Category World News

The United States Marines have deployed to Los Angeles following criticism and legal battles over whether President Donald Trump had the authority to use the military to quell civilian protests without state approval.

On Friday, Major General Scott Sherman of the US Army confirmed that 200 Marines were arriving in southern California to protect a federal building. A total of 700 Marines have been authorised for deployment to the region.

“I would like to emphasise that the soldiers will not participate in law enforcement activities,” Sherman said during a briefing.

The Marines join National Guard troops already in the Los Angeles area following the eruption of protests on June 6, when residents took to the streets to express their displeasure with President Trump’s immigration raids, some of which targeted local hardware stores and other workplaces.

While many of the demonstrations were mostly peaceful and limited to a small part of the city, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) did experience tense clashes with some protesters, who hurled objects and set driverless Waymo vehicles on fire. Police responded with flashbangs, tear gas and rubber bullets.

Trump, meanwhile, dubbed the protesters “bad people” and “insurrectionists” and announced the deployment of the National Guard on the evening of June 7.

The president cited Title 10 of the US Code, which allows a president to call up the National Guard if there is a “rebellion or danger of rebellion” against the federal government. Trump and his allies framed the demonstrators as part of a migrant “invasion” imperilling the US.

“To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States,” Trump wrote in a presidential memorandum.

A legal battle

It was the first time since 1965 that a US president had authorised the National Guard’s deployment to a state without the governor’s permission. The last time was to protect civil rights protesters who were marching through segregated Alabama and faced threats of violence.

Presidents have called up the National Guard to address domestic unrest in the years since, but only with the cooperation of local authorities. In 1992, for instance, then-President Bill Clinton answered a request from California’s governor at the time to send National Guard members to address the Rodney King protests in Los Angeles.

Trump’s decision to circumvent the authority of California’s present-day governor, Gavin Newsom, has led to a legal fight over whether he exceeded his powers as president.

Newsom filed a lawsuit to block the use of military troops outside of federal sites, and on Thursday, a pair of court decisions left the future of the recent deployment unclear.

First, on Thursday afternoon, District Court Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco sided with Newsom, calling Trump’s actions “illegal” and a violation of the US Constitution.

In his 36-page decision, Breyer ruled that the Trump administration had failed to show a danger of rebellion in Los Angeles.

“While Defendants have pointed to several instances of violence, they have not identified a violent, armed, organized, open and avowed uprising against the government as a whole,” he wrote. “The definition of rebellion is unmet.”

He added that he was “troubled” by the Trump administration’s argument that a protest against the federal government could be tantamount to rebellion, warning that such logic could violate the First Amendment right to free speech.

“Individuals’ right to protest the government is one of the fundamental rights protected by the First Amendment, and just because some stray bad actors go too far does not wipe out that right for everyone,” Breyer said.

He called for an injunction against Trump’s use of National Guard members, saying “it sets a dangerous precedent for future domestic military activity” and “deprives the state for two months of its own use of thousands of National Guard members”.

Nearly 4,000 members of the California National Guard have been authorised for deployment to Los Angeles under Trump’s command.

But the Trump administration quickly appealed Judge Breyer’s injunction. By late Thursday, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals had temporarily blocked the injunction, allowing Trump to continue using the National Guard until a hearing could be held on the matter next week.

On Friday, Trump celebrated that decision on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“The Appeals Court ruled last night that I can use the National Guard to keep our cities, in this case Los Angeles, safe,” Trump wrote.

“If I didn’t send the Military into Los Angeles, that city would be burning to the ground right now. We saved L.A. Thank you for the Decision!!!”

Newsom, meanwhile, has continued his call for Trump to end what he framed as illegal control of the National Guard. He has also accused the military presence of heightening tensions with protesters, not dissipating them.

“@RealDonaldTrump, you must relinquish your authority of the National Guard back to me and back to California,” Newsom wrote on social media Thursday.

