officials

Sept. 5 (UPI) — The United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea came together in Seoul this week, then in Tokyo Friday, for two Trilateral Quantum Cooperation meetings, the State Department said.

The meetings were to recognize the value of trilateral cooperation to strengthen and secure emerging technologies, a press release said. Experts from government and industry met to share best practices and discuss how to protect quantum ecosystems from physical, cyber, and intellectual property threats.

“Our trilateral partnership helps ensure Americans can benefit from the breakthroughs in quantum computing that have the potential to reshape the global balance of power, spark entirely new industries, and revolutionize the way we live and work. These workshops highlighted the growing importance of trilateral cooperation in safeguarding innovation and strengthening the quantum ecosystem, which has the promise of increasing human flourishing and the economic prosperity of Americans and our partners,” said a press release from the State Department’s spokesperson.

In August, South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung reflected on the partnership after having met President Donald Trump.

“The golden era is yet to come, not because we lack something, but [because] possibilities are endless,” Lee said, describing future cooperation.

He said Japan can’t be left out of this equation, as trilateral cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo will be essential to address North Korea and drive technological innovation.

Likely to help in quantum computing is new deputy secretary of the Department of Commerce Paul Dabbar. He was the president and CEO of Bohr Quantum Technology before his Senate confirmation. He led the development and deployment of emerging quantum network technologies while at Bohr.

North Korea announced in 2019 that it intends to adopt quantum computing for economic development. NK Economy reported quantum computers are being highlighted in the Korean Workers’ Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

Quantum computing and its lower toll on the power grid — relative to supercomputers — could hold appeal for North Korea.

Rolling blackouts and power outages are common in the country, according to defectors and former residents of the country.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked the visas of a number of Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization officials ahead of next month’s annual high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, where the groups previously have been represented.

The State Department said in a statement Friday that Rubio also had ordered some new visa applications from Palestinian officials be denied.

The move is the latest in a series of steps the Trump administration has taken to target Palestinians with visa restrictions and comes as the Israeli military declared Gaza’s largest city a combat zone. The State Department also suspended a program that had allowed injured Palestinian children from Gaza to come to the U.S. for medical treatment after a social media outcry by some conservatives.

The State Department didn’t specify how many visas had been revoked or how many applications had been denied. The department did not immediately respond to a request for more specifics.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would be affected.

The agency’s statement did say that representatives assigned to the Palestinian Authority mission at the United Nations would be granted waivers under the U.S. host country agreement with the U.N. so they can continue their New York-based operations.

“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” the statement said. “Before the PLO and PA can be considered partners for peace, they must consistently repudiate terrorism — including the October 7 massacre — and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by U.S. law and as promised by the PLO.”

The Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., Riyad Mansour, told reporters Friday that he had just learned of Rubio’s decision and was assessing its impact.

“We will see exactly what it means and how it applies to any of our delegation, and we will respond accordingly,” he said.

Mansour said Abbas was leading the delegation to next month’s U.N. meetings and was expected to address the General Assembly — as he has done for many years. He also was expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on Sept. 22 about a two-state solution, which calls for Israel living side by side with an independent Palestine.

Lee writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Aug. 29 (UPI) — Britain barred Israeli government and military officials from taking part in its flagship international defense and security event in September as London stepped up pressure on Israel over its military offensive to capture and occupy Gaza City.

Israel is normally one of the main exhibitors at the biannual Defense and Security Equipment International conference, but the Ministry of Defense said Thursday that Israeli government officials had not been invited to the event, which runs Sept. 9 through Sept. 12 at the Excel exhibition and convention center in London’s Docklands.

“The Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its military operation in Gaza is wrong. As a result, we can confirm that no Israeli government delegation will be invited to attend DSEI UK 2025,” a Ministry of Defense spokesman told Politico.

“There must be a diplomatic solution to end this war now, with an immediate cease-fire, the return of the hostages and a surge in humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.”

The ban does not extend to private Israeli arms manufacturers, but their presence at DSEI — which is run by a private British company but with major backing from the government and armed forces — was expected to trigger large public demonstrations outside the venue.

Israel criticized the move as discriminatory and, accusing Britain of politicizing the global defense sector, said it would abandon plans for the large pavilion it usually sponsors at the conference, but stressed it fully supported domestic firms opting to exhibit at DSEI.

“These restrictions amount to a deliberate and regrettable act of discrimination against Israel’s representatives,” the Israel Ministry of Defense wrote in a social media post.”

“At a time when Israel is engaged on multiple fronts against Islamist extremists and terrorist organisations — forces that also threaten the West and international shipping lanes — this decision by Britain plays into the hands of extremists, grants legitimacy to terrorism, and introduces political considerations wholly inappropriate for a professional defense industry exhibition,” said the ministry.

The ban follows a standoff at the Paris Air Show in June, when the organizers draped black sheeting over the stands of some Israeli defense firms exhibiting at the event at the request of the French government after the Israeli defense ministry failed to observe a ban on arms designed for offensive purposes.

Britain has been gradually stepping up diplomatic and legal pressure on Israel in recent months over the conduct of its military operation in Gaza, including imposing restrictions on some arms sales.

In July, Britain announced it would recognize a Palestinian state in September if Israel did not agree to a cease-fire by then.

In June, it joined Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in sanctioning far-right Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich over “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinians.”

Britain suspended arms export licenses in September for around 10% of British-made weapons and military equipment destined for Israel after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government determined there was a “clear risk” of Israel using the arms in ways that would breach international law.

The ban on 30 out of 350 categories of equipment and goods included military aircraft, helicopter and drone components, as well as ground targeting equipment.

