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After protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles, President Donald Trump took the contentious step of mobilizing thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of US Marines in response.While the use of the National Guard against the California governor’s wishes is significant, in general these military personnel are trained for rapid response to emergencies within the United States.- Military reserve force -The National Guard is a military reserve force within the United States Armed Forces, meaning that most of its members serve part-time while holding civilian jobs or conducting other activities.As a response force, the National Guard can be mobilized rapidly to address emergency situations on US soil, typically natural disasters. When needed, National Guard units can also be activated for deployments into combat zones, especially if the United States is at war.Unlike branches of the US military, the National Guard performs both state- and federal-level functions, and is organized into groupings based in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the US territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands.As a state-based force, generally it is the governor of a state or territory who activates and commands the National Guard when needed.However, in some situations the National Guard can be “federalized” by the president, bringing it under the president’s control until the specific federal mission has ended — as is the case in Los Angeles currently.The latest budget from the Department of Defense authorizes 433,000 National Guard personnel in total, split across the Air National Guard and Army National Guard.This means that compared to other components of the US military, the National Guard is second only to the US Army in terms of size.- Emergency response -National Guard members are typically deployed during emergencies such as natural disasters at the request of governors and based on specific provisions in each state’s laws.In the aftermath of events like hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, state National Guards are often called on to help evacuate dangerous areas, deliver supplies to places that would otherwise be cut off, or provide specialist equipment needed to clear hazardous debris.The largest National Guard deployment in recent years was during the COVID-19 pandemic, where troops helped construct and staff emergency care facilities, transport health supplies around the country, and coordinate other logistics.Outside of a natural disaster, deployment of the guard can be ordered in emergencies created by the breakdown of public order — the provision that Trump controversially invoked when sending troops to California.- History with protest -The use of the National Guard to manage public unrest is not unique to Trump, even if the current deployment is unusual.During the widespread Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, more than half of US states activated National Guard troops to maintain order and help enforce curfews.Before that, they were also deployed to LA in 1992 to respond to riots that occurred after police officers who had beaten motorist Rodney King were acquitted at trial.At that time, riots, looting and arson attacks had spread across the city, with dozens of people killed and thousands injured.The National Guard was deployed during the 1950s and 60s Civil Rights era to help enforce school desegregation, following the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling.In one of the force’s darkest moments, in May 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard clashed with anti-war protesters at Kent State University. As unrest swelled, the troops opened fire, killing four unarmed students.The shootings sparked outrage, but also led to reform of the guard’s use-of-force guidelines.

US President Donald Trump’s dream of hosting a grand military parade in Washington on his 79th birthday on Saturday could be clouded by thunderstorms.Forecasters say there is a threat of lightning at the same time as nearly 6,000 troops, 50 helicopters and 150 armored vehicles are meant to roll through the capital, watched by thousands of spectators.The Republican has been unlucky with the weather before, as freezing conditions meant that his inauguration for a second term in January had to be held indoors and a parade was canceled.The White House vowed that a “historic celebration” of the US army’s 250th birthday would go on even if there were “changes” due to the weather.”Any changes to the Army Birthday Parade will be announced by the Department of Defense or America 250 Commission,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP.”No matter what, a historic celebration of our military servicemembers will take place!”The army and the America 250 Commission, which is responsible for arranging the parade, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Hundreds of anti-Trump “No Kings” rallies are planned on Saturday in cities across the United States — although not in Washington — in protest against what critics call the president’s growing authoritarianism.- ‘Very big force’ -The rare military parade, the largest since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, comes after Trump sent National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles following protests.Trump said on a visit to an army base on Tuesday that “we want to show off a little bit” with the parade, and vowed “very big force” if protesters try to disrupt it.The army says the event could cost up to $45 million.Nearly 7,000 soldiers will take part, wearing a variety of uniforms including some that date back through all of America’s major wars since the Revolutionary War against Britain.Roaring overhead will be more than 50 helicopters including Apache gunships, giant twin-rotor Chinook transport choppers and sleek Black Hawks.Around 150 military vehicles — including 28 M1A1 Abrams battle tanks, 28 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 28 Stryker eight-wheel vehicles — will rumble past too.The route will take them past historic landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, ending up near the White House.The parade is meant to end with a parachute display as the army’s Golden Knights team jump in and present Trump with a US flag.- ‘Believe in democracy’ -The event is being held on Flag Day, which celebrates the Stars and Stripes — but it also coincides with Trump’s own birthday.Long fascinated with military pomp, Trump has openly envied the military spectacles seen in cities from Paris to Moscow and Pyongyang ever since his first term as president.Trump has been particularly obsessed with having a parade since his first term as president when he attended France’s annual Bastille Day parade in Paris at the invitation of president Emmanuel Macron in 2017.”One of the greatest parades I have ever seen,” Trump said shortly afterwards. “Because of what I witnessed, we may do something like that.” Back then he was put off by the huge cost — an estimated $92 million — and warnings that heavy tanks could damage Washington’s streets. But after his return to the White House in January, Trump would not be dissuaded again. This time, the army says metal plates will protect the roads from damageSuch displays of military might remain rare in the United States.”We were founded by a group of merchants and farmers who were tired of a standing army invading their streets in the name of keeping them safe,” Peter Loge, director of George Washington University’s School of Media, told AFP.”We’ve always looked down on grand military parades in Russia across Red Square or in North Korea, because we’re not like that. We’re Americans, and we believe in democracy, not in military shows of force.”

