logo
Kristi Noem Urged Pete Hegseth and US Military to Arrest LA Rioters

Kristi Noem Urged Pete Hegseth and US Military to Arrest LA Rioters

Newsweek2 days ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to deploy the military in Los Angeles to arrest "lawbreakers" in the riots.
In the Sunday letter, first obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, Noem asked Hegseth to direct the military forces to "either detain, just as they would at any federal facility guarded by military, lawbreakers under Title 18 until they can be arrested and processed by federal law enforcement, or arrest them."
She also requested the Defense Department send military drones and weapons to assist law enforcement during the riots which broke out after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out multiple raids across L.A.
This is is breaking news. More updates to follow.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US Ally Seeks China's Help in Dealing With North Korea
US Ally Seeks China's Help in Dealing With North Korea

Newsweek

time30 minutes ago

  • Newsweek

US Ally Seeks China's Help in Dealing With North Korea

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. South Korea's newly minted President Lee Jae-myung, during his first conversation with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping Tuesday, asked for help reining in North Korea's Kim Jong Un regime. Lee, who, during the recent campaign, championed a pragmatic approach to diplomacy, hopes Beijing will use its influence as North Korea's longtime benefactor to push that country toward walking back its nuclear weapons program. Yet the Chinese leader is unlikely to do so, some analysts say. Why It Matters The 30-minute call comes as Lee, a liberal from South Korea's Democratic Party, seeks to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula. North-South relations are at their most strained in decades amid Kim's frequent ballistic missile tests and North Korean troop deployments to support Russia's war against Ukraine. Lee is also expected to tread carefully as he balances relations with his country's largest trading partner—China—and key security ally—the United States. Lee must also grapple with a slowing economy and trade negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump. Newsweek reached out to the North Korean Embassy in China, South Korean Embassy in the U.S., and U.S. State Department vie emailed requests for comment. What To Know During his 30-minute phone call with Xi, Lee expressed hope the two countries would boost cooperation and exchanges in a range of areas, from security to people-to-people exchanges, the Yonhap News Agency quoted Lee spokesperson Kang Yu-jung as saying. Lee also called on his Chinese counterpart to play an active role in advancing denuclearization on the peninsula, which he said is in both nations' interests. Kang also told reporters the Chinese leader offered assurances that he would attempt to help resolve the nuclear weapons issue. Chinese officials have yet to confirm this remark by Xi. "Both sides should respect each other's core interests and major concerns, firmly steer the overall direction of bilateral relations, and ensure that the China-ROK [Republic of Korea] relationship always moves forward on the right track," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in its statement on the call, using South Korea's official name. File photo: Lee Jae-myung attends a Memorial Day ceremony in Seoul on June 6, 2025. File photo: Lee Jae-myung attends a Memorial Day ceremony in Seoul on June 6, 2025. Kyodo via Associated Press China, which for decades has helped prop up North Korea's fragile economy, joined the other four U.N. Security Council members in voting for the current sanctions regime following North Korea's fourth and fifth nuclear weapons tests in 2016. North Korea maintains its nuclear weapons are necessary to deter aggression from the U.S. and its allies—and, in 2023, the country moved to enshrine the weapons in its constitution. In a departure from his impeached predecessor, hard-liner Yoon Suk Yeol, Lee has been seeking to de-escalate tensions with North Korea. On Wednesday, he reportedly shut down the loudspeakers broadcasting daily anti-North propaganda near the border; South Korea's Defense Ministry said it was part of a broader effort "to restore trust in inter-Korean relations and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula." Seoul's Cold War-era practice had resumed last year in retaliation for trash-laden balloons the North sent across the border—itself a response to balloons launched by activists carrying anti-Kim leaflets and USB sticks loaded with South Korean media. Last year, Kim abandoned North Korea's historical goal of reunification with the South, which—despite a 1953 ceasefire—technically remains in a state of war. The North also amended its constitution to label its neighbor its "primary foe." What People Are Saying Sean King, Asia scholar and senior vice president of New York-based consultancy Park Strategies, told Newsweek: "China has no real interest in curtailing North Korea's nuclear weapons, as they help keep the United States and regional treaty allies South Korea and Japan off balance and help perpetuate Korea's division, which serves Beijing's interests. "What's more, Kim's burgeoning relationship with Vladimir Putin gives him options and would make him even less interested in any corrective comments that Xi might have." Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair at the Hudson Institute, told Newsweek: "First, President Lee seeks to reassure Beijing by demonstrating sensitivity to China's core interests, thereby encouraging favorable or at least stable bilateral relations. "Second, he aims to offer President Xi Jinping an opening to reassert diplomatic influence over the Korean Peninsula, thereby counterbalancing what Beijing may perceive as growing Russian sway over the Kim regime." What Happens Next Lee reportedly invited Xi to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November at the city of Gyeongju. The South Korean leader is expected to meet with Trump on the sidelines of the June 15-17 Group of Seven summit in Alberta, Canada.

