A doctor charged with giving Matthew Perry ketamine in the month leading up to the Friends star's overdose death will plead guilty, according to an agreement filed in court Monday.

Dr. Salvador Plasencia agreed to plead guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine, according to the signed document filed in federal court in Los Angeles. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop three additional counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of falsifying records.

RELATED STORY | Doctor who helped supply Matthew Perry ketamine pleads guilty to drug charge

Federal prosecutors said in a statement that the plea carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. They said Plasencia is expected to formally plead guilty in the coming weeks.

According to a co-defendant, Plasencia in a text message called the actor a moron who could be exploited for money. The physician had been one of the primary targets of the prosecution, along with a woman accused of being a ketamine dealer. Three other defendants, including another doctor, agreed to plead guilty last year in exchange for their cooperation.

Plasencia and the woman, Jasveen Sangha, had been scheduled to face trial in August. An email to his attorney seeking comment was not immediately answered.

Perry was found dead by his assistant on Oct. 28, 2023. The medical examiner ruled that ketamine, typically used as a surgical anesthetic, was the primary cause of death.

The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment for depression, which has become increasingly common. Perry, 54, began seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him.

RELATED STORY | Doctor who helped supply Matthew Perry ketamine pleads guilty to drug charge

Plasencia admitted in his plea agreement that another patient connected him with Perry, and that starting about a month before Perry's death, he illegally supplied the actor with 20 vials of ketamine totaling 100 mg of the drug, along with ketamine lozenges and syringes.

He admitted to enlisting the other doctor, Mark Chavez, to supply the drug for him, according to the court filings.

I wonder how much this moron will pay, Plasencia texted Chavez, according to Chavez's plea agreement. The two met up the same day in Costa Mesa, halfway between the Los Angeles area where Plasencia practiced and San Diego, where Chavez practiced, and exchanged several vials of ketamine, the filings said.

After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500, Plasencia allegedly asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perrys go-to, prosecutors said.

Plasencia admitted to visiting Perry's house twice and injecting him with ketamine. He also left ketamine behind and showed Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, how to inject it, according to Iwamasa's plea agreement. The doctor later met up with Iwamasa and gave him more ketamine for Perry, according to the document.

Perry was also getting ketamine from another source, Sangha, who prosecutors allege was a major dealer and supplied the dose that killed the actor.

Sangha has pleaded not guilty making her the only one of the five people charged in Perrys death who has not entered a plea agreement. She remains jailed as she awaits trial. Plasencia was freed on bond after his initial court appearances.

Erik Fleming, a friend of Perry who said he acted as a middleman and drug messenger, has also pleaded guilty and has been cooperating with prosecutors.

None of the defendants has yet been sentenced. Plasencia's plea deal makes no specific sentencing guarantees.

Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on Friends, when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBCs megahit.

President Donald Trumps order to block incoming foreign students from attending Harvard University will remain on hold temporarily following a hearing Monday, when a lawyer for the Ivy League school said Trump was using its students as pawns.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston extended a temporary restraining order on Trump's proclamation until June 23 while she weighs Harvard's request for a preliminary injunction. Burroughs made the decision at a hearing over Harvard's request, which Trump's Republican administration opposed.

Burroughs granted the initial restraining order June 5, and it had been set to expire Thursday.

Trump moved to block foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard earlier this month, citing concerns over national security. It followed a previous attempt by the Department of Homeland Security to revoke Harvard's ability to host foreign students on its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Burroughs has temporarily blocked that action, too, and is weighing whether it should remain on hold until the case is decided.

RELATED STORY | Trump administration moves to cut federal contracts for Harvard

Ian Gershengorn, a lawyer for Harvard, told Burroughs on Monday that Trump was using Harvards international students as pawns" while arguing the administration has exceeded its authority in an attempt to retaliate against the school for not agreeing to the president's demands.

I think there is no finding that Harvard is dangerous, he said.

Trump has been warring with Harvard for months after it rejected a series of government demands meant to address conservative complaints that the school has become too liberal and has tolerated anti-Jewish harassment. Trump officials have cut more than $2.6 billion in research grants, ended federal contracts and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status.

Foreign students were brought into the battle in April, when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard turn over a trove of records related to any dangerous or illegal activity by foreign students. Harvard says it complied, but Noem said the response fell short, and on May 22 she revoked Harvards certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

The sanction immediately put Harvard at a disadvantage as it competed for the worlds top students and harmed Harvards reputation as a global research hub, the school said in its lawsuit. Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard, the suit said.

The action would have upended some graduate schools that recruit heavily from abroad. Some schools overseas quickly offered invitations to Harvards students, including two universities in Hong Kong.

While Harvard's legal team on Monday said the federal government was unfairly and illegally singling the university out in Trump's proclamation, Department of Justice attorney Tiberius Davis countered that the administration has scrutinized dozens of universities over the past two months.

The power is within Harvard to fix this, Davis said, adding that currently the federal government believes other universities might be better to host foreign students.

Davis was the sole attorney to attend and defend the Trump administration during Monday's hearing compared with the six Harvard attorneys, a contrast that Burroughs commented on repeatedly.

Not only do you have this case but you have it alone, she said.

Harvard President Alan Garber previously said the university has made changes to combat antisemitism. But Harvard, he said, will not stray from its core, legally-protected principles, even after receiving federal ultimatums.

The NAACP announced Monday the group will not invite President Donald Trump to its national convention next month in Charlotte, North Carolina, the first time the prominent civil rights organization has opted to exclude a sitting president in its 116-year history.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson announced the move at an afternoon press conference, accusing Trump of working against its mission.

"This has nothing to do with political party," Johnson said in a statement. "Our mission is to advance civil rights, and the current president has made clear that his mission is to eliminate civil rights."

A message to the White House seeking comment was not immediately returned.

RELATED STORY | Trump directs ICE to expand deportations in Democratic-run cities

In recent months, the NAACP has filed multiple lawsuits against Trump.

In April, for example, the group sued to stop the Department of Education from withholding federal money for schools that did not end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, arguing the department was prohibiting legal efforts to provide equal opportunity to Black students.

NAACP officials noted that the decision was weighty in that the organization had long invited presidents with whom it disagreed.

Notably, Republican President George W. Bush addressed the group's convention in July 2006, after months of criticism for his administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which had a disproportionate impact on Black residents in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region.

The 39-year-old man shot and killed at a weekend No Kings protest in Salt Lake City was a successful fashion designer and former Project Runway contestant who devoted his life to celebrating artists from the Pacific Islands.