He has called the Republican president’s federalisation of the National Guard an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism”.

Iran says it has launched waves of ballistic missiles towards Israel in retaliation for a major attack on Tehran’s nuclear and military sites.

Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as sirens sounded across Israel on Friday night. This follows an unprecedented attack by Israel in the early hours of Friday, which targeted Iranian nuclear sites, senior military commanders and scientists.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Israel’s strikes had “initiated a war” and it would not be allowed to do “hit and run” attacks without consequences.

“The Zionist regime [Israel] will not remain unscathed from the consequences of its crime. The Iranian nation must be guaranteed that our response will not be half-measured,” Khamenei said in a statement.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Iran “carried out its crushing and precise response against dozens of targets, military centres and airbases” in Israel at the command of Supreme Leader Khamenei.

Three separate waves of attacks and hundreds of missiles were launched at Israel on Friday night, Iranian state news agency IRNA said.

At least one projectile impacted central Tel Aviv, said Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, Jordan.

However, the Israeli military said Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles, most of which were either intercepted or fell short.

According to the Reuters news agency, citing two unnamed officials, the United States military also helped Israel shoot down Iranian missiles heading towards the country.

Still, during the barrage, a modern apartment block was hit in central Tel Aviv, and according to live footage from the scene, fires raged inside some of the apartments, with smoke billowing from the building.

Another residential building, next to the apartment block, also appeared to have suffered significant damage, with windows blown and pieces of twisted metal hanging from its exterior.

At least 21 people were injured in the missile attacks, the Israeli ambulance service said, adding that two seriously wounded people were trapped in a building in the greater Tel Aviv area.

The Israeli army told citizens that they were now allowed to leave “protected spaces” after an earlier announcement called on residents to avoid public spaces amid a potential Iranian attack.

‘The gates of hell will open’

Israel’s attacks on Iran on Friday killed several top Iranian generals and scientists, including the armed forces chief of staff, Major-General Mohammed Bagheri, and the IRGC chief, Hossein Salami. However, Major-General Mohammed Pakpour was swiftly promoted to replace Salami.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, told the UN Security Council that 78 people were killed and more than 320 others injured in Israel’s Friday attacks, including women and children.

In a letter to Khamenei read out on state television, Pakpour promised that “the gates of hell will open to the child-killing regime”, referring to Israel.

During Israel’s surprise attack, its military said it had struck more than 200 targets across Iran.

Before Iran’s retaliatory strikes, Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier-General Effie Defrin told journalists that Israel’s army was “continuing to strike”.

“Iran has the ability to significantly harm the Israeli home front”, Defrin told a televised news conference that was cut short due to what the army said was an incoming attack.

Defrin added that the army had targeted the nuclear facility in Iran’s Isfahan and that the operation was “still ongoing”.

Iran’s atomic energy agency said there was limited damage to the Isfahan nuclear site and the Fordo nuclear site south of Tehran, which was also targeted.

“The damage was limited to areas that did not cause any urban damage in the case of Fordo … In Isfahan, there were also attacks on several points, which were related to warehouses that caught fire,” said agency spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi.

He added that “the damage was not extensive and there is no cause for concern in terms of contamination”.

Earlier, Israel also attacked the Natanz nuclear enrichment site in Iran. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said that the attack may have damaged centrifuges and there was radiological and chemical contamination inside the facility, but the contamination was manageable with “appropriate measures”.

In a statement earlier on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected “several waves of Iranian attacks” in response to Israel’s actions.

Later, during Iran’s attack on Friday night, Netanyahu said in a statement directed at Iranian citizens that Israel’s operation was to “thwart the Islamic regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile threat”.

Hobbling captain Temba Bavuma and hundred-hitter Aiden Markram pushed South Africa to the brink of a sensational victory over Australia in a gripping World Test Championship final at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

Bavuma, elevating the drama with a strained left hamstring, and opener Markram capitalised on ideal batting conditions on Friday.

