Men deported from US bound and beaten in Equatorial Guinea detention hotel, lawyers say Group trapped at Hotel Bamy after US removal as rights groups sound alarm over poor conditions and violenceTwo men that the Trump administration expelled to Equatorial Guinea were bound, fitted with bags over their heads, beaten and pushed down a flight of stairs, all in plain view of other US deportees, according to witnesses and human rights lawyers.The men - one from Egypt and one from Eritrea - were then taken to a prison. About 30 detainees from the US remain trapped at a hotel in the outskirts of the coastal city of Malabo after being deported from the US. Detainees have said they believe the men were beaten for telling the press and human rights advocates about the poor conditions and violence inside the hotel, and that they are haunted by flashbacks and terrified they will be retaliated against next. Continue reading...
Survivors recount panic and struggle to breathe in Nigerian prison cell where 37 died Police fire teargas as protests break out in city of Minna after deaths of suspected illegal goldminers, many of whom were childrenSurvivors from a prison cell in Nigeria where 37 suspected illegal goldminers died while in the custody of a paramilitary group this week have recounted their panic and struggle for breath, as police on Friday fired teargas at people protesting against the deaths and imposed an overnight curfew in the city of Minna.The victims - many of whom were children - were found dead on Thursday in the cells of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), which had raided suspected illegal gold mines and locked up dozens of miners in the city, the state capital of the mineral-rich state of Niger. Continue reading...
British woman who was kidnapped in Malawi rescued by police after shootout Four of Nurat Osman's alleged abductors were killed during rescue after she was taken from outside her home last weekA British woman kidnapped in Malawi last week has been rescued by police after a shootout in which four of her alleged abductors were killed.Nusrat Osman was abducted outside her home in the southern city of Blantyre on 11 September at about 12.30pm. Police had offered a reward of 30m Malawi kwacha (£12,950) for information leading to her rescue and the arrest of the perpetrators. Continue reading...
Louisiana firefighters find feline native to sub-Saharan Africa while responding to house fire The African serval, illegally enclosed in the back yard, was subdued and transferred to an animal welfare facility Louisiana firefighters responding to a small house blaze found a wildcat native to sub-Saharan Africa illegally enclosed in the back yard, prompting an animal welfare agency to seek placing the creature in an appropriate environment, according to officials.Firefighters investigating a report of a minor fire at a home in the suburban New Orleans community of Marrero on Tuesday spotted the cat in question - an African serval - behind the residence in a chain-linked enclosure resembling a cramped baseball batting cage, a spokesperson for the local animal protection services said. Continue reading...
'We demand the truth': Olga Tokarczuk and JM Coetzee lead calls for proof of life of disappeared Eritrean writers More than 180 writers sign letter renewing calls for information on 12 authors detained incommunicado since 2001 crackdown on free speech by Isaias AfwerkiMore than 180 writers have signed a letter to Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki calling for proof of life for 12 writers arrested in 2001.Nobel laureates Olga Tokarczuk and JM Coetzee join prominent writers including Colm Tóibín, Elif Shafak, Isabel Allende, Ben Okri, Yann Martel, Kamila Shamsie and Tsitsi Dangarembga in signing the letter organised by PEN International and dated 18 September, marking 25 years since a government crackdown on the independent press. "Within days, Eritrea's free press and the nation's independent voices were systematically crushed," opens the letter. Continue reading...
Brazil's Lula announces higher welfare payments and free weight-loss jabs ahead of election Critics say moves from leftwing incumbent president are electorally motivated two weeks before Brazil's electionsBrazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has announced a 15% increase in the country's main cash-transfer programme for poor families, as well as free weight-loss jabs, prompting criticism from opponents who say the moves are electorally motivated just two weeks before the presidential election.On 4 October, the leftwing incumbent will face the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former president Jair Bolsonaro, who has been gaining ground in recent weeks. Continue reading...
