Topline:
A woman was arrested at LAX on Saturday night for allegedly trafficking arms on behalf of the Iranian government, according to authorities.
Why now: Shamim Mafi of Woodland Hills is charged with helping the regime sell drones, bombs, bomb fuses and millions of rounds of ammunition to Sudan.
The backstory: Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, made the arrest announcement Sunday morning on social media.
A woman was arrested for allegedly trafficking arms on behalf of the Iranian government at LAX on Saturday night, according to authorities.
Shamim Mafi of Woodland Hills is charged with helping the regime sell drones, bombs and millions of rounds of ammunition to Sudan.
Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, made the arrest announcement Sunday morning on social media.
The 44-year-old Mafi is expected to appear in court for a bond hearing Monday afternoon in downtown L.A.
According to the criminal complaint filed by the Department of Justice and obtained by LAist, Mafi allegedly brokered weapons deals on behalf of Iran through Atlas International, a business in Oman she co-owns, including facilitating a contract valued at more than €60 million (or some US $70 million) for the sale of Iranian-made armed drones to Sudan.
She is also being accused of brokering the sale of 55,000 bomb fuses, AK-47 machine guns and other weapons to the Sudanese Ministry of Defense.
Mafi faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
Essayli said Mafi is an Iranian national who became a permanent resident of the U.S. in 2016.
Topline:
Starting Monday, companies can apply to get their tariff-related refunds back.
Why now: U.S. Customs is launching just the first phase of payouts, so not all the goods imported under the illegal tariffs will immediately qualify.
The backstory: U.S. Customs has estimated that it owes a total of $166 billion in tariff refunds, and the agency's legal filings suggest that the initial phase would tackle the majority of affected imports.
After weeks of waiting to hear how — or whether — the U.S. government might refund the tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court, Monday is the day it finally begins.
Imagine tens of thousands of business owners with their fingers hovering over laptops, ready to enter America's hottest new queue: the U.S. tariff-refund portal.
U.S. Customs is launching just the first phase of payouts, so not all the goods imported under the illegal tariffs will immediately qualify. And the latest federal guidance says that after refund requests are approved, it could take 60 to 90 days to return the money to the importer.
Still, this marks a turning point for U.S. importers, who've waited for clarity for exactly two months since the U.S. Supreme Court declared most of President Trump's tariffs unconstitutional. The high court did not opine on the process of refunds, and government officials at first suggested the process could prove unwieldy.
"Small businesses organized, spoke out, and won a major victory," said Main Street Alliance, which advocates for U.S. small businesses, in a statement. "Now, the federal government must follow through with a refund process that truly works for Main Street."
U.S. Customs has estimated that it owes a total of $166 billion in tariff refunds, and the agency's legal filings suggest that the initial phase would tackle the majority of affected imports. On Tuesday, a Customs official told a judge that the vast majority of eligible importers signed up for electronic payments, as the agency is requiring, and that group is owed about $127 billion.
Will consumers see any of that money land in their pockets? Probably not, economics and legal experts say.
The cost of tariffs has been woven into the prices of many products in a way that can make it hard to separate out what customers ultimately paid. Often, manufacturers, suppliers, importers, retailers and shoppers all absorb costs along the way. And with tariffs landing on the heels of historic inflation, companies big and small have argued that they ate much of the cost to avoid spooking shoppers with higher prices.
In fact, many retailers find themselves in a similar quandary because tariff refunds will go to whoever paid the actual customs bill. It's unclear how, or if, the refunds might trickle down to store owners who paid tariff surcharges to their suppliers.
"As a retailer, I didn't pay tariffs directly. However, I did pay them indirectly in the form of higher wholesale prices," says Joe Kimray, owner of B & W Hardware in North Carolina. Most of his products are either made abroad or use imported parts.
"I plan to have conversations with a number of manufacturers and hope that they will do the right thing and share some of the tariff refund money with us," he says. "I don't expect to get a direct refund check from anyone, but it could be even as simple as offering discounts on the wholesale cost of future product purchases."
