Pastor Ara Torosian was at home on Tuesday when he received a panicked phone call from two Iranian members of his Farsi-speaking congregation in Los Angeles: U.S. federal immigration officers were at their residence to arrest them, he told Reuters.
It was the second distressing call he had received that week.
A day earlier, another Iranian couple with a 3-year-old child was detained during a routine immigration appointment, Torosian said.
Both families had recently arrived in the United States as asylum-seekers, entering through the U.S.-Mexico border after securing appointments via the CBP One system—a process launched under President Joe Biden to facilitate orderly crossings. President Donald Trump ended the program shortly after taking office as part of his broader crackdown on immigration.
When Torosian arrived at the home on Tuesday, he described seeing “an army” of federal law enforcement officers. He began filming with his cellphone as agents stopped him from approaching his church members.
As officers restrained the woman, Torosian said she suffered a panic attack and began convulsing on the floor.
According to Torosian, the couple had fled religious persecution in Iran.
In a statement posted to X, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that two Iranian nationals were detained in Los Angeles on Tuesday after being flagged for national security concerns. The agency said the woman was transported to a hospital but was later released and both individuals remain in immigration custody.
The arrests followed U.S. military strikes early Sunday on three Iranian nuclear facilities, escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran. In a separate release on Tuesday, DHS said it had apprehended 11 Iranians over the weekend who were in the U.S. unlawfully.
Although Iran does not accept deportees from the United States, the Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to deport migrants to third countries without offering them the chance to present evidence of the dangers they could face there.
Six Americans were taken into custody Friday in South Korea after allegedly trying to send plastic bottles packed with rice, U.S. dollars, and Bibles toward North Korea by tossing them into the sea, police said.
Authorities said the group launched their effort from Gwanghwa Island, near the tense maritime border, aiming for the bottles to drift ashore in North Korea. A police official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the Americans are being investigated for potentially violating South Korea’s disaster and safety management laws.
A second police officer confirmed the detentions but provided no additional details, including whether any of the six had been involved in similar actions before.
For years, activists have sent plastic bottles or balloons over the heavily fortified border to deliver food, money, and anti-regime messages into North Korea. These campaigns have repeatedly fueled tensions between the two Koreas. In retaliation, North Korea has launched its own balloons filled with trash, including at least two that landed inside the presidential compound in Seoul last year.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down a 2020 ban on sending such materials across the border, calling it an excessive infringement on free speech. However, the new liberal administration of President Lee Jae Myung, who took office in June, has vowed to crack down on cross-border civilian campaigns using other legal tools, citing safety risks to residents living near the frontier.
Just days before Friday’s detentions, police arrested another activist accused of launching balloons toward North Korea from the same island.
President Lee, who campaigned on pledges to revive dialogue with Pyongyang and reduce military tensions, suspended frontline anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts shortly after taking office. Since then, North Korea has not resumed its own broadcasts into South Korea.
Still, it remains unclear if Lee’s gestures will lead to any thaw. North Korea declared last year that it would permanently sever ties with the South and abandon the idea of peaceful reunification. Official inter-Korean talks have been stalled since 2019, after the collapse of U.S.-led negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program.
Brad Pitt’s Los Angeles residence was broken into by a group of burglars late Wednesday night while the actor was out of the country, according to two law enforcement sources who spoke to NBC News, Sky News’ US partner.
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that three suspects forced entry through a front window of the home in Los Feliz and “ransacked the location.” Authorities would not identify the owner, but property records confirm the address matches a house Pitt purchased in 2023.
Investigators said the intruders fled with stolen items, though it remains unclear exactly what was taken. The Oscar-winning actor was not home at the time.
Pitt, 60, had traveled to London earlier in the week for the premiere of his new film F1, where he appeared alongside Tom Cruise and seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Police said the burglary occurred around 10:30 p.m. local time Wednesday. They declined to confirm whether Pitt’s representatives had provided an inventory of missing property or to estimate the value of any stolen items. The BBC reported that Pitt’s team had also been contacted for comment.
The secluded three-bedroom property, surrounded by fencing and dense greenery near Griffith Park and the iconic Hollywood Sign, is designed to shield residents from public view.
The break-in is the latest in a string of celebrity home burglaries across Los Angeles. Earlier this year, the homes of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were also targeted by thieves.
Last month, a man was arrested on suspicion of stalking and vandalism after allegedly ramming his car into the gate of the home belonging to Pitt’s ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston.
