’s Instagram page.

The must-read

Johnson’s Beach, along the Russian River, is one of the most popular spots along the lower Russian River.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The lower Russian River and the small communities along the watercourse in Sonoma County offer visitors every kind of adventure, whether you want to stay in a tent and simply float or you want a high-end outdoors experience. That’s what I gleaned from reading Times staff writer Christopher Reynolds’ article about how to get the most out of a visit to the Northern California sylvan paradise. “On summer weekends, thousands show up in Guerneville with kayaks, canoes, inner tubes — just about anything that will float, preferably with a cooler attached,” Reynolds writes. “Then they spend hours gliding downstream past scenery that might as well be a Northern California highlight reel: vineyards, redwood forests and eventually a beach scene full of driftwood and sea stacks.”

After finishing the piece, I immediately searched online for how far away L.A. is from Guerneville. It’s a long drive, but my colleague makes it sure feel worth it.

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

Everyone should feel safe to recreate and work in outdoor spaces. To better ensure Deaf and Hard of Hearing folks feel supported wherever you recreate or volunteer, consider taking CorpsTHAT‘s upcoming “ASL for the Outdoors” virtual classes. Classes run from September to November and range from beginner to advanced. The fee is $250 per student. You can learn more, including how to register, at the organization’s website.

For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.

A federal investigation into former Rep. Eric Swalwell appeared to gain steam this week after agents seized his electronic devices and raided his Washington home over the weekend, even briefly holding the former lawmaker at San Francisco International Airport, a person familiar with the inquiry told The Times.

Swalwell dropped out of the California governor’s race and resigned from Congress in April after allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer and acted inappropriately with other young women, which he denied at the time. Before dropping out of the race, polls indicated that Swalwell was the front-runner.

The source said Swalwell was held on Saturday at SFO and released the same day he was detained for search purposes. Federal prosecutors are using civil rights law to pursue a probe of his conduct as a member of Congress. Authorities in New York and Los Angeles County are conducting separate investigations.

His home was searched on Sunday by federal agents, the source added, based on a search warrant in connection with a civil rights investigation concerning the sexual assault allegations.

Swalwell has denied any wrongdoing, but the accusations upended the California governor’s race and shook Capitol Hill, where both parties reckoned with a culture of secrecy and silence around sexual impropriety.

Another accuser, Lonna Drewes, said at a news conference that she was drugged and raped by the one-time politician in 2018 in Beverly Hills. Drewes said she met Swalwell three times as she was growing her fashion software company and toying with the idea of a political career.

On the third occasion, Drewes said she believes that Swalwell drugged her glass of wine. She said they were supposed to go to a political event and stopped by his hotel room to retrieve some paperwork.

She said she found herself incapacitated despite having had only one drink.

“He raped me and he choked me and while he was choking me I lost consciousness and I thought I died,” she said. “I did not consent to any sexual activity.”

Sara Azari, an attorney for Swalwell, denied Drewes’ characterization of the incident at the time. “Two adults consenting, which is our position, is not against the law,” she said.

The former staffer for Swalwell told the San Francisco Chronicle that Swalwell began sending her nude pictures on Snapchat and messages after she was hired by his office in 2019. She was 21 at the time.

In September of that year, she said she had drinks with the congressman, blacked out and woke up naked in Swalwell’s hotel bed, according to the Chronicle.

In 2024, when she no longer worked for Swalwell, she said she attended a charity event honoring the congressman and met him for drinks afterward. She was intoxicated but recalled Swalwell forcing himself upon her, and pushing him away and saying, “No,” according to the Chronicle.

Azari said in April that he denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and assault and would pursue “every legal remedy” against those making the claims.

“These accusations are false, fabricated and deeply offensive — a calculated and transparent political hit job designed to destroy the reputation of a man who has spent twenty years in public service,” Azari said.

Winton reported from Los Angeles, Smith from Sacramento and Wilner from Washington.

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is set to make his return at the US Open after missing four months with a wrist injury.

The 23-year-old triumphed at the Australian Open in January to become the youngest man to win all four Grand Slam titles.

However, the Spaniard has not played a competitive match since 14 April after injuring his right wrist at the Barcelona Open.

The news was confirmed by football influencer Fabrizio Romano in a joint post with Alcaraz on Instagram.

Seven-time major champion Alcaraz also wrote “here we go!” – Romano’s catchphrase – in a post on X, external with an emoji of the American flag and a plane.

