AFP USA

El Salvador on Friday freed scores of Venezuelans deported from the United States to a notorious maximum security prison, the outcome of a highly coordinated prisoner swap between Caracas and Washington.The administration of US President Donald Trump said the men were released in exchange for 10 Americans held in Venezuela, and an unknown number of “political prisoners” in the South American country.The move appears to end a months-long detention of migrants that had been decried by rights groups and slammed by Trump’s critics in the United States.After prolonged uncertainty over the fate of more than 250 Venezuelans expelled from the United States in March, two Caracas-bound Venezuelan planes took off from San Salvador on Friday to the immense joy and relief of loved ones back home.”I can’t contain my happiness,” Mercedes Yamarte, mother of CECOT inmate Mervin Yamarte, told AFP.”I arranged the reception, what am I going to do? I’ll make a soup.”Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on X that “today, we have handed over all the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country.”The United States sent the group of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador in March to be locked up in its feared CECOT anti-“terrorism” jail, accused without evidence of belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang.The Trump administration invoked rarely used wartime laws to fly the men to the Central American nation without any court hearings.Bukele claimed in his post that many of the men “face multiple charges for murder, robbery, rape, and other serious crimes.”- ‘High price’ -US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X Friday that “ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela are on their way to freedom” thanks to a deal that also included “the release of Venezuelan political prisoners.”He thanked Bukele “for helping secure an agreement for the release of all of our American detainees.”The US embassy in Caracas published a photo of the individuals with American flags.In the United States, families were also excited to see their loved ones return. One had been imprisoned for nearly a year.Global Reach, an NGO that works for wrongly detained Americans, said one of the men freed was 37-year-old Lucas Hunter, held since he was “kidnapped” by Venezuelan border guards while vacationing in Colombia in January.”We cannot wait to see him in person and help him recover from the ordeal,” it quoted his younger sister Sophie Hunter as saying.Uruguay said one of its citizens, resident in the United States, was among those liberated after nine months in Venezuelan detention.Nicolas Maduro’s government in a statement said it had paid a “high price” to secure the return of its compatriots.Apart from the freeing of the Americans, it said “alternative measures” to imprisonment had been granted to Venezuelans detained for “their involvement in common crimes and offenses against the constitutional order.”The prisoner rights NGO Foro Penal told AFP it was verifying the identities of the people concerned. – ‘Rescued’ – Another plane arrived at Maiquetia airport earlier Friday from Houston with 244 Venezuelans deported from the United States and seven children who Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said had been “rescued from the kidnapping to which they were being subjected.”The children were among 30 who Caracas says remained in the United States after their Venezuelan parents were expelled.Clamping down on migrants is a flagship pursuit of Trump’s administration, which has ramped up raids and deportations.It has agreed with Maduro to send undocumented Venezuelans back home, and flights have been arriving near daily also from Mexico, where many got stuck trying to enter the United States.Official figures show that since February, more than 8,200 people have been repatriated to Venezuela from the United States and Mexico, including some 1,000 children.The Venezuelans detained in El Salvador had no right to phone calls or visits, and their relatives unsuccessfully requested proof of life.Bukele had CECOT built as part of his war on criminal gangs, but he agreed to receive millions of dollars from the United States to house the Venezuelans there.Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have denounced the detentions as a violation of human rights.burs-mlr/mlm

The US Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it was moving ahead with plans to axe its workforce by more than 3,700 employees, as part of sweeping government cuts under President Donald Trump’s second term.In January, the federal agency tasked with ensuring clean air, land and water counted 16,155 employees.Under the third round of “Deferred Resignation Program” cuts, that figure will drop to 12,448, a 22.9 percent reduction.The cuts are made up of employees who took deferred resignation — a program pushed by former Trump administration chief cost-cutter Elon Musk — along with those who opted for early retirement or were laid off.”EPA has taken a close look at our operations to ensure the agency is better equipped than ever to deliver on our core mission of protecting human health and the environment while Powering the Great American Comeback,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.  “This reduction in force will ensure we can better fulfill that mission while being responsible stewards of your hard-earned tax dollars,” he added.The statement added the cuts would generate $748.8 million in savings.The White House is seeking to slash the EPA’s budget by 54 percent to $4.2 billion for Fiscal Year 2026. Friday’s announcement drops staffing to below the 12,856 full-time positions outlined in the president’s proposed budget.The agency’s scientific research arm — the Office of Research and Development — is also being dismantled, replaced by a smaller Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions.According to the EPA, the new office will work to eliminate backlogs in reviewing hundreds of chemicals and thousands of pesticides, while developing a new strategy to address so-called “forever chemicals,” or PFAS.Zeldin has been at the forefront of Trump’s push to aggressively deregulate pollution protections and “unleash” fossil fuels, drawing fierce backlash from scientists and environment advocates alike.Earlier this month the EPA suspended 139 employees after they signed a scathing open letter accusing Zeldin of pushing policies hazardous to both people and the planet.