However, the block did not extend to parts for F-35 joint-strike fighter flown by Israeli forces in combat missions over Gaza that Britain supplies into a pool as part of a multi-country support program for the American-made F-35 — except where they went directly to Israel.

Senior ministers in Starmer’s cabinet insisted at the time that Britain remained a “staunch ally” of Israel, defended the timing, which came just days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, and insisted it would not undermine Israel’s security.

NEW YORK — When the White House fired Susan Monarez as director of the premier U.S. public health agency, it was clear to two of the scientific leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the political meddling would not end and it was time to quit.

“We knew … if she leaves, we don’t have scientific leadership anymore,” one of the officials, Dr. Debra Houry, told the Associated Press on Thursday.

“We were going to see if she was able to weather the storm. And when she was not, we were done,” said Houry, one of at least four CDC leaders who resigned this week. She was the agency’s deputy director and chief medical officer.

The White House confirmed late Wednesday that Monarez was fired because she was not “aligned with” President Trump’s agenda and had refused to resign. She had been sworn in less than a month ago.

Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., declined during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” to directly comment on the CDC shake-up. But he said he continues to have concerns about CDC officials hewing to the administration’s health policies.

“So we need to look at the priorities of the agency, if there’s really a deeply, deeply embedded, I would say, malaise at the agency,” Kennedy said. “And we need strong leadership that will go in there and that will be able to execute on President Trump’s broad ambitions.”

A lawyer for Monarez said the termination was not legal — and that she would not step down — because she was informed of her dismissal by staff in the presidential personnel office and that only Trump himself could fire her. Monarez has not commented.

Dr. Richard Besser, a former CDC acting director, said that when he spoke with Monarez on Wednesday, she vowed not to do anything that was illegal or that flew in the face of science. She had refused directives from the Department of Health and Human Services to fire her management team.

She also would not automatically sign off on any recommendations from a vaccines advisory committee handpicked by Kennedy, according to Besser, now president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which helps support the Associated Press Health and Science Department.

Houry and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned as head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said Monarez had tried to make sure scientific safeguards were in place.

Some concerned the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group of outside experts who make recommendations to the CDC director on how to use vaccines. The recommendations are then adopted by doctors, school systems, health insurers and others.

Kennedy is a longtime leader in the antivaccine movement, and in June, he abruptly dismissed the entire panel, accusing members of being too closely aligned with manufacturers. He replaced them with a group that included several vaccine skeptics and then he shut the door to several doctors organizations that had long helped form vaccine recommendations.

Recently, Monarez tried to replace the official who coordinated the panel’s meetings with someone who had more policy experience. Monarez also pushed to have slides and evidence reviews posted weeks before the committee’s meetings and have the sessions open to public comment, Houry said.

Department of Health officials nixed that and called her to a meeting in Washington on Monday, Houry said.

When it became clear that Monarez was out, other top CDC officials decided they had to leave, too, Houry and Daskalakis said.

“I came to the point personally where I think our science will be compromised, and that’s my line in the sand,” Daskalakis said.

Monarez’s lawyers, Mark Zaid and Abbe David Lowell, said in a statement that when she refused “to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted.”

Stobbe writes for the Associated Press.

Susan Monarez fired while four officials resign amid tensions over vaccine policies and public health directives.

The director of the United States’s top public health agency has been fired after less than one month in the job, and several top agency leaders have resigned.

Susan Monarez is not “aligned with” President Donald Trump’s agenda and refused to resign, so the White House terminated her, deputy press secretary Kush Desai said on Wednesday night.

The US Department of Health and Human Services had announced her departure in a brief social media post on Wednesday afternoon.

Her lawyers responded with a statement, saying Monarez had neither resigned nor been told she was fired.

“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted,” lawyers Mark Zaid and Abbe David Lowell wrote in a statement.

“This is not about one official. It is about the systematic dismantling of public health institutions, the silencing of experts, and the dangerous politicization of science. The attack on Dr Monarez is a warning to every American: our evidence-based systems are being undermined from within,” they said.

Officials resign

Her departure coincided with the resignations this week of at least four top CDC officials.

The list includes Dr Debra Houry, the agency’s deputy director; Dr Daniel Jernigan, head of the agency’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; Dr Demetre Daskalakis, head of its National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; and Dr Jennifer Layden, director of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology.

In an email reported by The Associated Press, Houry lamented the effects on the agency from planned budget cuts, reorganisation and firings.

Monarez, 50, was the agency’s 21st director and the first to pass through Senate confirmation following a 2023 law. She was named acting director in January and then tapped as the nominee in March after Trump abruptly withdrew his first choice, David Weldon.

She was sworn in on July 31, less than a month ago, making her the shortest-serving CDC director in the history of the 79-year-old agency.

During her Senate confirmation process, Monarez told senators that she values vaccines, public health interventions and rigorous scientific evidence.

CHICAGO — President Trump said Chicago will probably be the next target of his efforts to crack down on crime, homelessness and illegal immigration.

Trump indicated that the Midwestern city could receive similar treatment to what he’s done in Washington, where he’s deployed 2,000 troops on the streets.

“I think Chicago will be our next,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, later adding, “And then we’ll help with New York.”

The comments came as the Pentagon on Friday began ordering troops in Washington to carry firearms, though there have been no overt indications they have faced threats that would require them to carry weapons.

Trump has repeatedly described some of the nation’s largest cities — run by Democrats, with Black mayors and majority-minority populations — as dangerous and filthy.

He singled out Chicago on Friday, calling it a “mess” and saying residents there are “screaming for us to come” despite significant decreases in crimes of violence.