As well as playing singles, Alcaraz could also enter the mixed doubles competition that takes place the week before the US Open, with three wildcards still to be handed out.

Alcaraz played in the revamped event last year alongside Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who is out of this year’s tournament with injury.

Alcaraz has been replaced as world number two by Alexander Zverev after being unable to defend his Cincinnati Open title.

Rival Jannik Sinner is well clear at the top of the world rankings, having won Wimbledon in July, while Zverev won the French Open and finished runner-up at SW19.

Sinner – as he did at Wimbledon – will go into the US Open with no match time on a hard court after withdrawing from Cincinnati with a knee injury.

The US Open singles event begins on Sunday, 30 August in New York.

Aug. 20 (UPI) — The remains of two Belgian hikers who went missing in 1992 were found in the area a melting glacier in Switzerland.

The bodies of the two men, who were 39 and 41 years old when they disappeared, were found on the Trift Glacier, police said Wednesday.

A hiker discovered the bodies on July 26 in the Valais canton in the Swiss Alps near the border with Italy.

The bodies were sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Valais Hospital in Sion, Switzerland, for identification.

“A direct comparison of DNA profiles has formally established that these are two mountaineers who went missing in the Weissmies region in 1992,” a police statement said. “Due to the retreat of the glaciers, it happens again and again that the mortal remains of people who disappeared in the mountains several decades ago come to light.”

The two men began their hike on Sept. 4, 1992, from the Weissmies hut to climb to the summit of the Weissmies mountain, 13,179 feet high. They made it to the Almagell hut, about 9,494 feet up. But they never reached the top due to poor weather conditions.

Teams searched the area several times after they were lost. They found a backpack, but not the hikers.

Valais police keep records of people reported missing in the mountains and rivers of the area dating back to 1925. As glaciers have begun to melt due to climate change, ice is exposing the bodies of climbers who went missing decades earlier.

Last year, the body of a Swiss climber who disappeared in 1994 was found on Ober Gabelhorn mountain in Valais.

ATOMIC Kitten are being eyed up to star in a Boyzone-style documentary which will chart their rise to fame and the drama among members over the years, The Sun can exclusively reveal. 

The girl group shot to fame in the early noughties, made up of Natasha Hamilton, Liz McClarnon and Kerry Katona. 

Kerry, 45, left a year after the release of their debut album and was replaced by Jenny Frost, with the line-up changing several times throughout the last 26 years. 

But The Sun understands that telly bosses have started to reach out to the girls to feature in a tell-all documentary – inspired by the success of Boyzone’s three-part Sky film last year – and are keen for all four members to take part. 

An insider said: “Atomic Kitten were one of the most successful girl groups of the noughties and it feels like the right time for their story to be told. 

“A production company has started reaching out to all four members to appear in a documentary to celebrate their success and of course chart the lows, including the highly publicised fall-outs among the girls. 

BUST BAN

Kerry Katona’s boobs were BANNED in the early days of Atomic Kitten

GOING ATOMIC

Kerry Katona re-releasing Atomic Kitten hit for World Cup – but with a twist

“Like a lot of their all-female counterparts, line-up changes and public spats are a huge part of their history and this would be their chance to set the record straight once and for all.

“None of the girls have signed on officially yet but Kerry is top of the wish list as she’s known for not holding back.”

The Sun has reached out to representatives for Atomic Kitten and Kerry Katona for comment.

Atomic Kitten last performed as a trio in 2021 but a year later Natasha, 44, and Liz, 45, were gigging as a two-piece. 

Then in 2024 Natasha confirmed on social media that she would be stepping down as a member of the group to focus on her solo music career. 

Kerry last worked with Atomic Kitten in 2014 and earlier this year Natasha ruled out ever reuniting with her former band mate professionally.

She told the Mirror: “I wish Kerry all the best. That girl has been out there. She’s a hustler. She looks after those kids so well. Fair play to the girl.

“There’s no big thing, but when it comes to work, that isn’t going to happen.”

Meanwhile Kerry recently shared her sadness over not being in contact with the girls and urged them to get in touch.

Appearing on Unfiltered with Lucy Kennedy, she said: “No [we’re not in touch]. I’m gutted because I love the girls to bits. Tash, Liz, if you’re watching, give us a call.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri judge has allowed new U.S. House districts backed by President Trump to be used in the November elections, rejecting a bid by to put the Republican-friendly districts to a statewide vote of the people.

The ruling Wednesday by Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green is a victory for Republicans seeking to hold onto their slim majority in the U.S. House. But the case is likely to end up in the state Supreme Court.