Trump says U.S. has reached a deal to take 'permanent control' of Greenland's security Trump says U.S. has reached a deal to take 'permanent control' of Greenland's securityPresident Donald Trump has announced an agreement with Greenland, in which the U.S. will take permanent control of the Arctic island's security. "I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has entered into an Agreement with The Kingdom of Denmark, and Greenland, that gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns," Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday evening. The president has eyed Greenland since before he returned to the White House in January 2025, arguing that the U.S. needed to control the semi-autonomous Danish territory for national security purposes. Trump said that the agreement means the U.S. "will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America."President Donald Trump has announced an agreement with Greenland, in which the U.S. will take permanent control of the Arctic island's security (Getty Images)It's unclear what exactly is in the agreement Trump claims to have struck with Denmark and Greenland, but he did highlight one major point - U.S. adversaries such as Russia and China will need his approval to work with Greenland militarily and economically. "From now on, no U.S. adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval," Trump said.The president had warned Russia and China would take Greenland if he didn't step in. "It's so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place," Trump claimed during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One in January. "We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security - and Denmark is not going to be able to do it."The president has eyed Greenland since before he returned to the White House in January 2025, arguing that the U.S. needed to control the semi-autonomous Danish territory for national security purposes (Getty Images)Trump boasted about his role in the new agreement with Greenland that he said would be "cherished by the American People.""For over 100 years, Presidents have known the strategic importance of Greenland, but NONE of them were able to do anything about it. I am proud to be the President that permanently and conclusively addressed this very important situation," he wrote on Truth Social. "We will immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many. We will work with the people of Greenland in its development and construction," he added.Since Trump began pushing to acquire Greenland, he has been met with opposition, not just from the people of the Arctic island and Denmark, but also from America's European allies. "Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland," a joint statement from seven European leaders read. As part of the agreement, Trump said U.S. adversaries such as Russia and China will need his approval to work with Greenland militarily and economically (AFP via Getty Images)In the January 6 statement, leaders from France, Germany, the United Kingdom and other U.S. allies said, "We and many other Allies have increased our presence, activities and investments, tokeep the Arctic safe and to deter adversaries."They said that since Denmark is a part of NATO, "security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively...by upholding the principles of the UN Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders."Days later, Trump threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on imports from European allies, several of which were part of the earlier joint statement, "until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland."Trump quickly backed down from his tariff threats, claiming to have "formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland" with NATO chief Mark Rutte.Fifty-eight percent of Americans opposed a U.S. takeover of Greenland in a January poll, when tensions between America and Europe were at a high over the issue (Getty Images)Even with the new agreement between government officials, it is doubtful that Trump will sway those in Greenland opposed to American intervention. The day Trump threatened tariffs against European nations if he did not strike a deal to acquire Greenland, protesters in Nuuk held Greenlandic flags and a banner that read "Make America Go Away" and "We Are Not Property!""I think he should mind his own business," Greenlander Lars Vintner, a heating engineer, told the Associated Press in January. "What's he going to do with Greenland? He speaks of Russians and Chinese and everything in Greenlandic waters or in our country," he said. "Every summer we go sailing and we go hunting and I never saw Russian or Chinese ships here in Greenland."A majority of Americans are also not sold on the idea of gaining control of Greenland. Fifty-eight percent of Americans oppose a U.S. takeover of the Arctic island while 21 percent favor it and 20 percent are unsure, according to a Pew Research Center poll from January. This article originally appeared on The Independent at https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-us-greenland-denmark-deal-b3052755.html
President Trump was photographed this week on board Air Force One examining a large poster with the words "Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED" printed above a rendering of a construction site, heightening concerns that his administration wants to raze Washington, D.C.'s iconic performing arts venue if his name is not added to its facade.
"I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition," the president told reporters before he boarded the plane Wednesday in North Carolina. "Because frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close. It'll end up being ripped down."
Trump's comments and the photographs that followed are the latest developments in a convoluted saga that started when he dismissed the center's trustees in February 2025 - just days after returning to office - and replaced them with loyalists who elected him chairman.
Despite several legal setbacks, Trump's handpicked board has been pushing ever since to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which was built as a "living memorial" to the slain 35th president, after the White House's current occupant.