US lawmakers on Thursday approved a White House request to claw back $9.4 billion from funding already allocated by Congress in a victory for President Donald Trump as he pushes to lock in spending cuts spearheaded by tech billionaire Elon Musk.The vote in the Republican-led US House of Representatives was seen as the first test of how easily Congress could usher into law savings sought by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — just days after his acrimonious exit from the government.But the saved funds — targeting public broadcasting and foreign aid — were unpopular in some sections of both parties, and Republicans in the House of Representatives shoehorned the bill through a razor-thin 214-212 vote.”Under President Trump’s leadership, your taxpayer dollars are no longer being wasted,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement.”Instead, they are being directed toward priorities that truly benefit the American people.”Legislation to grab back money already approved by Congress — known as a “rescissions package” — is extremely rare and no such measure had passed in decades.The vote was the first in what Johnson has touted as a potential series of packages codifying the cuts made by DOGE. Musk was tasked by Trump with leading the task force after spending $290 million helping the Republican get elected.The SpaceX boss boasted that he would be able to save $2 trillion in federal spending — but left the White House under a cloud earlier this month as he feuded with Trump over deficits and spending.DOGE acknowledges that it has saved taxpayers just $180 billion — and fact checkers even see that claim as dubious, given previous inaccuracies in its accounting. The recissions package slashes $8.3 billion in foreign aid, with much of that approved for humanitarian organization USAID, one of DOGE’s first targets. The text also eliminates $400 million in funding allocated to health programs including the lifesaving PEPFAR global AIDS program, created by then-president George W. Bush.The package also targets $1.1 billion to be taken back from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), as well as more than 1,500 local radio and television stations.Conservatives often accuse PBS and NPR of bias, and Trump signed an executive order in May to cease federal funding for both networks.”For decades, Republicans have promised to cut NPR, but have never done it, until now,” Trump said on Truth Social as the vote got underway.”NPR and PBS are a Radical Left Disaster, and 1000% against the Republican Party!”Democrat Dan Goldman and Republican Mark Amodei, co-chairs of the congressional public broadcasting caucus, said cutting the funding will not meaningfully reduce the deficit, but instead dismantle “a trusted source of information for millions of Americans.”The package now moves to the Republican-led Senate, where it needs the support of only a simple majority — 51 members — rather than the 60 votes usually required.

The US Congress on Thursday passed a bill imposing harsher penalties on fentanyl traffickers, with lawmakers from both parties anxious to crack down on an opioid that has driven an epidemic of deadly overdoses.The Senate-passed bill — which delivers on a key election pledge of President Donald Trump to get tough on drug smuggling — was rubber-stamped by the House on a 321-104 vote, with Democrats providing all but one of the no votes. The Justice Department says 75,000 Americans die each year because of fentanyl, making it the number one cause of death for people between the ages of 18 and 34 in the United States.The synthetic opioid is more potent than heroin and much cheaper to produce.”More Americans die of drug overdoses each year than the number of Americans who died in the entirety of the Vietnam War,” Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said ahead of the vote.The HALT Fentanyl Act places copycat variations of fentanyl — often sold by traffickers — on the government’s list of most dangerous “Schedule 1” drugs alongside the original substance. Lab-created fentanyl alternatives were reclassified to “Schedule 1” on a temporary basis seven years ago but the vote makes the change permanent.Trump has made halting the flow of fentanyl one of his priorities, even announcing it as a justification for import tariffs on Mexico and Canada.But opponents said the new law — rather than tackling overdoses — would simply repeat the mistakes of the so-called “War on Drugs.”The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 240 US rights organizations, said in a statement the measure would “exacerbate pretrial detention, mass incarceration, and racial disparities in the prison system.””Beginning in the 1980s, draconian drug laws with harsh mandatory minimums and their resulting enforcement under the banner of the ‘war on drugs’ fueled skyrocketing prison populations,” it said. 