Missouri’s new districts already were used in the August primaries. On that same day, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected a petition with thousands of signatures seeking to force a November referendum on the map. Hoskins asserted that Missouri’s Constitution doesn’t allow a referendum on congressional redistricting.

The judge agreed with Hoskins and other Republicans, who joined in defense of the new map.

“The Missouri Constitution does not supply any statement — let alone a clear one — reallocating authority over congressional redistricting away from the General Assembly to a referendum process,” Green wrote in the ruling.

Opponents of the redistricting plan quickly announced an appeal.

“Everyone knows that Cole County is not the final decision here,” said Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, who sued to try to place the new map on the ballot. “After months of delay, we are pleased to be moving forward to the Missouri Supreme Court to enforce our constitutional rights.”

Missouri’s redistricting targeted Democratic congressman

Missouri’s current U.S. House delegation is made up of six Republicans and two Democrats who were elected from districts with boundaries drawn after the 2020 census.

But Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe called the Legislature into a special session on redistricting last year after Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional boundaries to their advantage ahead of the midterms.

Missouri’s revised map is designed to help Republicans defeat Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. It reassigns portions of Kansas City to two neighboring districts represented by Republicans and stretches the remainder of Cleaver’s 5th Congressional District far eastward into Republican-heavy rural areas. About 59% of its voters are new to the 5th District, according to an Associated Press estimate.

State Sen. Rick Brattin won a Republican primary in the reshaped district in early August. Cleaver was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Republicans had argued that the new districts should be used in the November elections even if a voter referendum on the map was allowed to occur at the same time.

Lawsuit highlights dispute about referendum rights

The Missouri Constitution does not specifically say that a referendum can be used to decide congressional redistricting, nor does it forbid it, which is why the issue ended up in court.

Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s office, which represented the secretary of state in court, argued that congressional redistricting is a legislative duty not subject to referendum without specific constitutional permission.

The attorney general and the Republican Party also argued it was too late to switch district boundaries before the November election. Changing districts after the primary would cause “widespread voter confusion” and an “erosion in confidence in the integrity of the state’s elections,” said John Gore, an attorney for national, congressional and state Republican committees.

The judge agreed, ruling that a district swap after the primary would violate federal law.

It’s been more than 100 years since a Missouri redistricting plan faced a referendum. In 1922, voters rejected a new congressional map passed by the Republican-led Legislature. The legitimacy of that referendum petition was not challenged in court.

Redistricting battle spread to numerous states

Missouri’s mid-decade redistricting effort has been among the most litigated nationally, triggering about a dozen lawsuits over the past year.

The Republican-led state was the second, after Texas, to respond to Trump’s call to redraw congressional districts. Several other states followed. All told, Republicans hope to win as many as 16 additional seats from new House maps enacted in eight states: Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Democrats, whose counterattack faced several setbacks, think they could win up to six additional seats from new districts in California and Utah.

It remains to be seen whether the redistricting works as intended for Republicans. The president’s party historically has lost congressional seats in the midterms, and Trump’s poor approval ratings could provide an extra hurdle for Republican candidates.

Lieb writes for the Associated Press. AP journalist Hannah Recht contributed to this report from Washington.

England women’s hopes of success at the FIH Hockey World Cup ended at the group stage after a 0-0 draw with India.

David Ralph’s side finish third in Pool D on four points, with two teams moving forward to the next round, and will now play in a classification phase that sees teams placed from 9th to 16th.

England won their opening match 4-0 against South Africa on Sunday but lost to China two days later, conceding four before Tess Howard and Sophie Hamilton reduced the deficit.

The national side have not challenged in tournaments since winning Commonwealth gold in 2022, finishing fourth in the 2023 EuroHockey Nations Championship, and fifth last year.

Teams from England and Great Britain have finished no higher than sixth in the FIH Pro League since a third place in 2020-21, while Great Britain also finished eighth at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Meanwhile England’s men are through to the second stage of the men’s World Cup, topping Pool D with three wins out of three.

They defeated Pakistan 4-1 and India 4-2 prior to beating Wales 8-2 in their final group stage match on Wednesday.

They move in a second stage pool with India, with their 4-2 win carried forward, and will face two qualifiers from Pool A on Saturday and Monday as they attempt to reach the semi-finals.

England women play Chile on Friday and Japan on Sunday in their classification pool, with both World Cups being held in Wavre in Belgium and Amstelveen in the Netherlands.