Trump’s suggestion that Chicago might be the next target for a crackdown on crime didn’t sit well with Illinois officeholders.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said his office has not received formal communication from the Trump administration about military or federal law enforcement deployments in Chicago but said that “we have grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops.”

Johnson called Trump’s approach “uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound,” arguing that it “has the potential to inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement.”

It is unclear how Trump would pursue an effort in Chicago that is similar to his approach to D.C., where home rule laws give the federal government greater authority.

But the president’s eldest son said it might be time to look at a whole host of cities in the Pacific Northwest. In an interview Thursday with Newsmax, Donald Trump Jr. blamed Democrats for “through-the-roof” murder rates.

“Maybe we should roll out the tour to Portland, Seattle, the other craphole cities of the country,” Trump Jr. said.

Homicide rates in Portland and Seattle, though up since before the COVID-19 surge nationwide, have declined this year.

In a post on X titled “Things People are Begging For,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, listed cheaper groceries, no cuts to Medicaid or food aid for low-income families, and the release of federally held files on Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex trafficker and former Trump friend.

What they are not begging for, Pritzker continued, is “an authoritarian power grab of major cities.”

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, called Trump’s Washington troop strategy “political theater.” He said Chicago is “a beautiful, vibrant city with people from all walks of life” and suggested pursuing “proven bipartisan solutions” toward further crime reduction.

“These unprecedented threats from President Trump are nothing more than a power grab to distract from his disastrous policies,” Durbin said in a statement.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Army National Guard combat veteran and Illinois’ junior senator, criticized what she called Trump’s misuse of the military to “intimidate Americans in our own communities.”

Lisa Hernandez, chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois, called Trump’s comments “offensive and false” and argued that his rhetoric echoes a history of racist narratives about urban crime.

“Chicagoans are not begging for him,” she told the Associated Press.

Trump has taken aim at Chicago for more than a decade, a prominent feature of his presidential campaigns. He has repeatedly compared the city to Afghanistan and, as president in 2017, threatened to “send in the feds” due to gun violence in the city.

Violent crime in Chicago dropped significantly in the first half of 2025, representing the steepest decline in more than a decade, according to city data. Shootings and homicides were down more than 30% in the first half of the year compared with the same time last year, and total violent crime dropped by over 22%.

Johnson touted the city’s approach to violent crime, asserting in a statement to the Associated Press that “our communities are safest when we fully invest in housing, community safety, and education.” While Trump turns to the military, he said, Chicago has invested in mental health services, community-based interventions, raising minimum wages and improving affordable housing.

If the president wants to make the city safer, Johnson said, Trump should restore $158 million he cut in violence-prevention programs for cities such as Chicago.

“There are many things the federal government could do to help us reduce crime and violence in Chicago, but sending in the military is not one of them,” he said.

Pastor Donovan Price, a local advocate for gun crime victims, emphasized that community-based anti-violence programs, rather than militarism, is key to reducing gun violence in Chicago.

“Stay out of our city,” he said. “This is not a federal issue. We live this every day. We know what our community needs.”

Fernando, O’Connor and Price write for the Associated Press and reported from Chicago, Springfield, Ill., and Washington, respectively.

Mayor Clara Brugada says ‘government will not rest’ until justice is served for the killing of two municipal officials.

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada has announced that authorities arrested 13 people for their alleged roles in the May attack that killed two high-ranking officials in the Mexican capital.

Brugada did not identify the suspects on Wednesday, but she said three were involved directly in the shooting.

“In this operation, 13 people were arrested, including three people who directly participated in the murder, and others related to the logistical preparation of the event,” she told reporters.

The daytime shooting of two of Brugada’s top aides by gunmen on motorbikes shocked the city, seen as a relative pocket of safety compared to the rest of the country.

The victims were Brugada’s personal secretary Ximena Guzman and adviser Jose Munoz.

“In memory of our colleagues and out of respect for their families and friends, this government will not rest until the truth is known and justice is served,” the mayor said in a social media post on Wednesday.

After the shooting, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, a Brugada ally who previously served as the capital’s mayor, vowed that her government would ensure that “justice is served”.

“We express our solidarity and support for the families of these two individuals who have worked in our movement for a long time,” Sheinbaum said in May.

“We know them, we stand with their families, and we will give her [Brugada] all the support the city needs from the Mexican government.”

For decades, Mexico has been struggling with high crime rates and murders, including violence against political and security officials as well as journalists.

In 2020, Mexico City’s security chief, Omar Garcia Harfuch, survived an ambush by gunmen that killed two of his bodyguards and a bystander.

Shortly after taking office last year, Sheinbaum’s administration announced a security strategy that focused on boosting intelligence gathering, strengthening the National Guard police and addressing root causes, including poverty.

Earlier this month, the United States – which has been struggling with its own crime rates – issued a travel advisory for Mexico, warning of security risks.

“Many violent crimes take place in Mexico. They include homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery,” the US State Department said. “There is a risk of terrorist violence, including terrorist attacks and other activity in Mexico.”

Aug. 19 (UPI) — National Security Director Tulsi Gabbard has revoked the security clearances for 37 current and former intelligence officials, as directed by President Donald Trump.

Gabbard acknowledged that the president directed her to revoke the security clearances in a social media post that she made on Tuesday afternoon.

“Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right,” Gabbard said.

“Those in the intelligence community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold,” she added.

Gabbard’s post includes a copy of the department memorandum that was circulated on Monday and lists the 37 officials whose security clearances are revoked.