A US senator from California was forcibly removed from a news conference being held by Donald Trump’s homeland security chief on Thursday, in the latest escalation of tensions over controversial immigration arrests.Senator Alex Padilla was pushed and shoved from the room at a federal building in Los Angeles as he tried to ask Kristi Noem about operations that have rocked America’s second largest city.”I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” he said as two men grappled with him in front of journalists, including from AFP.Footage filmed by Padilla’s staff outside the room showed the senator being pushed to the ground by security agents wearing bulletproof vests with  FBI logos, who then handcuffed him.Padilla, one of two Democratic senators representing California in the upper chamber of Congress, did not resist.A voice can be heard telling the Padilla staffer “There’s no recording allowed out here,” as a body moves in front of the camera, before the recording ends.The Department of Homeland Security claimed — despite video evidence — that Padilla had “lunged” at Noem.”Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” Assistant Secretary Trisha McLaughlin wrote on social media.”@SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately,” she said, adding that Noem and Padilla met for 15 minutes after the news conference.Noem called Padilla’s interruption “inappropriate” and told reporters at the news conference he had not requested a meeting with her.Democratic response was rapid.California Governor Gavin Newsom called the incident “outrageous, dictatorial and shameful.””Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now,” he wrote on social media.Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the episode “absolutely abhorrent and outrageous.””He is a sitting United States Senator. This administration’s violent attacks on our city must end.”Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for an investigation into the “despicable” incident.”(It) reeks of totalitarianism. This is not what democracies do.”Senator Padilla was there legitimately in that building to ask questions of what’s going on in California, which everybody wants to know answers to.Noem’s press conference came after almost a week of protests in Los Angeles sparked by an immigration crackdown ordered by Trump officials.The mostly peaceful demonstrations have been marred by eye-catching violence, including people torching cars and throwing rocks at police. The White House responded with overwhelming force, sending 4,700 troops to the city, despite objections from local officials and the police, who said they had the manpower and ability to handle unrest that has taken place in a few city blocks.

US President Donald Trump insisted Thursday he would bring India and Pakistan to the table together after recent fighting, saying he can “solve anything.”US diplomacy last month helped bring a ceasefire that ended four days of fighting between the nuclear-armed adversaries triggered by an attack on civilians in the Indian part of divided Kashmir.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in announcing the ceasefire that the two nations had agreed to “start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.”The statement was welcomed by Pakistan, which has long sought an international role over Kashmir, but India — which has a warm relationship with the United States — was more circumspect.Asked whether there remained plans for talks between India and Pakistan a month after the ceasefire, Trump said: “We’re going to get those two getting together, you know?””I told them, India and Pakistan — they have a longtime rivalry over Kashmir — I said, I can solve anything. I’ll be your arbitrator,” he told reporters.India refuses any outside mediation on Kashmir, the scenic Himalayan region which has a Muslim majority but a sizable Hindu minority.”Any India-Pakistan engagement has to be bilateral,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told reporters on May 29.”At the same time we are clear that talks and terror don’t go together.”Gunmen on April 22 massacred 26 tourists in Kashmir, most singled out as Hindus, in the deadliest attack on civilians in decades in the region which has seen a long-running insurgency.India has accused Pakistan of backing the assailants and launched military action in response. Pakistan denies involvement and accuses India of escalating tensions.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Los Angeles is “safe and sound” after he ordered troops into the streets but critics accused him of an authoritarian power grab and a judge was set to review the deployments’ legality.Protests erupted last week in the second biggest US city over aggressive new immigration raids targeting migrants at workplaces, courthouses and gathering places for day laborers seeking work.Anger at Trump’s crackdown and the use of masked, armed immigration agents, backed by uniformed soldiers, is spreading to other cities. Nationwide protests were planned for Saturday.Trump has repeatedly exaggerated the scale of the unrest, which has been largely peaceful, despite isolated clashes, vandalism and burning of cars.The Republican credited the arrival of troops for ensuring a quiet night in Los Angeles, where the mayor had ordered