Three people died Friday in an explosion at a police training facility in Los Angeles, in what one local official called an accident.”Tragically, they were three sworn members who were fatally killed,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. “No other department members were injured or transported to any hospitals.”Speaking to reporters hours after the incident, Luna stressed that authorities had yet to determine the cause of the blast, but that there was no threat to the community.”Within the last 30 minutes, the LAPD bomb squad rendered the scene safe,” the sheriff said. “We have to go back and investigate what happened from the very beginning. I don’t have the facts at this point.”Homicide detectives and personnel from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the scene, along with a bomb disposal unit from the Los Angeles Police Department.An elected city official from the area where the blast took place ruled out terrorism and called it “a tragic accident.””Early on, there were people speculating that this was intentional by, you know, some terrorists, but it was not, is what I’m hearing. It was a tragic accident,” Supervisor Kathryn Barger said.The Los Angeles Times newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying that the facility’s bomb squad was moving explosives following a bomb alert when the blast took place. Law enforcement personnel enforced a large security perimeter around the parking lot where the explosion occurred, an AFP photographer saw.- ‘Horrific incident’ -Sheriff Luna said it was the largest loss of life for his department since 1857 and that the three people killed had served the country for a total of 74 years. Their names have not yet been released. US Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X that there “appears to be a horrific incident that killed at least three at a law enforcement training facility” and that investigators were on-site “working to learn more.”Mayor Karen Bass said “arson investigators and members of the LAPD bomb squad are assisting” at the scene in the Biscailuz Training Center in the Monterey Park area.”The thoughts of all Angelenos are with all of those impacted by this blast,” she said on X. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said he had been briefed, and was “closely monitoring the situation.”Footage from local station KTLA, which helicoptered over the training center, showed a person in bomb disposal gear working around a truck believed to contain explosives, which law enforcement personnel had covered with a large tent.

Venezuela on Friday received seven children who had been left behind in the United States after their parents were deported by the Donald Trump administration.Seven boys and girls have been “rescued from the kidnapping to which they were being subjected,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said at Maiquetia International Airport that serves Caracas.Cabello and First Lady Cilia Flores received the flight from Houston that also brought back 244 Venezuelans.Hundreds of people protested in Caracas last week demanding the return of at least 30 children the government says remained in the United States after their Venezuelan parents were expelled.Last month, parliamentary president Jorge Rodriguez said the children were “separated from their mothers, their fathers, their family, their grandparents” and “taken to institutions where they don’t belong.”Cabello said Friday the government was working hard “to bring the children back.”He did not say when the seven were separated from their parents. Official figures show that since February, more than 8,200 people, including many children, have been repatriated to Venezuela from the United States and Mexico. 

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” a staple of late-night US television, will end in 2026, the CBS network said, days after the comedian blasted parent company Paramount’s $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump as “a big fat bribe.”CBS said in a statement the cancellation was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” and was “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.””Next year will be our last season,” the host announced on Thursday’s episode, to boos and shouts of disbelief. “The network will be ending the show in May.”Paramount reached the settlement with Trump this month in a lawsuit the entertainment giant had described as meritless.Trump had sued Paramount for $20 billion last year, alleging that CBS News’ “60 Minutes” news program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.Paramount is meanwhile seeking to close its $8 billion merger with the entertainment company Skydance, which needs federal government approval.Colbert said on Thursday the cancellation was not just the end of his show but the end of the decades-old “Late Show” franchise, which has been broadcast continuously on CBS since 1993 and was previously hosted by David Letterman.”I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away,” Colbert said.-‘America deserves to know’-Trump celebrated the cancellation, writing on his Truth Social platform, “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings.”Trump’s political opponents and other critics drew attention to the timing of the decision.”CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump — a deal that looks like bribery,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on social media platform X.”America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons,” Warren said.Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who was a guest on Colbert’s show on Thursday, said: “If Paramount and CBS ended the ‘Late Show’ for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”The Writers Guild of America called on the New York attorney general to investigate whether the move by CBS was intended to improperly curry favor with Trump.”Given Paramount’s recent capitulation to President Trump in the CBS News lawsuit, the Writers Guild of America has significant concerns that The Late Show’s cancelation is a bribe, sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump Administration as the company looks for merger approval,” it said in a statement.Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” and one of Colbert’s rivals, posted on Instagram that “I’m just as shocked as everyone.””I really thought I’d ride this out with him for years to come,” wrote Fallon, whom Trump had earlier referred to as “the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.”Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, whose program airs on ABC, chimed in: “Love you Stephen.”CBS said in its Thursday statement it was “proud that Stephen called CBS home.””He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television,” its statement said.Colbert, once a regular on Comedy Central, made use of humor in his incisive political commentary and succeeded Letterman as the host of “The Late Show” in 2015.The late-night television landscape has long been dominated by satirical comedy shows that blend entertainment with political commentary. For decades, these programs have served as television touchstones, with hosts like Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Letterman and — more recently — Colbert, Fallon and Kimmel shaping public discourse through humor and celebrity interviews.