Among those whose security clearances are revoked is Maher Bitar, who worked for Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., when he was the House Intelligence Committee chairman during the first impeachment effort against President Donald Trump in 2019, The Hill reported.

The Biden administration’s National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne and Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Brett Holmgren also are among those who lost their security clearances.

Others with revoked clearances include officials who held senior positions within the State Department, the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Defense Department and the National Security Council, according to Politico.

Several formerly advised Biden when he was the vice president under former President Barack Obama, and some also were involved in the investigation into claims that Trump colluded with Russia ahead of the 2016 election.

The revocations are effective immediately, and those whose security clearances are revoked also have any related contracts or employment terminated and must surrender their credentials to security officers, Fox News reported.

The revocations prompted criticism alleging that the Trump administration did so for political purposes.

“Further proof of weaponization and politicization,” Mark Zaid, a national security attorney, said in a post on X.

He said most of those who lost their security clearances “are dedicated public servants who have worked across multiple presidential administrations.”

The Trump administration also revoked Zaid’s prior security clearance.

Many who lost their clearance also had spoken to media regarding decisions made by the Trump administration, according to The Hill.

Some had been critical of Trump, while others were involved in investigating Russian meddling in the 2020 US elections.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has revoked the security clearances of 37 people it accused of politicising or weaponising intelligence for partisan aims.

In a statement posted to X on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the group had “abused the public trust”, accusing them of “politicizing and manipulating intelligence, leaking classified intelligence without authorization, and/or committing intentional egregious violations of tradecraft standards”.

The statement did not explain in what ways the 37 had violated the terms of the national security clearance or provide evidence of them having done so.

Security clearances are rarely revoked, and the names of those revoked are not typically publicised.

The list includes former senior officials as well as little-known staffers. Among the more high-profile is Shelby Pierson, an election security official who, in February 2020, briefed lawmakers on Russian interference in US elections, and drew Trump’s ire for claiming that Moscow favoured him in the 2020 elections. At least one of the people included was listed on the database of Canary Mission, a shadowy pro-Israel website that the government has admitted to using to target pro-Palestinian supporters.

Mark Zaid, a lawyer who represents intelligence officers, told Al Jazeera that the revocations could be considered “unlawful and unconstitutional decisions that deviate from well-settled, decades-old laws and policies that sought to protect against just this type of action”.

“It is completely unprofessional, yet so common, that the administration took actions targeting individuals in a retaliatory way that impacts their careers and lives, yet did not notify them first before leaking the memo to friendly media.”

Since taking office, Trump has lived up to campaign promises to go after those he perceives as his enemies – particularly members of previous administrations that he has deemed to be corrupt.

Earlier this year, he fired thousands of federal employees, including career prosecutors who participated in the two federal probes into Trump’s behaviour: one for alleged mishandling of classified documents, and the other for attempting to subvert the 2020 election.

Such attacks have become common in Nigeria’s northwestern and north-central regions, where local herders and farmers clash.

At least 27 worshippers have been killed and several wounded when armed bandits stormed a mosque in northern Nigeria’s Katsina state during morning prayers, a village head and a hospital official said.

The gunmen opened fire inside a mosque as Muslims gathered to pray at around 04:00 GMT in the remote community of Unguwan Mantau in the Malumfashi local government area, residents said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility, but such attacks have become more common in Nigeria’s northwestern and north-central regions, where local herders and farmers often clash over limited access to land and water.

The attacks have killed and injured scores, with a June attack in north-central Nigeria killing more than 100 people. Amnesty International called for the government to end the “almost daily bloodshed in Benue state”. That attack  took place in Yelwata, a town in Benue State, according to Amnesty.

The prolonged conflict has become deadlier in recent years, with authorities and analysts warning that more herdsmen are taking up arms.

The state’s commissioner, Nasir Mu’azu, said the army and police have deployed in the area of Unguwan Mantau following Tuesday’s bloodshed to prevent further attacks, adding that gunmen often hide among the crops in farms during the rainy season to carry out assaults on communities.

Aug. 18 (UPI) — Air travelers going through Wilmington International Airport in North Carolina now can sign up for U.S. customs’ Global Entry program, which allows for quicker processing for pre-approved, low-risk travelers.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said in a statement an enrollment event for its Global Entry program will be held September 8 to the 12th at North Carolina’s Wilmington International Airport.

The scheduled process in September for conditionally approved U.S. and non-American citizens as they seek to travel in and out of the country will be from 8 a.m. EDT to 4 p.m. on the reported days Monday to Friday.

Required documents for U.S. citizens include a valid government-issued passport and a secondary form of photo ID, such as a state-issued driver’s license.

For non-U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, a passport is required, along with a secondary photo ID, a valid U.S. visa printed in the passport or a machine-readable lawful permanent resident card.

CBP’s trusted traveler program allows for quicker processing for pre-approved, low-risk travelers.

Officials added that applicants may complete required interviews upon their return from a foreign location “at participating airports without a scheduled appointment.”

The global entry program established in 2008 allows a client to enter the United States using a kiosk, which identifies fingerprints electronically and saves hours waiting in line at customs.

The program was initially deployed to a small number of large U.S. airports — such as New York’s JFK International and Washington-Dulles in the nation’s capital — and by 2014 expanded largely due to its own success.

Monday’s announcement followed Friday’s similar announcement by CBP in the Great Lakes region that a separate no-appointment-needed Global Entry enrollment event will be in Detroit on Wednesday.

Wilmington International has never seen international flights until last week’s revelation that Avelo Airlines will begin flights in December to the popular vacation destination in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola.

