Two days ago, Shohei Ohtani rolled into Dodger Stadium as a man on a mission.
After struggling for the previous couple weeks — mired in a postseason slump that had raised questions about everything from his out-of-sync swing mechanics to the physical toll of his two-way duties — the soon-to-be four-time MVP decided it was time to change something up.
Over the previous seven games, going back to the start of the National League Division Series, the $700-million man had looked nothing like himself. Ohtani had two hits in 25 at-bats. He’d recorded 12 strikeouts and plenty more puzzling swing decisions. And he seemed, in the estimation of some around the team, unusually perturbed as public criticisms of his play started to mount.
So, during the team’s off-day workout Wednesday at Dodger Stadium, ahead of Game 3 of the NL Championship Series, Ohtani informed the club’s hitting coaches he wanted to take batting practice on the field.
It was a change from his normal routine — and signaled his growing urgency to get back on track.
“If this was a regular-season situation and you’re looking at an expanse of small sample — eight, nine games, whatever it might be — he probably wouldn’t be out on the field,” manager Dave Roberts said later.
But “with the urgency [of] the postseason,” the manager continued, Ohtani “wanted to make an adjustment on his own.”
Whatever Ohtani found that day, evidently (and resoundingly) clicked. He led off Game 3 with a triple. He entered Game 4 looking more comfortable with his swing. And then, in one of the incredible individual displays ever witnessed in playoff history, he lifted the Dodgers straight into the World Series.
In a 5-1 defeat of the Milwaukee Brewers that completed an NLCS sweep and gave the Dodgers their 26th pennant in franchise history, Ohtani hit three home runs as a hitter, and struck out 10 batters over six-plus scoreless innings as a pitcher.
Shohei Ohtani pitches during Game 4 of the NLCS against the Brewers. Ohtani struck out 10 over six scoreless innings for the Dodgers.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
He made his previously disappointing playoffs a suddenly forgotten memory, earning NLCS MVP honors and to the astonished amazement of all 52,883 in attendance.
And he delivered the kind of game the baseball world dreamed about when the two-way phenom first arrived from Japan, fulfilling the prophecy that accompanied him as a near-mythical prospect eight years earlier.
Back then, Ohtani’s 100-mph fastball and wicked off-speed repertoire had tantalized evaluators. His majestic left-handed swing had tortured pitchers in his home country.
Not since Babe Ruth had the sport seen anything like him.
There were some early growing pains (and injuries) during his transition to the majors. But over the last five years, he blossomed in the game’s definitive face.
A look at the three home runs Shohei Ohtani hit in Game 4 of the NLCS on Friday.
All that had been missing, in a resume chock full of MVPs and All-Star selections and unthinkable records even “The Great Bambino” never produced, was a signature performance in October. A game in which he dominated on the mound, thrilled at the plate, and single-handedly transformed a game on the sport’s biggest stage.
During that Wednesday workout this week, Ohtani got himself ready for one, stepping into the cage during his on-field batting practice — as his walk-up song played through the stadium speakers and teammates gathered near the dugout in curious anticipation — and swatting one home run after another, including one that soared to the roof of the right-field pavilion.
On Friday, in an almost unimaginable showcase of his unprecedented talents, he managed to do exactly the same thing.
After stranding a leadoff walk in the top of the first with three-straight strikeouts, Ohtani switched from pitcher to hitter and unleashed a hellacious swing. Brewers starter José Quintana left him an inside slurve. Ohtani turned it into the first leadoff home run ever by a pitcher (in the regular season or playoffs). The ball traveled 446 feet. It landed high up the right-field stands.
Three more scoreless innings of pitching work later, Ohtani came back to the plate and hit his second home run of the night even farther. In a swing almost identical to his titanic BP drive two days prior, he launched a ball that darn near clipped the pavilion roof again, a 469-foot moonshot that landed in the concourse above the seats in right.
Somehow, there was still plenty more to come.
With the Dodgers up 4-0 at that point, Ohtani then did his best work as a pitcher, following up two strikeouts that stranded a leadoff double in the fourth — and had him excitedly fist-pumping off the mound — with two more in both the fifth and the sixth.
His fastball was humming up to triple-digits. His sweeper and cutter were keeping the Brewers off balance. His splitter wasn’t touched once any of the five times they tried to swing at it.
Shohei Ohtani runs the bases after hitting his third home run of the game against the Brewers in Game 4 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Anything he did immediately became magic.
Ohtani’s loudest roar came in the bottom of the seventh, after his pitching start had ended on a walk and a single led off the top half of the inning.
For the third time, he flung his bat at a pitch over the plate. He sent a fly ball sailing deep in a mild autumn night. He rounded the bases as landed beyond the center field fence.
Three home runs. Six immaculate innings. A tour de force that sent the Dodgers to the World Series.
All of it, just two days removed from Ohtani being seemingly at his lowest.
All of it, when the baseball world was most closely watching.
Dodgers players and coaches celebrate after sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gathered 800 top US military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia for an unprecedented meeting, where he railed against “political correctness” and revealed 10 directives to restore strict standards on fitness, grooming, and discipline.
ABC has removed Jimmy Kimmel Live! from its line-up indefinitely after the late-night host’s remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death.
Its parent company, Nexstar, announced on Wednesday that the show would be pulled, beginning with that night’s episode.
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Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled by ABC from its nightly lineup over the host’s Charlie Kirk comments
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Charlie was a right-wing activist who was shot and killed earlier this month while at a debate at Utah Valley UniversityCredit: AFP – Getty
They explained that the move was due to Jimmy‘s recent comments about Charlie’s killing, which they found “concerning.”
Instead, the network will air “other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets,” the statement read.
The remarks in question were made during Jimmy’s monologue on Monday night’s show, where the TV star said the “MAGA gang” was trying to “score political points” off Charlie’s murder.
He followed by mocking President Donald Trump’s reaction to the fatal incident in an interview.
Charlie was shot and killed on September 10 while on stage at a debate at Utah Valley University.
The 22-year-old shooter, Tyler Robinson, was arrested three days later.
Tyler was charged with murder and is facing the death penalty for the heinous act.
Although Jimmy’s commentary elicited some laughs from the live studio audience, viewers at home were stunned that he had gone that far.
“Jimmy is just as out of touch and delusional,” one critic commented on a video of the monologue that was shared on the show’s YouTube channel.
“My respect for Kimmel just degraded,” said another.
Stephen Colbert asks A-list audience ‘is anyone hiring-’ on Emmys stage just weeks after his show was canceled
In addition to the show’s suspension, the company demanded that Jimmy apologize to Charlie’s family and send a “meaningful personal donation” to them and Turning Point USA, an organization the father of two founded that advocates for conservative politics in high schools and colleges.
The talk show will reportedly be replaced on Friday with a Charlie Kirk tribute special on Sinclair’s ABC affiliate stations.
Just hours before Jimmy’s eyebrow-raising comments, fans applauded the TV personality for campaigning for Stephen Colbert to win the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Series.
Colbert did secure the win at Sunday’s 77th Primetime Emmy Awards for his hosting duties on The Late Show.
Current Late-Night Shows
Late-night shows have become a staple on American television, filled with humorous takes on news, interviews with guests, and music performances.
Jimmy Kimmel Live, ABC
Late Night with Seth Meyers, NBC
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, NBC
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Watch What Happens Live, Bravo
The Daily Show, Comedy Central
Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO
He thanked his fellow nominees, Jimmy and Jon Stewart, for pushing for fans to vote for The Colbert Report alum following ABC’s abrupt cancellation of the long-running night-time talk show.
This isn’t the first time that Jimmy has gotten himself into hot water with his controversial comments on air.
However, this is a rare event that the former Academy Awards’ host’s show has been cancelled over his stunts.
The New York native only recently returned to his desk after taking his annual summer break, and in turn, had a revolving door of celebrities fill in for him.
Jimmy is one of the longest-running hosts of late-night TV, with Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s debut in 2003.
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Jimmy has been the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! since its debut in 2003Credit: Getty Images – Getty
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Jimmy only recently returned to his hosting duties after taking an extended summer breakCredit: Getty
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
A spokesperson for NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) says it has no force posture changes to announce after an unprecedented flurry of Russian drones violated Polish airspace overnight. Authorities in Poland say they have assessed that the incursions were not accidental. Polish and Dutch fighters shot down several of the intruding uncrewed aircraft. The alliance has described this as a first-of-its-kind event, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned that the risk of a broader conflict in Europe is now greater than at any point since the end of World War II.