The day before Trump was photographed with the "Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED" poster, his appointees voted to close the center's main building for renovations. Does this mean Trump will bulldoze the Kennedy Center if he doesn't get the "recognition" he wants? Here's what we know - and what we don't.US President Donald Trump is seen aboard Air Force One checking a large Kennedy Center printout after landing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on September 16, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images
Where things stand
The Kennedy Center is currently closed. Shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, employees heard a sudden notice on the P.A. system: "The center is now closed to the public. Please exit the center by way of the Hall of States." In a statement, officials described the closure as a temporary, emergency action designed to protect people from deteriorating conditions inside the building after a five-foot-long section of ceiling plaster fell during a recent storm.
At the same time, the board has also been locked in a months-long court battle over its renaming and renovation efforts. Just hours before the closure, Federal Judge Casey Cooper again blocked the center from inscribing Trump's name on its facade - and the president himself responded on social media, saying that "the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place" unless an appeals court allows his name back on the building.
"The closing will take place immediately, however, the Renovation and Reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C. Circuit rules on the Board's approved name," Trump wrote. "If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place."
Last year, Trump demolished the East Wing of the White House after pledging that construction of his new $300 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom wouldn't "interfere with the current building."
On Thursday, Cooper instructed the center to provide more than 30 days' notice before carrying out any significant changes to its renovation plan, "including but not limited to any 'demolition' of the center's main building."
On Friday, Kerry Kennedy - niece of President Kennedy and daughter of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy - posted on social media that a "Hands Around the Kennedy Center" protest would be taking place at 6:30 p.m. ET.
"With the future still very much uncertain, now more than ever, the Center needs you to stand up for freedom of expression and against authoritarian overreach into arts and culture institutions," read the event's invitation.
Trump takeover
On Feb. 7, 2025, Trump announced on social media that he was taking over the Kennedy Center. "At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN," he wrote. "I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture."
"We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!" he added.
Within days, Trump had installed his former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell as interim executive director and replaced the bipartisan board with various allies, including Dana Blumberg (wife of billionaire Robert Kraft), Alison Lutnick (wife of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick), conservative country singer Lee Greenwood, White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and second lady Usha Vance.
At the time, Trump said he objected to previous Kennedy Center programming, citing "Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth." He vowed to oversee the performance schedule himself.
"This marks the first time a president has removed his predecessor's board members at the Kennedy Center and installed himself as chair," the Washington Post reported. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is seen from the air, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
Previously, "political persuasion was never a factor we considered or discussed in artistic programming," Michael Kaiser, the Kennedy Center's president from 2001 to 2014, told the New York Times. "Our Board included 14 members of Congress who were evenly split between the two parties. This balance made it clear to everyone at the center that the only way for us to work was to ignore politics."
In response to Trump's takeover, musician Ben Folds and opera singer Renée Fleming stepped down as the center's artistic advisers; TV producer Shonda Rhimes - formerly treasurer of its board of trustees - left as well. Producers of the musical Hamilton and the play Eureka Day canceled entire planned performance runs. Other artists followed suit.
"These events have caused a major negative reaction in my musical community to playing at the Kennedy Center," guitarist and composer Yasmin Williams wrote in an email to Grenell.
"We have completely reversed the decline of this cherished national institution," Trump claimed in August 2025. "We ended the woke political programming, and we're restoring the Kennedy Center as the premier venue for performing arts anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world."
In May 2025, the new Kennedy Center board revised its bylaws to exclude the 23 federal and local officials who automatically serve as ex officio members from voting. Going forward, only trustees appointed by Trump would be allowed to vote.
On Dec. 18, 2025 - shortly after Trump became the first president to host the annual Kennedy Center Honors - his appointees voted to rename the venue as The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, or the Trump-Kennedy Center. Then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the vote was unanimous, but Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, an ex officio board member, insisted that she "was muted on the call and not allowed to speak or voice [her] opposition to this move."
The same day, a new logo featuring Trump's name appeared on the center's website; within 24 hours, workers had added Trump's name to the building's facade. "I was surprised by it, I was honored by it," the president told reporters when asked about the name change. "We saved the building."
In protest, more artists canceled planned performances, including Kristy Lee, Chuck Redd and Philip Glass. The Washington National Opera announced it would leave the center.
"The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law," former Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy III, RFK's grandson, wrote on social media. "It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.
The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says. https://t.co/VpZhNvx7So- Joe Kennedy III (@joekennedy) December 18, 2025
In late December, Beatty filed suit against the Kennedy Center trustees who voted to change the name, arguing that they had no legal power to do so.