The Red Sea does not recognise political borders as maps draw them. Instead, it binds every country on its shores to a shared fate with its neighbours across the water. When the western shore of this sea is shaken, the eastern shore does not remain untouched. This is a hard geopolitical reality that Saudi Arabia has understood well through decades of dealing with crises in the Horn of Africa and Yemen as a direct extension of its own domestic security.

It is through this deep understanding of geography as a shared destiny that the agreement establishing the Saudi-Sudanese Coordination Council, signed in Riyadh on August 17, 2026, should be read. It is the institutional expression of a firmly held Saudi conviction: that the stability of a unified Sudan is indispensable to the stability of the kingdom itself, and that Sudan’s collapse or fragmentation would inevitably become a Saudi national security crisis.

Historical ties and cultural common ground

Long before strategic considerations and geopolitical crises came to the fore, Saudis viewed Sudanese people with great respect and as among those to whom they felt closest. Since the earliest times, Hijazis have shared cultural and linguistic traits with people on the other side of the Red Sea, particularly Sudanese people.

Throughout modern history, relations between the two countries have not been marked by serious crises. Indeed, they have been distinguished by a unique historical fact: the relationship has never witnessed a political crisis between the two states or their peoples, and there has always been mutual appreciation between them. This exceptional relationship, rooted in religious, cultural and social ties, has made the two countries a rare model of intra-Arab relations that has withstood all regional storms.

Saudi Arabia has stood by Sudanese people through every ordeal, including Nile floods and natural disasters, as well as the country’s crises and civil wars. This has created a fabric of human ties that goes beyond narrow political interests. It was this unique historical legacy that made Saudi mediation welcome to both sides when the war broke out, with the Jeddah platform working to ease the conflict and address the humanitarian crisis.

Saudi Arabia’s current position towards Sudan, then, is not merely the product of cold strategic or political calculations. It is the natural extension of a relationship that lived in people’s hearts before it was translated into institutions and agreements.

A framework for strategic partnership

This relationship culminated in the Saudi-Sudanese Coordination Council, whose founding agreement was signed in Riyadh on August 17, 2026, by the two countries’ foreign ministers, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Mohieddin Salem. Sources say it is not merely a conventional diplomatic framework, but a comprehensive institutional platform intended to oversee 10 major strategic areas. These reflect the depth of the partnership between the two countries and their desire to move from political and humanitarian support towards a long-term strategic, economic and investment partnership.

The 10 areas covered by the council include Sudan’s reconstruction; agriculture and food security; livestock; gold and mining; the Red Sea and ports; energy and electricity; finance and banking; industry and food processing; communications and digital transformation; and tourism, real estate and services.

Taken together, these areas constitute an integrated roadmap for turning bilateral relations into a genuine development partnership, drawing on Saudi Arabia’s investment and technological capabilities and Sudan’s enormous natural and human resources.

According to the Sudanese foreign minister, the council’s priorities centre on security, defence and the economy, with the Red Sea added as an area of strategic cooperation because of its importance to both countries. This is why Sudan joined the maritime defence alliance established by Saudi Arabia on July 30, 2026. This reflects a shared understanding that security and stability are the essential preconditions for any economic development, and that Red Sea security is a shared responsibility that cannot be separated from the stability of the states along its shores.

Sudan and the wider Arab project

For more than a decade and a half, the Arab region has witnessed a wave of systematic projects of fragmentation targeting pivotal states such as Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. Countries that once played an active role in the regional order have been turned into open arenas of conflict managed by regional and international actors through local proxies. With its enormous resources and vital location connecting the Arab world with the African interior, Sudan has always been an ideal target for such a project of division.

When Saudi Arabia acts to support a path that preserves the unity of the Sudanese state and its national institutions, it objectively contributes to thwarting one link in this scheme targeting the Arab world as a whole. Every Arab state protected from fragmentation represents another defeat for this project, while every state that succumbs to it represents a victory that encourages its repetition. From this perspective, Sudanese stability is a collective Arab battle, and Saudi Arabia finds itself in the position of a state capable of leading that battle in defence of a collective Arab project that cannot afford to lose another link.

Sudan in the regional equation

Sudan occupies a unique position that makes it one of the region’s most important strategic keys: it is an Arab state that borders both the Red Sea and the Nile, connects the Horn of Africa with the Sahara, the Sahel and the Arab hinterland, and borders seven African and Arab countries.

This location makes Sudan a natural bridge between the Arab world and Africa, a vital maritime gateway on the Red Sea and a strategic water nexus on the Nile.