How Project 2025 Compares With Trump's Los Angeles Response
How Project 2025 Compares With Trump's Los Angeles Response

Newsweek

time44 minutes ago

  • Newsweek

How Project 2025 Compares With Trump's Los Angeles Response

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump's response to protests in Los Angeles is in keeping with suggestions put forth in Project 2025, a political commentator has said. Allison Gill, who worked at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, said on Wajahat Ali's the Left Hook Substack that the president's military response was "spelled out in Project 2025," a conservative policy dossier. She did not specify how. Newsweek has contacted the Heritage Foundation and Gill for comment by email. The Context Protests against immigration enforcement began in Los Angeles on Friday and have continued, with some isolated incidents of violence and looting. In response, Trump announced the deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to restore order, without California Governor Gavin Newsom's consent. While the president has said the move was necessary to prevent the city from "burning to the ground" amid protests and riots, officials in California have accused Trump of exacerbating the situation in an "unprecedented power grab." A police officer firing a soft round near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on June 8. A police officer firing a soft round near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on June 8. AP Photo/Eric Thayer What To Know Gill, who served Trump a lawsuit in 2023 accusing him of conspiring to fire her from the Veterans Affairs Department during his first presidency, said sending in the Marines was "propaganda" because the protests were not severe enough to require them. Though she said Project 2025 predicted the president's response to the protests, she did not elaborate on how. Project 2025 is a 900-page document of policy proposals published by the Heritage Foundation think tank. It advocates limited government, border security and tough immigration laws among other conservative measures. The policy proposals have proved divisive, and the president's critics and supporters alike have debated their influence on him. While Project 2025 does not mention the Insurrection Act, a November 2023 report from The Washington Post, citing internal communications and a person involved in the conversations, said the Project 2025 group had drafted executive orders that would use the Insurrection Act to deploy the military domestically. Gill told Ali that she warned people of Trump's potential use of the military to curb protests before the presidential election. "We did everything that we could in leading up to the election in 2024 to tell everyone as loud as we can, they are planning to do this," she said, adding: "Saying he's going to call this an invasion. He's going to call this an insurrection. And he's going to use that to invoke emergency powers so that he can unleash the military on United States citizens and perhaps even suspend habeas corpus so that he can detain his political enemies without due process." "This is scary," Gill, who hosts the Mueller, She Wrote podcast, continued. "This is full-on fascism, full-on authoritarianism." "This is a test case for authoritarianism," Ali added. Before the 2024 presidential election, Democrats accused Trump of planning to implement Project 2025 if he won. While Trump initially called parts of the plan "ridiculous and abysmal," he told Time after his electoral victory that he disagreed with parts of it, but not all of it. He has since appointed a number of people linked to Project 2025 to White House positions. In an October interview with Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures, Trump indicated that he would use the National Guard or the military if there were disruptions from "radical left lunatics" on Election Day. What Does Project 2025 Say? Project 2025 advocates for improved defense infrastructure and for the Department of Homeland Security to "thoroughly enforce immigration laws." The document added that DHS should "provide states and localities with a limited federal emergency response and preparedness." However, it did not say whether this would occur in the context of protests. What Trump's Advisers Have Said Trump's advisers have previously spoken about the use of National Guard troops in other contexts. According to a February 2024 report in The Atlantic, Stephen Miller, now the White House deputy chief of staff, said that Trump—if returned to office—would take National Guard troops from sympathetic Republican-controlled states and use them in Democratic-run states whose governors refused to cooperate with their mass deportation policy. What People Are Saying President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday: "If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can't do their jobs, which everyone knows they can't, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!" Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday: "We will always protect the constitutional right for Angelenos to peacefully protest. However, violence, destruction and vandalism will not be tolerated in our city and those responsible will be held fully accountable." What Happens Next The anti-ICE protests, which have spread to other cities, are likely to continue. Newsom has called on the Trump administration to remove federal troops from Los Angeles.