A few months later, in May 2026, Cooper sided with Beatty and ordered the center to revert to its original name within 14 days. The center's founding statute "makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board's unilateral say-so," Cooper wrote in his opinion. "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it."
By mid-June, Trump's name had been removed from the center's website and facade. But the board also tried to appeal Cooper's ruling, arguing that millions of dollars in donations would have to be returned if the center did not ultimately bear Trump's name, according to its new bylaws.
These efforts failed, yet Trump's appointees seem undeterred. Last month, they voted to inscribe "Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump" below the center's name on the building's facade - which led Cooper to again block the board from adding the president's name to the building.
"Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress's blessing," Cooper wrote. "The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted."
Renovation or demolition… or something else?
In tandem with its renaming efforts, the board has also spent the last seven months pushing to shutter the center for renovations.
Trump started to muse about the project in late 2025. The following February, he announced the center would close on July 4, 2026, for a two-year renovation. "I have determined that The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World," he wrote on social media.
But in his May ruling, Cooper also issued a temporary order blocking the center from fully closing for two years. Instead, he said the center could "move ahead with renovations to the decades-old building and could later decide to close … after its board more fully considered the impact on its statutory requirement to maintain some programming at all times," according to CNN.
"Trump's contradictory statements and the absence of an independent board or any notification to Congress make these claims of a building in need of repair unverifiable at best," the Atlantic wrote. "A more plausible reason for the closing is that under Trump, the Kennedy Center can't hold on to staff, artists or audiences."
According to a Washington Post analysis published in August and based on confidential internal documents, "ticket sales had already dropped in the 10 months following Trump's takeover" - "but both ticket sales and donations plunged after the Trump-led board of trustees voted in December to rename the center after him and put his name on the front of the building." As of June, the center's own officials were projecting a $100 million revenue shortfall for fiscal year 2026, with a 70% decline in earned income, the Post reported.
In response, Trump and his administration have argued that they inherited a "decrepit" structure in dire need of repairs - repairs that cannot proceed unless the president gets credit for them.
"An order blocking the Board from appropriately recognizing President Trump will cause donors to flee, financial contributions to dry up and structural rehabilitation to stop," the Department of Justice wrote in an Aug. 29 filing, adding that without Trump's efforts, "the Center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that will be required to be taken down" - possibly to be replaced with "a large outdoor amphitheater overlooking the Potomac River."
Such a venue has "been proposed, by some, for many years," the filing said.This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/article/trump-says-the-kennedy-center-could-be-ripped-down-if-he-doesnt-get-recognition-how-we-got-here-202954432.html
Trump says he's banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House Trump says he's banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White HouseNEW YORK (AP) - President Donald Trump said Friday that he was barring CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House due to what he called unfavorable coverage and "fake news," and threatened that more such media bans could be coming - the latest salvo in the president's increasingly aggressive response to media coverage he finds unfavorable. Like many of Trump's other confrontations with news organizations - some of which are playing out in the legal arena - this one has potential First Amendment implications. The president wrote on his social media site that effective immediately, "I am banning" CNN, MS NOW and Politico "from the White House as a result of their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!" Minutes later, speaking at an event in the Oval Office, Trump was asked to explain his statement. "Because they're fake news," he said. "You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news. When you look at CNN, it's just fake. That's why their ratings are no good. When you look at MS NOW … , it's fake news." "And when you look at Politico ... the stories they wrote are fake. So there's a lot of news and there may be others to join them, and maybe they can get better," he said. "But our country has to have honest news." CNN denounced the move, saying it stands behind its White House team and their "fair and accurate reporting." "We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government," it said in a statement posted on X. "Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally-protected right." Politico said it would "continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones. We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them." MS NOW did not immediately return an email asking about the ban.