They partnered for an unbroken 143 runs against one of Australia’s greatest bowling attacks to have South Africa 69 runs from an historic triumph.

Chasing 282 to win, the Proteas were 213-2 at stumps on Day Three in a stirring bid to win a first ICC trophy in 27 years.

Bavuma was 65 not out from 121 balls, his running restricted but not his batting technique, and Markram was 102 not out from 159, easily the highest individual score of the final.

Defending champion Australia bombarded them with four of its top-10 all-time test wicket-takers – more than 1,500 wickets in total – but they were not able to part the Proteas pair, and hardly troubled them.

In South Africa’s huge favour, the Day Three pitch flattened, offered the bowlers little and was far easier paced than the first two chaotic days, when 14 wickets fell on each. Only four wickets were taken on Friday, and none after tea.

South Africa will not go to bed entirely comfortably, though. The men’s team has a heartbreaking history in ICC tournaments of blowing winning positions. It is the reason its only ICC trophy is the ICC Knock Out in 1998.

“This would be massive for our country,” Proteas batting coach Ashwell Prince said. “Both in terms of what we want to do in test match cricket and what we want to achieve going forward. We’ve fallen short in some white-ball competitions with teams that have been favourites at times. History says we haven’t done it yet, so we have to knuckle down.

“Not sure how I’m going to sleep tonight. Whether I can fall into a deep sleep, I’m not sure!”

It is certain serial champion Australia still believes, too.

“In the morning, we’ve got to come back and try and form a plan,” Beau Webster said. “The boys will be looking at any advantage we can get. Strange things happen in this game.

“We tried some new things with the bowling attack, but they were just too good in the end … and both of them were chanceless, so complete credit to them.”

The odds were in Australia’s favour when South Africa’s chase began straight after lunch.

To win, a work-in-progress batting lineup needed to equal England’s most successful-ever run chase at Lord’s from 2004.

By the time pacer Mitchell Starc removed Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder, South Africa was 70-2, but flying.

There was positive intent missing from the first innings, and the strike was rotated constantly. Australia managed only three maidens in 56 overs, all by spinner Nathan Lyon.

Starc could have reduced South Africa to 76-3 when Bavuma, on 2, thick-edged to first slip.

But a helmeted Steve Smith, standing closer than usual to the wickets because the ball has not been carrying to the cordon all game, could not hold Starc’s 138 km/h delivery and broke his right pinkie finger. He immediately left for a hospital, was out of the final and probably the following three-test tour of the West Indies.

Given life, Bavuma was on 9 when he hurt his hamstring 10 minutes before tea. Prince said he was adamant about continuing, but noticeably limping. The captain soothed his dressing room with pulls and sweeps and hobbled runs, each one rousing the South Africa fans. Bavuma reached his 50 off 83 balls.

Meanwhile, Markram was cutting and driving to 50 off 69 balls. The best of his 11 boundaries was a late cut off Starc expertly sliced between two fielders. His reaction to his eighth test century five minutes from stumps was muted. He had enough strength to raise his bat to all sides and receive applause and a hug from his captain.

South Africa’s celebratory end to Friday the 13th contrasted starkly with the deflating start to the day.

The Proteas would have expected to begin the chase by bowling out Australia, resuming on 144-8, half an hour after the start of play. Lyon was dismissed early and gave Kagiso Rabada his ninth wicket of the match, but tailenders Starc and Josh Hazlewood resisted for almost two hours.

Starc achieved his 11th test fifty, and first in six years. He and Hazlewood’s third 50-plus partnership for the 10th wicket tied the all-time test record.

The stand ended on 59, Hazlewood out for 17 to part-timer Markram. Starc was not out on 58 from 136 balls. He had entered at 73-7, when Australia led by 147, and combined mainly with Alex Carey and Hazlewood to conjure 134 more runs.

Israel attacks Iranian military and nuclear sites, claiming Iran was close to producing a nuclear weapon.