If a state in such a position fragments, it opens a geopolitical rupture whose effects extend from the Nile Basin to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and from the African Sahel to the Arabian Peninsula. The recent experience of Yemen has clearly demonstrated how the collapse of a state on the Red Sea can transform a vital maritime chokepoint such as Bab al-Mandeb from a safe commercial passage into an arena of direct threats to global shipping.

Saudi Arabia, which has paid a heavy price in both security and economic terms as a result of the war in Yemen, has realised that the security of waterways cannot be safeguarded merely by guarding the passages themselves, but by ensuring the stability of the states whose coastlines surround them.

Security beyond borders

In classical and contemporary strategic thought, the security of any major state is measured not only at its immediate borders, but also through its “strategic depth”: the wider geographical sphere that absorbs shocks before they reach the core. This idea, whose roots can be traced to strategic thinkers such as Nicholas Spykman and Walter Lippmann, holds that a state exists within a geopolitical environment that either acts as a buffer and absorbs crises, or transmits and amplifies them.

Given Saudi Arabia’s position as a pivotal regional power, it cannot content itself with securing its immediate borders while crises rage throughout its strategic surroundings. From this perspective, Sudan is not merely a neighbour across the sea, but one of the most important components of Saudi strategic depth. Its stability means stability along the kingdom’s western maritime frontier, control over flows of irregular migration and smuggling, and keeping at bay the spectre of a security vacuum that could be exploited by armed groups and extremist organisations.

When Riyadh invests in Sudan’s reconstruction and development through permanent institutional frameworks such as the Coordination Council, it is building a wall of stability around its strategic depth. It has understood that genuine security cannot be bought with walls alone, but is built through the prosperity of its neighbours.

A new Saudi approach to Red Sea security

The security of major waterways is not simply the product of military protection of the passage itself, but of the strength and stability of the states along its shores. A Red Sea bordered or surrounded by fragile or collapsed states, or states penetrated by irregular forces, is an insecure Red Sea regardless of the military capabilities of the major powers along its shores.

From this lesson, a more mature Saudi vision has emerged: it is not enough for the kingdom to be strong on the eastern shore. The states along the western shore and the Red Sea’s southern approaches, including Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia, must also be strong, cohesive and capable of exercising full sovereignty over their coastlines. By placing the “Red Sea” alongside security and defence among its areas of focus, the Saudi-Sudanese Coordination Council puts this philosophy into practice: strengthening Sudan’s ability to control its coastline is a direct Saudi investment in the security of the Red Sea as a whole.

The responsibility of regional power

The Saudi-Sudanese Coordination Council is an expression of a broader political philosophy embraced by Riyadh: genuine regional power does not grow stronger by isolating itself behind borders, but by assuming responsibility for the stability of its surroundings. At a time when projects of fragmentation are proliferating, supporting Sudan’s unity, strengthening Saudi strategic depth and safeguarding Red Sea security are three sides of the same coin.

When Saudi Arabia safeguards the unity of its neighbour, it safeguards the integrity of its own strategic project. When it protects the stability of the Sudanese coast, it protects the stability of its own. This is the dialectic of shared geography: neither neighbour can be secure without the other, and neither shore can be stable without the one opposite it.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Authorities were warned about dangers of hitting Mohammad Ghamira, who suffered from the rare medical condition haemophilia.

A Syrian police officer has been arrested and may be criminally prosecuted after an investigation found that he hit a detainee with a medical condition who died shortly after being released from custody.

Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Thursday that Mohammad Ghamira, 29, died after being slapped by police investigator Ahmad Jawad, who has since been detained and referred to the public prosecutor.

Ghamira, who died on Sunday, suffered from haemophilia, a rare condition that prevents blood from clotting properly, making sufferers bleed more easily and for longer periods.

The father of two was a member of the White Helmets, the civil defence organisation made up of volunteers that operated in rebel-held areas in Syria. They went on search and rescue operations and provided medical care following government attacks.

The investigation found that Ghamira had told internal security personnel about his condition, while his wife twice informed authorities about the potential danger.

Ahmad Latouf, head of the investigation committee and assistant interior minister for police affairs, confirmed that Ghamira died after suffering a brain haemorrhage believed to have been caused by the slap.

Two other police officers are also being investigated but are not currently due to be prosecuted.

Ghamira’s death has provoked widespread anger among Syrians, reminding many of the gross human rights abuses that were systematic under former President Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown by rebels in December 2024.

New leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has promised to usher in a new era, prioritising human rights and overseeing an inclusive government. However, human rights organisations have documented widespread abuses by government forces, particularly against minority groups.

Commenting on Ghamira’s death on Thursday, the Interior Ministry accused Jawad of violating ministerial instructions and the code of conduct, which strictly prohibit any form of humiliating or abusive treatment of detainees.

Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab said in a statement that the investigation results showed the ministry’s “commitment to reaching the truth and holding accountable those proven to have overstepped”.

“We rose up against the former tyrant’s regime in rejection of injustice and impunity, and therefore, building a state of law begins with our ability to hold the wrongdoer accountable, to give restitution to the victim, and not to do injustice to anyone who has not been proven responsible” for wrongdoing, he said.

Reporting from Syria’s northwestern port city of Latakia, Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett said the Syrian government has vowed to take further action.

“There will be surveillance put into police stations and better training provided to officers but they say all of this will take time,” Pett said.

“Part of the reason it has resonated so widely is because of who Mohammad was. He was a young man, 29 years old, and he had two children and was a volunteer with the White Helmets. They were basically seen as heroes. His father joined the revolution and so he’s a figure who many people here in his community and nationally respected,” she added.

“That’s part of why there’s been so much sadness and anger and it’s also [because of] the fact that Mohammad is not the first to be mistreated in detention by the new authorities. Syrian rights organisations have documented other cases of deaths in detention.”

Ghamira was arrested last week accused of theft. He was later released and died at a hospital in Latakia on Sunday.

During a forensic examination, medical experts found no visible signs of violence or severe force, as well as no skull fractures or traumatic wounds.

HE gave up a promising career to become part of one of Britain’s biggest boybands – now JJ Hamblett is heading back to where it all started at 16.

The Union J star, 38, exclusively tells The Sun how he’s making a remarkable return to his first love, 15 years after he made it in the pop business – and reveals he will soon be back on stage with his former bandmates too in a hugely anticipated reunion.

JJ, who shot to fame with Union J after appearing on The X Factor in 2012, is returning to his roots as a champion jockey and has signed up for the Legends Race at Doncaster next month, where he’s set to go head-to-head with racing royalty, including Frankie Dettori.

And in the same breath, he’s revealed Union J are planning to mark their 15th anniversary next year with either a one-off show or a full tour – teasing a previously unreleased song that could finally see the group back in the studio.

Union J – completed by Jaymi Hensley Josh Cuthbert and George Shelley – went on to become one of the best-known bands to emerge from The X Factor, scoring hits including Carry You and Beautiful Life before eventually going their separate ways. JJ insists the four remain close.

He said: “We’re all kind of doing our separate things at the moment, but we always keep in touch. 

“They’re going to be brothers for life, and I know that sounds really corny, but without each other, and the success of Union J, we might not have had the opportunities we’ve had outside of the band.”

And fans may not have to wait much longer to see the boys back together. JJ revealed the group are already discussing plans for their 15th anniversary, with a tour his preferred option.

He said: “We did the London Palladium on the 10-year anniversary, which was such a pinch-me moment. 

“Next year we’re planning to do a tour or a one-off show. We haven’t decided yet, but I’m hoping it’s a tour, so it gives fans around the country the opportunity to get there. And hopefully festivals next year as well.”

And there’s even more exciting news for Union J fans – JJ teased that the group already have the perfect comeback song sitting in the vault, coming perilously close to giving away the title before catching himself.

He revealed: “There is one song. I can’t say what it is, but we were thinking about releasing it on the second album, and we didn’t. It fits lyrically so perfectly for us wanting to still do the band and missing being on stage together.”

He then began, “Will we [the band] ever…” before stopping himself and saying, “I can’t say the next two words, because if I say the next two words, sh**, it tells you the song. But it’s just a song that really fits us as a band, and us getting back together. I’m hoping we’re going to release that single.”

Before becoming a household name, JJ was a serious apprentice jockey in Newmarket, riding more than 250 times and even counting the late Queen among the famous names he rode for. Now, after around 15 years away from competitive riding, he’s caught the bug all over again.

He explained: “About seven or eight years ago, they asked me to do it, and obviously with the band, we were quite busy, and I just knew it wasn’t the right time.

“But then recently, in January, I moved back to Newmarket, which is the centre of racing. I thought about it, and I was like, ‘You know what? I’d love to give it another go, just race one final time.’”

His body, however, is not quite as enthusiastic about the comeback as he is. JJ has been riding out for top trainers John and Thady Gosden, and admits his first few days back in the saddle left him feeling every one of the years since his last race.