NATO planes shot down Russian drones that violated Poland’s airspace on Tuesday
Russia’s drone incursion into Poland marked the first time in its history that NATO planes have engaged potential threats in allied airspace, Col. Martin L. O’Donnell told @NatashaBertrand@halbritzhttps://t.co/blFilvt87v
Polish authorities say Russian drones began to violate the country’s airspace at around 11:30 PM local time last night. The last incursion was reported at 6:30 AM local time this morning. The intrusions came amid a new round of Russian drone and missile attacks on neighboring Ukraine.
Exactly how many Russian drones, and of what specific types, made their way into Poland’s airspace is unclear. Polish Prime Minister Tusk said that between 11 and 19 violations of Polish airspace were recorded overnight, many of them crossing the border from Belarus. He said that at least three, and likely four, drones were shot down. In his Polish-language statements, Tusk used the term “kilkanaście,” which means a number between 11 and 19, and has no direct English translation.
Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s Foreign Minister, subsequently said there had been 19 total airspace violations. He also said Poland has assessed that the drones “did not veer off course but were deliberately targeted.”
Last night, Poland’s airspace was breached 19 times by drones manufactured in Russia. Our assessment is that they did not veer off course but were deliberately targeted.
Poland, EU and NATO will not be intimidated and we will continue to stand by the brave people of Ukraine.… pic.twitter.com/prAEqrIUKX
Poland’s Tusk has also said that while at least three to four drones were shot down, another three to four appeared to have simply crashed in Polish territory. According to Karolina Gałecka, a spokesperson for the Polish interior minister, the remains of seven drones and an unidentified “rocket” have been recovered so far. Speaking at a briefing today, the spokesperson for the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command, Jacek Goryszewski, said debris currently categorized as being of “unknown origin” may turn out to be from an interceptor fired by NATO’s air defenses.
❗️Breaking: More than 20, most likely 23, Russian drones were detected in a nighttime violation of Polish airspace, — Polish media Rzeczpospolita reported, referring to the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces. pic.twitter.com/piwOkFrwqt
The debris has been found mostly in areas in eastern Poland, relatively close to the country’s borders with Ukraine and Belarus, but some has also been discovered much further north and west. The drone incursions had also led to the temporary closure of four Polish airports, including the country’s main Chopin Airport in the capital Warsaw, although this has since reopened and flights have resumed. One of the other airports closed was Rzeszów-Jasionka in Poland’s south-east, which is a major hub for arms transfers to Ukraine.
Locations in Poland where Russian drones were found today shown on a map:
Cześniki (Zamość County, Lublin Voivodeship) – 1 drone, Czosnówka (Bialski County, Lublin Voivodeship) – 1 drone, Wyryki Wola (Włodawa County, Lublin Voivodeship) – 1 drone and a damaged building,… pic.twitter.com/tVfugCeOrA
NOTAMs for closures at Modlin and Warsaw are set to expire at 0330 UTC (~60 minutes from now), while NOTAMs for Rzeszow and Lublin are scheduled to end at 0600 (all times preliminary and subject to change). Transit traffic over Poland continuing to stay west of normal routes. pic.twitter.com/QRd97Nw4Bv
At the time of writing, there have been no reports of casualties, but at least one Russian drone hit a house when it came down.
⚡ 7 drones and rocket debris of unknown origin found in Poland
This was confirmed by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, Karolina Gałecka, during a press conference. “We have found 7 drones and one piece of a rocket,” she confirmed.… https://t.co/EnsxzMOe6upic.twitter.com/u6V2jz0iQj
Poland had already put its forces on high alert ahead of the first airspace violations last night. Polish and Ukrainian authorities have also confirmed they were actively coordinating throughout the night as Russian drones were tracked heading west.
Another report from the Commander of our Air Force. We are clarifying all available data and analyzing the details of this Russian strike.
Already during the night, Ukrainian forces were informing the Polish side through the relevant channels about the movement of Russian…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 10, 2025
More information is coming in about the intrusion of Russian attack drones into Polish territory. As of now, it’s known about 8 drones. Increasing evidence indicates that this movement, this direction of strike, was no accident. There have been previous incidents of individual…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 10, 2025
Prime Minister Tusk’s office has confirmed that assets that were “directed to the anticipated area of operation” included two Polish F-16s, as well as Polish Army Mi-24 Hind, Mi-17 Hip, and S-70 Black Hawk helicopters. At least one Polish Saab 340 Erieye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft also appears to have participated in the operation last night, based on publicly available flight-tracking data. The look-down capability offered by the Erieye’s radar would have been particularly valuable for spotting small, low-flying drones. Poland’s armed forces also have extensive ground-based air defense capabilities.
After a major 9+ hour mission hunting Russian drones and coordinating air defenses overnight, Poland’s SAAB 340 airborne early warning aircraft is heading for home. pic.twitter.com/L1McAqVWz1
1x Polish AEW&C aircraft over Poland currently monitoring the eastern border. Additionally, 1x NATO refueling aircraft was over Polish airspace supporting fighter jets, including at least one F-35, in the task of neutralizing Russian drones that have crossed the Polish border. pic.twitter.com/Dek3DwGFLb
Polish authorities also said that two F-35 Joint Strike Fighters took part in the response to the Russian drone incursions. The Netherlands has separately said that its F-35s were among the assets that helped secure Poland’s skies overnight. The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) currently has Joint Strike Fighters stationed at Malbork in Poland, to help bolster the country’s air defenses.
Dutch F-35s have intercepted Russian drones over Poland.
Within the NATO framework, our F-35s make a significant contribution to the defence of our collective security. This is precisely what we stand ready to do.
NATO has further confirmed that an Italian Air Force AEW&C plane, which would be one of that country’s modified Gulfstream G-550 aircraft, as well as at least one A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) from a fleet the alliance operates collectively, were launched in response to the incursions into Polish airspace.
German Patriot surface-to-air missile systems forward-deployed in Poland were also at least placed on alert. A NATO source separately toldReuters that Patriot surface-to-air missiles in the region detected the drones with their radars, but had not engaged them.
Exactly what Polish and other NATO assets were used to shoot down Russian drones is unclear. The Dutch Minister of Defense, Ruben Brekelmans, has confirmed that Polish and Dutch fighters were among them.
Video, seen immediately below, has emerged that is said to show a Russian drone being downed by a Polish Air Force F-16, but this remains unverified. A picture of debris from an AIM-120C-7 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) that is said to have been found in Poland earlier today is also circulating online, but this is also unconfirmed. Both F-16s and F-35As could have employed AIM-120s, as well as AIM-9 Sidewinder variants, and even potentially their internal guns.
Doczekaliśmy się momentu w którym Polak może w swoim ogrodzie znaleźć resztki naszego albo holenderskiego pocisku powietrze – powietrze AIM-120 C-7 AMRAAM którym strzelano do rosyjskich dronów.
Poland’s Tusk thanked both his country’s armed forces and NATO allies for shooting down drones overnight.
My thanks and congratulations to the Polish Operational Command and our NATO pilots for shooting down Russian drones over Poland. Actions speak louder than words.
Regardless, it is important to note here that NATO jets, including Dutch F-35s in Poland, have scrambled in response to Russian drones into the airspace over alliance members in the past. However, they had not fired any weapons in response to those intrusions until last night.
A stock photo of a Dutch pilot running toward an F-35 during a scramble. Royal Netherlands Air Force
“This is the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace,” Col. Martin L. O’Donnell, a spokesperson for NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) told ABC News.
❝Last night showed that we are able to defend every inch of NATO territory including its airspace.❞
— @SecGenNATO Mark Rutte on the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones
Though the immediate response to the Russian drone incursions overnight has concluded, Polish Minister of Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed that the search for downed drones was still underway as of Wednesday.
“We ask for calm and to share only the announcements of the military and state services. In case of encountering object fragments, please do not approach them and inform the police,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said on X.
Nad Polską trwa operacja neutralizacji obiektów, które naruszyły granicę RP. Prezydent i Premier zostali powiadomieni. Wszystkie służby działają. Prosimy o stosowanie się do komunikatów Wojska Polskiego i Policji. Samoloty użyły uzbrojenia przeciwko wrogim obiektom. Jesteśmy w…
The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces called the overnight violations “unprecedented” and “an act of aggression that posed a real risk to the lives of our citizens.”
❗️W wyniku dzisiejszego ataku Federacji Rosyjskiej na terytorium Ukrainy doszło do bezprecedensowego w skali naruszenia polskiej przestrzeni powietrznej przez obiekty typu dron. Jest to akt agresji, który stworzył realne zagrożenie dla bezpieczeństwa naszych obywateli.
The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces called the overnight violations “unprecedented” and “an act of aggression that posed a real risk to the lives of our citizens.”
“There is no reason to claim that we are in a state of war… but the situation is significantly more dangerous than all previous ones,” Poland’s Prime Minister Tusk said. He further warned that the prospect of a large-scale conflict in Europe is now “closer than at any time since the Second World War.”