a nighttime curfew.Nearly 4,000 National Guard soldiers have been sent to Los Angeles, as well as 700 members of the US Marines — an elite force trained to fight in foreign wars and only very rarely deployed on US soil.”Our great National Guard, with a little help from the Marines, put the L.A. Police in a position to effectively do their job,” Trump said on Truth Social, adding that without the military the city “would be a crime scene like we haven’t seen in years.”A federal judge in San Francisco was set to hear arguments on whether use of the troops is constitutional, with California Governor Gavin Newsom alleging the president “is creating fear and terror.”Newsom accused Trump of aiming a “wrecking ball” at US democracy and urged Americans “not to give in.”Trump on Thursday said Newsom — seen as a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 — had “totally lost control of the situation” and should thank him for “saving his ass.”- Labor shortage fears -Trump was elected last year in part on his promises to expel people who enter the country illegally, then commit serious crimes. But his immigration crackdown is far broader, targeting mostly Latin American migrants who may have entered illegally but form the backbone of farming, construction and other manual industries in many parts of the country.Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, spoke up Thursday, saying she had told a visiting US official that “we didn’t agree with the use of raids to detain people working honestly in the United States.”The raids will “not only hurt people but also the US economy,” she said.Trump indicated he was under pressure, conceding he had heard complaints about laborers being rounded up.”We’re going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think. We can’t do that to our farmers — and leisure too, hotels,” he said.In Spokane, in the northwest state of Washington, a nighttime curfew was declared after police arrested more than 30 protesters and fired pepper balls to disperse crowds, officials said.In Seattle, the state’s biggest city, police arrested eight people after a dumpster was set on fire and projectiles were thrown. Three people were arrested in Tucson, Arizona, following clashes with police, the Arizona Republic reported.Protests also took place in Las Vegas, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Chicago, Atlanta, and Boston, according to CNN.A nationwide “No Kings” movement was expected on Saturday, when Trump will attend a highly unusual military parade in the US capital.The Washington, DC parade, featuring warplanes and tanks, has been organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army but also happens to be the day of Trump’s 79th birthday.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed resolutions blocking California’s landmark efforts to phase out gas-powered cars in favor of electric vehicles, a move the state immediately contested in court.Trump’s action, a rebuke of Democratic climate change policies, comes after the Republican-led Congress revoked the state’s waiver allowing it to set more stringent regulations for cars.California had planned to end the sale of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035, among other ambitious efforts.During the signing ceremony at the White House, Trump lashed out at the state’s bid as “a disaster for this country” and said the resolutions he was signing would save the industry from “destruction.”California swiftly sued the Trump administration over the resolutions, with Attorney General Rob Bonta saying: “The President’s divisive, partisan agenda is jeopardizing our lives, our economy and our environment.””It’s reckless, it’s illegal, and because of it, we’ll be seeing the Trump administration in court again for the 26th time,” he added.California, the nation’s wealthiest state with around 40 million people, has long used the waiver in the Clean Air Act to set its own emissions standards as it tries to mitigate some of the worst air pollution in the country.The size of the auto market in the state — and the fact that several other states follow its lead — means automakers frequently use its standards nationwide.Trump’s move also came as he clashes with California over immigration enforcement.California Governor Gavin Newsom has accused the president of acting like a tyrant over his use of the military to control small-scale protests in Los Angeles.- Environmental concerns – Trump’s action was condemned by environmental groups who say the rules are key for easing pollution.And Newsom recently argued that rolling back the state’s EV ambitions would boost China’s position on the market.While China is a manufacturing hub for such vehicles globally, the United States is a net importer of them, he said in a May statement.This is despite the United States being home to technologies that have pioneered the clean car industry, he noted.Trump has repeatedly criticized subsidies to encourage the EV industry despite significant federal funding allocated to projects in Republican districts — where thousands of jobs are expected to be created.He took aim at the sector as part of his flurry of executive orders on his first day in office this January in a bid to ensure what he called a “level” playing field for gasoline-powered motors.