He said: “The first day, I thought they’ll put me on a trotter. And then they were like, ‘You’re going to canter up Warren Hill,’ which is a steep hill. And the next day, I was like an OAP. I couldn’t move.”

His partner, former champion jockey Hayley Turner, has been helping him prepare, while he’s been riding several days a week and hitting the gym.

But a fitness test with jockey Billy Loughnane proved just how much work he had ahead of him.

He admitted: “I was put through a fitness test with Billy Loughnane, who’s had an incredible season so far. And I was sick. I literally couldn’t do it. I was really, really struggling.”

JJ will find out whether the training has paid off at Doncaster on September 11, for the charity showpiece of the St Leger Festival, riding in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund alongside his friend Frankie Dettori.

He said: “It’ll just be phenomenal. All the jockeys riding in it are great. And just to be able to be beside them and racing against them is something I never thought I’d be able to do again.”

The significance isn’t lost on JJ either – Doncaster is where his racing story began, when he was just 16.

He recalled: “Doncaster was the very first racecourse I rode at as a jockey. That was 23 years ago. I remember going up there with my dad, listening to Enigma blasting out, trying to get myself motivated for the ride. I felt fit, I was young, and I couldn’t feel my legs after. I literally fell off the horse. Now I’m 38, and they’re gonna be a lot worse.”

JJ never regretted leaving racing behind, though. He’d been struggling with the demands of keeping his weight down as a jockey and had always dreamed of singing and acting.

He explained: “I got to the point where I was struggling with my weight, and it became quite difficult for me. I’ve always loved singing and acting, and then just before the X Factor, I was riding out there in the mornings and I thought to myself, right, I want to give that a go. And we were very fortunate to have the success we did.”

Returning to racing has also reminded JJ how closely his two worlds have always been connected. Newmarket is a small community, and he remembers the Gosden yard watching Union J on The X Factor while he was still part of their world.

He added: “It’s so lovely that people are still asking me about the band, bringing up memories of watching us and following our journey.”

And JJ believes one thing links his two careers perfectly – the adrenaline.

He explained: “When jockeys stop race riding, they search for adrenaline. I was very fortunate to have that, you know – when we had a single out, or getting on stage at Wembley Stadium, it was just that adrenaline feel.”

His choice of pre-race music, though, has moved on rather a lot from his boyband days.

He said: “I’m really loving Sam Fender. And Fleetwood Mac, my favourite band – I’ll be listening to probably a Fleetwood Mac album on the way up there. And I’ll be, in the final furlong, singing Union J, going past the winning post first.”

And JJ is under no illusion he’ll be there simply to make up the numbers – the competitive instinct, he says, never really leaves a jockey.

He said: “Everyone in it is competitive – that’s the reason jockeys do what they do. The outcome you want is to be able to win it.”

But the race is ultimately about far more than JJ’s own comeback. The Legends meeting raises money for the Injured Jockeys Fund, a cause close to his heart after training at its facilities.

He said: “The main reason I’m taking part is to really push what they do out there. It’s an incredible charity for jockeys, retired and current, and I’ve looked at the setup they have and it’s amazing.”

With his racing comeback and Union J reunion both now on the horizon, JJ says he feels lucky to get a second shot at both passions that shaped his life.

He said: “I’ve always missed horse racing, and I’m just very, very happy and fortunate and lucky to have that chance again, to do it one final time.

“Thank you to the Union J fans – we wouldn’t be able to even think about doing the 15th anniversary without that continuous support over 15 years, and we’re gonna be putting on the biggest, best show or tour for you next year. So watch out.”

The Leger Legends Race will be available to stream on ITV on September 11th.

LOS ANGELES — U.S. immigration officials worked with Iran to deport Iranians in 2025, newly released emails show, revealing a working relationship between the U.S. and Iranian governments despite tensions mounting between the countries.

Hundreds of emails exchanged between U.S. immigration officials, which were obtained by the National Iranian American Council and made public Tuesday, offer the most transparent play by play yet of how the two countries worked together to arrange for more than 100 Iranians to be flown back to Iran on three separate immigration flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026.

The emails show that Iranian officials had some influence over which Iranian immigrants in the U.S. were sent back to their home country, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials apparently heeded some last-minute changes to deportation lists at the request of Iran.