Warsaw’s immediate response included the foreign ministry summoning Andrey Ordash, Russia’s chargé d’affaires in the Polish capital. However, Ordash told the Russian RIA Novosti news agency that Poland has not offered any evidence that the drones were of Russian origin.
Poland has also now invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which forms the legal basis for NATO. Article 4 states that “the Parties [to the alliance] will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.”
NATO’s article four calls on allies to “consult” in case of a threat. It was last invoked in 2022 after the Russian invasion by several Eastern European countries. Among other things, it would be a test of Trump’s approach to the alliance. Just a week ago Trump had said: “We are… https://t.co/yddJZAcP4U
Since NATO was created in 1949, Article 4 has only been invoked seven times. The last of these was in 2022, in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The North Atlantic Treaty also includes a collective defense provision, Article 5, which has only ever been invoked once, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
As noted, a spokesperson for NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) told TWZ that there are “no force posture adjustments to announce at this time.” U.S. European Command (EUCOM) declined to comment.
It remains to be seen what kind of response NATO might formulate following the Article 4 consultation.
A White House official told TWZ that President Donald Trump and the White House are tracking the reports out of Poland, and there are plans for President Trump to speak with Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki today.
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers have been swift to condemn Russia’s actions. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said that the “repeated violations of NATO airspace” by Russian drones were “fair warning that Vladimir Putin is testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations.”
Repeated violations of NATO airspace by Russian drones are fair warning that Vladimir Putin is testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations. After the carnage Putin continues to visit on Ukraine, these incursions cannot be ignored.
Republican congressman Joe Wilson, a senior member of the foreign affairs committee, went further, describing the incursions as an “act of war.”
Russia is attacking NATO ally Poland with Iranian shahed drones less than a week after President Trump hosted President Nawrocki at the White House. This is an act of war, and we are grateful to NATO allies for their swift response to war criminal Putin’s continued unprovoked…
Wilson called upon President Donald Trump to respond with sanctions “that will bankrupt the Russian war machine.”
Increasingly, questions are being asked at the highest levels as to whether the drone incursion was a deliberate act, although the Kremlin has denied this.
German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius said the Russian drones were “clearly set on this course” and “did not have to fly this route to reach Ukraine.”
German Defense Minister Pistorius:
There is definitely no reason to assume that [Russian drones violating Polish airspace] was a matter of course correction errors or anything of that sort. These drones were quite obviously deliberately directed on this course.
“There is absolutely no reason to believe that this was a course correction error or anything of the sort,” Pistorius told the German parliament. He added that, according to the Polish government, the drones were armed with warheads, although this claim doesn’t seem to be otherwise supported.
The Russian Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, claims that there were no intentions to engage any targets on Polish territory, but has provided no further information to substantiate that assertion. The type of drones used are also indicative of this being a probing action to give Russia a valuable opportunity to observe NATO’s response. It could also serve as a form of intimation.
Same outward public signaling as if they had used larger Geran drones, but with a much lower risk to Russia of any actual NATO response given the much smaller warhead (if they even carried any and weren’t the decoy variant).
Altogether, the full scale and scope of the response from Poland and the rest of NATO to last night’s Russian drone incursions, as well as whether that is the start of a trend of escalating airspace violations, remains to be seen.
Update: 2:00 PM Eastern –
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says he has now “received not only expressions of solidarity with Poland, but above all proposals for concrete support for the air defense of our country” following conversations today with the leaders of other NATO members in Europe and the alliance’s Secretary General. Tusk did not elaborate on what that support might entail. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had previously said that “allies expressed solidarity with Poland and denounced Russia’s reckless behaviour.”
❝Allies expressed solidarity with Poland and denounced Russia’s reckless behaviour.❞
Following a North Atlantic Council meeting, @SecGenNATO Mark Rutte delivered a statement to the media on the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones
It is worth reiterating here that Poland has significant air defense capabilities itself and has been making major investments to expand and improve them. This includes plans for a new aerostat-based elevated airborne early warning system that would be especially useful for spotting and tracking incoming low-flying threats like drones and cruise missiles.
“What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” U.S. President Donald Trump has now written in a post on his Truth Social social media network, but what actions he may be looking to take are unclear. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and major political ally of Trump’s, has said the U.S. Congress is prepared to help impose new sanctions and tariffs on Russia in response.
I completely agree with President @realDonaldTrump‘s sentiment in response to Russia’s insane violation of Polish airspace for hours, deploying multiple drones.
Mr. President, Congress is with you. We stand ready to pass legislation authorizing bone crushing new sanctions and… pic.twitter.com/LIqYmS4rG7
Fox News has reported that no U.S. forces were involved in the response to the drone incursions overnight. A report from CNN says that Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, had been on his way to Poland at the time.
A NATO spokesman tells @LucasFoxNews there was ‘no U.S. military involvement’ in shooting down the Russian drones. “This is the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.”
Attributable to U.S. Army Col. Martin L. O’Donnell, Supreme Headquarters… https://t.co/FSDcqYsp8h
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
Israel has carried out a precision strike targeting the top leadership of Hamas in the Qatari capital Doha. This appears to be the first time Israeli forces have openly attacked in Qatar, marking a significant expansion in the country’s operations against Hamas.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA; better known as Shin Bet) issued a joint statement after explosions rocked an area of Doha earlier today. This all comes as Hamas negotiators have been considering a Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by the U.S. government.
The IDF/ISA full statement is as follows:
“The IDF and ISA conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization.”
“For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organization’s operations, are directly responsible for the brutal October 7 massacre, and have been orchestrating and managing the war against the State of Israel.”
“Prior to the strike, measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence.”
“The IDF and ISA will continue to operate with determination in order to defeat the Hamas terrorist organization responsible for the October 7 massacre.”
The IDF and ISA conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization.
For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organization’s operations, are directly responsible for the brutal October 7 massacre, and…
This IDF/ISA statement does not provide any details about how the strikes were carried out. A separate statement from the Israeli Air Force said the operation had been carried out “through” that service, but no additional context is offered. As such, how exactly Israel struck the target remains a mystery. With Qatar being located on the Persian Gulf, it would have been a very long-range fighter operation, but keeping such an operation from being spotted would be challenging. The use of long-range standoff munitions launched from those aircraft is a high possibility. A weapon could also have been launched from sea or even land closer to the target. Israel has a stealth drone as well. We just don’t know at this time.
“The State of Qatar strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential buildings housing several members of the Political Bureau of Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha. This criminal assault constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and poses a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents in Qatar,” Dr. Majed Al Ansari, spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry and advisor to the country’s Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said in a statement. “The Ministry affirms that the security forces, civil defense, and relevant authorities immediately began addressing the incident and taking necessary measures to contain its repercussions and ensure the safety of the residents and surrounding areas.”
The State of Qatar strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential buildings housing several members of the Political Bureau of Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha. This criminal assault constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms,…
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) September 9, 2025
“While the State of Qatar strongly condemns this assault, it confirms that it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior and the ongoing disruption of regional security, nor any act that targets its security and sovereignty,” Al Ansari added. “Investigations are underway at the highest level, and further details will be announced as soon as they are available.”
In addition to impacts on U.S. efforts to broker a ceasefire with Hamas, Israel’s operation today could present significant additional complications for Washington. Qatar is a key U.S. partner in the Middle East. Al Udeid Air Base in the country is also a major hub for U.S. military operations in the region, which was notably subjected to an Iranian missile barrage back in June.
At the same time, just this past weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump had issued what he termed a “last warning” to Hamas “about the consequences of not accepting” the proposed deal in a post on his Truth Social social media network.
Two days ago, President Trump gave his final warning to Hamas.
Today, Israel struck the Hamas terror leadership in Islamist Qatar where the Muslim Brotherhood regime has given them sanctuary and support for years. pic.twitter.com/opxT8ktWWb
An Israeli official said the United States was informed ahead of the attack, CNN reported. We have reached out to the White House to find out if it knew ahead of time about the attack and what, if any, role the U.S. played. We will update this story with any pertinent information provided.
Meanwhile, additional video has emerged showing the buildings where the attack took place.
Update 2:58 PM Eastern –
The attack on Qatar came via an airstrike.
“It was carried out using 15 Israeli fighter jets, firing 10 munitions against a single target,” the BBC reported, citing Israeli media.
The IAF released statements made by the Chief of the General Staff to its pilots at the onset of the strike:
“These are the terrorists whose entire aspiration was to be the spearhead for the destruction of the State of Israel — we will continue to carry out our mission everywhere, at every range, near and far, in order to to hold our enemies accountable,” said Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir. “Authorized. Proceed — eliminate the heads from the Hamas terrorist organization. We are settling a moral and ethical account on behalf of all the victims of October 7th. We will not rest and we will not be silent until we bring back our hostages and defeat Hamas.”