The interviews at CBP’s office at ILM will be at: 1921 Hall Dr in Wilmington.

Rains sweep away villages in worst-hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as rescuers search for 150 missing people.

At least 20 people have been killed when new monsoon rains caused flooding in northwestern Pakistan, local officials say, as the region is ravaged by an unusually intense and deadly monsoon season.

“A cloudburst in the Gadoon area of Swabi completely destroyed several houses, killing more than 20 people,” a local official in the district told the AFP news agency on Monday. Local Pakistani media also reported on the latest deaths due to the flooding.

Three to five villages were wiped out by the huge amount of rain falling in a short period of time, a second official said, confirming the death toll in the worst-hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The new deluge comes as rescuers continue to search for 150 people still missing in several districts across the province.

More soon.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Noah Goldberg, with assists from Julia Wick, Seema Mehta and David Zahniser, giving you the latest on city and county government.

Days after the Trump administration’s mass immigration raids came to Los Angeles, City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado started looking for money to help the city’s undocumented residents.

In a June 10 motion, she asked City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo to detail options for finding at least $1 million for RepresentLA, which provides legal services for undocumented Angelenos facing deportation.

A week later, an official from Szabo’s office said they were “unable to identify eligible funding sources” for the $1 million, which would come on top of $1 million the city has already allocated to RepresentLA.

This summer in L.A., an immigration crisis is colliding with a budget crisis, leaving some councilmembers frustrated that the city cannot do more, as federal agents whisk thousands of immigrants away to detention centers and potential deportation.

The city has been active in court, joining an ACLU lawsuit that temporarily blocked federal agents from using racial profiling to carry out indiscriminate immigration arrests. Mayor Karen Bass also announced a program to provide immigrants with gift cards, funded by private philanthropy, when many were afraid to go to work.

But coming up with another $1 million for immigrant legal defense, after city officials closed a nearly $1-billion deficit through cuts and slated layoffs, has proved a slog.

“Why is it that we can’t find the money for this?” asked Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez during a Civil Rights, Equity, Immigration, Aging and Disability Committee meeting on Aug. 1. “It appears that level of urgency is not being transmitted through this report, because when we’re in other situations, we find the money.”

Jurado piggybacked off her colleague.

“This is an immigration legal crisis,” she said, adding that she felt “disappointment, frustration and, frankly, anger with the outcome here that we can’t find a single dollar to support immigrant communities and this legal defense fund.”

“I find it really hard to believe that the CAO couldn’t find any money for it,” she said in an interview.

RepresentLA, which is a public-private partnership with the county, the city, the California Community Foundation and the Weingart Foundation, has seen a surge in demand for legal services since the immigration raids began in June, said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesperson for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, which manages RepresentLA.

“The need is higher than the needs being met,” Cabrera said.

The city has contributed funding for RepresentLA since its inception in 2021 — initially $2 million each fiscal year before dropping to $1 million in 2024-2025 and $1 million this year out of a total budget of $6.5 million, with the other $5.5 million coming from L.A. County.

RepresentLA, which has served nearly 10,000 people, provides free legal representation for undocumented immigrants facing removal proceedings, as well as other services such as help with asylum applications. Some attorneys are on staff, while others are outside counsel.

In April, Bass said in her State of the City speech that the city would “protect every Angeleno, no matter where you are from, no matter when you arrived in L.A … because we know how much immigrants contribute to our city in so many ways. We will always stand strong with you.”

But behind the scenes, the city’s financial struggles put even the initial $1 million for RepresentLA in jeopardy, with the mayor proposing to slash it to zero for this fiscal year.

“Getting the initial $1 million back was quite a battle,” said Angelica Salas, CHIRLA’s executive director. “It had been zeroed out. We were able to get just the money enough to continue the program for those who are currently in the program.”

The City Council managed to claw back the $1 million during budget negotiations by slowing down hiring at the LAPD, as well as “ending duplicative spending,” said Naomi Villagomez-Roochnik, a spokesperson for Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who sits on the budget committee. (The mayor and Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson have since said they are looking for money to reverse the hiring slowdown.)

“It’s a crumb when you compare it to the rest of the city budget,” Hernandez said.

RepresentLA has 23 attorneys working on deportation hearings, and Salas said each represents about 35 clients at any given time. An additional $1 million “would allow us to expand our capacity for the new people — the thousands of people who have now been picked up in this new sweep,” she said.

At the committee hearing earlier this month, Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said the City Council should find savings in other areas to help pay for important programs like RepresentLA.

“Next time the city attorney comes asking us for outside counsel money, you could say ‘No’ and redirect those resources. … When the mayor comes for Inside Safe, for additional discretionary money that she is unaccountable for, you could say, ‘No, we’re taking $1 million and putting it for RepresentLA,’” she said. “Let’s effing go.”

The committee called on the city administrative officer’s staff to research options for funding RepresentLA, including grants or reallocating money from elsewhere.

Szabo confirmed to The Times that things will be different at the next committee meeting.

“Our next report will provide options to fund RepresentLA at the level requested,” he said in a text message.

State of play

BALLOT ROYALE: Labor unions and business groups have been locked in a heated battle of ballot measures for the last three months, after the City Council hiked the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers. Each side is trying to get measures on the ballot that would have far-reaching effects, including one that would put the minimum wage increase to a citywide vote. Unite Here Local 11, which represents hotel and restaurant workers, has proposed four ballot measures that, according to critics, would wreak havoc on the city’s economy. Business leaders, in turn, have filed a ballot petition to repeal the city’s $800-million business tax — a move denounced by city officials, who say it would gut funding for police and other essential services.

