For over a decade, Taylor Swift‘s association with her record label, Big Machine, has been one of the defining aspects of her career. She’s been signed to the Nashville label since her 2006 debut, and as her music has evolved and landed more squarely in the pop space, her affiliation with Big Machine has kept her attached to her country roots. But that’s all changing.

On Monday (November 19), Swift revealed she’d left Big Machine and signed with Republic Records, part of the massive Universal Music Group family. In a message posted to Instagram, the 28-year-old artist wrote that, as per the new deal, she will “own all of my master recordings that I make from now on. It’s really important to me to see eye to eye with a label regarding the future of our industry.”

Owning your own masters is a hugely lucrative for artists as it keeps them firmly in control of their own music and how it’s released. And Swift has long advocated for the rights of artists in a changing music industry that’s more dependent on streaming than ever. In 2014, she pulled her entire catalog from Spotify, and the following year threatened to do the same with Apple Music unless it improved royalties for artists. (Her music has since returned to the platform.)

As part of her new deal with Republic and UMG, Swift also continued to push for more on behalf of those who create. “There was one condition that meant more to me than any other deal point,” she wrote. “I asked that any sale of [UMG]’s Spotify shares result in a distribution of money to their artists, non-recoupable. They have generously agreed to this, at what they believe will be much better terms than paid out previously by other major labels.”

In short, this is a big win for the rights of artists in the streaming era — one often characterized by inequality and artists’ creative ways around it. It certainly helps to have Taylor Swift there as a champion. Read her full statement in the Instagram post above.

Fernando Alonso: the F1 great who couldn’t catch a break – part one of five

Fernando Alonso retires from Formula 1 this weekend at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as one of the sport’s biggest stars but arguably its greatest enigma.

The 37-year-old is a two-time world champion and has won 32 grands prix; a great achievement in absolute terms, but a relatively meagre one for a driver Lewis Hamilton rates as the best he has ever raced against.

Greater success evaded Alonso – fundamentally rooted in bad choices, personality conflicts, and plain rotten luck.

But what really happened along the way? Alonso’s story will be published in a series of episodes this week, based on interviews with the key people directly involved in the various incidents at the time. Some spoke on the record, some on condition of anonymity.

This opening part is about the first serious flashpoint in a year in which two of the all-time great F1 drivers went head-to-head in the same team, and how their team boss’ desire to control the situation only made it worse.

A clash of personalities

In popular perception, Alonso’s relationship with McLaren was broken by events at the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix, when a dispute over tactics in qualifying led to Alonso blocking Hamilton in the pits, a grid penalty, and a seismic row with team principal Ron Dennis, in which Alonso threatened to blackmail the team.

In fact, it was already terminally damaged before that. Ten weeks before that, in fact, in Monaco, where Alonso was so angered by a post-race argument that his relationship with Dennis never recovered.

In many ways, Alonso’s 2007 season with McLaren has come to define perceptions of his career – the intense fight with Hamilton, the fall-out with Dennis, the ‘spy-gate’ scandal, in which Alonso was involved in the team eventually being thrown out of the constructors’ championship and being fined $100m for possessing nearly 800 pages of Ferrari technical information.

But not everything happened in the way most remember it.

Alonso’s move to McLaren began as he and Dennis were about to go out on the podium in Brazil in 2005. Alonso, then at Renault, had just clinched his first world title, by finishing third behind McLaren drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen. As they waited for the ceremony, Dennis asked Alonso whether he would like to drive for McLaren one day.

Since he was a boy, watching the dominant McLaren-Hondas of Alain Prost and, particularly, Ayrton Senna, Alonso had dreamed of exactly that. What had started as an off-hand remark quickly became serious negotiations. A deal was struck that winter for Alonso to drive for McLaren for three years from 2007.

He joined as a double world champion. He was the driver who had ended five years of domination by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, and his two world titles with Renault were won the hard way. First, against Raikkonen in a faster but more fragile McLaren in 2005, and then in a man-to-man duel with Schumacher in 2006.

He had established himself as a fast, tough, relentless competitor. Following Schumacher’s retirement at the end of the 2006 season, Alonso was F1’s new ‘main man’.

But his relationship with his new team started to go wrong from very early on.

Expectations unrealised

Alonso signed for McLaren long before they decided to promote Hamilton, who they had nurtured since he was 11 years old, as his team-mate. When they did, Alonso wondered whether employing a rookie was a good idea for a team that had aspirations of winning the constructors’ championship, but he was not worried.

First of all, his self-confidence assured him he would have no problem beating a driver in his rookie season. Equally, although there was nothing about it in his contract, Alonso believed Dennis had verbally promised him priority status in the team. Dennis has always insisted it was not the case.