הרמטכ״ל לטייסי חיל-האוויר בעת אישור היציאה לתקיפה:
״רשאים. צאו לדרך – לסיכול ראשי ארגון הטרור חמאס. אנחנו סוגרים חשבון ערכי ומוסרי בשם כל קורבנות השבעה באוקטובר. לא ננוח ולא נשקוט עד שנחזיר את החטופים שלנו ונכריע את החמאס״ pic.twitter.com/8oxxjPmA43
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took full credit for ordering the attack.
“At noon today, I convened the heads of Israel’s security organizations and authorized a surgical, precision strike on the terrorist chiefs of Hamas.”
Netanyahu also claimed the attack “can open the door to an end of the war in Gaza.”
There was a time when Jews could be murdered with impunity, but since the founding of the State of Israel, those days are over! pic.twitter.com/SOdVjb7NQu
In Washington, the Trump administration “condemned Israel’s unilateral attack on Hamas in Doha, Qatar, emphasizing that it undermined U.S. and Israeli interests,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “President Trump was informed of the impending strike by his military and alerted Qatar’s leadership. He expressed regret over the attack’s location and called for the release of hostages and dead in Gaza. Trump also spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who expressed a desire for peace post-attack. The President thanked Qatar for its support and assured that such an incident wouldn’t occur again on Qatari soil, viewing it as an opportunity for peace.”
White House Releases Statement on the Israeli Strike in Doha:
“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally… does not advance Israel or America’s goals. However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy… pic.twitter.com/JxuYjweb02
Ansari, the Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesman, denied his country was informed about the strikes before they happened.
The statements being circulated about Qatar being informed of the attack in advance are baseless. The call from a U.S. official came during the sound of explosions caused by the Israeli attack in Doha.
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) September 9, 2025
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres also condemned Israel’s strike in Qatar.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday condemned the Israeli strike targeting Hamas’ leadership in Qatar.
The strike marks a significant escalation in Israel’s campaign against Hamas, as negotiations over ending the war and releasing the hostages appear in stalemate pic.twitter.com/kyH8zpRpw5
The U.S. military spotted Israeli jets flying east toward the Persian Gulf but had little time to react, according to Axios.
“The U.S. sought clarification, but by the time Israel provided it, missiles were already in the air,” the publication reported, citing three U.S. officials.
🇺🇸🇮🇱🇶🇦Israel’s attack against Hamas leaders in Qatar stunned the White House and infuriated Trump advisers, U.S. officials tell me. My story on @axioshttps://t.co/Fch6Y4QdGY
The Qatari Ministry of Interior (MoI), in a press statement, said that after security authorities began conducting technical investigations, matching fingerprints and evidence at the targeted site, and verifying the individuals’ identities, confirmed that the attack resulted in the killing of Hammam Khalil Al-Hayya. He was the son of Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya.
Only deaths confirmed from the Israeli attack on Hamas:
“Khalil al-Hayya’s son, Hammam al-Hayya, and his office director, Jihad Lubbad, according to sources. Several others were wounded.”
In downtown Los Angeles, Gov. Gavin Newsom was holding a news conference with Democratic leaders when the Border Patrol showed up nearby to conduct a showy immigration raid.
In Washington D.C., hundreds of National Guard troops patrolled the streets, some in armored vehicles, as city officials battled with the White House over whether the federal government can take control of the local police department.
President Trump has long demonized “blue” cities like Los Angeles, Washington and New York, frequently claiming — often contrary to the evidence — that their Democratic leaders have allowed crime and blight to worsen. Trump, for example, cited out-of-control crime as the reason for his Washington D.C. guard deployment, even though data shows crime in the city is down.
But over the last few months, Trump’s rhetoric has given way to searing images of federal power on urban streets that are generating both headlines and increasing alarm in some circles.
While past presidents have occasionally used the Insurrection Act to deploy the military in response to clear, acute crises, the way Trump has deployed troops in Democratic-run cities is unprecedented in American politics. Trump has claimed broader inherent powers and an authority to deploy troops to cities when and where he decides there is an emergency, said Matthew Beckmann, a political science professor at UC Irvine.
“President Trump is testing how far he can push his authority, in no small part to find out who or what can challenge him,” he said.
State and local officials reacted with shock when they learned Border Patrol agents had massed outside Newsom’s news conference Thursday. The governor was preparing to announce the launch of a campaign for a ballot measure, which if approved by voters, would redraw the state’s congressional maps to favor Democrats before the 2026 midterms.
Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino told a Fox 11 reporter: “We’re here making Los Angeles a safer place since we won’t have politicians that’ll do that, we do that ourselves.” When the reporter noted that Newsom was nearby, Bovino responded, “I don’t know where he’s at.”
However, local law enforcement sources told The Times that the raid was not random and that they had received word from the federal authorities that Little Tokyo was targeted due to its proximity to the governor’s event. The raid, the sources told The Times, was less about making arrests and more of a show of force intended to disrupt Democrats.
Whatever the reason, the raid generated news coverage and at least in the conservative media, overshadowed the announcement of the redistricting plan.
Trump’s second term has been marked by increased use of troops in cities. He authorized the deployment of thousands of Marines and National Guard troops to L.A. in June after immigration raids sparked scattered protests. The troops saw little action, and local leaders said the deployment was unnecessary and only served to inflame tensions.
The operation reached a controversial zenith in July when scores of troops on horseback wearing tactical gear and driving armored vehicles, rolled through MacArthur Park. The incident generated much attention, but local police were surprised that the raid was brief and resulted in few arrests.
After the MacArthur Park raid, Mayor Karen Bass complained “there’s no plan other than fear, chaos and politics.”
Beckmann said the situation is a “particularly perilous historical moment because we have a president willing to flout constitutional limits while Congress and the court have been willing to accept pretext as principle.”
UC Berkeley Political Science Professor Eric Schickler, co-director of the university’s Institute of Governmental Studies, said the recent military displays are part of a larger mission to increase the power of the president and weaken other countervailing forces, such as the dismantling of federal agencies and the weakening of universities.
“It all adds up to a picture of really trying to turn the president into the one dominant force in American politics — he is the boss of everything, he controls everything,” Schickler said. “And that’s just not how the American political system has worked for 240 years.”
In some way, Trump’s tactics are an extension of long-held rhetoric. In the 1980s, he regularly railed against crime in New York City, including the rape of a woman in Central Park that captured national headlines. The suspects, known as the Central Park Five, were exonerated after spending years in prison and have filed a defamation suit against Trump.
Trump and his backers say he is simply keeping campaign promises to reduce crime and deport people in the country illegally.
“Our law enforcement operations are about enforcing the law — not about Gavin Newsom,” said Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
Federal agents “patrol all areas of Los Angeles every day with over 40 teams on the ground to make L.A. safe,” she said.
In Washington D.C., where the federal government has began assuming law enforcement responsibilities, the business of policing the streets of the nation’s capital had radically transformed by Friday. Federal agencies typically tasked with investigating drug kingpins, gunrunners and cybercriminals were conducting traffic stops and helping with other routine policing.
Twenty federal law enforcement teams fanned out across the city Thursday night with more than 1,750 people joining the operation, a White House official told the Associated Press. They made 33 arrests, including 15 people who did not have permanent legal status. Others were arrested on warrants for murder, rape and driving under the influence, the official said.
Thaddeus Johnson, a senior fellow with the Council on Criminal Justice, said the administration’s actions not only threaten democracy, but they also have real consequences for local leaders and residents. Citizens often can’t distinguish between federal or local officers and don’t know when the two groups are or aren’t working together.
“That breeds a lot of confusion and also breeds a lot of fear,” Johnson said.
“There’s a real threat to politicizing federal law enforcement, and sending them wherever elected officials think there’s a photo opportunity instead of doing the hard work of federal law enforcement,” Abt said.
Already, D.C. residents and public officials have pushed back on federal law enforcement’s presence. When federal officers set up a vehicle checkpoint along the 14th Street Northwest corridor this week, hecklers shouted, “Go home, fascists” and “Get off our streets.”
On Friday, the District of Columbia filed an emergency motion seeking to block the Trump administration’s takeover of the city’s police department.
“This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement on Friday. “The Administration’s actions are brazenly unlawful. They go well beyond the bounds of the President’s limited authority and instead seek a hostile takeover of MPD.”
The show of force in L.A. has also left local officials outraged at what they see as deliberate efforts to sow fear and exert power. Hours before agents arrived in Little Tokyo, Bass and other officials held a news conference calling for an end to the continued immigration raids.
Bass said she believes the recent actions violated the temporary restraining order upheld this month by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals prohibiting agents from targeting people solely based on their race, vocation, language or location.