Arthur Folasa Ah Loo was killed when a man who was believed to be part of a peacekeeping team for the protest shot at a person brandishing a rifle at demonstrators, accidentally striking Ah Loo. Ah Loo later died at the hospital, authorities said.

Detectives dont yet know why the alleged rifleman pulled out a weapon or ran from the peacekeepers, but they charged him with murder and accused him of creating the dangerous situation that led to Ah Loos death, Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said at a Sunday news conference.

Ah Loo leaves behind his wife and two young children, according to a GoFundMe for his family that raised over $100,000 in 48 hours.

The self-taught fashion designer born in Samoa, known to many as Afa, devoted his life to doing the good things for his neighbors and community," state Rep. Verona Mauga said.

RELATED STORY | Innocent man killed as protest security fires at armed suspect in Salt Lake City

Mauga was at the No Kings Protest a few blocks from where Ah Loo was shot. She said she only had a sense that something was wrong when she saw the crowd running.

As tragic as his death is, she said, Ah Loo would have been proud that his last moments were spent fighting for what he believed in.

If Afa was going to go out any other way than natural causes, it would be standing up for marginalized and vulnerable communities and making sure that people had a voice, Mauga told The Associated Press on Monday.

While he wasn't typically overtly political, Ah Loo had a knack for connecting culture and diversity and service, and bringing people together, Mauga said.

Benjamin Powell, a hair salon innovator from Fiji, co-founded Create Pacific with Ah Loo shortly after they met four years ago. The organization uplifts artists from the Pacific Islands.

RELATED STORY | Organizers say millions came out for anti-Trump 'No Kings' protests

The two artists had a rare creative synergy, Powell said. Ah Loo's vibrant work delicately weaves traditional Pacific Island attire with modern silhouettes and design. He used flowers indigenous to Samoa as motifs, and frequently incorporated the traditional Pacific Islander art called Tapa, a cloth traditionally made from tree bark, into the garments he made.

Powell admired the meticulous attention to detail that made Ah Loo's work distinctive.

You would know right away that it was an Ah Loo design, Powell said.

Ah Loo and Powell were working on an upcoming August fashion show when he died. Powell said the show will continue and honor Ah Loos unwavering vision for his community.

Ah Loo's portfolio has earned numerous accolades over the years. He was a contestant in 2017 on Bravos Project Runway, a reality television show where fashion designers compete in front of celebrity judges to create runway looks on tight deadlines.

Recently, Ah Loo designed a garment for the star of the Disney Channel animated movie Moana 2, Hawaiian actor Aulii Cravalho.

Cravalho wore the outfit, which combined traditional and modern aesthetics from her culture, to the film's red carpet premiere in Hawaii last November.

This was the first time I was so active in helping to design a custom look, and Afa surpassed what I had envisioned, Cravalho told the magazine at the time.

But not all of his work was high-profile, Mauga said.

Ah Loo would volunteer his time and resources to tailor clothing for people who needed help, often refusing to let people compensate him for his work, Mauga said. Sometimes, Ah Loo would playfully criticize the outfits the newly elected Democratic representative wore on the campaign trail, and invite her to his studio so he could make her a new set of blazers. He would also make her dresses for events, sometimes just on a couple of hours notice.

Afa was so much a part of the community, she said.

It was 160 years ago that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed after the Civil War's end and two years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

The resulting Juneteenth holiday its name combining "June" and "nineteenth" has only grown in one-and-a-half centuries. In 2021, President Joe Biden designated it a federal holiday expanding its recognition beyond Black America.

This year will be the first Juneteenth under President Donald Trump's second administration, which has banned diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI, in the federal government. This has included removing Black American history content from federal websites. Trump officials have also discouraged some federal agencies from recognizing other racial heritage celebrations.

Still, many people anticipate getting Juneteenth off work. There are a plethora of street festivals, fairs, concerts and other events planned throughout the week leading into the holiday. But with the current political climate, some may wonder if their company will honor it.

"I don't think anyone should be intimidated or obligated into not celebrating the day," said Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. "I've not heard of anyone being denied. I think it would be absolutely reprehensible."

People who never gave the occasion more than a passing thought may be asking themselves, is there a "right" way to celebrate Juneteenth?

For beginners and those brushing up on history, here are some answers:

Is Juneteenth more of a solemn day of remembrance or a party?

It depends on what you want. Juneteenth festivities are rooted in cookouts and picnics. Originally celebrated as Black Americans' true Independence Day, outdoor events allowed for large, raucous reunions among formerly enslaved family, many of whom had been separated. The gatherings were especially revolutionary because they were free of restrictive measures, known as "Black Codes," enforced in Confederate states. Codes controlled whether liberated slaves could vote, buy property, gather for worship and other aspects of daily life.

Last year, the White House kicked things off early with a concert on the South Lawn for Juneteenth and Black Music Month. The atmosphere was primarily festive with Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black vice president, dancing on stage with gospel singer Kirk Franklin.

Plans for a Juneteenth event or proclamation this year have not been decided, according to the White House press office.

Others may choose to treat Juneteenth as a day of rest and remembrance. That can mean doing community service, attending an education panel or taking time off.

"The most important thing everyone should do is be able to quickly answer the question 'What is Juneteenth?'" Morial said.

What if you've never celebrated Juneteenth?

Dr. David Anderson, a Black pastor and CEO of Gracism Global, a consulting firm helping leaders navigate conversations bridging divides across race and culture, never did anything on Juneteenth in his youth. He didn't learn about it until his 30s.

"I think many folks haven't known about it who are even my color as an African American male. Even if you heard about it and knew about it, you didn't celebrate it," Anderson said. "It was like just a part of history. It wasn't a celebration of history."

For many African Americans, the farther away from Texas that they grew up increased the likelihood they didn't have big Juneteenth celebrations regularly. In the South, the day can vary based on when word of Emancipation reached each state.

What kind of public Juneteenth events are taking place?

Search online and you will find gatherings nationwide varying in scope and tone. Some are more carnivalesque festivals with food trucks, arts and crafts and parades. Within those festivals, you'll likely find information on health care, finance and community resources. There are also concerts and fashion shows to highlight Black creativity. There will also be panels to educate about Juneteenth's history.

The National Park Service is again making entry into all sites free on the holiday, according to its website.

Are there special Juneteenth decorations or foods?

The red, black and green African Liberation Flag, also known as the Pan-African flag, has historically been displayed at both Black History Month and Juneteenth celebrations. Red represents bloodshed and sacrifice of enslaved ancestors. Black symbolizes Black people. Green represents richness of the land in Africa.