Once at McLaren, Alonso soon began to question how things were working.

“He came expecting to be treated like a king,” remembers one senior figure at the time, “and it was even small stuff. Like, in those days, in the trucks at a test, there was nowhere the drivers could get changed privately. They just got changed at the end of the race truck, in a corner. And I think he came expecting to have a room.

“Fernando is an emotional character and people like that want to feel like they’re treated as the best even if there is no substance to it. But McLaren being very British was all, ‘Well, we’re very correct in everything we do.’

“So from the beginning there were all sorts of misses in terms of his expectation of how he should be treated. Which are not necessarily unreasonable, by the way.”

That would not have been an issue if he had been decisively faster than his team-mate. But he wasn’t. Hamilton was immediately on the pace, giving Alonso a hard time on track, and the older man did not like it.

In the first race of the season in Australia, Hamilton announced his intentions by passing his team-mate around the outside of the first corner just after the start, before Alonso re-passed him in the pits to take second behind Raikkonen’s Ferrari.

Alonso won next time out in Malaysia, but team harmony was already fracturing.

Hamilton’s performances were unsettling Alonso. Hamilton’s father Anthony was arguing his son’s case vehemently and consistently with Dennis and his number two Martin Whitmarsh. And Alonso was beginning to make the point to Dennis that the two drivers should not be racing each other. The cocktail was combustible.

At the third race of the season, in Bahrain, Dennis chose to have one of his ‘supportive chats’ with Alonso while his driver was sitting at a table outside the McLaren motorhome in full view of the paddock. The photographers lapped it up. Dennis tried his best, but already any hope of maintaining a pretence that everything was hunky dory was gone.

Monaco one-two sparks almighty row

By Monaco, the fifth race, tension was high. Hamilton had taken four consecutive podiums and was leading the championship by two points from the man who believed he was supposed to be team leader. Ferrari drivers Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, with a win apiece, were close behind.

Hamilton was quickest through practice, but it was Alonso who took pole position, and went on to dominate the race.

But when the drivers got back to the pits, all hell broke loose.

“There was a row,” one senior McLaren insider says. “Somehow Lewis felt he could have won the race and I don’t remember being entirely convinced that he could have done. I seem to remember the right guy won it.”

Publicly, the narrative – partly propagated by Dennis’ interviews – was how McLaren had manipulated the result to secure a one-two, but prevent the battle between the two drivers playing out.

Dennis said he “virtually had to decide in advance” who won the race. Hamilton did nothing to play that down when he said in the post-race news conference: “It is something I have to live with. I’ve number two on my car and I am the number two driver.”

The implication – or at least the inference taken by many – was that Hamilton was the rightful winner.

To say the least, Alonso was not happy with this interpretation of events.

Why Alonso was annoyed

Alonso had led from the start and had built an eight-second lead within 17 laps, as Hamilton suffered more badly with tyre graining – where the surface tears and causes a loss of grip.

Alonso then lost time lapping backmarkers but was just over four seconds in front by the time of his first pit stop on lap 26.

These were the days of refuelling. Hamilton believed he was stopping five laps after Alonso, but was brought in after only three. Alonso said he had saved enough fuel in his opening stint to make his stop two laps later than planned.

But the idea that Hamilton could have gained enough time on empty tanks before his stop to pass Alonso had he stayed out longer was undermined when Alonso returned to the track, 15 seconds behind his team-mate.

At this point, on empty tanks and with durable Bridgestone tyres with negligible performance drop-off, Hamilton’s car should have been quicker than Alonso’s after a stop for fuel. But Alonso first flying lap with a full fuel load and fresh tyres was within 0.1secs of Hamilton’s time on empty tanks.

In other words, even if Hamilton had stayed out for another couple of laps, he would not have taken the lead.

At the second stops, it was a similar story. Alonso was nearly 11 seconds in front when he pitted. Hamilton was brought in two laps later, but even if he had stayed out for another few, he was unlikely to have been able to make up that deficit.

From there, Alonso backed off, to protect overheating rear brake calipers, which were known before the race to be a vulnerability on both cars. Hamilton quickly caught him up and followed closely behind to the flag.

“Lewis was putting on pressure,” an insider said, “and Fernando had to speed up and he was very annoyed. He said: ‘Imagine if my brakes failed. What is the point of that? He was never going to overtake me. I was just cruising.’

“So Fernando was not happy to have to push at the end of the race, because of reliability problems.”

When Alonso climbed out of the car, he was met by Dennis, who told him he’d had to control the race, and tell Hamilton to back off, and that Alonso should be gentle with Hamilton about it.