The number of arrests in Southern California declined in July after a judge issued the order. But in the past two weeks, some higher profile raids have begun to ramp up again.
In one instance, an 18-year-old Los Angeles high school senior was picked up by federal immigration officers while walking his dog in Van Nuys. On Thursday, a man apparently running from agents who showed up at a Home Depot parking lot in Monrovia was hit by a car and killed on the 210 Freeway.
Bass appeared to be seething as she spoke to reporters after Newsom’s press conference on Thursday, calling the raid in Little Tokyo a “provocative act” and “unbelievably disrespectful.”
“They’re talking about disorder in Los Angeles, and they are the source of the disorder in Los Angeles right now,” she said.
Los Angeles public schools are opening Thursday for the new academic year confronting an intense and historically unique moment: They will be operating in opposition to the federal government’s immigration raids and have set in motion aggressive moves to protect children and their immigrant parents.
School police and officers from several municipal forces will patrol near some 100 schools, setting up “safe zones” in heavily Latino neighborhoods, with a special concentration at high schools where older Latino students are walking to campus. Bus routes are being changed to better serve areas with immigrant families so children can get to school with less exposure to immigration agents.
Community volunteers will join district staff and contractors to serve as scouts — alerting campuses of nearby enforcement actions so schools can be locked down as warranted and parents and others in the school community can be quickly notified via email and text.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass spoke about “how profound this moment is in U.S. history” during a Monday news conference with local officials.
“Here you have an entire array of elected officials, appointed officials, education leaders, people committed to our children, and we are gathered here today to talk about protecting our children from the federal government,” Bass said.
L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho said recently that the nation’s second-largest school system will oppose “any entity, at any level, that seeks to interfere with the educational process of our children. We are standing on the right side of the Constitution, and years from now, I guarantee you, we will have stood on the right side of history. We know that.”
High school boy mistakenly handcuffed
The worries among school officials and parents are not without cause.
On Monday federal agents reportedly drew their guns on a 15-year-old boy and handcuffed him outside Arleta High School. The confrontation ended with de-escalation. Family members persuaded federal agents that the boy — who is disabled — was not the person they were looking for, Carvalho said.
The situation was largely resolved by the time the school principal realized what was going on and rushed out to assist. School police also arrived and scooped up unspent bullets dropped on the ground by the agents, Carvalho said.
A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday that Arleta High was not being targeted. Instead agents were conducting “a targeted operation” on a “criminal illegal alien,” they described as “a Salvadoran national and suspected MS-13 pledge with prior criminal convictions in the broader vicinity of Arleta.”
At a Tuesday White House briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, responded to a question that referenced the L.A. Times reporting about the incident.
“I’ll have to look into the veracity of that report,” Leavitt said. “I read the L.A. Times almost every single day, and they are notorious for misleading the public… This administration wants to ensure that all school children across the country, in every city, from Los Angeles to D.C., can go to school safely.”
LAUSD will oppose “any entity, at any level, that seeks to interfere with the educational process of our children,” said Supt. Alberto Carvalho recently.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
School communities in fear
The incident outside Arleta High is among the ongoing confrontations across the region that have provoked public protests and prompted the Trump administration in June to deploy troops to Los Angeles. Enforcement actions have included masked agents arresting people at parking lots, in parks, on sidewalks and next to bus stops.
Trump administration policy is that no location — including a school — is off limits for enforcement actions in his drive to deport at least 1 million immigrants a year.
“A big part of it is to create the sense of fear so people will self-deport,” said Jimmy Gomez, a Trump critic and Democratic member of Congress representing Los Angeles.
The ripple effect is that school communities are experiencing fear and trauma, worried that agents will descend on or near campuses.
Most in the state’s public school systems, including in L.A. Unified have embraced a counter mission, protecting the right of children — regardless of immigration status — to a public education. That right to an education is, so far, protected by past U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
For most school officials up and down the state, a necessary corollary to that right is safeguarding students’ guardians and close relatives.
On Tuesday, 30 school board members from L.A. County — which has 80 school districts — convened in Hawthorne to emphasize their own focus on protecting immigrant families.
“We’re about to welcome students back to schools, but we’re very concerned that these fears and anxieties may potentially have an impact for students not wanting to come back,” said Lynwood Unified school board member Alma Castro, an organizer of the event.
She called her district a “safe haven.” Among other measures, her district has trained staff to “restrict the sharing of any student files, any student information, and there’s been some work with thinking about our facilities to ensure that we have campuses that are closed off, that people can’t just walk in.”
L.A. Unified, along with other school districts, has embraced a mission to protect the right of children — regardless of immigration status — to a public education.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
Protecting immigrant families
L.A. Unified, with about 400,000 students, has been layering on protections for months, recently working to incorporate ideas advocated by the teachers union and immigrant-rights groups.
A major ongoing effort is building safe-passage networks one, two and three blocks out from a campus. Participants include paid outside groups, district employees and volunteer activists. School police — though diminished in numbers due to staffing cuts — are to patrol sensitive areas and are on call to move quickly to where situations arise. Some anti-police activists want the protective mission accomplished without any role for school police.
A safe-passage presence has expanded from 40 schools last year to at least 100 this year, among about 1,000 campuses total, Carvalho said.
“It is virtually impossible, considering the size of our community, to ensure that we have one caring, compassionate individual in every street corner in every street,” Carvalho said. “But we are deploying resources at a level never before seen in our district.”
Other various efforts include:
Starting a task force to coordinate safe passage zones with local cities
Setting up a donor-supported compassion fund to help families with legal and other costs
Coordinating food aid for families in hiding
Providing legal referrals
Contacting more than 10,000 families to encourage them to send children to schools
Providing information about online schooling options
Distributing a “family preparedness” guide
Carvalho and leaders of other school districts reiterated that K-12 campuses and anything related to schooling, such as a school bus or a graduation ceremony, will be off limits to immigration agents unless they have a valid judicial warrant for a specific individual — which has been rare.
“We do not know what the enrollment will be like,” Carvalho said. “We know many parents may have already left our community. They may have self-deported… We hope that through our communication efforts, our awareness efforts, information and the direct counseling with students and parents, that we’ll be able to provide stable attendance for kids in our community.”
Reason to be afraid
Mary, a Los Angeles mother of three without legal status, was terrified, but more or less knew what to do when immigration agents came to her door twice in May for a “wellness check” on her children: She did not let them in to her home. She did not step outside.
And, eventually, the agents — at least eight of them who arrived with at least three vehicles — left.
Mary had learned about what to do in this situation from her Los Angeles public school.
Mary, who requested that her full name not be used, has three children, one of whom attends an Alliance College-Ready charter school, a network of 26 privately operated public schools.
Like L.A. Unified, Alliance has trained staff on the legal rights of immigrants and also trained parents about how to handle encounters with immigration agents and where to go for help.
Alliance largely serves low-income, Latino communities and the immigration raids affected attendance in the school last year. Normally, attendance runs about 90% at the end of their school year. This June, average daily attendance at 14 Alliance high schools had dipped below 80%. Six fell below 70% and one dropped as low as 57.5%.
Alliance also attempted to gather deportation data. Nine families responded in a school network that enrolls about 13,000. In two cases, students were deported; three other students had family members deported; one student and a sibling were in a family that self-deported; one student was detained; two families reported facing deportation proceedings.
While these numbers are small, the reports are more than enough to heighten fear within the community. And some families may have declined to be candid about their circumstances.
“What’s happening now is that no one is safe anywhere, not even in your home, at work, outside, taking a stroll,” L.A. school board member Rocio Rivas said in an interview.
Still, Rivas is encouraging families to send children to school, which she considers safer than other places.
Alliance is focusing heavily on mental-health support and also arranging carpools to and from school — in which the driver is a U.S. citizen, said Omar Reyes, a superintendent of instruction at the Alliance charter group.
Carvalho, a onetime undocumented immigrant himself, said that students deserve a traditional and joyous first day followed by a school year without trauma.
Children, he said, “inherently deserve dignity, humanity, love, empathy, compassion and great education.
Times staff writer Andrea Castillo contributed to this report.
The vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced multiple times, and many are dying from Israeli-induced starvation. An unprecedented water crisis is also unfolding across the enclave, heaping further misery on its residents.
Gaza was already suffering a water crisis before nearly 22 months of Israeli bombardment and ground operations damaged more than 80 percent of the territory’s water infrastructure.
“Sometimes, I feel as though my body is drying from the inside. Thirst is stealing all my energy and that of my children,” said Um Nidal Abu Nahl, a mother of four living in Gaza City.
Water trucks occasionally reach residents, and NGOs install taps in camps for a fortunate few, but it is far from sufficient.