— SAGE ADVICE: The Jurado staffer who was arrested during an anti-ICE demonstration in June gave a heads-up to her boss that she planned to take part, according to text messages obtained by The Times through a public records request.

“Going to the protest at [City Hall] fyi,” Luz Aguilar wrote to Chief of Staff Lauren Hodgins.

Hodgins responded with words of caution.

“To reiterate what we spoke about a few mins ago, if you choose to take part in any community action, please ensure that you approach the event with peace and care for those around you and stay safe,” Hodgins wrote. “This is not a city-sanctioned activity and you are participating on your own accord so want to ensure your safety along with the safety of those around you.”

Aguilar did not text back. She was later arrested at the demonstration and ultimately charged with resisting arrest after allegedly assaulting a police officer.

— BACK TO COURT: Prosecutors filed two new corruption charges against City Councilmember Curren Price this week. The charges were connected to two votes he cast on funding for the city housing authority and the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, both of which were paying Price’s wife, Del Richardson. Price’s attorney called the new charges “nothing more than an attempt to pile on to a weak case.”

Sources told The Times this week that prosecutors tried to get Richardson to testify in front of a grand jury as part of Price’s case. She did not ultimately do so.

— IT’S FUN TO STAY AT THE YMCA: Bass, L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and City Councilmember Traci Park were all in the Palisades Thursday morning at a ceremony where Horvath pledged $10 million from her discretionary funds toward rebuilding the Palisades-Malibu YMCA.

— GIFT ECONOMY: Our public records request for all the gifts Bass received in the last year and a half came back, with the list largely composed of ceremonial gift exchanges with her foreign counterparts (chopsticks and a teacup from the mayor of Sejong, South Korea, estimated cost $32; a scarf and a hat from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, estimated cost $45).

There were a few interesting tidbits: Bass received flowers (~$72) from race and gender scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term intersectionality. There were also fancy Dodgers tickets and food (~$590, but marked as “paid down”) from her longtime lawyers at Kaufman Legal Group, along with flights and travel for two speaking engagements.

— NOT RULING IT OUT: When Bass appeared on the podcast “Lovett or Leave It,” host Jon Lovett gave her a “crazy pitch”: What if the city of Los Angeles broke off from the county, forming its own city-county? Bass said it “wasn’t that crazy” and asked (jokingly) whether Lovett would be taking on the messy ballot initiative … before reverting back to her standard line on the need for intergovernmental cooperation. Bass also told Lovett that the city is still looking at ways to carve out an exemption to Measure ULA taxes for Palisades fire survivors selling their lots. And, she said, the city is in the process of hiring its long-promised film liaison “as we speak.”

— HOT SEAT: Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers launched a special election campaign on Thursday, urging California voters to approve new congressional districts to shrink the state’s Republican delegation, as Texas Republicans fight to redraw their own maps to favor the GOP. If the plan moves forward through the many hoops ahead, another district could be created in southeast Los Angeles County, which would undoubtedly kickstart frantic maneuvering ahead of 2026. (L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis’ name is already getting thrown around as a potential candidate, though her office didn’t respond to a half-dozen queries.)

— DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL: City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto came out swinging against SB 79, state Sen. Scott Wiener’s latest housing density bill, back in May. Now, both proponents and opponents are clamoring to know whether Bass will take a position on the controversial bill. The Times has been asking too, but so far the mayor and her team have not responded to questions.

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature homelessness program did not carry out any new operations this week. Her Shine LA initiative, which aims to clean up city streets and sidewalks, will be back Aug. 21.
• On the docket for next week: The Charter Reform Commission will meet at City Hall twice — yes, twice — to discuss planning and infrastructure on Monday and “government structure” on Friday.

Stay in touch

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A failed political candidate was sentenced to 80 years in federal prison Wednesday for his convictions in a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

A jury convicted former Republican candidate Solomon Peña earlier this year of conspiracy, weapons and other charges in the shootings in December 2022 and January 2023 on the homes of four Democratic officials in Albuquerque, including the current state House speaker.

Prosecutors, who had sought a 90-year sentence, said Peña has shown no remorse and had hoped to cause political change by terrorizing people who held contrary views to him into being too afraid to take part in political life.

Peña’s lawyers had sought a 60-year sentence, saying their client maintains that he is innocent of the charges. They have said Peña was not involved in the shootings and that prosecutors were relying on the testimony of two men who bear responsibility and accepted plea agreements in exchange for leniency.

“Today was a necessary step toward Mr. Peña’s continued fight to prove his innocence,” said Nicholas Hart, one of Peña’s attorneys. “He looks forward to the opportunity to appeal, where serious issues about the propriety of this prosecution will be addressed.”

The attacks took place as threats and acts of intimidation against election workers and public officials surged across the country after President Donald Trump and his allies called into question the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Prosecutors said Peña resorted to violence in the belief that a “rigged” election had robbed him of victory in his bid to serve in the state Legislature.

The shootings targeted the homes of officials including two county commissioners after their certification of the 2022 election, in which Peña lost by nearly 50 percentage points. No one was injured, but in one case bullets passed through the bedroom of a state senator’s 10-year-old daughter.

Two other men who had acknowledged helping Peña with the attacks had previously pleaded guilty to federal charges and received yearslong prison sentences.

The United States has announced it is revoking the visas of Brazilian, African and Caribbean officials over their ties to Cuba’s programme that sends doctors abroad, which Washington has described as “forced labour”.

The US named two Brazilian Ministry of Health officials, Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and Alberto Kleiman, who have had their visas revoked for working on Brazil’s Mais Medicos, or “More Doctors” programme, which was created in 2013.