Three people died Friday at a police training facility in Los Angeles, the US government said, with media reports saying there had been an accidental explosion.Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X that there “appears to be a horrific incident that killed at least three at a law enforcement training facility” and that investigators were on-site “working to learn more.”Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said “arson investagators and members of the LAPD bomb squad are assisting” at the scene in the Monterey Park area.”The thoughts of all Angelenos are with all of those impacted by this blast,” she said on X. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said he had been briefed on “the reported explosion” and was “closely monitoring the situation.”Fox News and other US media outlets said the incident at Biscailuz Training Center appeared to have been an accident and killed at least three sheriff’s deputies.The Los Angeles Times newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying that the facility’s bomb squad was moving explosives when the blast took place. Footage from local station KTLA, which helicoptered over the training center, showed a person in bomb disposal gear working around a truck believed to contain explosives, which law enforcement personnel had covered with a large tent.Authorities announced they would give a press conference later in the day.

President Donald Trump attempted Friday to control the storm triggered by a bombshell report on his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, ordering the Justice Department to seek the release of testimony from the prosecution of the late, alleged sex-trafficker-to-the-famous.Trump also vowed to sue “the ass off” The Wall Street Journal and its owner Rupert Murdoch after the newspaper said that in 2003 the future president wrote a raunchy letter to Epstein, referring to their shared “secret.””I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department would ask a court to unseal grand jury testimony from the case against Epstein, apparently in hopes of dampening fury among many of Trump’s most loyal supporters over what they see as a White House cover-up.Epstein, a financier, was found hanging dead in his cell in New York in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that sexually exploited dozens of underage girls at his homes in New York and Florida.The case sparked conspiracy theories, especially among Trump’s far-right voters, about an alleged international cabal of wealthy pedophiles. Epstein’s death — declared a suicide — before he could face trial super-charged the narrative.When Trump returned to power for a second term this January, his supporters clamored for revelations about Epstein’s supposed list of clients. But Bondi issued an official memo in July declaring that there was no such list.The discontent in Trump’s MAGA, or Make America Great Again, base poses a rare challenge to the 79-year-old Republican’s control of the political narrative in America.It remained unclear whether a court would authorize the unsealing of what is usually highly secret grand jury testimony.Even if such material were made public, it was also unclear whether it would shed much, if any, light on the main questions raised in the conspiracy theories — particularly the existence and possible contents of an Epstein client list.- Naked woman and signature -Trump was friends with Epstein and the two were photographed and videoed together at parties over the years, although there has never been evidence shown of wrongdoing.The Wall Street Journal article published late Thursday was damaging because it indicated a shared interest in sex.The Journal reported that Trump had wished Epstein a happy 50th birthday in 2003 with a letter featuring a hand-drawn naked woman and referring to their “secrets.” The letter was reportedly among a slew of well-wishes from other rich and well-known figures for a birthday album.A furious Trump said on Truth Social that the purported letter was a “Scam” and “Fake.”Trump also said that the Journal’s chief editor, Emma Tucker, had been told the letter was fake and that she shouldn’t publish it.According to the Journal, the Trump letter contained the outline of a naked woman, apparently drawn with a marker pen, and had the future president’s signature “Donald” mimicking pubic hair. It ends, according to the newspaper, with “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”Trump reacted in a series of furious social media posts, saying “it’s not my language. It’s not my words.””I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women,” he said.