Shoppers hoping to recoup their own tariff expenses have launched class-action lawsuits against several companies, including Costco and FedEx. The shipping giant has pledged to pass down any refunds it receives. Costco's CEO last month told investors the company would return shoppers' money through "lower prices and better values" and would be transparent about its plans.
U.S. Customs' initial phase of refunds will focus on tariff payments that haven't been finalized because they technically are still under federal review. (Companies typically pay import duties as soon as their goods arrive at the border, but the complete customs review that follows can take nearly a year.) The government will continue to set up its new system, called CAPE, so that it can later on refund older, finalized tariff payments.
NPR asked U.S. Customs and Border Protection about the scale of tariff refunds it expects to handle in the first phase, including the volume of claims the agency's new tool is prepared to handle on Monday. A CBP spokesperson in response said that CAPE was developed "to efficiently process refunds" and referred importers and brokers to the agency's updated tariff-refund guidance.
NPR's Scott Horsley contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
A new Long Beach-themed Monopoly game turns local landmarks into playable spaces on the board. The game is part of a recent wave of city-specific editions that has the iconic game connecting with communities through nostalgia and local pride.
How to get a Monopoly game: To be featured, a city has to have enough people excited enough to support the production of thousands of games.
Why now: Top Trumps has expanded U.S. city editions in recent years as interest in board games has resurged after the pandemic. A company representative said that Long Beach, with its strong sense of community and recognizable landmarks, fit the model.
Monopoly lovers can now buy up the Queen Mary, collect rent on Belmont Shore and park their token at a storied tattoo shop, Outer Limits.
The Long Beach landmarks line the spaces of a new Monopoly edition themed around L.A. County’s second biggest city, released just this month.
The Long Beach edition is part of an expanding series of Monopoly games featuring dozens of American cities, which Hasbro licensee Top Trumps started to produce about five years ago when interest in board games surged during the pandemic.
How does a city land on one of the world's most popular board games? Turns out, it’s not just a roll of the dice.
“We’re looking for places with strong community pride, places where people will really love seeing their city on a Monopoly board,” said Jennifer Tripsea, a partnership sales executive with Top Trumps.
Long Beach fit the bill and got to join a list of SoCal cities on Monopoly boards including Huntington Beach, Riverside and Palm Springs.
Tripsea said in some instances, a city will pitch themselves to the company — she didn’t disclose which have — but not every place makes the cut.
There has to be enough population — or local enthusiasm — to support a run of thousands of games.
Top Trumps sells the games online and through local businesses, sometimes the same ones featured on the board. That creates a built-in customer base: residents, tourists and collectors hunting for their next addition.
And while some businesses may offer to sponsor their way into consideration, their inclusion isn’t a given.
Tripsea said when deciding who earns a spot, the company weighs cultural relevance, brand standards and community input.
Once a city is selected, residents are invited to help shape the board.
That means emailing suggested landmarks and drafting potential Chance and Community Chest cards. For Long Beach, one Community Chest card directs players to collect $100 if they "attend a beach cleanup at Alamitos Beach."
Hundreds of submissions flooded in over the last year, many pointing to the same top attractions, Tripsea said. The Queen Mary and Aquarium of the Pacific take up the same spots on the board that are occupied by Park Place and Boardwalk in the original game.
Others featured on the board are lesser known to outsiders, like Rosie’s Dog Beach and the Arts Council for Long Beach.
The arts nonprofit was “surprised and excited” to hear from Top Trumps last year that they were being included in a version all about Long Beach, said interim executive director Lisa DeSmidt.
“I describe Long Beach as a big city that's run like a small town, and that everybody kind of knows each other to some degree,” DeSmidt said. “Long Beach has a sense of community in that Long Beach takes care of Long Beach people.”
