Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled streets across Spain, denouncing the government’s response to a large-scale migrant crossing into the country in July.

Officials estimated that 50,000 people rallied in Madrid alone, with many directing their anger at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as tensions over the migrant crisis in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta continued to escalate.

Unrest stretched on for hours after the main demonstrations dispersed, with the sound of gunfire and explosions reported through the night on Wednesday.

Among the crowds were placards carrying messages such as, “A united Ceuta will never be defeated,” “Sánchez to prison,” and “Invaders — go home!”

Spain is still dealing with the fallout after over 70,000 foreign migrants surged across its border from neighboring Morocco in late July.

Thousands of those migrants remain in Spanish territory even now.

“What happened to us was not a migratory crisis,” Ceuta’s regional leader, Juan Jesús Vivas, said Wednesday. “What happened was the violation of Spain’s territorial integrity.”

The protests came days after Ceuta residents tore down and burned makeshift migrant shelters found in their city.

Demonstrators carrying Spanish flags moved toward beachside migrant camps last week, destroying shelters and setting fires as police attempted to keep protesters and migrants apart, according to Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE and news agency EFE.

Meanwhile, Sanchez has blamed Russia and Israel for amplifying the migrant crisis via social media, saying the July surge across the border was due to a misinterpretation of a Spanish Supreme Court ruling.

Sánchez told radio station SER that research by the European Union’s diplomatic service, the European External Action Service, indicated Russian and Israeli networks had participated in spreading disinformation alongside far-right networks, Reuters reported Aug. 31.

“Without facts, without materials backed up by numbers, dates, names, there is simply nothing to talk about,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused Sánchez of “lying shamelessly,” and said in a post on X that the Spanish leader was attempting to divert attention from domestic policy failures.

The man suspected of carrying out a deadly mass shooting inside a Minneapolis apartment building has been identified in newly surfaced images.

Police said 35-year-old Carlton Johnson II allegedly opened fire Wednesday evening at the Loring Towers apartment complex, leaving two people dead and six others injured.

Johnson described himself on social media as a content creator and was also listed as working as a machine operator, according to his online profiles.

Posts and photos shared on his Facebook page suggest he was the father of two young daughters.

Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Bill Peterson said one victim was pronounced dead at the scene, while a second died after being taken to the hospital.

He also told reporters that one officer was shot in the leg and another was shot twice in the abdomen. 

Johnson died in the building during the standoff, it is unclear at this time if he took his own life or was shot dead by officers. 

Images of Johnson have emerged after it was revealed that he was facing eviction proceedings from the building after making a series of threats to neighbors. 

Court documents obtained by the Daily Mail said that he was issued an order to be evicted in June but was fighting back against it. 

His erratic behavior apparently started back in January, when property managers claim he disturbed the peace by getting into a loud argument and repeatedly knocked on a neighbor’s door.

Then on March 23, Johnson assaulted a resident on the premises of the affordable housing complex and by June he started openly carrying a gun.

The final straw apparently came on June 11, when Johnson was seen walking around the complex with his firearm and entered the management office, where he allegedly waved the gun in front of multiple management personnel, the complaint reads.

That same day, Johnson allegedly told other residents that he obtained a new gun and ‘would kill someone.’

Two days later, Johnson was also seen flashing his gun to others on the sidewalk.

But after receiving the eviction order, Johnson told property managers he would comply with the lease agreement moving forward, and the landlord allowed him to stay so long as he agreed to no longer display his gun or any other weapon. 

Johnson was due to appear in court for an eviction proceeding on September 11. 

A motive for the shooting remained unclear, though Minneapolis police said they were ‘familiar’ with the suspect. 

Shoreline Plaza resident Chris Miller told the Minneapolis Star Tribune the suspect told him earlier in the week how he planned to shoot his ex-girlfriend and two building property managers.

He further claimed he emailed building management, warning them of Johnson’s remarks just days before the tragedy.

Miller went on to explain how he first met Johnson when Miller moved into the building a couple of months ago, and that on a couple of occasions, he showed Miller his handgun and his concealed carry permit.

Miller also noted that the gunman lived alone and had at least a couple of kids who did not live with him, but was mad about a recent breakup.

‘He was very, very angry, drunk and mad,’ said Miller.

Derrick Thompson, who had just moved out of the complex, also told the outlet how he would regularly see Johnson outside drinking.

He said the suspect was involved in a child custody dispute, and his car was recently repossessed.

‘He was fighting people every day, every damn day,’ Thompson lamented. ‘He lost everything.’

Then just moments before the shooting, another resident claims, Johnson said he was going to kill the mother of his child.

The unidentified woman told Fox 6 she was taking her young daughter to get some food when she encountered the gunman on the ninth floor.

‘I was already in the building when he grabbed me and said, “I’m going to kill my baby mama and you’re going to witness it,” and I’m like, “Let me go and quit playing with me,”‘ she recounted.

Johnson then decided to let go of her, saying: ‘You know what, I’m [going to] let you go for the simple fact that you don’t deserve this. You always pray for me. You always keep me uplifted.’

Still, the woman said, he vowed to kill the mother of his child ‘and I said “quit playing.”‘

‘Next thing you know, I come back, we can’t get in the building. He did it.’

In total, seven patients were rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center, one of whom was later pronounced dead, spokesman Jonathan Comito said. 

At the news conference on Wednesday night,  Peterson said he was ‘sickened’ by the tragedy.

‘It’s truly sickening that in my career, 31 years here, that is the third incident like this that has happened,’ he said.