More people, however, have leaned into the Juneteenth flag created in 1997 by activist Ben Haith, who founded the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation. Like the American flag, it is red, white and blue to indicate those freed are also Americans. The five-point white star in the middle is a tribute to Juneteenth's birthplace of Texas. It is encircled by another white starry line that represents the spreading of freedom.

Aside from barbecue, the color red has been a through line for Juneteenth food for generations. Red symbolizes the bloodshed and sacrifice of enslaved ancestors. A Juneteenth menu might incorporate items like barbecued ribs or other red meat, watermelon and red velvet cake. Drinks like fruit punch and red Kool-Aid may make an appearance at the table.

In recent years, Juneteenth has become more commercialized with national chains selling Juneteenth party supplies, T-shirts and other merchandise. However, this year, Juneteenth items appear to be fewer or only online. Morial says he would be disappointed if companies decided selling Juneteenth items out in the open was too risky because of politics. At the same time, it might be a good opportunity for consumers.

"I would also encourage people to go online and look for an African American vendor," Morial said. "If you got to participate in that (commercialism), that's what I would do."

Does how you celebrate Juneteenth matter if you aren't Black?

Dr. Karida Brown, a sociology professor at Emory University whose research focuses on race, said there's no reason to feel awkward about wanting to recognize Juneteenth just because you have no personal ties or you're not Black. In fact, embrace it.

"I would reframe that and challenge my non-Black folks who want to lean into Juneteenth and celebrate," Brown said. "It absolutely is your history. It absolutely is a part of your experience. ... Isn't this all of our history? The good, the bad, the ugly, the story of emancipation and freedom for your Black brothers and sisters under the Constitution of the law."

What are other names used to refer to Juneteenth?

Over the decades, Juneteenth has also been called Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Black Fourth of July and second Independence Day among others.

"Because 1776, Fourth of July, where we're celebrating freedom and liberty and all of that, that did not include my descendants," Brown said. "Black people in America were still enslaved. So that holiday always comes with a bittersweet tinge to it."

Is there a proper Juneteenth greeting?

It's typical to wish people a "Happy Juneteenth" or "Happy Teenth," according to Alan Freeman, a comedian who has organized a June 19 comedy show at Club 68, which local media has described as the last Black bar and club on Galveston Island. The day after he will host a stand-up comedy and jazz show at his Houston restaurant and lounge, the Frisky Whisky.

"You know how at Christmas people will say 'Merry Christmas' to each other and not even know each other?" Freeman said. "You can get a 'Merry Christmas' from everybody. This is the same way."

Iran launched a second night of missiles against Israel late Saturday while Israel's military kept up attacks inside Tehran and elsewhere, a day after Israels blistering attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Both Israels military and Iran state television announced the latest round of Iranian missiles as explosions were heard in parts of Israel, including Tel Aviv, less than an hour before midnight while the security cabinet was meeting. Fire officials reported a collapsed building in the north. Within the hour, Israel's military said people could leave shelters.

The military noted it was currently striking military targets in Tehran, where Iranian state television said explosions were heard in the citys east and west.

Israel's ongoing widespread strikes across Iran have left the country's surviving leadership with the difficult decision of whether to plunge deeper into conflict with Israels more powerful forces or seek a diplomatic route.

Omans foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, said on social media the sixth round of indirect talks on Sunday over Iran 's nuclear program would not take place. "We remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon," said a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy.

RELATED STORY | US assisting Israel as it defends against second wave of missile strikes from Iran

World leaders made urgent calls to deescalate and avoid all-out war. The attack on nuclear sites set a dangerous precedent, China's foreign minister said. The region is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza after 20 months of fighting.

Israel widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East said its hundreds of strikes on Iran over the past two days killed a number of top generals, nine senior scientists and experts involved in Irans nuclear program. Irans U.N. ambassador has said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded.

Iran retaliated for a second night Saturday as explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Israel said three people were killed overnight into Saturday in the first attack and over 170 wounded.

"If (Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front Tehran will burn, Defense Minister Israel Katz said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the destruction of Irans nuclear program his top priority, said Israel's strikes so far are "nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days.

RELATED STORY | Israel attacks Iran, killing top military officers

In what could be another escalation if confirmed, semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported an Israeli drone struck and caused a strong explosion at an Iranian natural-gas processing plant. It would be the first Israeli attack on Irans oil and natural gas industry. Israel's military did not immediately comment.

The extent of damage at the South Pars natural gas field was not immediately clear. Such sites have air defense systems around them, which Israel has been targeting.

Iran calls nuclear talks unjustifiable

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, and U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran was not actively pursuing the bomb. But its uranium enrichment has reached near weapons-grade levels, and on Thursday, the U.N.s atomic watchdog censured Iran for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Irans top diplomat said Saturday the nuclear talks were unjustifiable after Israel's strikes. Abbas Araghchi's comments came during a call with Kaja Kallas, the European Unions top diplomat.

The Israeli airstrikes were the result of the direct support by Washington, Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The U.S. has said it isnt part of the strikes.

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, adding that "Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.

US helps to shoot down Iranian missiles

Iran launched its first waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday. Iranians awoke to state television airing repeated clips of the strikes, as well as videos of people cheering and handing out sweets.

The Iranian attacks killed at least three people and wounded 174, two of them seriously, Israel said. The military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where the first report of Israeli military casualties since the initial Israeli strikes.

U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures.

In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an Associated Press journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one whose front was nearly entirely torn away.

Residents of a central Israeli city hit Friday night, Rishon Lezion, said the explosion was so powerful it shook their shelter door open. We thought, thats it, the house is gone, and in fact half of the house was gone, said Moshe Shani.

Israels main international airport said it will remain closed until further notice.

Indications of a new Israeli attack

Israel's army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, said Israel had attacked more than 400 targets across Iran, including 40 in Tehran, where dozens of fighter jets were operating freely. He said it was the deepest point Israel's air force had operated.

Defrin said fighter jets struck over 40 missile-related targets and advanced air defense array systems across Iran.

A governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran said 30 troops and a rescuer had been killed there, with 55 others wounded. Gov. Bahram Sarmast's remarks were the latest acknowledgment of mass casualties.

Iranian state television reported online that air defenses were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz. Footage from Tabriz showed black smoke rising.

The sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran. Irans semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehrans Mehrabad International Airport.

More than a few weeks to repair nuclear facilities

Israel attacked Irans main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. Satellite photos analyzed by AP show extensive damage there. The images shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility.

U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged infrastructure there, he said.

Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, including infrastructure for enriched uranium conversion, and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said four critical buildings at the Isfahan site were damaged, including its uranium conversion facility. As in Natanz, no increase in off-site radiation expected, it added.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures, said that according to the army's initial assessment it will take much more than a few weeks for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.

Israel denied it had struck the nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran, after an Iranian news outlet close to the government reported the sound of explosions nearby.

Netanyahu said the attack had been months in the making and was planned for April before being postponed.

Among those killed were three of Irans top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guards aerospace division, which oversees its arsenal of ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. On Saturday, Khamenei named a new leader for the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division: Gen. Majid Mo

After a week of protests over federal immigration raids, about 200 Marines moved into Los Angeles on Friday to guard a federal building in the city while communities across the country prepped for whats anticipated to be a nationwide wave of large-scale demonstrations against President Donald Trumps polices this weekend.

The Marine troops wearing combat gear and carrying rifles took over some posts from National Guard members who were deployed to the city after the protests erupted last week. Those protests sparked dozens more over several days around the country, with some leading to clashes with police and hundreds of arrests.

On Friday, Marines started to replace Guard members protecting the federal building west of downtown, so the Guard soldiers can be assigned to protect law enforcement officers on raids, the commander in charge of 4,700 troops deployed to the LA protests said.

The Marines moved into Los Angeles before Saturdays planned No Kings demonstrations nationally against Trumps policies, which will also happen the same day as a military parade in Washington, D.C.

RELATED STORY | US Marines temporarily detain man after he approached federal building in LA

The Marines arrival also came a day after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked a federal judges order that had directed Trump to return control of Guard troops to California. The judge had ruled the Guard deployment was illegal, violated the Tenth Amendment, which defines the power between state and federal governments, and exceeded Trumps statutory authority. The judge did not rule on the presence of the Marines.

Military mission

Some 2,000 National Guard troops were deployed to Los Angeles this week. Hundreds have provided protection to immigration agents, making arrests. Another 2,000 Guard members were notified of deployment earlier this week.

Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, the commander of Task Force 51, who is overseeing the 4,700 combined troops, said none of the military troops will be detaining anyone, though the Marines temporarily detained a man Friday afternoon who had walked onto the property and did not immediately hear their commands to stop. He was later released without charges.

Roughly 500 National Guard members have been used to provide security on immigration raids after undergoing expanded instruction, legal training and rehearsals with the agents doing the enforcement before they go on those missions.

When asked about working together with the Marines, Los Angeles police Chief Jim McDonnell said he wouldnt call it coordination but said he and the county sheriff were on a call with military senior leadership Thursday to open lines of communication in case situations arise where collaboration is needed.

Under federal law, active-duty forces are prohibited by law from conducting law enforcement.

RELATED STORY | Florida sheriff says deputies will kill protesters who break the law

By mid-afternoon Friday, more than a dozen Marines were stationed outside the 17-story Wilshire Federal Building. They mostly appeared to be checking tickets from members of the public who were there to renew their passports.

The federal building is the same place Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla on Thursday was forcefully removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noems news conference and handcuffed by officers as he tried to speak up about the immigration raids.

There were no protesters around the building. Occasionally, a passing driver shouted from their window, registering a mix of anger and support for the military presence.

California vs. Trump

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called the troop deployment a serious breach of state sovereignty and a power grab by Trump, and he has gone to court to stop it. The president has cited a legal provision that allows him to mobilize federal service members when there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.

A federal judge said in a ruling late Thursday that what is happening in Los Angeles does not meet the definition of a rebellion and issued an order to return control of the Guard to California before the appeals court stopped it from going into effect Friday. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump thanked the appeals court Friday morning.

If I didnt send the Military into Los Angeles, that city would be burning to the ground right now, he said.

The court will hold a hearing on the matter on Tuesday.

The Trump administration has characterized the city as a war zone, which local authorities dispute. Recent protesters have drawn a few hundred attendees who marched through downtown chanting, dancing and poking fun at the Trump administrations characterization of the city.

There have been about 500 arrests since Saturday, mostly for failing to leave the area at the request of law enforcement, according to the police. There have been a handful of more serious charges, including for assault against officers and for possession of a Molotov cocktail and a gun. Nine officers have been hurt, mostly with minor injuries.

An 8 p.m. curfew has been in place in a 1-square-mile (2.5-square-kilometer) section of downtown. The city of Los Angeles encompasses roughly 500 square miles (1,295 square kilometers). Protests have ended after a few hours, with arrests this week largely for failure to disperse. Mayor Karen Bass said Friday there was no termination date for the curfew yet.

The occasional motorist, cyclist and pedestrian passed in front of the federal building and the troops guarding it as the curfew took effect Friday. Residents living in the curfew zone and traveling to and from work there are exempt from the rule.

No Kings

The No Kings demonstrations are planned in nearly 2,000 locations around the country, according to the movements website.

A flagship march and rally is planned for Philadelphia, but no protests are scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., where the military parade will be held. Participants are expected to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation, organizers say.

States face questions on deploying troops

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has put 5,000 National Guard members on standby in cities where demonstrations are planned. In other Republican-controlled states, governors have not said when or how they may deploy troops.

A group of Democratic governors in a statement called Trumps deployments an alarming abuse of power.

Military parade

The military parade in Washington will also feature concerts, fireworks, NFL players, fitness competitions and displays all over the National Mall for daylong festivities. The celebration Saturday also happens to be Trumps birthday.

The Army expects as many as 200,000 people could attend and says putting on the celebration will cost an estimated $25 million to $45 million.

Saturday is also Flag Day, which celebrates the adoption of the U.S. flag in 1777.

California Democratic state Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas turned an American flag on her desk upside-down in protest of the federal immigration crackdown in Los Angeles during a Friday legislative session honoring the holiday.

What is happening in this country, what is happening in my city makes me feel distressed as an American, said Smallwood-Cuevas, who represents downtown Los Angeles.

President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order paving the way for a Nippon Steel investment in U.S. Steel, so long as the Japanese company complies with a national security agreement submitted by the federal government.

Trump's order didnt detail the terms of the national security agreement.

But the iconic American steelmaker and Nippon Steel said in a joint statement that the agreement stipulates that approximately $11 billion in new investments will be made by 2028 and includes giving the U.S. government a golden share " essentially veto power to ensure the country's national security interests are protected against cutbacks in steel production.

We thank President Trump and his Administration for their bold leadership and strong support for our historic partnership," the two companies said. "This partnership will bring a massive investment that will support our communities and families for generations to come. We look forward to putting our commitments into action to make American steelmaking and manufacturing great again.