An intern for the arts council, Peyton Smith, designed its space on the board, featuring small, intricate renderings of landmarks like the Long Beach Airport and the pyramid arena at Cal State Long Beach.
For DeSmidt, the game serves as a kind of cultural snapshot highlighting the city’s mix of arts, neighborhoods and institutions. It’s reminiscent of the council’s own project mapping the city’s cultural assets.
“This ties into uplifting what makes Long Beach unique and what people love about it,” DeSmidt said.
Outer Limits Tattoo was also invited to be part of the game, where it now appears next to VIP Records on the board.
Recognized as the country’s oldest continuously working tattoo shop, Outer Limits’ history dates back to 1927, when it opened in the waterfront amusement district known as The Pike, now home to the Pike Outlets.
Outer Limits' general manager Matt Hand said once word got out that the shop was stocking the game, customers started showing up just to buy it.
“It’s just a cool thing,” Hand said. “Especially when it’s like, ‘The business where I get tattooed’ is on the board.”
A big reason Hand thinks these editions are catching on is nostalgia. Seeing your own city in a board game that you played as a kid — and may be now playing with your own kids — is thrilling.
“You're basically like a part of the game now,” Hand said.
Topline:
You might have noticed a little more purple on your commute in Los Angeles recently. Turns out the jacarandas are putting on their annual show of blooms a little early this year.
Why? Originally from the tropics, jacarandas respond to changes in temperature. They typically flower in our region from late April to mid-June. But remember that sweltering heat wave we got in March?
Where are the purple hot spots? A couple years ago, a local data graphics editor created an interactive map so you can find the purple hot spots.
Go deeper: Jacaranda season is upon us. But wait, how do you pronounce ‘jacaranda’?
You might have noticed a little more purple on your commute in Los Angeles recently. Turns out the jacarandas are putting on their annual show of blooms a little early this year.
Originally from the tropics, jacarandas respond to changes in temperature. They typically flower in our region from late April to mid-June.
But remember that sweltering heat wave we got in March?
“They got the clear sign: ‘It’s over 90 [degrees], it’s hot out. Even though you weren’t quite prepared, it’s time to put out some flowers,'” Loral Hall, community forestry senior program manager at environmental nonprofit TreePeople, told LAist.
Hall said not only do jacarandas grace us every year with thick canopies and carpets of purple, they’re relatively drought tolerant, pest resistant and able to grow in urban areas (like in a small square patch of dirt surrounded by concrete).
“They’re attention-grabbers here in Southern California,” said Hall, who grew up in Hollywood and has childhood memories of playing with the fallen purple blooms at a local park. “In a place where we don’t have really obvious seasons, [jacaranda blooms] are a sign that warmer weather is on the way.”
Hall also shared a lesser-known fact about jacarandas: There’s a white cultivar, too. The white version is much more rare in L.A., though with some of the trees rumored to be in a non-public area of the L.A. County Arboretum, Hall said.
The jacaranda is native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Argentina and Brazil.
While we don’t know exactly when the jacaranda first arrived in our area, we do know they were brought to Southern California in the late 19th century and proliferated thanks to a local horticulturist named Kate Sessions.
A couple years ago, a local data graphics editor even created an interactive map so you can find the purple hot spots.
They’re... everywhere, so it shouldn’t be too hard to stumble upon a jacaranda show.
Topline:
The number of immigrants who have died while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody has reached an all-time high this fiscal year.
Where things stand: Twenty-nine people have died in ICE custody since October, the start of the federal government's fiscal year, already surpassing 2004's toll of 28, the previous record, according to government data. There are about 60,000 people currently in immigration detention.
Facilities in Texas and California are the deadliest: Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto, Calif., and Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas have each reported the deaths of three detainees, the most out of ICE's sprawling detention operation.
The number of immigrants who have died while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody has reached an all-time high this fiscal year.
Twenty-nine people have died in ICE custody since October, the start of the federal government's fiscal year, already surpassing 2004's toll of 28, the previous record, according to government data.