Israel reconnected some water mains in northern Gaza to the Israeli water company Mekorot after cutting off supplies early in the war, but residents said water still is not flowing.
Local authorities said this is due to war damage to Gaza’s water distribution network with many main pipes destroyed.
Gaza City spokesman Asem Alnabih said the municipality’s section of the network supplied by Mekorot has not functioned for nearly two weeks.
Wells that provided water for some needs before the war have also been damaged, and some are contaminated by sewage that is going untreated because of the conflict.
Many wells in Gaza are simply inaccessible because they are located within combat zones, too close to Israeli military installations or in areas subject to forced evacuation.
Wells usually run on electric pumps, and energy has been scarce since Israel cut Gaza’s power.
Generators could power the pumps, but hospitals are prioritised for the limited fuel deliveries.
Gaza’s desalination plants are out of operation except for a single site that reopened last week after Israel restored its electricity supply.
Alnabih said the situation with infrastructure was bleak.
More than 75 percent of wells are out of service, 85 percent of public works equipment has been destroyed, 100,000 metres (62 miles) of water mains have been damaged and 200,000 metres (124 miles) of sewage lines are unusable.
Pumping stations are out of action, and 250,000 tonnes of rubbish are clogging the streets.
To find water, hundreds of thousands of people are still trying to extract groundwater directly from wells.
However, coastal Gaza’s aquifer is naturally brackish and far exceeds salinity standards for potable water.
In 2021, UNICEF warned that nearly 100 percent of Gaza’s groundwater was unfit for consumption.
With clean water almost impossible to find, some Palestinians mistakenly believe brackish water to be free of bacteria.
Aid workers in Gaza have had to warn repeatedly that even if residents can become accustomed to the taste, their kidneys will inevitably suffer.
Although Gaza’s water crisis has received less media attention than the ongoing hunger crisis, its effects are just as deadly.
“Just like food, water should never be used for political ends,” UNICEF spokeswoman Rosalia Bollen said. While it is very difficult to quantify the water shortage, she said, “there is a severe lack of drinking water.”
“It is extremely hot, diseases are spreading, and water is truly the issue we are not talking about enough,” she added.
People walk past sargassum clumps on the sand in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, earlier this month. Dominican President Luis Abinader has issued an urgent call to recognize the scale of the environmental crisis posed by sargassum in the Caribbean, warning that the phenomenon could deal “a significant blow to the GDP of island nations.” Photo by Orlando Barria/EPA
July 23 (UPI) — At the United Nations Ocean Conference in June, Dominican President Luis Abinader issued an urgent call to recognize the scale of the environmental crisis posed by sargassum in the Caribbean.
He warned the phenomenon could deal “a significant blow to the GDP of island nations.”
Sargassum, a floating macroalgae, has shifted from a rare anomaly to a chronic threat, hitting the tourism industries of countries such as Mexico and the Dominican Republic, where tourism makes up 19% of GDP.
This season, sargassum levels could hit a record high, with up to 25 million metric tons estimated across the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The economic effect could surpass that of previous years.
Operating costs for sargassum removal could exceed $120 million a year in critical areas, including expenses for barriers, equipment and transportation.
Esteban Amaro, director of the Sargassum Monitoring Center in Mexico, warned that the state of Quintana Roo is facing one of its worst seasons yet. The most affected areas stretch from Tulum to Playa del Carmen, along with hotspots such as Xcalak, Mahahual and Cozumel. Nearly the entire coastline is under red alert.
Countries such as Barbados, Mexico and the Dominican Republic have reported hotel booking drops of 30% to 40% during peak sargassum periods, typically between May and August. Regional losses could reach $200 million per high season, based on historical patterns.
Puerto Rico and Cuba are among other Caribbean nations battling sargassum issues daily.
The spread of this invasive seaweed, worsened by global warming, threatens not only the economy but also public health and marine ecosystems, endangering key species such as fish, coral and sea turtles. Local fishers are seeing reduced catches and falling incomes, leaving many in a difficult financial position.
As sargassum decomposes, it produces a strong odor that affects quality of life in coastal communities. More concerning are the respiratory issues it can cause, especially among vulnerable individuals exposed to its toxic emissions.
In response to the worsening crisis, the region is seeking innovative solutions, with a focus on transforming sargassum into a useful resource.
The proposals are varied and promising — from using sargassum as fuel for biomass energy to harnessing its nutrients to enrich agricultural soil. There is also discussion of extracting compounds for use in cosmetics, food products and other goods.
Sos Carbón, a startup led by young Dominican entrepreneurs, has developed an offshore system to collect sargassum before it reaches the shore and begins to decompose, releasing toxic substances. The system already is in use in Mexico, Antigua and Barbuda and Puerto Rico.
María Ceballos, a member of the product development team at SOS Carbón-Biotech, said the company has begun producing agricultural biostimulants with promising results.
This month, the Dominican Republic and the European Union launched the first Working Group on Sargassum Valorization, aimed at developing viable value chains for processing sargassum.
According to the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the goal is to turn this massive challenge into an economic opportunity for the Caribbean.
Tel Aviv, Israel – For the fourth night in a row, missiles have hit Israeli cities. Iran’s retaliatory strikes, triggered by Israeli attacks, saw people sheltering in stairwells and bomb shelters as the scale of the damage and Iranian rockets managing to penetrate one of the world’s most sophisticated defence systems have left many reeling.
On Friday, Israel began its assault on Iran, targeting military and nuclear facilities and killing high-profile security, intelligence and military commanders as well as scientists. Israel’s attacks, which have also targeted residential areas, have killed more than 224 people and wounded at least 1,481, according to Iranian authorities. The government said most of those killed and wounded have been civilians.
In response, Iran has fired barrages of missiles towards Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities.
Hundreds of Iranian missiles have been launched since Friday, and Israel’s air defence systems, though robust, have been unable to stop all of them. While the number of missiles fired by Iran appears to have gone down on a night-by-night basis, the scale of the attacks continues to be unprecedented for Israelis.
Central Tel Aviv, Haifa, the scientific hub of Rehovot and homes have been struck. At least 24 people in Israel have been killed in the strikes and hundreds wounded.
The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, a source of national pride and a cornerstone of Israeli military research, was among the hardest hit. Its laboratories were torn open, glass panes shattered, and cables and rebar left dangling.
“This isn’t just damage to buildings,” said Jenia Kerimov, 34, a biology PhD candidate who lives nearby. “It’s years of research, equipment we can’t easily replace, data that might be lost forever.”
She had been in a bomb shelter a block away when the institute was struck. “We’re supposed to be helping protect the country. But now even our work, our home, feels exposed.”
Shelters across the country are packed. In older neighbourhoods without bunkers, residents crowd into communal safe rooms. In Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem, stairwells have become makeshift bedrooms. The Israeli military’s Home Front Command has evacuated hundreds of people to hotels after buildings that were hit were deemed uninhabitable.
‘No shelter in our building’
Yacov Shemesh, a retired social worker in West Jerusalem, said his wife has been sleeping on the stairs in their apartment block since the attacks began.
“There’s no shelter in our building,” the 74-year-old explained. “I went to the roof Sunday night to see what was happening. I saw a flash in the sky and then a boom. But I couldn’t find anything in the news. Maybe they [the state] don’t want us to know how close it came.”
The barrage has triggered panic in a society long shaped by conflict – but where, until now, the destruction and wars were inflicted elsewhere – in Gaza, Jenin or southern Lebanon. Now, many Israelis are being confronted with destruction in their home cities for the first time.
In Tel Aviv, long lines snaked through the aisles of a grocery store. Despite being crowded, the atmosphere was hushed as customers tapped their phones, their faces drawn tight.
Gil Simchon, 38, a farmer from near the Ramat David Airbase, east of Haifa, stacked bottles of water in his arms.
“It’s one thing to hear for decades about the Iranian threat,” he said, “but another to see it with your own eyes – to see high rises in Tel Aviv hit.”
On Monday night, he used a bomb shelter for the first time in his life.
Even the Kirya, Israel’s military headquarters in Tel Aviv, was struck although damage was limited. Iran’s ability to hit such a fortified and symbolically vital target has deeply rattled a population raised on the reliability of its multilayered defence architecture.
While much of Israel is covered by the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow defence systems, officials admit these were not designed for a saturation attack involving ballistic missiles with heavy warheads. “These aren’t homemade rockets from Gaza,” one analyst said on Israeli television. “These are battlefield weapons.”
On Saturday night, the streets of West Jerusalem were quiet. One of the few lit spaces was a gym. Its owner gestured to the staircase descending underground. “We’re protected,” he said. Then with a smile, he added, “Gymgoers are crazy. If you’re working out at night, the gym had better be open.”