What Dennis meant was, this is my problem, let me deal with it. But Alonso did not take it that way. He thought Dennis was implying he was not the rightful winner, that he had only won because the team had slowed Hamilton down and controlled his pit stops. Alonso was furious.

Dennis did not realise it at the time – and may still not do now. But, according to a source close to Alonso: “That was the divorce. That moment onwards it was full divorce.”

Hamilton was not happy either.

He had been the quicker man through practice. He felt he had only lost pole because he had been held up by Mark Webber’s Red Bull in qualifying – although this was not certain, as Alonso had himself been slowed by Nico Rosberg’s Williams in the closing corners of his lap.

Then, in the race Hamilton had been brought in earlier than expected at both his stops, so had not had the chance to run his strategy – which had been to fill up with more fuel in qualifying with the idea of running longer than Alonso. And he had been called off attacking Alonso in the closing laps. The fact that, the way the race panned out, he was probably not going to beat Alonso anyway was irrelevant to him.

Dennis, in making a perfectly understandable decision to call off the race after the final stops and then justifying it, had inadvertently annoyed both his warring drivers.

The consequences of that would be immense.

Image: lili sams/mashable

As the holidays approach, Apple’s suppliers are not happy. 

The company slashed production of all three of its new iPhone models — the XR, XS, and XS Max — according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The XR has reportedly taken the biggest hit: Apple reduced production orders for the XR twice over the past two months.

This has reportedly caused frustration and an understandable amount of stress along Apple’s China-based supply chain. Foxconn has cut the customary pre-holiday season overtime hours, leaving workers without an expected pay boost. Three of Apple’s largest suppliers reduced quarterly profit estimates, which they attributed to a “large client” cutting orders.

The new iPhones are Apple’s most expensive yet, with its “affordable” XR still coming in at at least $749, and its most premium XS Max reaching up to $1,449. That makes a new iPhone quite an expensive stocking stuffer.

The Journal also reports that sales of the XR may not be taking off because the device does not appeal to early adopters (even if Mashable’s Ray Wong loves it). But that doesn’t mean that more customers won’t order the XR down the line — it may just not be part of the Q4 bubble.

Besides, have you seen its fun colors?

Yemen‘s internationally-recognised government has announced it will take part in proposed peace talks in Sweden, hours after a senior Houthi leader said the rebels will halt drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and their Yemeni allies.

The moves on Monday came amid a renewed push by UN envoy Martin Griffiths to get Yemen’s warring parties around the negotiating table.

Yemen’s foreign ministry said it has informed Griffiths of its decision to send “a government delegation to the talks with the aim of reaching a political solution”, according to the official Saba news agency.

Earlier in the day, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi Higher Revolutionary Committee and an influential political figure, announced the group’s “readiness to suspend and halt all military operations” –  provided that the Saudi-UAE alliance battling his movement is prepared to do the same.

The decision was based on discussions with Griffiths to show “good faith” and support peace efforts, he said in a statement on Twitter.

The rebel group, which has been battling the Riyadh-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi for nearly four years, also said it was ready for a broader ceasefire if the Saudi-UAE-led coalition “wants peace”.

The war in Yemen – already one of the world’s most impoverished countries – has killed more than 56,000 people, according to a recent estimate, and pushed the country to the brink of famine. 

Turning point?

Griffiths welcomed the Houthi announcement in a Twitter post and called on all parties continue to show restraint “to create a conducive environment for convening the consultations”.

The envoy is trying to salvage peace talks after a round in September collapsed when the Houthis did not show up. He is expected this week to visit the capital, Sanaa, which has been under Houthi control since September 2014, to finalise arrangements for peace talks in Sweden.

No date has yet been set for the negotiations.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Monday reiterated the kingdom’s support for UN efforts to end the war.

Also on Monday, Britian presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an immediate truce in the battleground port city of Hodeidah, according to the AFP news agency.

The text set a two-week deadline for the warring sides to remove all barriers to humanitarian aid.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow, reporting from neighbouring Djibouti, said it was now “apparent that the parties in Yemen’s conflict are inching closer and closer to peace negotiations”.

“But whether that will result in what the UN is looking for – some sort of transitional government and a peaceful Yemen – is something else,” he said. 

Our correspondent added that despite the Houthi decision to halt drone and missile attacks, its fighters were continuing to clash with government forces around Hodeidah. 

‘Tired of this war’

Yemenis cautiously welcomed Monday’s developments.

“We pray that this will be the real beginning of peace in Yemen, we are all tired of this war,” said Mona Ibrahim, a teacher in Sanaa l told Reuters news agency.