The most recent death was of 27-year-old Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, a Cuban man held in ICE custody in Miami. According to an initial report released by ICE on the evening of April 16, Carbonell-Betancourt was found unresponsive in his cell on the morning of April 12. The report lists the cause of death as a "presumed suicide," but the official cause remains under investigation.
The report said Carbonell-Betancourt entered the United States in 2024 without valid documents and later released into the U.S. via a program known as parole, which allows noncitizens to enter the country without a formal visa, often for humanitarian reasons.
He was arrested for resisting an officer with violence in 2025, and then transferred into ICE custody earlier this year, according to the ICE release.
The rise in deaths comes as detention numbers have skyrocketed during the Trump administration. Detentions are up more than 70% under President Donald Trump compared to the first year of the Biden administration. The Trump administration has carried out an unprecedented crackdown on immigration. Immigration officers have arrested and detained criminals in the country illegally, as well as many people without a criminal record and some migrants who are in the country with temporary protections from deportation.
There are about 60,000 people currently in immigration detention.
In a statement to NPR, DHS denied there's been a spike in deaths and attributed the increase to the large number of people in detention. DHS said as of April 16, "death rates in custody under the Trump administration are 0.009% of the detained population."
The agency added that ICE provides migrants with access to medical care.
"For many illegal aliens this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives," the statement said. The statement went on to encourage detainees to self-deport. "Being in detention is a choice. We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App," the statement said.
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During a congressional hearing also on Thursday, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said there are a high number of deaths this fiscal year "because we do have the highest amount in detention that ICE has ever had since its inception in 2003." Lyons added that the agency spent "almost half a billion dollars last fiscal year … to ensure that people have proper care."
He reiterated details noted by other DHS officials: that detainees get a complete physical within 14 days and are seen by a medical professional within 24 hours of being admitted.
"No death is what we want. We don't want anyone to die in custody," Lyons, who handed in his resignation hours after testifying, said. "I hope that's a policy of anyone that has to be tasked with detaining someone."
When asked how many people were still working in the Office of Detention Oversight, he was not able to provide a number.
Lyons was also asked about the delay in public reporting and tracking detainee deaths. On April 13, Georgia Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock sent a letter to Lyons and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin raising concern over the rising number of detainee deaths and noted that of the 49 deaths in custody at the time since January 2025, "ICE has issued an interim death notice within 48 hours in only 15 cases" and argued that reports contained less details.
"We are reporting. We are working on that timeline," Lyons said during the House hearing, agreeing that the detainee death reports were considered essential work even during the agency's funding lapse.
Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto, Calif., and Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas have each reported the deaths of three detainees, the most out of ICE's sprawling detention operation.
According to ICE's initial reports, the deaths of the six immigrant detainees were attributed to a number of causes, including suicide, alcohol withdrawal, liver failure and kidney failure. Other detainees displayed symptoms like shortness of breath.
One of the deaths at Camp East Montana was ruled a homicide by the El Paso County Medical Examiner's Office.
Initially, DHS said that Geraldo Lunas Campos had died in Camp East Montana after experiencing "medical distress." It also claimed Lunas Campos had become "disruptive while in line for medication" and was placed in segregation. But later, the El Paso Medical Examiner's Office ruled his death a homicide due to "asphyxia due to neck and torso compression." The FBI is now investigating the death.Chris Benoit, an attorney representing the family, told NPR Lunas Campos came to the U.S. in the mid-1990s as part of a wave of Cubans immigrants during the balsero crisis after the fall of the Soviet Union.
"For all sense and purposes he is an American," Benoit said. "He's lived here for decades and raised his family here and his kids love him and miss him."
According to DHS, Lunas Campos had been convicted of multiple crimes, including petty larceny, unlawful possession of a weapon during a robbery and sexual contact with a child under 11.
In a court petition seeking eyewitness testimony, Lunas Campos' three children said they planned to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Rahul Mukherjee contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 NPR