The companies have completed a U.S. Department of Justice review and received all necessary regulatory approvals, the statement said.

The partnership is expected to be finalized promptly, the statement said.

The companies offered few details on how the golden share would work, what other provisions are in the national security agreement and how specifically the $11 billion would be spent.

White House spokesman Kush Desai said the order ensures U.S. Steel will remain in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and be safeguarded as a critical element of Americas national and economic security.

James Brower, a Morrison Foerster lawyer who represents clients in national security-related matters, said such agreements with the government typically are not disclosed to the public, particularly by the government.

They can become public, but it's almost always disclosed by a party in the transaction, such as a company like U.S. Steel that is publicly held, Brower said.

The mechanics of how a golden share would work will depend on the national security agreement, but in such agreements it isn't unusual to give the government approval rights over specific activities, Brower said.

RELATED STORY | Trump says US Steel will keep HQ in Pittsburgh in a sign he'll approve bid by Japan-based Nippon

U.S. Steel made no filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

Nippon Steel in late 2023 offered nearly $15 billion to purchase the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel in an acquisition that had been delayed on national security concerns starting during Joe Bidens presidency.

As it sought to win over American officials, Nippon Steel gradually increased the amount of money it was pledging to invest into U.S. Steel. American officials now value the transaction at $28 billion, including the purchase bid and a new electric arc furnace a more modern steel mill that melts down scrap that they say Nippon Steel will build in the U.S. after 2028.

Nippon Steel had pledged to maintain U.S. Steels headquarters in Pittsburgh, put U.S. Steel under a board with a majority of American citizens and keep plants operating.

It also said it would protect the interests of U.S. Steel in trade matters and it wouldnt import steel slabs that would compete with U.S. Steels blast furnaces in Pennsylvania and Indiana.

Trump opposed the purchase while campaigning for the White House, and using his authority Biden blocked the transaction on his way out of the White House. But Trump expressed openness to working out an arrangement once he returned to the White House in January.

Trump said Thursday that he would as president have total control of what U.S. Steel did as part of the investment.

Trump said then that the deal would preserve 51% ownership by Americans, although Nippon Steel has never backed off its stated intention of buying and controlling U.S. Steel as a wholly owned subsidiary.

We have a golden share, which I control, Trump said.

Trump added that he was a little concerned about what presidents other than him would do with their golden share, but that gives you total control.

The proposed merger had been under review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, during the Trump and Biden administrations.

The order signed Friday by Trump said the CFIUS review provided credible evidence that Nippon Steel might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States, but such risks might be adequately mitigated by approving the proposed national security agreement.

The order doesn't detail the perceived national security risk and only provides a timeline for the national security agreement. The White House declined to provide details on the terms of the agreement.

The order said the draft agreement was submitted to U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel on Friday. The two companies must successfully execute the agreement as decided by the Treasury Department and other federal agencies that are part CFIUS by the closing date of the transaction.

Trump reserves the authority to issue further actions regarding the investment as part of the order he signed on Friday.

A former student opened fire at a school in Austrias second-biggest city on Tuesday, killing nine people and wounding at least 12 others before taking his own life, authorities said.

There was no immediate information on the motive of the 21-year-old man, who wasnt previously known to police. He had two weapons, which he appeared to have owned legally, police said.

Special forces were among those sent to the BORG Dreierschtzengasse high school, about a kilometer (over half a mile) from Grazs historic center, after a call at 10 a.m. At 11.30 a.m., police wrote on social network X that the school had been evacuated and everyone had been taken to a safe meeting point.

Police said they didnt immediately have information on the mans motive, but said that he killed himself in a restroom after fatally shooting nine people.

The shooter was a former student at the school who didnt finish his studies, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said at a press conference in Graz.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | 3rd teen arrested in foiled attack on now-canceled Taylor Swift shows in Austria

Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said there would be three days of national mourning, with the Austrian flag lowered to half-staff and a national minute of mourning at 10 a.m. Wednesday. He said that it was a dark day in the history of our country.

Photos from the scene showed a large police deployment, including at least one helicopter and emergency vehicles around the school.

President Alexander Van der Bellen said that this horror cannot be captured in words.

These were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them. A teacher who accompanied them on their way, he said.

Schools are symbols for youth, hope and the future, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X. It is hard to bear when schools become places of death and violence.

Graz, Austrias second-biggest city, is located in the southeast of the country and has about 300,000 inhabitants.

Israel deported activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday, the country's Foreign Ministry said, a day after the Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized by the Israeli military.

Thunberg left on a flight to France and was then headed to her home country of Sweden, the Foreign Ministry said in a post on X. It posted a photo of Thunberg, a climate activist who shuns air travel, seated on a plane.

Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on the Madleen, a ship carrying aid to Gaza that was meant to protest Israel's ongoing war there and shed light on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group behind the journey.

Israeli naval forces seized the boat without incident early Monday about 125 miles off of Gazas coast, according to the coalition, which along with rights groups, said Israel's actions were a violation of international law. Israel rejects that charge because it says such ships intend to breach what it argues is a lawful naval blockade of Gaza.

The boat, accompanied by Israels navy, arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod Monday evening, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Other activists face deportation

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said three activists, including Thunberg, had been deported along with a journalist. It said it had encouraged some of the group to do this so they could speak freely about their experiences.

Eight other passengers refused deportation and were being held in detention before their case is to be heard by Israeli authorities. Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing the activists, said the eight were expected to be brought before a court later Tuesday.

RELATED STORY | Israel vows to prevent aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg from reaching Gaza

Their detention is unlawful, politically motivated and a direct violation of international law, the coalition said in a statement. It called for the remaining passengers to be released without deportation and said their lawyers would demand that they be allowed to complete their journey to Gaza.

Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for Israel's Interior Ministry, said the activists who were being deported Tuesday had waived their right to appear before a judge. Those who did not will face one and will be held for 96 hours before being deported, she said.

Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was also among the passengers on board the Madleen. She has previously been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. It was not clear whether she was being immediately deported or detained.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Tuesday that one of the detained French activists signed an expulsion order and will leave Israel on Tuesday for France. The other five refused. He said all the activists received consular visits.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Climate activist Greta Thunberg joins aid ship sailing to Gaza aimed at breaking Israel's blockade

Sergio Toribio, a Spanish activist who was deported, slammed Israel's actions after he arrived in Barcelona.

It is unforgivable, it is a violation of our rights. It is a pirate attack in international waters," he told reporters.