In a statement on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said sanctions were imposed on officials “involved in abetting the Cuban regime’s coercive labour export scheme”, which he claimed “enriches the corrupt Cuban regime and deprives the Cuban people of essential medical care”.

“The Department of State took steps to revoke visas and impose visa restrictions on several Brazilian government officials, former Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) officials, and their family members for their complicity with the Cuban regime’s labour export scheme in the Mais Medicos programme,” Rubio said.

In an earlier statement, Rubio also announced visa restrictions for African officials, without specifying the countries involved, as well as the Caribbean country Grenada, for the same reasons.

The Cuban government has called Washington’s efforts to stop its medical missions a cynical excuse to go after its foreign currency earnings.

Cuba’s deputy director of US affairs, Johana Tablada, said its “medical cooperation will continue”.

“[Rubio’s] priorities speak volumes: financing Israel genocide on Palestine, torturing Cuba, going after health care services for those who need them most,” Tablada wrote on X.

Cuba’s international missions are sold to third countries and serve as a main source of foreign currency for the economically isolated nation, which has been subject to decades-long crippling sanctions by the US.

Havana’s international medical outreach goes back to the years following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, as Fidel Castro’s communist government provided a free or low-cost medical programme to developing nations as an act of international solidarity.

It is estimated that Havana has sent between 135,000 and 400,000 Cuban doctors abroad in total over the past five decades.

Brazilian Minister of Health Alexandre Padilha said his government would not bow to what he called “unreasonable attacks” on Mais Medicos.

Cuba’s contract in the programme was terminated in 2018 after then-President-elect Jair Bolsonaro questioned the terms of the agreement and Cuban doctors’ qualifications.

Washington is already engaged in a heated diplomatic row with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government after imposing sanctions on Brazilian officials involved in Bolsonaro’s ongoing trial over his alleged coup plot in 2022.

Cuba’s healthcare system is public and meant to be universally accessible. But decades of sanctions and a downturn in tourism due to Trump’s travel ban mean the one-party state is no longer medically self-sufficient.

Since returning to the White House, the Trump administration has resumed its “maximum pressure” campaign against Cuba that typified his first term.

Last year, the island nation of 9.7 million people could not afford the $300m needed to import raw materials to produce hundreds of critical medicines.

In July, Trump imposed sanctions against Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces Alvaro Lopez Miera, and Minister of the Interior Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas for their “role in the Cuban regime’s brutality toward the Cuban people”.

Earlier, the Trump administration also signalled its intention to tighten visa restrictions on Cuban and foreign officials linked to Havana’s medical missions around the globe.

Rubio described the medical programme as one where “medical professionals are ‘rented’ by other countries at high prices”, but “most of the revenue is kept by the Cuban authorities”.

In 1999, after Hugo Chavez’s Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela, Cuba sent medical staff and educators to the country. In return, Cuba bought Venezuelan oil at below-market prices, developing the idea of Havana exporting medical professionals as a source of revenue.

Some 30,000 Cuban medical workers were sent to Venezuela in the first 10 years of the “Oil for Doctors” programme.

Cuba later received hard currency to set up permanent medical missions in countries including South Africa, Brazil, Ecuador and Qatar.

Aug. 11 (UPI) — The union representing thousands of workers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is calling on the Trump administration to condemn vaccine disinformation after a gunman killed a police officer in a shooting targeting the CDC headquarters in Georgia.

The suspected gunman behind the Friday shooting was identified Saturday as 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White. He was shot dead by police after opening fire at an Emory Point CVS, with police suspecting he targeted the nearby CDC headquarters over health problems he blamed on the COVID-19 vaccine.

The American Federation of Government Employees Local 2883, which represents more than 2,000 CDC workers, said in a statement Sunday that the attack “was not random and it compounds months of mistreatment, neglect and vilification that CDC staff have endured.”

“The deliberate targeting of CDC through this violent act is deeply disturbing, completely unacceptable and an attack on every public servant,” the union said.

“Early reports indicate the gunman was motivated by vaccine disinformation, which continues to pose a dangerous threat to public health and safety.”

To its members, it said it is advocating for “a clear and unequivocal stance in condemning disinformation” by the CDC and the leadership of Health and Human Services, which is run by vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“This leadership is critical in reinforcing public trust and ensuring that accurate, science-based information prevails,” the union said. “This condemnation is necessary to help prevent violence against scientists that may be incited by such disinformation.”

The shooting occurred just days after Kennedy announced that HHS was moving to terminate $500 million in contracts to develop vaccines using mRNA technology, which was used to develop the COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID-19 vaccines are estimated to have saved more than 2 million lives worldwide.

The American Medical Association supports mRNA vaccine research.

Despite the support from the medical community, Kennedy claimed “the technology poses more risks than benefits.”

“HHS supports safe, effective vaccines for every American who wants them, that’s why we’re moving beyond the limitations of mRNA for respiratory viruses,” he said.

The AMA, in response, urged the Trump administration to reverse course, and to continue “vital research to improve mRNA vaccines, not throw the baby out with the bathwater by effectively preventing research from moving forward.”

The union said the shooting had CDC employees, including more than 90 children, trapped in buildings throughout the CDC campus late into Friday.

It said in its Sunday statement that staff should not be required to return to work until the facility is repaired. The CDC campus was reportedly damaged by bullet holes and shattered windows.

“Staff should not be required to work next to bullet holes,” it said. “Forcing a return under these conditions risks re-traumatizing staff by exposing them to the reminders of the horrific shooting they endured.”