‘But our officers have shown that they are willing and they do respond towards gunfire when others are running from it, and it’s absolutely heroic.’

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also commended the police officers, saying if it was not for their ‘heroic work, the death toll would be higher.’

Hate crimes across New York City climbed sharply over the past year, driven largely by a rise in antisemitic incidents targeting Jewish New Yorkers, even as the NYPD reported that the city experienced its safest summer on record, according to newly released crime data.

The figures, made public just weeks before the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, show confirmed hate crimes increased 15.8% year over year, rising to 425 in 2026 from 367 in 2025.

Anti-Jewish hate crimes rose 8% and made up more than half of all confirmed hate crime cases recorded during the first eight months of the year, despite Jewish residents representing roughly 10% of New York City’s population.

The troubling trend has included violent attacks, among them the July stabbing of a Jewish man outside an Upper West Side synagogue, underscoring a continued rise in bias-related crimes even as broader public safety numbers improved.

Between June 1 and August 31, New York City recorded the fewest shooting incidents, shooting victims and murders ever documented for that summer period, the NYPD said.

There were 195 shootings reported over the summer, 32 less than the record low of 227 set last year.

There were 249 shooting victims, 44 fewer than the previous record low of 293 set in 2018, and 66 murders, 12 fewer than the previous record low of 78 set in 2017

The Department of Homeland Security has rolled out new instructions telling government immigration lawyers to move quickly to dismiss asylum cases they believe do not satisfy basic legal requirements, according to internal guidance obtained by News Media.

Under the directive, which takes effect immediately, attorneys in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, known as OPLA, are expected to file motions to pretermit in immigration court when they conclude that an asylum application is legally deficient on its face.

A motion to pretermit asks an immigration judge to reject an asylum claim before it reaches a full merits hearing, with the government arguing that the application does not meet the legal threshold required to move forward.

The final decision, however, remains with immigration judges, who determine whether such motions should be granted.

ICE SEEKS NEARLY $500K FINE AGAINST IMMIGRATION LAWYER ACCUSED OF FILING FAKE ASYLUM CLAIMS

The guidance is intended to expedite the adjudication of asylum claims that satisfy the legal requirements while allowing the government to challenge deficient applications earlier in the immigration court process.

The directive also reinforces the administration’s ongoing focus on combating asylum fraud, including continued efforts to hold attorneys accountable for facilitating fraudulent asylum claims.

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The policy follows a series of recent administration actions aimed at reshaping the asylum system. Earlier this year, the administration streamlined portions of the affirmative asylum process by allowing certain applications to move directly to immigration court without first undergoing asylum interviews, a change officials said would reduce duplicative reviews and help address the immigration court backlog.

The administration has also expanded its focus on asylum fraud. In recent months, ICE announced a policy allowing the agency to pursue civil penalties against attorneys accused of facilitating fraudulent asylum claims and later sought financial penalties against a New York immigration attorney accused of filing fraudulent asylum applications.

The latest guidance extends that broader effort into immigration court litigation by directing government attorneys to challenge asylum claims they believe do not satisfy the legal requirements before those cases proceed to full evidentiary hearings.

The policy marks another step in the Trump administration’s broader effort to tighten the asylum system through changes to immigration enforcement and litigation strategy.

Jenna Dewan may be a seasoned performer, but some “Dancing With the Stars” viewers are questioning whether her Season 35 casting gives her an unfair edge.

The actress pushed back on that criticism in an Entertainment Weekly interview published Wednesday, stressing that her dance background does not mean she already knows ballroom.

Dewan, known for “The Rookie,” previously worked as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and starred opposite her now-ex-husband Channing Tatum in the 2006 dance film “Step Up.” Still, she told the outlet the styles are not interchangeable: “Let’s be clear. It’s two different languages.”

The 45-year-old acknowledged that certain parts of her training can help her in the ballroom. “I’ve learned choreography, I can perform,” she said, before adding that the competition has required “a certain sense of unlearning” on her part.

Calling ballroom dance a “brand new technique,” Dewan explained that the shift was challenging at first because it forced her to rethink movements she had relied on for years. “It almost threw me off initially because I had to unlearn a lot of — I don’t want to say bad habits — but just habits of the style that I’m used to,” she said.

Dewan insisted her dance background actually makes her feel “more nervous” to compete on the ABC show.

“It’s not like you’re giving me a style that I’ve done — I can go out there and do that,” she continued of “really foreign” ballroom moves. “It has its advantages, but it also has its challenges.

“But that was part of why I wanted to do it,” Dewan added. “I really wanted to challenge myself.”

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Her pro partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, agreed that it’s “naive to think that this show is just about dance.”

The 40-year-old said, “It’s about the human experience and the human journey and how much you’re willing to reveal yourself. Dance is a vehicle for us to find out more about these people — and I think that’s our advantage.”

News broke of Dewan’s casting on Wednesday, with other future contestants including “Step Up 2: The Streets” and “Step Up 3D” star Harry Shum Jr.

The actor, 44, defended his casting as well.

“I think everyone’s idea is like, ‘Oh, you dance, so you should be able to dance anything.’ And I mean, that’s just not true,” the “Grey’s Anatomy” alum told People. “There are hundreds of styles, not dozens, hundreds all over the world.”

Shum Jr. shared with Entertainment Weekly that dancing with partner Jenna Johnson takes “a whole new vocabulary” and is “going to be a challenge.”

Other Season 35 cast members include “Summer House” star Ciara Miller, actress Julia Stiles and “Traitors” alum Maura Higgins.