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Trump orders National Guard to LA after clashes
US President Donald Trump has ordered 2,000 National Guardsmen to Los Angeles to deal with unrest over raids on undocumented migrants.
Trump said the troops had done a “great job” in the Californian city, which saw a second day of clashes between protesters and by federal agents on Saturday.
Tear gas was used to disperse crowds as residents of the predominantly Latino Paramount district clashed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents earlier in the day.
As many as 118 arrests were made in LA this week as a result of ICE operations, including 44 on Friday. California Governor Gavin Newsom has condemned the raids as “cruel”.
Trump criticised the city’s Democratic governor and mayor in a post on his Truth Social platform, calling them “incompetent”. He also said protesters would no longer be allowed to wear masks.
Newsom said the federal government’s takeover of the National Guard was “purposefully inflammatory” and would “only escalate tensions”.
The National Guard is usually called by a state’s governor, but Trump has used a provision that allows him to take control himself, Newsom’s office told the AP news agency.
Trump had earlier hit out at the governor on social media, saying that if he and LA Mayor Karen Bass could not do their jobs, “then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth later threatened to mobilise active-duty marines if violence continued, saying troops at nearby Camp Pendleton were on “high alert”. Newsom described this threat as “deranged behaviour”.
The Paramount district had calmed considerably late on Saturday evening, but clashes between protesters and law enforcement were still happening.
Outside the Home Depot hardware store where the protests first erupted, the air was thick with tear gas and smoke.
LA county sheriffs fired flash bangs and tear gas every few minutes to try to clear protesters away.
Neighbours and protesters said migrants were locked inside local businesses afraid to come out.
Paramount’s population is more than 80% Hispanic.
Clashes continued into the evening on Saturday (BBC)A White House press release said: “In recent days, violent mobs have attacked ICE Officers and Federal Law Enforcement Agents carrying out basic deportation operations in Los Angeles, California.”
The statement added that “California’s feckless Democrat leaders” had “abdicated their responsibility” to protect citizens, why was “why President Trump has signed a Presidential Memorandum deploying 2,000 National Guardsmen”.
Speaking in Los Angeles, where he had travelled to personally supervise the continuing ICE operations, Trump’s “border tsar” Tom Homan warned that there would be “zero tolerance” of any violence or damage to private property.
In a post on X, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino also issued a warning to protesters: “You bring chaos, and we’ll bring handcuffs. Law and order will prevail.”
Governor Newsom, a Democrat, said the federal government “wants a spectacle” and urged people not to give them one by becoming violent.
In a statement on Friday, he said: “Continued chaotic federal sweeps, across California, to meet an arbitrary arrest quota are as reckless as they are cruel”.
Earlier, Mayor Bass accused ICE agents of “sowing terror” in Los Angeles.
Angelica Salas, who leads the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, told a recent rally: “Our community is under attack and is being terrorised. These are workers. These are fathers. These are mothers. And this has to stop.”
(BBC)
Salman Ali Agha said that he would have done things ‘differently”, after Mehidy Hasan Miraz ran him out in controversial circumstances in the second ODI in Dhaka.
Agha, who made 64 from 62 balls, had been backing up at the non-striker’s end when Mohammad Rizwan drove the ball back towards him. He was still out of his ground as Mehidy swooped round behind him in an attempt to gather, and Agha had appeared ready to pass the ball back to the bowler before Mehidy reached down to grab it first and throw down the stumps.
Agha reacted furiously to the dismissal, throwing his gloves and helmet down in disgust at the decision. However, he later came to the post-match press conference, ahead of captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and player of the match Maaz Sadaqat, to clear the air.
“I think sportsman spirit has to be there,” Agha said. “What he [Mehidy] has done is in the law. I think if he thinks it’s right, it’s right, but if you ask me my perspective, I would have done differently. I would have gone for sportsman spirit. We haven’t done this [type of thing] previously, we would never do that in the future as well.”
Agha explained that he had been trying to pick up the ball to give to Miraz, thinking it was likely to have been called dead. “Actually, the ball hit on my pad and then my bat,” he said. “So I thought he can’t get me run-out now, because the ball already hit on my pad and my bat.
“I was just trying to give him the ball back. I was not looking for the run or anything like that, but he already decided [to make the run-out].”
Agha however regretted his angry reaction. “It was just heat-of-the-moment kind of stuff,” he said. “If you ask me what would I have done, I would have done things differently. But it was everything, whatever happened after that, it was in the moment.”
He was also involved in a robust exchange with Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das, though he didn’t divulge many of the details.
“I can’t remember what I was saying and I can’t remember what he was saying,” he said. “I’m sure I wasn’t saying nice things, and I’m sure he wasn’t saying nice stuff as well. But it was just heat of the moment, so we are fine.
Asked if he had patched things up with Mehidy, Agha said: “I haven’t yet, but don’t worry, I’ll find him.”
Pakistan won the match by 128 runs via the DLS method.
[Cricinfo]
Latest News
US embassy in Baghdad hit by strike as Trump says military targets ‘obliterated’ on Iran’s key oil island
The US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, has been hit by a missile – video shows fire and smoke rising in the aftermath.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump says “every military target” on Iran’s key oil island has been “totally obliterated”, but there was no damage to oil infrastructure.
Kharg Island is a tiny but strategic terminal in the northern Gulf, 22 miles off the coast of Iran In response, Tehran warns oil and energy infrastructure belonging to firms that co-operate with the US will be “turned into a pile of ashes” if Iran’s energy facilities are attacked
Elsewhere in the Middle East: Israel and Iran both warn of fresh attacks, and at least 12 medical staff have been killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon
Meanwhile, more US Marines and warships are expected to be deployed to the Middle East, two officials tell BBC’s partner CBS News
[BBC]
The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix that were scheduled for next month are set to be cancelled as a result of the war in the Middle East.
A formal decision to call off the races has not yet been made but is expected before the end of the weekend.
Freight would need to start being shipped to the Middle East in the coming days. With no sign of the conflict between the US/Israel and Iran coming to a conclusion, holding the races would put personnel at too great a risk.
Neither event will be replaced, with the season being cut to 22 grands prix and F1 taking a commercial hit of more than £100m, given Bahrain and Saudi Arabia pay two of the highest hosting fees.
The race in Bahrain was scheduled to be on 12 April with Jeddah the following weekend.
Consideration was given to holding events at Portimao in Portugal, Imola in Italy or Istanbul Park in Turkey.
But it was accepted that the time to organise a race at any of those locations was too short, and there was little chance of securing a hosting fee.
The decision will mean there is a five-week break between the Japanese Grand Prix on 29 March and Miami on 3 May.
(BBC)
Agha calls for ‘sportsman spirit’ after controversial dismissal
US embassy in Baghdad hit by strike as Trump says military targets ‘obliterated’ on Iran’s key oil island
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