NEW YORK (BN24) — Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs ran a criminal enterprise built on “violence and fear” that enabled him to traffic women for sex, a federal prosecutor told jurors Thursday in a forceful closing argument at the end of the high-profile trial.
Combs, the 54-year-old founder of Bad Boy Records and once a billionaire at the helm of hip-hop’s commercial rise, has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and two counts each of sex trafficking and interstate transportation for prostitution. If convicted on all counts, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and could be sentenced to life.
Over the course of six weeks in Manhattan federal court, jurors heard graphic testimony from two women—R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and another woman identified only by the pseudonym “Jane”—who described being forced into “Freak Offs,” Combs’ term for drug-fueled sex parties involving male sex workers. Jurors viewed surveillance footage of Combs beating Ventura in a hotel hallway, and heard from his employees who detailed arranging hotel rooms and supplying drugs for the events.
“The defendant used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” prosecutor Christy Slavik told the jury. “He thought his fame, his money, and his power placed him above the law.”
Combs, who did not testify in his defense, has remained in federal custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest in September 2024. Deliberations are expected to begin late Friday or Monday.
Coercion and Consent at the Heart of the Case
Central to the prosecution’s case is whether the women willingly participated in the “Freak Offs” or were coerced through intimidation, manipulation, and threats. Both Ventura and Jane testified that they feared losing financial support or being publicly humiliated if they refused to comply.
Slavik directed jurors to text messages introduced during the trial in which Jane expressed fear that Combs would stop paying her rent if she did not continue performing. “It doesn’t require them to say no,” Slavik said of the coercion standard. “It doesn’t require them to try to run away.”
Combs’ defense team is expected to deliver its closing argument Friday. While his attorneys have conceded that he engaged in some violent behavior in domestic relationships, they argued the sex acts were consensual and not part of any criminal enterprise. They claim the women never expressed non-consent and participated because they loved Combs and wanted to please him.
Defense lawyers also argued that Combs’ employees, whom the prosecution accuses of facilitating and concealing the abuse, were not aware of any illegal activity and only procured drugs for Combs’ personal use—not in furtherance of trafficking.
Jury Will Decide Between Two Starkly Different Narratives
Combs’ legal team has sought to discredit the racketeering charge by portraying his associates not as co-conspirators but as unwitting employees, unaware of any abuse or coercion. The prosecution, however, maintains the mogul’s inner circle enabled a pattern of criminal behavior stretching back years.
“This case is not just about what happened behind closed doors,” Slavik said. “It’s about how he used his resources and entourage to perpetuate and protect that behavior.”
Legal experts say the jury’s decision will hinge on which account they find more credible: the prosecution’s depiction of calculated coercion and abuse, or the defense’s portrayal of flawed but consensual relationships.
“The question is which narrative is going to hold more weight,” said Heather Cucolo, a professor at New York Law School. “Jurors must be unanimous in finding guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and both sides have presented compelling, if competing, versions of events.”
TEHRAN, Iran (BN24) — Iran has no plans to hold talks with the United States next week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Thursday, publicly rejecting a claim by President Donald Trump that a meeting was imminent between the two longtime adversaries.
Speaking in an interview broadcast on Iranian state television, Araqchi dismissed the idea of an upcoming dialogue with Washington, asserting that no such engagement is currently scheduled. His comments directly contradicted President Trump’s earlier statement that U.S. and Iranian officials were preparing for negotiations next week in the wake of a fragile ceasefire with Israel.
“There is no meeting planned between Iran and the United States at this time,” Araqchi said. “We are evaluating whether further talks serve our national interest, especially after the disruption of previous rounds.”
The foreign minister referred to five earlier rounds of U.S.-Iran negotiations—widely believed to have been held through intermediaries—which he said were derailed when U.S. and Israeli forces launched a series of coordinated strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this month.
Both Washington and Tel Aviv have justified the strikes as necessary measures to degrade Iran’s potential to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran, however, has maintained that its nuclear program is strictly civilian in nature, intended for energy production and medical research.
Araqchi acknowledged that the recent attacks had caused significant setbacks. “The damage to our nuclear infrastructure was not minor,” he said, adding that Iranian authorities were “reviewing the extent of the losses and recalibrating the future course of our nuclear policy accordingly.”