The White House has confronted the media more in Trump's second term
In his second term, Trump and his administration have upped the ante and punished certain media outlets, both in the courtroom and through regulatory action. Trump has also lashed out at individual reporters in person or over social media, sometimes in strikingly personal terms. The move follows the president's decision last year to keep Associated Press journalists out of the Oval Office, Air Force One and other events in retaliation for the news outlet's decision not to follow his lead in changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, which lies partially in Mexican and other waters. The AP said that it would note when appropriate that Trump had ordered it renamed the "Gulf of America." The AP filed suit and the case is ongoing. Since returning to office, Trump has pursued other legal action against a variety of different outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC. His administration is also involved in a long-simmering confrontation involving ABC over renewal of its broadcast licenses. Trump seeking to block White House access for CNN is especially notable, as it could upend the traditional five-network television pool that travels with the president and tracks his every move - meant to provide independent coverage of his actions and interactions for the Americans who elected him and for the world.
Trump provided no details about the ban
In his social media announcement, Trump did not provide details on how the ban would be implemented. It came moments before Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office as part of a health care event. He later planned to take the press pool to his golf club in Virginia for a meeting and dinner sponsored by his Super PAC before spending the weekend at Camp David - one of the few places reporters don't follow him. "Media Outlets shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they're covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America," Trump wrote. "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow." At the event, Trump doubled down on his opinions about various media outlets. "The New York Times is so fake. Washington Post is disgusting," he said. A federal judge ruled the government couldn't punish the AP based on its editorial decisions. But an appeals court stopped most of the ruling as it weighed the Trump administration's appeal. The case remains pending 18 months later. In Sherrill v. Knight, a federal appeals court ruled in 1977 that although the White House is not required to open its doors to the news media, once it establishes press facilities for credentialed journalists, it cannot deny access based on the content of a journalist's coverage. The court held that any denial must serve a compelling government interest and that the journalist must receive notice, the chance to respond and a final answer in writing.This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-says-banning-cnn-msnow-191600117.html
CAIRO (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of Iranians rallied Friday in a government-organized show of defiance after months of war, pledging their readiness to take up arms in the biggest such demonstration since the United States and Israel attacked in February.
Iran's government has sought to rally the people and stress national unity, even as the economy worsens under a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and new U.S. sanctions. On Friday, it claimed another attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway it has sought to control since the start of the war.
Estimates varied of the number of people volunteering to receive limited military training and defend the country in an effort described as "Janfaday-e Iran," or the "ones who sacrifice their lives for Iran." They marched through downtown Tehran in combat uniform, carrying flags, as onlookers cheered.
For days, state media have encouraged Iranians to join the campaign, saying training with assault rifles would begin soon. The volunteers would be an additional layer of security to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and the Basij militia, which has played a key role in quashing anti-government protests.
Rally seeks to project strength under US pressure
Tehran's Guard chief, Gen. Hassan Hassanzadeh, told the state broadcaster that over 600,000 people had registered to participate, with over 1 million expected to take part in the training. On Friday morning, the broadcaster estimated over 300,000 people were on the streets.
The new head of the Basij, Hossein Taeb, declared in a speech as the rally began that the volunteers will be ready for "full-fledged defense" and similar rallies will take place in other cities soon.
The new trainees will make a "nightmare" for Iran's enemies, Taeb added, as President Masoud Pezeshkian, military commanders and other senior officials watched the march.
Some participants trampled flags of the U.S. and Israel. Others chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."
"I am here to tell (U.S. President Donald) Trump that we Iranians have no fear about his threats against our homeland," said Marzieh Afaghi, 24, who attended the rally with her toddler and husband. "No one in history could invade Iran and remain there."
The rally was also a chance for Iran to show off military hardware. Anti-aircraft batteries were on display, while female Guard members in black headscarves sat with truck-mounted machine guns.
Iran says it attacked another tanker in the Strait of Hormuz
The Guard displayed drones that have been used against ships in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran's attacks and threats have severely affected the Gulf region's shipments of oil and natural gas to the rest of the world.
Iran said it had attacked a Togo-flagged oil tanker, the Trend, for what it called an "illegal attempt" to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the state broadcaster reported. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center said a tanker was hit by a projectile, sparking a fire on board that was extinguished.
The UKMTO in a separate update said ship transits facilitated by the U.S. military off Oman have averaged 24 a day over the past week but overall traffic remains about 90% lower than before the war.
Iran's new volunteers could help suppress future dissent
Friday's events also suggested that hard-liners like Taeb among Iran's leadership will be more prepared to suppress any future demonstration against the theocracy.