The judge in the Harvey Weinstein sex crimes retrial declared a mistrial on the outstanding rape charge against the movie producer Thursday, after the jury foreperson refused to return to deliberate the case amid a jury room feud.In front of packed press and public benches in the 13th-floor New York courtroom, Judge Curtis Farber dismissed jurors who had been unable to reach a verdict on the charge that Weinstein raped Jessica Mann.”Deliberations became heated to such a degree I am obligated to declare a mistrial on the one count on which you didn’t reach a verdict,” Farber declared from the wood-paneled bench, wearing a robe and reading glasses.Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala had forcefully argued that a crime had been committed against one of the jurors, but the judge dismissed the claim.On Wednesday, the jury convicted Weinstein for sexual assault on Miriam Haley, and acquitted the fallen movie mogul for allegedly sexually assaulting Kaja Sokola. The defense vowed to appeal.The prosecutor brushed off the defense’s claim that a retrial on the charge of raping Mann would exert unfair pressure on the alleged victim. “We will proceed to trial and that is what justice would be in this case,” Nicole Blumberg said.Outside court, Aidala alleged that two jurors had indicated to his team that the panel had considered the cases of rapper Sean “P Diddy” Combs and convicted child sex abuser R. Kelly in their discussions.”(If) they say, ‘Well, look at R Kelly. Look what’s going on across the street with P Diddy’… That’s not what you can do, and that’s what we just heard happen,” said the sharp-suited attorney.Combs is on trial at a nearby courthouse for alleged racketeering and other crimes, and the publicity of that case has largely eclipsed Weinstein’s retrial.Weinstein, 73 and wheelchair-bound by ill-health, is already in jail for a 16-year term after he was convicted in a separate California case of raping a European actress more than a decade ago.Proceedings in New York have been dogged by personal issues between jurors, two of whom have privately complained to the judge about fellow panelists.The foreman had told judge Farber he could not continue after facing threats.”One other juror made comments to the effect ‘I’ll meet you outside one day’,” the judge said Wednesday quoting the foreman, adding there was yelling between jurors.After Weinstein’s lawyer demanded a mistrial over the jury rupture, Weinstein himself addressed the court Wednesday, deploying a commanding voice reminiscent of his Hollywood heyday.- ‘Threats, violence, intimidation’ -“We’ve heard threats, violence, intimidation — this is not right for me… the person who is on trial here,” he said.The Oscar-winner’s conviction on the Haley charge is a vindication for Haley whose complaint in part led to the initial guilty verdict in 2020. That landmark case helped spur the “MeToo” movement that saw an outpouring of allegations from prominent women who were abused by men.Weinstein underwent a spectacular fall from his position at the top of the world of Hollywood and show business in 2017 when allegations against him exploded into public.The movement upended the film industry, exposing systemic exploitation of young women seeking to work in entertainment, and provoking a reckoning on how to end the toxic culture.More than 80 women accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct in the wake of the global backlash against men abusing positions of power.Weinstein’s original 2020 conviction, and the resulting 23-year prison term, was thrown out last year after an appeals court found irregularities in the way witnesses were presented.

A 61-year-old man convicted of a 1999 double murder was executed on Thursday in Oklahoma, the third inmate put to death in the United States this week.John Hanson was executed by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in the town of McAlester, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections said in a statement.Hanson was convicted of carjacking and kidnapping Mary Bowles, 77, from a mall in the city of Tulsa and then shooting her to death along with a witness, Jerald Thurman.Hanson had been serving a life sentence for bank robbery in the state of Louisiana but the Trump administration approved his transfer to Oklahoma so he could face the death penalty.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and called on his first day in office for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”Hanson was the third Death Row inmate executed in the United States this week.Gregory Hunt, 65, convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of his girlfriend, Karen Lane, 32, was executed by nitrogen gas on Tuesday in Alabama.Anthony Wainwright, 54, convicted of the 1994 murder of Carmen Gayheart, 23, a nursing student and mother of two young children, was put to death by lethal injection in Florida on Tuesday.A fourth execution is to be carried out this week, in South Carolina, where Stephen Stanko, 57, is to be put to death on Friday by lethal injection.Stanko was convicted of the 2005 murders of his girlfriend, Laura Ling, 43, and Henry Turner, a 74-year-old friend.There have been 22 executions in the United States this year: 17 by lethal injection, two by firing squad and three by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.The use of nitrogen gas as an execution method has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.