His remarks signal Tehran’s continued skepticism over Washington’s intentions, even as U.S. officials, including Trump, have floated the possibility of renewed talks. The conflicting statements underscore the uncertainty surrounding any future diplomatic engagement between the two nations.
While President Trump said earlier this week that “we’re going to talk to them [Iran] next week” and hinted at the possibility of an agreement, Araqchi’s denial suggests that Iran is not yet ready to return to the negotiating table—at least not on Washington’s timeline.
Diplomatic observers say Tehran’s calculus will likely hinge on a combination of factors, including the full extent of the damage to its nuclear infrastructure, the strength of regional alliances, and its internal political dynamics amid a wave of post-war nationalism.
WASHINGTON (BN24) — The Trump administration’s Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the University of California’s hiring practices, examining whether the public university system’s push to diversify its faculty may violate federal anti-discrimination laws.
In a statement issued Thursday, the department confirmed that its Civil Rights Division will scrutinize whether the University of California has engaged in a “pattern or practice” of employment discrimination by using race and sex as factors in faculty hiring decisions. The investigation marks the latest escalation in President Donald Trump’s broader crackdown on what his administration views as political bias and unequal treatment at U.S. academic institutions.
“Institutional directives that use race- and sex-based hiring practices expose employers to legal risk under federal law,” said Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. The inquiry will determine whether any practices violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
The investigation zeroes in on the University of California’s multi-campus strategic plan, which explicitly lists boosting the number of underrepresented minority and female faculty as a priority goal. Justice Department officials argue such directives could amount to unlawful quotas or preferences.
A spokesperson for the University of California responded in a statement that the university system “is committed to fair and lawful processes in all of our programs and activities, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws.”
“The University also aims to foster a campus environment where everyone is welcomed and supported,” the spokesperson said, adding that UC would cooperate “in good faith” with federal authorities.
The inquiry adds to a growing list of confrontations between the Trump administration and institutions of higher learning over issues of identity, equality, and academic freedom. The administration has already launched probes into campus responses to antisemitism, sought to restrict federal research funding, and threatened universities with legal action over policies it views as discriminatory or ideologically driven.
The University of California system, which spans 10 campuses and employs more than 20,000 faculty members, is widely seen as a national leader in diversity and inclusion initiatives. But officials in Washington say those efforts must not override legal protections against discrimination.
The move is expected to further strain relations between the Trump White House and California’s Democratic leaders, who have frequently clashed over immigration, education, and civil rights. Governor Gavin Newsom has already taken the administration to court over federal intervention in California’s National Guard deployments, and additional legal challenges may follow depending on the outcome of the hiring probe.
Tensions have also escalated over state legislation that allows transgender athletes to compete on girls’ teams in public schools, a law the Justice Department is reviewing separately as part of its broader challenge to progressive policies in the Golden State.
WASHINGTON (BN24) — The Trump administration is preparing to deport Kilmar Abrego for a second time, but this time the Salvadoran national will not be returned to El Salvador, the country where he was wrongly deported in March, a Justice Department attorney told a federal judge on Thursday.
During a hearing in U.S. District Court in Maryland, government attorney Jonathan Guynn said the administration currently has “no imminent plans” to remove Abrego from the country. However, should a deportation take place, Abrego would be sent to a third, unnamed nation—not back to El Salvador, where his life was previously deemed at risk.
Abrego, 29, is at the center of a growing legal and political controversy after his March deportation violated a 2019 federal court order barring his removal to El Salvador over concerns of potential persecution. After being imprisoned in El Salvador, he was recently returned to the U.S. under federal custody to face criminal charges for allegedly smuggling undocumented migrants into the country. He has pleaded not guilty.
The Trump administration’s effort to remove Abrego again, even as legal proceedings remain underway, has further inflamed tensions surrounding the president’s aggressive immigration enforcement strategy. Abrego, who had been living in Maryland with his U.S. citizen wife and young child, has drawn widespread attention as a symbol of what critics say is a system disregarding due process protections for migrants.
A federal judge in Maryland has ordered that Abrego be released ahead of trial, possibly as early as Friday. However, the Department of Homeland Security has indicated it will take him into immigration custody immediately, raising fresh questions about his fate and the administration’s legal responsibilities.
Abrego’s attorneys have urged the court to keep him in Maryland while both the immigration and criminal cases proceed, and to ensure no further deportation is attempted until the legal matters are resolved. Two federal courts—one in Maryland and the other in Tennessee, where the criminal charges were filed—have yet to issue final rulings on those requests.