In January, shortly before the war, Iran saw some of its largest nationwide protests in history, which began over the struggling economy and turned to wider grievances. Activists have said a crackdown killed over 7,000 people and saw tens of thousands detained.
In May, government officials said more than 30 million people in Iran - which has a total population of some 90 million - had volunteered via an online form or at public gatherings to lay down their lives for the theocracy. The Associated Press could not independently confirm that.
___
Karimi reported from Tehran, Iran, and Anna from Jerusalem.This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/iranians-rally-hundreds-thousands-biggest-082500368.html
(Caroline Brehman/For The Washington Post)DANA POINT, California - Natalie Driessen drove down Beach Road on a mission, past neighbors whose houses fell into the sea and others now scrambling to prevent their property from collapsing next.She had a video from March that she wanted everyone to see. When she spotted an Orange County supervisor outside what was left of one mangled kitchen and living room, Driessen pulled out her phone to play the clip of the California Coastal Commission - the powerful state agency tasked with preserving beaches - discussing a home in her gated community. California beaches are considered public beyond a certain high tide line, the commissioners warned, and that waterline was rising. "I wonder," one of the commissioners said, "how many years before I'm allowed to just pull up a chair - sit in their, you know, front deck porch and watch TV because it's public land. … I don't think we're that far away from this, right?"
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Storms and high tides - fueled by anearrecord-breaking El Niño - have battered the California coast in recent weeks, destroying homes and eroding beaches. The fallout has supercharged years-long tensions between the owners of coveted oceanfront property and the authorities they say aren't doing enough to protect them.Natalie Driessen in front of her Dana Point home. It is still standing, but her backyard was wrecked. - (Caroline Brehman/For The Washington Post)The damage has intensified a bigger debate playing out around the coast: What can or should be done to save private property in the most vulnerable communities?Driessen was furious about the March clip - convinced the authorities wanted her and other beachfront homeowners to give up and leave in the face of sea damage."We're paying taxes!" the 51-year-old plastic surgeon told the county supervisor indignantly.On Beach Road in Dana Point - which has been home and second-home to actors, famous athletes and members of the Disney family - the destruction has residents fuming and banding together. They're organizing in a group chat and paying more than $50,000 per household, they say, to build a rock wall along the shore, desperate and rushing to stave off further damage with another El Niño-driven surge expected in a couple weeks. Residentswant to make the rock wall permanent, but "coastal armoring" is so controversial that the California Coastal Commission generally bans it in new developments. "It's important to note that while seawalls can provide temporary relief for homes, they can also increase erosion and destroy the public beaches that help protect those same structures," Joshua Smith, a spokesperson for the Coastal Commission, said in a statement.Smith said the commission has "for years repeatedly engaged the community and the city on medium- to longer-term strategies for preventing flood damage in this area," adding that the agency has suggested installing a cobblestone berm, elevating homes or adding sand to beaches.The commission approved emergency permits for the Beach Road rock barrier, which it says will cover 17 properties. But many residents are refusing to sign the papers - outraged that they may have to tear the wall down after 120 days if they do not get permanent approval.Everyone agrees the community, and others like it, need a long-term plan to deal with the eroding beach. But they disagree over what that should look like, and who is to blame for the erupting crisis. "When we have these emergencies like what happened last week, the responses are ad hoc ... and generally they may not lead to better, good long term outcomes," said Charles Lester, a former Coastal Commission director who now directs an ocean policy center at UC Santa Barbara. "Once the rock goes on the beach it's very hard to bring it back up."One long-term option for vulnerable communities, Lester said, may be retreat."At what point do we start to recognize that maybe it's not a good idea to have the development there?" Lester said. "If we get to that point, the question is not, 'Okay, leave,' it's more like - 'Okay, how do we facilitate a community transition?'"Replacing the beach sand isanother possible solution - but those efforts are expensive and could take years."If California is good at anythingin this world, it's bureaucracy," Dana