US aviation giant Boeing on Thursday signed a contract worth billions of dollars to sell 12 787 Dreamliners, with options for six more, to Gulf Air, as the Bahrain-based carrier looks to expand its global network.The order comes one month after an Air India Boeing 787 crashed shortly after takeoff, killing a total of 260 people on the plane and on the ground.”Once finalized, this order will bring the carrier’s firm order book to 14 of the versatile wide-body jets and will support 30,000 jobs across the US,” the companies said in a joint statement.The official Bahrain News Agency said the kingdom’s national carrier had signed a $4.6 billion agreement for 18 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.The US Commerce Department put the value of the 18 planes at $7 billion.The deal “marks a transformative step in Gulf Air’s strategic growth journey as we expand our global footprint and modernize our fleet with one of the industry’s most advanced and efficient aircraft,” said Gulf Air Group chairman Khalid Taqi.”The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has proven to be an exceptional aircraft for our long-haul operations, and this new order reflects our confidence in its performance, passenger appeal and contribution to our sustainability goals.”Boeing delivered 150 commercial aircraft in the second quarter, its highest number of deliveries in that quarter since 2018. That was just before two 737 MAX crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 — which killed 346 people — plunged the company into crisis.The Air India jet bound for London crashed in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on June 12. A preliminary investigation report revealed that fuel control switches were switched off shortly after takeoff. Boeing has not been asked to take any action as the probe continues.US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a trade pact with Indonesia that limits tariffs on Indonesian products at 19 percent, and said the deal features a pledge from the country to buy 50 Boeing jets, “many of them 777s.”

Donald Trump’s administration said it would seek the release of grand jury testimony related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, as the US president sought to dispel lingering political fallout over his team’s handling of the late financier’s sex trafficking case.Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department will ask a court to unseal the grand jury transcripts, as Trump’s relationship with Epstein came under the spotlight again over an alleged off-color letter published by the Wall Street Journal.Trump called the letter a scam and threatened to sue “the ass off” the WSJ and its owner Rupert Murdoch.He has been facing a firestorm over his past relationship with Epstein, as well as claims that his administration is covering up lurid details of Epstein’s crimes to protect rich and powerful figures.Epstein died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019 — during Trump’s first term — after being charged with federal sex trafficking in a scheme where he allegedly groomed young and underage women for sexual abuse by his wealthy contacts.He was previously required to register as a sex offender in Florida after pleading guilty to two felony prostitution-related charges.The article in the Journal says the letter featuring a sketch of a naked woman and Trump’s signature was part of a collection of notes for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003.The newspaper says it reviewed the letter but did not print an image.”I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.”But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.”Trump said in an earlier post WSJ editor-in-chief Emma Tucker “was told directly by (White House press secretary) Karoline Leavitt, and by President Trump, that the letter was a FAKE.”The Republican president called the story “false, malicious, and defamatory.””Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval,” he wrote on Truth Social late on Thursday.Shortly after, Bondi said on social media that the Justice Department intended to seek the unsealing of grand jury transcripts in court on Friday.Whether she would succeed remained uncertain, given the strict secrecy surrounding grand jury transcripts.”President Trump — we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts,” Bondi wrote.- ‘Another wonderful secret’ -The alleged letter is raunchy, as were others in the collection, the Journal reported. It contains several lines of typewritten text, contained in an outline of a naked woman drawn with a marker.”The future president’s signature is a squiggly ‘Donald’ below her waist, mimicking pubic hair,” the Journal reported.”The letter concludes: ‘Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.'”Trump denied writing the letter or drawing the figure, telling the Journal: “This is not me. This is a fake thing.””I don’t draw pictures of women,” he said. “It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”- Epstein row -The Trump-supporting far-right has long latched onto the Epstein scandal, claiming the existence of a still-secret client list and that he was murdered in his cell as part of a cover-up.Trump supporters expected the Republican to answer their questions on his return to office in January but now find themselves being told the conspiracy theories are false.The Justice Department and FBI said in a memo made public this month that there was no evidence that Epstein kept a “client list” or was blackmailing powerful people.They also dismissed the claim that Epstein was murdered in jail, confirming his suicide, and said they would not be releasing any more information on the probe.That could change if grand jury testimony or evidence are released.US media reported on Thursday that a federal prosecutor who handled Epstein’s case, who is the daughter of a prominent Trump critic, was abruptly fired.Maurene Comey, whose father is former FBI director James Comey, was dismissed Wednesday from her position as an assistant US attorney in Manhattan, the reports said.Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that the WSJ “should be ashamed” for publishing the story.However, Democratic lawmaker Pat Ryan wrote: “I think we now know EXACTLY why Donald Trump refuses to release the Epstein files.”