The Justice Department has remained largely silent about where Abrego might be deported if the removal goes ahead. “He will not be sent to El Salvador,” Guynn said Thursday, without providing further detail.
Meanwhile, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire, who is leading the prosecution in Nashville, told Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes this week that he would coordinate with DHS “as best as he could,” but acknowledged that prosecutorial discretion does not extend to immigration enforcement decisions.
The case has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s broader immigration agenda, which has faced repeated judicial challenges and criticism from human rights groups. Abrego’s wrongful deportation, his subsequent return to the United States, and now the uncertainty over a potential second removal have further underscored the legal complexity and human toll of fast-tracked immigration enforcement.
AMSTERDAM (BN24) — Queen Maxima of the Netherlands sparked a flurry of viral reactions after appearing to mock U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech mannerisms during a joint photo opportunity in Amsterdam on Wednesday, shortly after a high-profile breakfast meeting ahead of the NATO summit.
The U.S. president, visiting the Netherlands for the summit, met with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima at the royal palace as part of his diplomatic engagements in Europe. Trump later praised the encounter on his Truth Social platform.
“The day begins in the beautiful Netherlands. The King and Queen are beautiful and spectacular people,” Trump posted. “Our breakfast meeting was great! Now it’s off to the very important NATO meetings. The USA will be very well represented.”
However, it was the trio’s brief appearance before the cameras that seized attention online. As Trump thanked the press and remarked, “That’s the picture we want,” and “It was great,” Queen Maxima appeared to subtly imitate his mouth movements—an action quickly dissected and shared across social media platforms.
Observers online were quick to interpret her gesture as mockery. A clip of the moment went viral within hours, with thousands of social media users weighing in on the queen’s apparent mimicry.
“This is hilarious! I’ve never been a fan of our stiff monarchy, but Queen Maxima rocks it,” one X (formerly Twitter) user wrote. “Treat him like a baby.”
“Maxima does not like Trump’s a** one bit,” another posted. Others chimed in with: “Was Queen Maxima of the Netherlands mimicking Donald Trump?!” and “Our queen making fun of Trump while standing right next to him—legend!”
Still, some defended the 54-year-old Argentine-born queen, suggesting that the clip may have been misinterpreted. “Awkward, but I think an accident,” one commenter wrote. “People are reading this wrong,” said another.
The White House declined to comment on the clip. Trump himself has made no public reference to the viral footage since returning to Washington following the conclusion of the summit.
The moment capped off a colorful NATO gathering, during which NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte—himself a Dutch native and former prime minister—made headlines by seemingly referring to Trump as “daddy” during a discussion about the Middle East conflict.
Comparing the war between Israel and Iran to “two kids in a schoolyard,” Trump had reportedly used strong language about the ceasefire’s fragility. Rutte, responding with his own metaphor, added, “Then daddy has to sometimes use strong language,” prompting widespread media commentary. Rutte later clarified that he was not directly calling Trump “daddy,” saying the comment was “figurative.”
TEHRAN, Iran (BN24) — Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei resurfaced Thursday with a stern warning to the United States against any future aggression, declaring that Iran had delivered a “slap to America’s face” by launching a retaliatory missile strike on a U.S. airbase in Qatar, days after a ceasefire ended a 12-day war with Israel.
In his first public statement since June 19, Khamenei appeared in a prerecorded address aired on state television, breaking his silence following the intense Israeli and U.S. bombardment of Iranian military and nuclear sites. The 86-year-old leader, sounding fatigued and occasionally stumbling over his words, did not directly address the condition of Iran’s nuclear program or its damaged facilities.
“America intervened to save the Zionist regime from collapse and gained nothing,” Khamenei said, referring to Israel. “In response, the Islamic Republic struck back and delivered a powerful slap to America’s face. This action can be repeated.”
The U.S. confirmed that Iran launched a missile barrage on a base in Qatar earlier in the week, though officials said the attack caused no casualties and had been telegraphed in advance. President Donald Trump, who has described the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites as “obliterating,” dismissed Tehran’s retaliation as a “very weak response.”
In Washington, the White House responded to Khamenei’s comments, accusing him of posturing. “Any commonsense, open-minded person knows the truth about the precision strikes on Saturday night,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. “They were wildly successful.”