Point Mayor John Gabbard lamented in an interview.The residents of Beach Road know that not everyone sympathizes with wealthy families losing their second homes with ocean views. Driessen sees comments on social media that suggest they deserve the misfortune. Some say they should have seen it coming in the risky business of beachfront real estate.Driessen says she worked hard for her dream beach house, purchased two years ago. She took out loans and put herself through school.Now her backyard is destroyed; her home is still standing but at risk whenever the next storm hits. Storms and high tides - fueled by a near record-breaking El Niño - have battered the California coast in recent weeks, destroying homes and eroding beaches. - (Caroline Brehman/For The Washington Post)
Driessen's problems started last year, she said, with a sinkhole. By this summer, the holes had multiplied and she called local officials in a panic, saying she worried she would lose the house.She estimates that she and a neighbor collectively spent more than $400,000 trying to avertdisaster, reinforcing a seawall and putting up sandbags. They raised alarms, she said, but got little help.She said she tried to rally people into collective action at a neighborhood party in August. "Guys, are we going to wait for someone to get red-tagged?" she remembers asking, using the term for a home marked uninhabitable.It didn't go anywhere, she said. Then Hurricane Marie hit Southern California this month.The storm reshaped iconic spots along the coast. In Laguna Beach, officials declared an emergency. In Malibu, dozens of homes were evacuated after a giant sinkhole opened up outside the home of actor Nicolas Cage. In Santa Monica, beach erosion was so bad that officials canceled a music festival scheduled for the end of September. The storm hit especially hard in Dana Point, a little more than an hour south of Los Angeles.Away in Hawaii for a wedding, doctor Shalesh Gupta checked video footage from his Beach Road home and realized that his patio collapsed into the ocean. The waves had destroyed his seawall. The bedroom and living room fell next.Waves destroyed the seawall in front of Shalesh Gupta's house. The doctor only has about $250,000 in flood insurance - not enough to cover the loss of his home. - (Caroline Brehman/For The Washington Post)Like other homeowners in the area, he said, he only has $250,000 in flood insurance - not enough to cover the loss. His lot is empty. His daughter has urged him to give up on his second home there. "I'm telling you - water is rising, you need to sell the property," he recalled her saying.Experts say that California could see its highest sea levels ever this winter because of El Niño. But Gupta and other residents are adamant: They can rebuild with the right protections. "This problem that we now have was preventable," argued Katrina Foley, the Orange County supervisor who visited Beach Road. Experts recommended depositing sand decades ago to counter erosion, she said, but local officials didn't do it. Now they are trying to "make up for 50 years of inaction," she said.The county is working to replenish sand in a few key areas, and officials say those efforts could help other shores such as Beach Road's. Orange County and the city of Dana Point have both declared emergencies,and local officials say they are working with state and federal representatives to get resources.For now, the Beach Road homeowners are banking on their own temporary solution: the rock wall."All of the effort that's happening right now is 100 percent the residents ... everything from manpower to dollars and cents," said Chris Rogers, whose home was largely wrecked."All of the effort that's happening right now is 100 percent the residents," said Chris Rogers, whose Dana Point home was largely wrecked. - (Caroline Brehman/For The Washington Post)Driessen and neighbor Steve Watts, 68, stopped outside Gupta's empty lot to chat with one of the men they hired to build their wall. Driessen brought up the video of the Coastal Commission meeting again as waves crashed over their barrier-in-progress. In her kitchen later, she vented to Watts and another neighbor. "My house was built in 1956, before the Coastal Commission even became a thing," she said. "So I can protect my home.""Constitutionally, we can all protect our home," Watts said."Right," the third neighbor said.Plenty of people disagree with their push to fortify the beach, however."The real threat to California's beaches isn't the waves - it's the concrete we pour after they hit," argues a recent op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle co-written by Lester, the former Coastal Commission director.California requires local governments to create adaptation plans for sea level rise by 2034. The Coastal Commission has been giving grants for long-term planning , said Kelsey Ducklow, the commission's statewide coastal resilience coordinator."What we hope to avoid for all communities is the sort of reactive responses that we're having to see now," Ducklow said.