Map Shows Global Reach of China Aid Money
Map Shows Global Reach of China Aid Money

Newsweek

time44 minutes ago

  • Newsweek

Map Shows Global Reach of China Aid Money

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. As China soared to economic prominence in recent decades, it also emerged as a leading source of finance for low- and middle-income countries, according to statistical records, issuing over $1 trillion in loans, grants and other types of funding since 2000. A Newsweek map, based on the AidData development finance database maintained by the College of William and Mary in Virginia, shows the 147 countries and regions that received Chinese funding up to 2021. Why It Matters Chinese government concession loans skyrocketed in the previous decade with the introduction of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to fund infrastructure in the Global South. As grace periods expired in the 2020s, China went from being a top lender to the top debt collector, according to a recent report by Australia's Lowy Institute think tank. This year, debt owed by the world's 75 poorest countries will come due—a record $22 billion. Observers warn that the burden is straining vulnerable economies and shaping their politics as Chinese credit and influence grows across the globe. Newsweek contacted the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment by email but did not receive a response before publication time. What To Know China's bilateral lending spree under the BRI—itself estimated at more than $1 trillion to finance dams, railways and other infrastructure projects—accounts for most of the $1.34 trillion in Chinese development aid recorded by AidData, covering the period 2000-2021. The figure is the result of 17,957 approved, active and completed projects with at least 147 recipients—countries like developing neighbors Myanmar, vulnerable regions like Gaza, or multiple countries at once. Loans or grants are funded by the Chinese government or underwritten by financial institutions like China's Exim Bank, or by state-owned enterprises. If canceled or suspended projects are included, China's total commitment rises to $1.69 trillion across nearly 21,000 projects, with financing also arriving in the form of debt forgiveness, debt rescheduling, scholarships or technical training. In the two decades covered by AidData's research, Russia has been the top beneficiary of Chinese development finance, receiving $169.27 billion debt forgiveness, free-standing technical assistance, grants, loans and scholarships or training in China—116 projects in total. Pakistan and Venezuela respectively ranked second and third, with $112.88 billion for 67 projects since 2002 and $70.3 billion for 178 projects since 2000, according to the available data. Colombo International Container Terminals are seen over the Colombo Port City on February 5, 2025 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. China's investments in Sri Lanka have spanned various sectors, with a particular focus on infrastructure development,... Colombo International Container Terminals are seen over the Colombo Port City on February 5, 2025 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. China's investments in Sri Lanka have spanned various sectors, with a particular focus on infrastructure development, trade, and strategic positioning. MoreChinese foreign aid is primarily overseen by the China International Development Cooperation Agency, also known as ChinaAid, which was established in 2018 to streamline aid flows and ensure they align with the country's foreign policy objectives. Skeptics argue that China's lending to the developing world is intended to create geopolitical leverage via a debt trap for borrowing governments. Supporters say Chinese lending is driven largely by commercial logic rather than overt political leverage. China denies practicing what some in the United States have called "debt-trap diplomacy." Beijing says its loans are conducted on mutually beneficial terms. What's Been Said Deborah Brautigam, director of the China-Africa Research Initiative at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, told NPR: "The Chinese are on a steep learning curve as far as debt restructuring goes. We're going to be seeing a transition: much more care about debt sustainability." Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state, told lawmakers last month: "We provide development assistance. They provides debt traps, and that's a point over and over again around the world that we've made, and we've found receptive audiences to it." Mao Ning, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters last month: "A handful of countries are spreading the narrative that China is responsible for these countries' debt. However, they ignore the fact that multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors from developed countries are the main creditors of developing countries and the primary source of debt repayment pressure." What's Next For a long time, the U.S. has been the world's largest single source of humanitarian aid. But amid U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to reduce government spending, Washington has slashed foreign aid—a funding stream that last year comprised 40 percent of total global assistance. This included cutting more than 90 percent of the budget of the U.S. Agency for International Development shortly after taking office. Critics say the cuts have put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk and diminish a longstanding tool of U.S. soft power. China may already be seeking to fill some of that void, having already stepped in to fund initiatives such as landmine removal in Cambodia.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store