Damage to Iran’s Nuclear Infrastructure Confirmed
Despite Khamenei’s attempts to downplay the severity of the joint U.S.-Israeli assault, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said the damage to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure was “very, very, very considerable,” though he stopped short of calling it “annihilated.” Grossi reiterated that IAEA inspectors have not yet been allowed access to assess the damage firsthand.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also acknowledged this week that key nuclear installations were “badly damaged.”
Tehran remains defiant, however. In a symbolic move, the Iranian parliament on Wednesday voted to expedite legislation that would cut cooperation with the IAEA—a move likely to further strain already fragile relations with Western powers.
Ceasefire Brings Tense Calm
Thursday also saw partial restoration of normalcy in Iran, with domestic and international flights allowed through the country’s eastern airspace and shops reopening in Tehran. The Ministry of Roads and Urban Development confirmed airspace had been reopened after being closed during the height of the conflict.
According to Iranian authorities, 606 people were killed and over 5,300 injured during the hostilities. The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group said Israeli strikes were responsible for at least 1,054 deaths, including 417 civilians and 318 members of Iranian security forces.
In Israel, officials reported 28 dead and more than 1,000 wounded. Iranian missile barrages numbered more than 550, with Israel claiming a 90% interception rate. Israel said it struck over 720 Iranian military targets and eight nuclear facilities.
Future Talks in Question
While President Trump indicated this week that American and Iranian officials are expected to meet for nuclear talks as soon as next week, Iran has not confirmed its participation. U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff has said there is ongoing direct and indirect communication between the two sides, though a sixth round of negotiations scheduled earlier this month in Oman was canceled after Israel’s first strike on Iran.
Khamenei, in his address, made no mention of potential negotiations and reaffirmed Tehran’s commitment to its nuclear program, a stance that analysts say is likely to remain a core sticking point in any future diplomacy.
“This conflict has demonstrated that Iran is capable of hitting important U.S. centers in the region and can act decisively whenever it deems necessary,” Khamenei warned. “If any aggression occurs again, the enemy will pay a heavy price.”
WASHINGTON (BN24) — The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed sweeping sanctions on three Mexican financial institutions accused of laundering millions of dollars on behalf of major drug cartels, in a move that effectively blocks them from conducting certain transactions with the U.S. banking system.
The U.S. Treasury Department said CIBanco, Intercam Banco, and the brokerage firm Vector Casa de Bolsa were being sanctioned for their alleged roles in facilitating money transfers and laundering operations tied to the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
“These financial institutions have played a long-standing and vital role in laundering millions of dollars for Mexico-based cartels and facilitating payments for precursor chemicals used to produce fentanyl,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender said in a briefing. “These actions will effectively cut off these institutions from access to the U.S. financial system.”
The sanctions are part of a broader crackdown ordered by President Donald Trump targeting Mexican drug cartels, which his administration recently labeled as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The president has vowed to intensify pressure on cartel-linked financiers and their support networks.
The Treasury’s designation prohibits U.S. entities and banks from engaging in most transactions with the three financial firms, which are accused of moving funds for some of Mexico’s most violent criminal groups, including the Sinaloa, Jalisco New Generation, Beltrán Leyva, and Gulf cartels.
Treasury officials say CIBanco processed more than $2.1 million in payments for fentanyl precursor chemicals sourced from China. Intercam Banco allegedly facilitated over $1.5 million in similar transactions. Vector Casa de Bolsa, according to U.S. authorities, helped cartels launder more than $1 million for fentanyl procurement and played a key role in facilitating over $40 million in cartel-linked transactions—including payments tied to bribes sent to former Mexican Security Secretary Genaro García Luna, who was sentenced to 38 years in a U.S. prison last October.
The sanctioned institutions did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Though the Treasury did not publicly name the U.S. financial institutions involved in transactions with the sanctioned firms, officials confirmed that each of the three had facilitated transfers involving U.S.-based banks. They declined to say whether branches of the targeted banks operating outside of Mexico would still be able to access U.S. markets.
The move marks a continuation of the administration’s aggressive stance against cartels and fentanyl trafficking. Despite a recent decline in U.S. overdose deaths and fentanyl flow across the border, Trump’s administration has argued that enforcement must remain robust to dismantle the broader infrastructure sustaining narcotics operations.
Since President Trump returned to office, the administration has sanctioned 31 individuals and expanded legal designations against key trafficking organizations. Officials say more action is expected in the coming weeks as Washington and Mexico City deepen joint enforcement efforts.