This article originally appeared on Washington Post at https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/09/18/fight-intensifies-over-fate-california-homes-falling-into-sea/
U.S. military had close call after using AI to generate intelligence report U.S. military had close call after using AI to generate intelligence reportUS Army soldiers conduct unmanned aerial system training in April 2026. - Spc. Alva Gonzalez/US ArmyThe intelligence report, circulated across the US military this spring in the midst of the war with Iran, immediately set off alarm bells: A Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program.The US military swung into action with plans to intercept the vessel, according to four sources familiar with the episode. According to two of the sources, armed members of the US military were preparing to board the ship. Military planes were in the air, one of those sources and another source familiar with the incident said.It was only just before the planned operation that officials dug deeper into the report put together by a special operations command analyst and found it had been generated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) - and that a chatbot the analyst had used inaccurately identified the material the ship was carrying. CNN was not able to learn what the misidentified cargo was.The report, according to one of the sources, was "entirely false." But it also "almost started a war," the source said. Any US operation against a Chinese vessel could have risked spiraling into an armed conflict between the two nations.Across the US military and the intelligence community, officials are pushing to weave AI into nearly every facet of their work, from analyzing the huge volumes of raw intelligence the US collects and selecting targets for strikes, to more mundane applications like managing budgeting, logistics and supply chains.But the episode underscores the profound risks of using this powerful, new and relatively poorly understood technology for targeting in the middle of a war. Analysts have long feared that AI could lead to a catastrophic miscalculation if nation states are relying on poor or corrupted data - the kind of miscalculation that might lead the United States to fire on a Chinese ship based on inaccurate information.In this particular instance, the analyst queried a chatbot about some intelligence reporting on the ship's manifest that originated with US Special Operations Command Pacific, based in Hawaii. It was not clear whether the chatbot was a commercially available one or a US government product."The internal tools are mostly just copies of the commercial stuff wearing lipstick," a former senior US official familiar with the AI systems used by military and intelligence analysts.The bot fused together open-source intelligence with secret signals intelligence in government holdings and reached its fateful conclusion about the material the ship was carrying.The analyst then used AI again to package the findings into a standard intelligence report - the kind that is trusted by military officials - and disseminated it.US Special Operations Command Pacific and the Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.The rationale for the rapid adoption of AI is that it can help the military make battlefield decisions, like which targets to strike or which military assets to move where, faster. Officials say the US can't afford to fall behind in integrating AI in case it must one day fight China or another adversary who would potentially be able to stay one step ahead of the US.In January, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth released his agency's "Artificial Intelligence Acceleration Strategy" in a bid to speed up the military's use of AI."We will unleash experimentation, eliminate bureaucratic barriers, focus our investments and demonstrate the execution approach needed to ensure we lead in military AI," Hegseth said in a speech announcing the strategy.Secretary of War Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. - Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesThe strategy also pushes for its broad use across the military, ordering the department to make AI available via several programs with the aim of "democratizing AI experimentation and transformation across the Department by putting America's world-leading AI models directly in the hands of our three million civilian and military personnel, at all classification levels," a memo announcing the strategy said.But the effort is decentralized, multiple US officials familiar with the dynamic said, with different parts of the government using different tools under different orders and safety standards. There's no one set of standards for how the US verifies the information generated by these tools. The constellation of different AI systems being deployed by disparate corners of the military and intelligence community means that the relative reliability and functionality vary widely.For weeks, Washington policymakers have been intensely debating AI after a series of dire warnings from Silicon Valley engineers and tech CEOs of the possibility that AI could break free of human constraints, with potentially civilization-ending consequences.But the episode with the Chinese ship underscores a different, and more immediate risk: human beings making disastrous decisions based on inaccurate or misleading information generated by AI or other automated systems. Sources said that the military is rapidly turning to AI to help with targeting, an area which holds the obvious risk of fatal mistakes."AI in targeting is definitely something that is ramping up and there is no real guidance for how having a human in the loop will prevent civilian casualties or fratricide," another source familiar with the military's current policies said.The kind of "hallucination" that the tool used by the analyst in this case conjured has not been an isolated incident across the intelligence community since these tools began proliferating across government, according to one of the sources.For some older intelligence officials - even those who broadly support the use of AI inside the military - AI has put pressure on analysts to produce and disseminate intelligence faster, opening the door for mistakes. Young analysts in particular, several sources said, are natives on these tools and more likely to trust them uncritically."AI allows you to get to a bad idea faster," one of the sources said.For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.comThis article originally appeared on CNN at https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/politics/us-military-ai-false-intelligence-china-ship