Questions over a breach of international law

On Monday, Adalah, the rights group, said that Israel had no legal authority to take over the ship, because the group said it was in international waters and it was headed not to Israel but to the territorial waters of the state of Palestine.

The arrest of the unarmed activists, who operated in a civilian manner to provide humanitarian aid, amounts to a serious breach of international law, Adalah said in a statement.

Amnesty International said Israel was flouting international law with the naval raid and called on Israel to release the activists immediately and unconditionally.

Israel said its actions were consistent with international law.

Israel viewed the ship as a publicity stunt, calling it the selfie yacht." Israeli officials said that the flotilla was bringing meager aid with what amounted to less than a truckload of goods.

A longstanding blockade of Gaza

Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of a blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, while critics say it amounts to collective punishment of Gazas Palestinian population.

During the 20-month-long war in Gaza, Israel has restricted and sometimes blocked all aid into the territory, including food, fuel and medicine. Experts say that policy has pushed Gaza toward famine. Israel says Hamas siphons off the aid to bolster its rule.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack that ignited the war and took 251 hostages, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.

Israels military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesnt distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said that women and children make up most of the dead.

The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territorys population, leaving people there almost completely dependent on international aid.

Another 2,000 National Guard troops, along with 700 Marines, are headed to Los Angeles on orders Monday from President Donald Trump, escalating a military presence local officials and Gov. Gavin Newsom dont want and the police chief says creates logistical challenges for safely handling protests.

An initial 2,000 Guard troops ordered by Trump started arriving Sunday, which saw the most violence during three days of protests driven by anger over Trumps stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws that critics say are breaking apart migrant families.

Monday's demonstrations were far less raucous, with thousands peacefully attending a rally at City Hall and hundreds protesting outside a federal complex that includes a detention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids across the city.

Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth. They say he is putting public safety at risk by adding military personnel, even though police say they dont need the help.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement he was confident in the police departments ability to handle large-scale demonstrations and that the Marines arrival without coordinating with the police department presented a significant logistical and operational challenge for them.

Newsom called the deployments reckless and disrespectful to our troops in a post on the social platform X.

This isnt about public safety, Newsom said. Its about stroking a dangerous Presidents ego.

RELATED STORY | Trump to deploy approximately 700 Marines to LA protests

The protests began Friday in downtown Los Angeles after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across the city. The smell of smoke hung in the air downtown Monday, one day after crowds blocked a major freeway and set self-driving cars on fire as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.

Additional protests against immigration raids continued into the evening on Monday in several other cities, including San Francisco and Santa Ana in California and Dallas and Austin in Texas.

California pushes back against presence of federal troops

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops following the first deployment, telling reporters in his announcement Monday that Trump had trampled the states sovereignty.

We dont take lightly to the president abusing his authority and unlawfully mobilizing California National Guard troops, Bonta said. He sought a court order declaring Trumps use of the Guard unlawful and asking for a restraining order to halt the deployment.

Trump said Monday that the city would have been completely obliterated if he had not deployed the Guard.

U.S. officials said the Marine troops were deployed to protect federal property and personnel, including federal immigration agents. Trumps Monday order put more National Guard members on active duty, but one U.S. official warned that the order was just signed and it could take a day or two to get troops moving. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements.

Despite their presence, there has been limited engagement so far between the Guard and protesters while local law enforcement implements crowd control.

Bass criticized the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines as a deliberate attempt by the Trump administration to create disorder and chaos in our city.

RELATED STORY | Does President Trump have the authority to deploy the National Guard?

She made a plea to the federal government: Stop the raids.

Early protests remained peaceful

On Monday, thousands flooded the streets around City Hall for a union rally ahead of a hearing for arrested labor leader David Huerta, who was freed a few hours later on a $50,000 bond. Huertas arrest on Friday while protesting immigration raids has become a rallying cry for people angry over the administration's crackdown. He is the president of the Service Employees International Union California, which represents thousands of the state's janitors, security officers and other workers.

Early protests had a calm and even joyful atmosphere at times, with people dancing to live music and buoyed by Huertas release.

Protesters linked hands in front of a line of police officers outside the downtown federal detention center where Huerta was being held. Religious leaders joined the protesters, working with organizers at times to de-escalate moments of tension.

There was a heavy law enforcement presence in the few square blocks, including the federal detention facility, while most in the immense city of some 4 million people went about their normal business on peaceful streets.

Chanting against a line of National Guard troops with Homeland Security officers behind them surrounding the federal buildings ramped up in the afternoon as people yelled, Free them all! and National Guard go away.

As the crowd thinned, police began pushing protesters away from the area, firing crowd-control munitions as people chanted, "Peaceful protest. Officers became more aggressive in their tactics in the evening, occasionally surging forward to arrest protesters that got too close. At least a dozen people remaining in the busy Little Tokyo neighborhood were surrounded by police and detained.

Other protests took shape Monday across L.A. County. Outside a Los Angeles clothing warehouse, relatives of detained workers demanded at a news conference in the morning that their loved ones be released.

The family of Jacob Vasquez, 35, who was detained Friday at the warehouse where he worked, said they had yet to receive any information about him.

Jacob is a family man and the sole breadwinner of his household, Vasquez's brother, Gabriel, told the crowd. He asked that his last name not be used, fearing being targeted by authorities.

Several dozen people were arrested in protests throughout the weekend. Authorities say one was detained Sunday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at police and another for ramming a motorcycle into a line of officers.

Guard deployment is a nearly unprecedented escalation

The deployment appeared to be the first time in decades that a states National Guard was activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who have sought to hinder the administrations mass deportation efforts.

The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor's permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

In a directive Saturday, Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Monday dismissed all 17 members of a CDC committee that advises the agency on vaccine safety and schedules, saying HHS planned to replace the board with new candidates.

Kennedy said the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices held too many conflicts of interest.

Today we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda, Kennedy wrote in a statement on the change. The public must know that unbiased scienceevaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interestguides the recommendations of our health agencies.

The ACIP is scheduled to meet later this month in Atlanta. It's not clear if the dismissal of committee members will postpone that meeting, or whether Kennedy plans to replace the board before that time.

RELATED STORY | CDC eliminates COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children, pregnant women

The sweeping of the committee generated immediate criticism from some health experts.

"For generations, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has been a trusted national source of science- and data-driven advice and guidance on the use of vaccines to prevent and control disease," said Bruce A. Scott, M.D., the President of the American Medical Association. "Physicians, parents, community leaders and public health officials rely on them for clinical guidance, public health information, and knowledge. Todays action to remove the 17 sitting members of ACIP undermines that trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives."