Outside, the night air buzzed with tension. A neon sign flared against the darkness. A small group gathered, eyes fixed on the sky. Moments earlier, streaks of light had passed overhead.
“They’re headed somewhere else – Haifa, I think,” a young man muttered. Minutes later, sirens wailed. Video soon appeared online showing flames erupting from a gas installation near Haifa.
Initially, social media was flooded with footage of missile impacts – some from residential balconies, others from dashcams. By the third night, multiple reports were published of people being arrested for documenting the attacks while Israeli officials warned foreign media against breaking a ban on broadcasting such content, describing it as a security offence.
Meanwhile, fears of power outages are growing. In Tel Aviv, drivers queued at petrol stations, anxious to keep their tanks full. A father strapped his children into the back seat before speeding away. His eyes flicked to the clouds, then the rear-view mirror.
Israeli police inspect a damaged apartment near the site where an Iranian missile destroyed a three-storey building in the city of Tamra, killing four women, according to rescue workers and medics [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
‘Protecting ourselves and making it worse’
For some Israelis abroad, a feeling of helplessness has deepened. Eran, 37, who lives and works in New York, spoke to his elderly parents near the city of Beit Shemesh. “They’ve gone to shelters before, but this time, the fear was different,” he tells Al Jazeera. “The shelter was full. When they returned home, they found pieces of interceptor debris in the yard.”
Eran, a former conscientious objector who refused Israel’s mandatory military draft – for which he spent time in jail – and asked to use a pseudonym for fear of state reprisal upon his return to Israel, has long been critical of Israeli policies. Now watching his family in danger, he feels more certain than ever.
“Israel claims to act for all Jews,” he said. “But its crimes in Gaza and elsewhere just bring danger to families like mine. Even in New York, it impacts me.”
For others, the picture is murkier.
“I don’t know any more where the line is between protecting ourselves and making it worse,” Gil said. “You grow up believing we’re defending something. But now, the missiles, the shelters, the fear – it feels like a cycle we can’t see out of.”
The Israeli government, meanwhile, has struck a belligerent tone, promising to make Tehran “pay a heavy price”. But in the shelters, tension is mixed with exhaustion and a growing recognition that something fundamental has changed.
“It’s like the feeling of a meat lover after they visit a meat-packing factory,” Gil said quietly. “You grow up on it, you believe in it – but when you see how it’s made, it makes you uneasy.”
This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.
“Food has become an opportunity for killing, I’ve never heard of such a thing”
Former UN aid chief Martin Griffiths slammed Israel’s killing of Palestinians seeking aid. In an interview with Al Jazeera, he said the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was luring people to their deaths.
California officials on Monday filed a federal lawsuit over the mobilization of the state’s National Guard during the weekend’s immigration protests in Los Angeles, accusing President Trump of overstepping his federal authority and violating the U.S. Constitution.
As thousands of people gathered in the streets to protest raids and arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trump mobilized nearly 2,000 members of the National Guard over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said that state officials could handle the situation and that Trump was sowing chaos in the streets for political purposes.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said the decision by Trump and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which spells out the limits of federal power. Bonta said the state will seek a restraining order for the “unlawful, unprecedented” deployment of the National Guard, and argues in the 22-page lawsuit that an impending deployment of U.S. Marines was “similarly unlawful.”
“Trump and Hegseth ignored law enforcement’s expertise and guidance and trampled over our state’s, California’s, sovereignty,” Bonta said at a news conference.
Experts and state officials say Trump’s actions and the subsequent lawsuit have thrust the U.S. into uncharted legal territory. Bonta said there have not been many court rulings on the questions at play because the statute Trump cited “has been rarely used, for good reason.”
“It is very unusual and unnecessary, and out of keeping with our constitutional tradition, that they are there without the consent of the governor, in a situation where the governor says that state authorities have the situation under control,” said Laura A. Dickinson, a professor at the George Washington University Law School.
Whether Trump’s action was illegal, Dickinson said, “is really untested.”
Trump and the White House say the military mobilization is legal under Section 12406 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code on Armed Forces. The statute gives the president the authority to federalize the National Guard if there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States,” but says the Guard must be called up through an order from the state’s governor.
Because founders distrusted military rule, the Constitution allows the president to deploy the military for civil law enforcement only in “dire, narrow circumstances,” Bonta’s complaint argues. But, the lawsuit says, the Trump administration appears to be using the statute “as a mechanism to evade these time-honored constitutional limits.”
Trump has said that the mobilization was necessary to “deal with the violent, instigated riots,” and that without the National Guard, “Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated.”
Days of protests after the ICE raids included some violent clashes involving protesters, local police and federal officials and some vandalism and burglaries. Local officials have decried those actions but have defended the right of Angelenos to peacefully demonstrate.
“It was heading in the wrong direction,” Trump said at the White House. “It’s now heading in the right direction. And we hope to have the support of Gavin, because Gavin is the big beneficiary as we straighten out his problems. I mean, his state is a mess.”
The part of the law that “the Trump administration is going to have difficulty explaining away” requires that orders to call up the National Guard “be issued through the governors, which is obviously not happening here,” said Elizabeth Goitein, the senior director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program.
Less black and white, she said, is what happens “if the president tries to exercise the authority provided by that law to federalize the National Guard and the governor refuses to issue the orders.”
As the governor, Newsom is the commander in chief of the California National Guard. On Saturday night, Hegseth sent a memo to the head of the California Guard to mobilize nearly 2,000 members. The leader of the state National Guard then sent the memo to Newsom’s office, the complaint says. Neither Newsom nor his office consented to the mobilization, the lawsuit says.
Newsom wrote to Hegseth on Sunday, asking him to rescind the troop deployment. The letter said the mobilization was “a serious breach of state sovereignty that seems intentionally designed to inflame the situation, while simultaneously depriving the state from deploying these personnel and resources where they are truly required.”
Hegseth issued another memo Monday night deploying another 2,000 members of the National Guard, the lawsuit says.
Newsom has warned that the executive order that Trump signed applies to other states as well as to California, which will “allow him to go into any state and do the same thing.”
Legal experts said the statute that the White House used to justify the National Guard mobilization is usually invoked in concert with the Insurrection Act of 1807, a wide-reaching law that gives presidents the emergency power to call up the military in the United States if they believe the situation warrants it.
Goitein said presidents generally invoke the Insurrection Act, then use the statute that Trump cited as the “call-up authority” to actually mobilize the military. How the law stands on its own, she said, “is one of the legal questions that have not come up before in the courts.”
The Insurrection Act has been invoked 30 times in the history of the country, and Trump has not invoked it in Los Angeles. It was last invoked in 1992, when then-Gov. Pete Wilson asked President George H.W. Bush to federalize the National Guard in the wake of the Rodney King verdict.
The last time a president sent the National Guard into a state without a request from the governor was six decades ago, when President Lyndon B. Johnson mobilized troops in Alabama to defend civil rights demonstrators and enforce a federal court order in 1965.
Bonta’s office said the specific statute that Trump is using has been invoked only once before, when President Nixon mobilized the National Guard to deliver the mail during a U.S. Postal Service strike in 1970.
The argument that Trump has violated the 10th Amendment is a clever subversion of a line of thinking that has traditionally been backed by conservative judges, said Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law.
The 10th Amendment says that the federal government has only the powers specifically assigned by the Constitution, and other powers are controlled by the states.
“Deploying over 4,000 federalized military forces to quell a protest or prevent future protests despite the lack of evidence that local law enforcement was incapable of asserting control and ensuring public safety during such protests represents the exact type of intrusion on state power that is at the heart of the 10th Amendment,” state lawyers argue in the lawsuit.
“The state has a strong argument that … by nationalizing the state guard, that Trump is commandeering the state,” Chemerinsky said.
He said the Supreme Court has ruled on the 10th Amendment only a handful of times in recent decades, including saying that Congress couldn’t require states to accept federal mandates related to sports betting, background checks for guns and radioactive waste disposal.
Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — A former Homeland Security official during President Trump’s first administration who authored an anonymous op-ed sharply critical of the president is calling on independent government watchdogs to investigate after Trump ordered the department to look into his government service.
Miles Taylor, once chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, warned in an interview with the Associated Press of the far-reaching implications of Trump’s April 9 memorandum, “Addressing Risks Associated with an Egregious Leaker and Disseminator of Falsehoods,” when it comes to suppressing criticism of the president. That memo accused Taylor of concocting stories to sell his book and directed the secretary of Homeland Security and other government agencies to look into Taylor and strip him of any security clearances.
Taylor sent a letter via email to inspectors general at the departments of Justice and Homeland Security on Tuesday.
Coming on the same April day that Trump also ordered an investigation into Chris Krebs, a former top cybersecurity official, the dual memoranda illustrated how Trump has sought to use the powers of the presidency against his adversaries. Speaking to the AP, Taylor said the order targeting him sets a “scary precedent” and that’s why he decided to call on the inspectors general to investigate.