“Per request from the Iran Embassy I added a few cases,” one unnamed ICE official wrote in late August, a month before the first deportation flight in September. Just over a week later, someone with the same job title moved to make another, unspecified change to the deportation list after they said they met with the “Director at the Iranian Embassy.”

“Iran has requested that I amend the previous manifest and expedite the removal process,” the official wrote.

In a Sept. 26 email, just three days before the deportation flight left U.S. soil, an ICE official said in an email that the Iranian Embassy was still making requests for three additional Iranians on the flight. It’s not clear who ended up on the flight, which ended up being much smaller than initially planned. Iranian officials were still making requests the day the flight departed, although one official wrote that those requests were denied.

Coordination of the flights remained a high priority even as ICE officials acknowledged internally that Iranians were fleeing Iran amid the deadly 12-day war with the U.S. and Israel in June 2025, emails show. The flights departed just months after the U.S. and Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Iran.

The new emails highlight a clear departure from a decades-long practice by the U.S. of welcoming Iranian dissidents, exiles and others since the 1979 Islamic Revolution forced a large number of Iranians to flee.

The deportation of Iranians to a country whose government has a pattern of violent persecution against women, religious minorities and political dissidents has drawn significant criticism from human rights activists.

The Department of Homeland Security did not offer comment in response to an emailed request sent Tuesday afternoon.

Some deportees were handpicked by Iranian officials, emails show

Iranian officials acknowledged in September 2025 that as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under an agreement with the Trump administration. They said most of the Iranians had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico illegally, while some faced other immigration issues.

It is not clear from the emails how frequently U.S. immigration officials had direct contact with the Iranian government. Sometimes messages were conveyed through Qatari officials, who helped charter the deportation flights through Doha, but other times officials reference regular meetings with the “Iranian delegation,” the “Director at the Iranian Embassy” and other unnamed Iranian officials.

It is not clear whether the people Iran put on the list had volunteered to repatriate or if they were forced. Previous reporting from The New York Times revealed that asylum-seekers were among those deported to Iran, while others said they were deported against their will.

At least one person was deported who wasn’t supposed to be, emails showed.

“An Iranian not included on the final manifest we sent to the Qatari MOI was boarded on the flight,” an unnamed U.S. official wrote.

In response, another unnamed U.S. official wrote, “I have no idea how the case/person got through on the plane.”

U.S. prioritized deportation efforts during war

Emails suggest that pressure to carry out the Iranian deportations came from the highest levels of the Trump administration, even when U.S. and Israel were exchanging strikes with Iran in a 12-day conflict between June 13 and June 24, 2025.

Just days after Trump’s June 16 warning on social media that “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” the former acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons, called the repatriation of Iranian immigrants a “priority” in an email sent to the agency’s head of removal operations Marcos Charles and a number of unnamed staff.

Shortly after Lyon’s email, Charles forwarded the message to a group of officials whose names are redacted. An unnamed ICE official responded, warning that “removal will prove difficult” amid the ongoing conflict because Iran wasn’t issuing the travel documents for Iranians eligible for deportation. On top of that, the Iranian airspace was closed to all flights during the bombings and Iranians were fleeing the country.

Charles was unfazed, telling staff in a subsequent email to make a plan to deport 58 Iranians with final removal orders in ICE custody at the time.

“We need a plan forward ASAP,” Charles wrote. Another official, who name was redacted, urged colleagues to “identify a solution for this White House priority.”

Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, said the emails undermine Trump’s assertions that the U.S. is at war with Iran to save ordinary Iranians from a repressive regime.

“It demonstrates that the top priority here was to kick out as many people as possible by whatever means necessary,” Abdi said.

Iranian officials had access to immigration detainees

On several occasions, the emails show ICE officials arranging for Iranian officials to meet for unspecified reasons with people detained in the U.S., echoing testimony from Iranian asylum-seekers in an unrelated lawsuit filed by an unaffiliated Iranian interest group in July.

Eleven Iranians in immigration detention said they were forced to meet with Iranian government officials while in ICE detention. Those Iranian authorities knew intimate details about their asylum claims, according to the sworn declarations filed in a Washington, D.C., court in July.

The lawsuit alleges that U.S. immigration agencies have been illegally sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum-seekers with the Iranian government.

The U.S. government is allowed to work with government officials of foreign countries to coordinate deportation logistics. However, federal regulations passed in the late 1990s prohibit the government from sharing information that could reveal that the person getting deported applied for asylum.

DHS vehemently disputed the lawsuit’s allegations.

“These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE,” DHS said in a statement in July.

Riddle writes for the Associated Press.