Aug. 10 (UPI) — Four C-130 military aircraft equipped with firefighting equipment have been deployed to battle a series of wildfires in the western United States as triple digit temperatures and low humidity readings combine to create conditions for blazes to spark and spread rapidly, government officials reported Sunday.

Two of the large tanker planes have been deployed from the Colorado Springs Airtanker base and the other pair from Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Ariz.

There are currently 37 large wildfires burning across the United States, which have prompted officials to deploy 374 crews, 975 engines, 125 helicopters and 13 incident management teams to battle the blazes, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Nearly 43,000 fires have blackened more than 3.6 million acres across the country in 2025. That is nearly twice as many fires as last year, but the blazes this wildfire season have burned nearly half as many acres.

Forecasters predict wind gusts of up to 25 mph and single digit humidity readings in the Four Corners area will persist into the first part of the week, heightening the danger, creating conditions for fires to spread.

“Lighter winds, but still dry conditions are expected across the rest of the Great Basin and into the central Rockies,” the NIFC said Sunday.

“Hot, above normal temperatures and low (relative humidity) will spread across most of California and southern Oregon away from the coast.”

There are seven fires burning in California and Colorado, 6 in Arizona, 5 in Idaho and three fires each in Washington, Utah and Nevada.

Firefighters routinely battle challenging terrain in addition to the weather, making it especially difficult to contain fires in the most remote areas.

Aug. 9 (UPI) — The suspected gunman in the attack that killed a police officer near the Emory University campus and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s headquarters was identified Saturday morning.

One day after the shooting on Friday night, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that Patrick Joseph White, 30, of Kennesaw, Ga., was the killer.

WXIA-TV posted video from outside the home of the suspected shooter on Friday night where there was crime scene tape.

GBI is the lead investigator, and has been working with the Atlanta, DeKalb County and Emory police, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Emory, with an enrollment of 5,727, was on lockdown for a few hours, while the CDC had a shelter in place order at its Roybal Campus until the late evening. The school said Saturday there will be increased police presence throughout the weekend.

David Rose, a 33-year-old police officer for the DeKalb department, died while responding to the shooting. Rose, who joined the department in September and was a retired U.S. Marine, had two children with his wife, who is pregnant.

“This officer responded to the call as he did, as he was trained to do, and during that incident he received gunfire and he lost his life in this incident,” interim Police Chief Gregory Padrick said. “He was committed to serving the community. It’s a noble profession we all do. We answer the call to serve our community and he gave his life with a commitment to serve others.”

Rose was the only person shot during the attack, which started just before 5 p.m. at the Emory Point CVS drugstore on Clifton Road. White was found dead from a gunshot wound on the second floor. It wasn’t disclosed whether he was shot by law enforcement or whether it was self-inflicted.

The shooting occurred across the street from the CDC campus, where there were bullet holes in windows and shattered glass on the floor. Some rounds of ammunition also flew just above office cubicles.

CDC Director Susan Monerez told employees to work remotely while a “security assessment” is conducted at the campus.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said Friday the suspect was “known to have some interest in certain things that I can’t reiterate right now with any confidence until the investigation is fully conducted.”

CNN reported the shooter was upset about health problems blamed on the Covid-19 vaccine recommended by the CDC and approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 2020 with Emergency Use Authorization and full approval for certain ages in 2021 for Pfizer-BioNTech and in 2022 for Moderna.

A fragile truce between the Southeast Asian neighbours continues to hold, following five days of deadly border clashes.

Officials from Thailand and Cambodia have met in Malaysia for the start of border talks, a week after a fragile ceasefire brought an end to an eruption of five days of deadly clashes between the two countries.

The meeting on Monday came ahead of a key meeting on Thursday, which is expected to be led by the Thai and Cambodian defence ministers.

This week’s talks, which will be observed by representatives from China, Malaysia and the United States, aim to iron out plans to maintain the current truce and avoid future border confrontations.

They will include finalising details for a monitoring team from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Malaysian Chief of Defence Forces General Mohd Nizam Jaffar said on Monday.

The sessions in Malaysia follow the worst fighting between Thailand and Cambodia in more than a decade.

Clashes along the long-disputed border last month killed at least 43 people, including civilians, and left more than 300,000 others displaced, according to the Reuters news agency.

Relations between the neighbours deteriorated in May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a border skirmish, before worsening when Thai soldiers were injured by landmines in contested territory last month.

The Southeast Asian countries downgraded diplomatic relations and violence broke out, which both sides blamed the other for starting.

The recent fighting involved infantry clashes, artillery exchanges, air strikes and rocket fire.

A ceasefire was announced on July 28, in part following economic pressure from US President Donald Trump, who warned both countries that they could not make trade deals with Washington without a ceasefire.

Despite the fragile truce, tensions remain high and mistrust between the two sides lingers.

Cambodia’s defence ministry has accused Thailand of violating the terms of the ceasefire by installing barbed wire in a disputed border area, while the Thai military has suggested that the Cambodian army has reinforced troops in key areas.

Both countries have given foreign observers tours of last month’s battle sites, while seeking to show the damage allegedly inflicted by the other nation.

Thailand and Cambodia also accuse each other of violating international humanitarian laws by targeting citizens.

Phnom Penh continues to demand the release of 18 of its captured troops, whom Bangkok says it will only release following “a complete cessation of the armed conflict, not just a ceasefire”.

On Friday, Thailand returned two wounded Cambodian soldiers through a border checkpoint connecting Thailand’s Surin province and Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey.

The neighbours dispute how the troops came to be captured, with Thailand rejecting Cambodia’s claims that the troops approached Thai positions to offer post-conflict greetings.