Kennedy's changes also appeared to contradict commitments he made before his confirmation that he would keep existing guidance and recommendations on vaccines in place. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican representing Louisiana who voted to confirm Kennedy, said Monday he would seek to ensure the new committee retained its expertise.

Sly Stone, the revolutionary musician and dynamic showman whose Sly and the Family Stone transformed popular music in the 1960s and 70s and beyond with such hits as Everyday People, Stand! and Family Affair, has died. He was 82

Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, had been in poor health in recent years. His publicist, Carleen Donovan, said Monday that Stone died surrounded by family after contending with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other ailments.

Formed in 1966-67, Sly and the Family Stone was the first major group to include Black and white men and women, and well embodied a time when anything seemed possible riots and assassinations, communes and love-ins. The singers screeched, chanted, crooned and hollered. The music was a blowout of frantic horns, rapid-fire guitar and locomotive rhythms, a melting pot of jazz, psychedelic rock, doo-wop, soul and the early grooves of funk.

Slys time on top was brief, roughly from 1968-1971, but profound. No band better captured the gravity-defying euphoria of the Woodstock era or more bravely addressed the crash which followed. From early songs as rousing as their titles I Want To Take You Higher, Stand! to the sober aftermath of Family Affair and Runnin Away, Sly and the Family Stone spoke for a generation whether or not it liked what they had to say.

Stones group began as a Bay Area sextet featuring Sly on keyboards, Larry Graham on bass; Slys brother, Freddie, on guitar; sister Rose on vocals; Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini horns and Greg Errico on drums. They debuted with the album A Whole New Thing and earned the title with their breakthrough single, Dance to the Music. It hit the top 10 in April 1968, the week the Rev. Martin Luther King was murdered, and helped launch an era when the polish of Motown and the understatement of Stax suddenly seemed of another time.

Led by Sly Stone, with his leather jumpsuits and goggle shades, mile-wide grin and mile-high Afro, the band dazzled in 1969 at the Woodstock festival and set a new pace on the radio. Everyday People, I Wanna Take You Higher and other songs were anthems of community, non-conformity and a brash and hopeful spirit, built around such catchphrases as different strokes for different folks. The group released five top 10 singles, three of them hitting No. 1, and three million-selling albums: Stand!, Theres a Riot Goin On and Greatest Hits.

For a time, countless performers wanted to look and sound like Sly and the Family Stone. The Jackson Fives breakthrough hit, I Want You Back and the Temptations I Cant Get Next to You were among the many songs from the late 1960s that mimicked Slys vocal and instrumental arrangements. Miles Davis landmark blend of jazz, rock and funk, Bitches Brew, was inspired in part by Sly, while fellow jazz artist Herbie Hancock even named a song after him.

He had a way of talking, moving from playful to earnest at will. He had a look, belts, and hats and jewelry, Questlove wrote in the foreword to Stones memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), named for one of his biggest hits and published through Questloves imprint in 2023. He was a special case, cooler than everything around him by a factor of infinity.

In 2025, Questlove released the documentary Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius).

Five members of the Proud Boys, a far-right militant group, claim their constitutional rights were violated when they were prosecuted for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.

The lawsuit was filed in Orlando federal court by former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Ethan Nordean and Dominic Pezzola. It seeks unspecified compensatory damages plus 6% interest and $100 million plus interest in punitive damages.

There was hostages in this country, Tarrio said during a news conference Friday afternoon. It's not about any other country today, and that's why this lawsuit is so important to bring back law and order into our system.

The lawsuit claims the men were arrested with insufficient probable cause and that government agents later found fake incriminating evidence. They also claim they were held for years in pretrial detention, often in solitary confinement.

RELATED STORY | Enrique Tarrio, former Proud Boys leader, released from prison after pardon

The Plaintiffs themselves did not obstruct the proceedings at the Capitol, destroy government property, resist arrest, conspire to impede the police, or participate in civil disorder, nor did they plan for or order anyone else to do so," the lawsuit said.

Tarrio, Biggs, Rehl and Nordean were all convicted of seditious conspiracy and other crimes for their participation in the Capitol riot that sought to stop Congress from certifying former U.S. President Joe Bidens win over President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Pezzola was acquitted on the conspiracy charge but convicted of stealing a police officer's riot shield and using it to smash a window.

RELATED STORY | President Trump pardons about 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, commutes sentences for 14 others

After returning to office earlier this year, Trump granted pardons to almost all of the more than 1,500 people who stormed the Capitol. While Tarrio received a pardon, the other four plaintiffs had their sentences commuted. The lawsuit said all four applied for pardons on May 13.

The U.S. Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

A judge on Monday dismissed the lawsuit filed by actor and director Justin Baldoni against his It Ends With Us costar Blake Lively after she sued him for sexual harassment and retaliation.

U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman's decision is the latest development in the bitter legal battle surrounding the dark romantic drama that includes Lively suing Baldoni in late December.

Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios countersued in January for $400 million, accusing Lively and her husband, Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.

The judge ruled that Baldoni cant sue Lively for defamation over claims she made in her lawsuit, because allegations made in a lawsuit are exempt from libel claims. Liman also ruled that Baldoni's claims that Lively stole creative control of the film didn't count as extortion under California law.

Baldoni's legal team can revise the lawsuit if they want to pursue different claims related to whether Lively breached a contract, the judge said.

Emails seeking comment were sent to attorneys for Baldoni and Lively.

It Ends With Us, an adaptation of Colleen Hoovers bestselling 2016 novel that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut. But the movies release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.

The judge also dismissed Baldoni's defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, which had reported on Lively's sexual harassment allegations.

A small plane crashed off the San Diego coast shortly after takeoff, killing all six people on board, the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday.

The twin-engine Cessna 414 crashed at around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, the FAA said. The plane was returning to Phoenix one day after flying out from Arizona, according to the flight tracking website Flightaware.com.

The Coast Guard said searchers found a debris field later Sunday about 5 miles off the coast of Point Loma, a San Diego neighborhood that juts into the Pacific, U.S. Coast Guard officials. The water in the search area is about 200 feet deep.

Although the FAA said all six people on board the plane were killed, authorities havent identified them.

The FAA said the plane is owned by vitamin and nutritional supplement maker Optimal Health Systems. But the company based in Pima, Arizona, said in a statement that it sold the plane to a group of private individuals in 2023, meaning the FAA database could be out of date.

However, the companys founder, Doug Grant, said in the statement that, We personally know several of the passengers onboard and our sincerest condolences are offered to those affected by the tragedy, all of whom are incredible members of our small community.