“I didn’t commit any crime, and that’s what’s extraordinary about this. I can’t think of any case where someone knows they’re being investigated but has absolutely no idea what crime they allegedly committed. And it’s because I didn’t,” Taylor said. He called it a “really, really, really scary precedent to have set is that the president of the United States can now sign an order investigating any private citizen he wants, any critic, any foe, anyone.”
Trump has targeted adversaries since he took office
Since taking office again in January, Trump has stripped security clearances from a number of his opponents. But Trump’s order for an investigation into Taylor, as well as Krebs, marked an escalation of his campaign of retribution in his second term.
Trump fired Krebs, who directed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in November 2020 after Krebs disputed the Republican president’s unsubstantiated claims of voting fraud and vouched for the integrity of the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Taylor left the first Trump administration in 2019. In the anonymous New York Times op-ed published in 2018, he described himself as part of a secret “resistance” to counter Trump’s “misguided impulses.” The op-ed’s publication touched off a leak investigation in Trump’s first White House.
Taylor later published a book by the same name as the op-ed and then another book under his own name called “Blowback,” which warned about Trump’s return to office.
After signing the memorandum April 9, Trump said Taylor was likely “guilty of treason.”
The letter by Taylor’s lawyer to the inspectors general calls Trump’s actions “unprecedented in American history.”
“The Memorandum does not identify any specific wrongdoing. Rather, it flagrantly targets Mr. Taylor for one reason alone: He dared to speak out to criticize the President,” the letter reads.
Taylor’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the request to the inspectors general was an attempt to “get the administration to do the right thing.” Lowell said that depending on the outcome of their complaint, they’ll explore other options including a possible lawsuit. Lowell, a veteran Washington lawyer, announced earlier this year that he was opening his own legal practice and would represent targets of Trump’s retribution.
Violation of First Amendment rights alleged
In the letter, Lowell calls on the inspectors general to do their jobs of “addressing and preventing abuses of power.”
The letter says Trump’s April 9 memo appears to violate Taylor’s First Amendment rights by going after Taylor for his criticism of the president, calling it a “textbook definition of political retribution and vindictive prosecution.” And, according to the letter, Trump’s memo also appears to violate Taylor’s Fifth Amendment due process rights.
The letter highlights Taylor’s “honorable and exemplary” work service including receiving the Distinguished Service Medal upon leaving the department, and it details the toll that the April 9 memorandum has taken on Taylor’s personal life. His family has been threatened and harassed, and former colleagues lost their government jobs because of their connection with him, according to the letter.
Taylor told the AP that since the order, there’s been an “implosion in our lives.” He said he started a fund to pay for legal fees, has had to step away from work and his wife has gone back to work to help pay the family’s bills. Their home’s location was published on the internet in a doxxing.
Taylor said that by filing these complaints with the inspectors general, he’s anticipating that the pressure on him and his family will increase. He said they spent the last few weeks debating what to do after the April 9 memorandum and decided to fight back.
“The alternative is staying silent, cowering and capitulating and sending the message that, yes, there’s no consequences for this president and this administration in abusing their powers in ways that my legal team believes and a lot of legal scholars tell me is unconstitutional and illegal,” Taylor said.
Officials say multiple military airbases deep inside Russia have come under drone attacks in a major Ukrainian operation ahead of peace talks due to start in Istanbul on Monday.
The Russian Defence Ministry said Ukraine had launched drone strikes targeting Russian military airfields across five regions on Sunday, causing several aircraft to catch fire.
The attacks occurred in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions. Air defences repelled the assaults in all but two regions – Murmansk and Irkutsk, the ministry said.
“In the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, the launch of FPV drones from an area in close proximity to airfields resulted in several aircraft catching fire,” the ministry said.
The fires were extinguished and no casualties were reported. Some individuals involved in the attacks had been detained, the ministry said.
The Security Service of Ukraine said on Sunday that it had hit Russian military planes worth a combined $7bn in a wave of drone strikes on Russian air bases thousands of kilometres behind the front lines.
“$7 billion: This is the estimated cost of the enemy’s strategic aviation, which was hit today as a result of the SBU’s special operation,” the agency said in a social media post.
Targets included the Belaya airbase in Irkutsk, about 4,300km (2,700 miles) from the Ukrainian border, and the Olenya airbase in south Murmansk, some 1,800km (1,100 miles) from Ukraine.
“According to witnesses on the ground and local officials, these drones were launched from sites near the airbases. That means this was an elaborate operation … that involved a number of people inside Russia,” Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari said, reporting from Moscow.
“This is the single largest attack that we’ve seen in one day across multiple military airbases inside Russia since the war began in February of 2022,” Jabbari said, noting that the airbases are home to Russia’s strategic air bombers, which have been used to attack targets across Ukraine over the past three years.
Earlier on Sunday, multiple local media reports in Ukraine, including those by state news agency Ukrinform, cited a source within the SBU saying the coordinated attacks inside Russia were “aimed at destroying enemy bombers far from the front”.
They said the operation was carried out by the SBU using drones smuggled deep into Russia and hidden inside trucks. At least 41 Russian heavy bombers at four airbases were hit, the reports said, adding that the operation, dubbed “Spiderweb”, had been prepared for over a year and a half, and it was personally overseen by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Al Jazeera’s John Hendren, reporting from Kyiv, said it’s “an audacious strike, one that Ukraine has been waiting a long time and patiently to deliver, and it’s come after Russian air strikes into Ukraine have dramatically accelerated over the past couple of weeks”.
Meanwhile, at least seven people were killed and 69 injured when a highway bridge in Russia’s Bryansk region, neighbouring Ukraine, was blown up while a passenger train heading to Moscow was crossing it with 388 people on board.
No one has yet claimed responsibility. Russian officials said they were treating the incident as an “act of terrorism” but did not immediately accuse Ukraine.
The developments came as Russia also said it had advanced deeper into the Sumy region of Ukraine, and as open-source pro-Ukrainian maps showed Russia took 450sq km (174sq miles) of Ukrainian land in May, its fastest monthly advance in at least six months.
Moscow launched 472 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s Air Force said, the highest nightly total of the war so far. Russia had also launched seven missiles, the Air Force said.
Both parties sharply ramped up their attacks as Ukraine confirmed it will send a delegation to Istanbul led by its Defence Minister Rustem Umerov for talks on Monday with Russian officials. Turkiye is hosting the meeting, which was spurred by US President Donald Trump’s push for a quick deal to end the three-year war.
Zelenskyy, who previously voiced scepticism about the seriousness of the Russian side in engaging in Monday’s meeting, said he had defined the Ukrainian delegation’s position on the talks.
Priorities included “a complete and unconditional ceasefire” and the return of prisoners and abducted children, he said on social media.
Russia has said it has formulated its own peace terms, but refused to divulge them in advance. Russian President Vladimir Putin also ruled out a Turkish proposal for the meeting to be held at the leaders’ level.
Taking to Instagram on Friday night, Neville said: “I was contacted by Sky Sports earlier on in the week and told that I would be commentating at the City Ground on Sunday for the Nottingham Forest v Chelsea match.
“I was informed yesterday by Sky Sports that Nottingham Forest would not give me an accreditation or access to the stadium as a co-commentator. I’ve had no choice but to withdraw from the coverage.
“I’ve dished out my fair share of criticism and praise in the last 14 years of doing this job and have never come close to this unprecedented action.”
He continued: “Personally, I think it’s disappointing that a great club like Nottingham Forest have been reduced to making such a decision.
“Whilst they have every right to choose who they let into their own stadium, it’s symptomatic of things that have happened over the last 12 months with the club.
“I wish the coaching staff, players and fans of the club all the best in their quest to achieve Champions League football.”
Sky chiefs are furious and are standing with Neville following Forest’s decision, and have totally revised their coverage plans for the final game of the season.
Awoniyi collided with a post late in the draw with Leicester and was later placed in an induced coma.
Forest later addressed the incident in a statement, writing on X: “Today is a day for celebration, because after 30 years Nottingham Forest is now guaranteed to be competing on the European stage once again – a promise I made to our supporters when we achieved promotion.
“With two more games to go in the Premier League, we must keep believing and keep dreaming, right to the final kick in the final game.
“We are extremely proud and close to Nuno and the team, and we must all celebrate the historic achievements of this season.
“Everybody – coaching staff, players, supporters and including myself – we were frustrated around the injury of Taiwo and the medical staff’s misjudgement on Taiwo’s ability to continue the game.
“This is natural, this is a demonstration of the passion we feel for our club. Let’s all be grateful, passionate and keep on dreaming.”