The FAA referred questions about the plane's ownership to the National Transportation Safety Board, which didn't immediately provide any further details about the crash.

The pilot told air traffic controllers that he was struggling to maintain his heading and climb as the plane twice turned towards shore before going back out to sea, according to audio posted by www.LiveATC.net and radar data posted by FlightAware. The controller urged the pilot to climb to 4,000 feet after he reported the plane was only about 1,000 feet in the air.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | A music talent agency says 3 employees died on a plane that crashed into a San Diego neighborhood

The controller directed the pilot to land at a nearby U.S. naval airport on Coronado Island, but the pilot said he was unable to see the airport. A short time later, the pilot repeatedly signaled the Mayday distress call before controllers lost radar contact.

A man who was out surfing when the plane crashed told NBC 7 in San Diego that he saw the plane come down at an angle, then climb back into the clouds before diving again and crashing into the water.

The next time he came out of the clouds, he went straight into the water. But after I saw this splash, about six seconds later, it was dead silent. I knew that they went in the water, nose first, at a high speed," Tyson Wislofsky said.

The crash comes weeks after a small Cessna crashed into a San Diego neighborhood in foggy weather and killed six people.

National Guard troops have begun arriving in Los Angeles on orders from President Donald Trump to stamp out protests that have broken out in recent days against federal immigration authorities seeking to carry out deportations in the region.

The members of Californias National Guard were seen staging early Sunday at the federal complex in downtown Los Angeles that includes the Metropolitan Detention Center, where confrontations occurred the last two days.

Trump says he is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Federal authorities arrest dozens for immigration violations across Los Angeles

Confrontations broke out on Saturday near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles, where federal agents were staging at a Department of Homeland Security office nearby. Agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls, and protesters hurled rocks and cement at Border Patrol vehicles. Smoke wafted from small piles of burning refuse in the streets.

Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, including in LAs fashion district and at a Home Depot, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.

The White House announced that Trump would deploy the Guard to address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester.

Newsom, a Democrat, said in a post on the social platform X that it was purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions. He later said the federal government wants a spectacle and urged people not to give them one by becoming violent.

In a signal of the administrations aggressive approach, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to deploy the U.S. military.

If violence continues, active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized they are on high alert, Hegseth said on X.

Trumps order came after clashes in Paramount and neighboring Compton, where a car was set on fire. Protests continued into the evening in Paramount, with several hundred demonstrators gathered near a doughnut shop, and authorities holding up barbed wire to keep the crowd back.

Crowds also gathered again outside federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including a detention center, where local police declared an unlawful assembly and began to arrest people.

Iran's intelligence minister claimed without offering evidence Sunday that Tehran seized an important treasury of information regarding Israel's nuclear program, ahead of a week in which the Islamic Republic likely will face new diplomatic pressure over its own program.

The remarks by Esmail Khatib follow Iranian state television claiming Saturday that Iranian intelligence officials seized documents, again without any evidence. Israel, whose undeclared atomic weapons program makes it the only country in the Mideast with nuclear bombs, has not acknowledged any such Iranian operation targeting it though there have been arrests of Israelis allegedly spying for Tehran amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Iran, meanwhile, will likely face censure this week from the Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency over longstanding questions about its program. Iran has also signaled it will reject a proposal from the United States after five rounds of negotiations over its nuclear program setting the stage for that long-running crisis to potentially spike as well.

Treasury of secrets claim comes without evidence

Responding to questions from an Iranian state TV reporter Sunday after a Cabinet meeting, Khatib said members of the Intelligence Ministry achieved an important treasury of strategic, operational and scientific intelligence of the Zionist regime and it was transferred into the country with God's help.

He claimed thousands of pages of documents had been obtained and insisted they would be made public soon. Among them were documents related to the U.S., Europe and other countries, he claimed, obtained through infiltration and access to the sources.

He did not elaborate on the methods used. However, Khatib, a Shiite cleric, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2022 over directing cyber espionage and ransomware attacks in support of Irans political goals.

For Iran, the claim may be designed to show the public that the theocracy was able to respond to a 2018 Israeli operation that spirited out what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a half ton of documents related to Iran's program. That Israeli announcement came just before President Donald Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew America from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which greatly limited its program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Announcement ahead of IAEA board vote, as US talks waver

This week, Western nations are expect to go before the IAEA's Board of Governors with a proposal to find Iran in noncompliance with the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. It could be the first time in decades and likely would kick the issue to the U.N. Security Council.

That could see one of the Western countries involved in the 2015 nuclear deal invoke the so-called snapback of U.N. sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The authority to reestablish those sanctions by the complaint of any member of the original 2015 nuclear deal expires in October putting the West on a clock to exert pressure on Tehran over its program before losing that power.

Iran now enriches uranium up to 60% purity a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Tehran has enough highly enriched uranium to build multiple atomic bombs should it choose to do so.

Without a deal with the U.S., Irans long-ailing economy could enter a freefall that could worsen the simmering unrest at home. Israel or the U.S. might carry out long-threatened airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. Experts fear Tehran in response could decide to fully end its cooperation with the IAEA and rush toward a bomb.

Israels government on Sunday vowed to prevent an aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists from reaching the Gaza Strip.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel wouldn't allow anyone to break its naval blockade of the Palestinian territory, which he said was aimed at preventing Hamas from importing arms.

To the antisemitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propagandists I will say this clearly: You should turn back, because you will not make it to Gaza, he said in a statement.

Thunberg, a climate campaigner, is among 12 activists aboard the Madleen, which is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The vessel departed Sicily last Sunday on a mission that aims to break the sea blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid, while raising awareness over the growing humanitarian crisis 20 months into the Israel-Hamas war.

The activists had said they planned to reach Gazas territorial waters as early as Sunday.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Climate activist Greta Thunberg joins aid ship sailing to Gaza aimed at breaking Israel's blockade

Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, is among the others onboard. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.

After a 2-month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month, but humanitarian workers have warned of famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive.

An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the groups vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.

IN RELATED NEWS | At least 31 Palestinians are killed while heading to a Gaza aid hub, officials and witnesses say

Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Critics of the blockade say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians.

Israel sealed Gaza off from all aid in the early days of the war ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but later relented under U.S. pressure. In early March, shortly before Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas, the country again blocked all imports, including food, fuel and medicine.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages, more than half of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.

Israel's military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up most of the dead. It doesn't say whether those killed are civilians or combatants.

The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory's population, leaving people there almost completely dependent on international aid.