“We just want to live like other humans,” Mohammed al-Ahdal, a resident of Hodeidah, said.

Hussain al Bukhaiti, a Sanaa-based political analyst, however, was sceptical.

“What the Houthis want is for it to look like they are giving a chance to the Saudis to prove they really want peace in Yemen,” he told Al Jazeera.

“I don’t think the Saudis will accept it because many times the Houthis have offered similar peace plans, but the Saudis did not accept them.”

However, Bessma Momani, professor of political science at University of Waterloo, said the pressure was rising on Riyadh and Washington to end the war in Yemen because of the international outcry over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdon’s consulate in Istanbul, as well as the US Democrats winning control of the country’s House of Representatives. 

“Now the stars are aligned geopolitically,” she told Al Jazeera.

“An important piece is the American attention – from the public, from the new Democrats coming into the House, and increased criticism generated post-Jamal Khashoggi,” she said.

“There is also battle fatigue on the ground on both sides. Hopefully they realise this is a stalemate – there is no winning this war, it’s just sheer utter suffering of the Yemeni people,” she said.

Meanwhile, Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported on Monday that Houthi forces fired overnight a ballistic missile on Saudi-backed forces in the desert of Midi, bordering Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi defence ministry said while it supported halting missile launches it also reserved the right to respond to attacks.

The New Orleans Saints made it nine wins in a row in their seemingly relentless march towards the Super Bowl by inflicting a record 48-7 defeat on the Philadelphia Eagles, the reigning champions.

Drew Brees, the Saints’ 39-year-old quarterback, scored four touchdowns to help hand out the worst defeat for any defending Super Bowl champions, and could well be an Most Valuable Player Award contender with many more performances like that.

It has been a tough year for the Eagles who now have a 4-6 record and are barely clinging on in the play-off race. Questions will be asked of head coach Doug Pederson if they become just the seventh Super Bowl winners to slump to a losing record the following season.

The Saints are looking one of the most likely sides to replace the Eagles as Super Bowl champions as they topped 40 points for the sixth time in 10 games – another NFL record.

“It blows my mind, too, trust me,” said Saints defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins. “I think everybody knows how special we can be and everyone knows the end goal. If everybody here isn’t thinking Super Bowl then they’re in the wrong locker room.”

Brees was at the helm when the Saints won their only Super Bowl in 2009 and, on current form, he could them back to the big game in February – a few weeks after his 40th birthday.

NFL week 11: Big Ben rescues Steelers, Bears prove their worth

The Pittsburgh Steelers produced a remarkable comeback to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-16 in the final seconds, despite being held scoreless for almost 43 minutes.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger dived over the goal-line with five seconds left on the clock to complete a 20-point surge from Pittsburgh. It sealed a sixth win in a row and condemned the Jacksonville Jaguars to a sixth straight defeat.

The Baltimore Ravens kept in touch with the Steelers as young quarterback Lamar Jackson marked his first start by helping them win their divisional scuffle with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Although a quarterback, Jackson is a superb runner and carried the ball 27 times while throwing just 19 times. Baltimore leaned heavily on his scrambling ability to win 24-21, ending a three-game losing streak and taking them above the Bengals in the standings.

The Los Angeles Chargers lost for just the third time this season, beaten 23-22 at home by divisional rivals Denver after a last-second field goal from Broncos kicker Brandon McManus.

Andrew Luck, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback, extended his run of success against the Tennessee Titans to 10-0 and maintained his incredible touchdown run in a 38-10 victory to put his team in the play-off picture at 5-5.

In the AFC South, the Colts are still behind the Houston Texans, who made it seven wins in a row with a tight 23-21 victory at the Washington Redskins – who lost quarterback Alex Smith to a horrific leg injury.

Things are hotting up in the NFC play-off race after Brett Maher kicked a 42-yard field goal for the Dallas Cowboys as time expired against the Atlanta Falcons. The Cowboys’ 22-19 win kept alive their season but just about ended the Falcons’ hopes of playing the Super Bowl in their home stadium.

The Detroit Lions are well out of it but dealt the play-off hunting Carolina Panthers a blow with a one-point win. The Panthers lost 20-19 after their coach Ron Rivera’s unsuccessful attempt to grab a two-point conversion in the final minute instead of kicking the easier one-pointer that would have sent the game to overtime.

In the NFC North, the Chicago Bears are surprise leaders, and look a decent bet to make the post-season after a tough 25-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field.

What’s left in week 11?

Kansas City Chiefs @ LA Rams (01:15 GMT)

The season’s biggest game so far sees two of the NFL’s best teams meet in Los Angeles, after the game was moved away from Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium because of an unplayable pitch.

Both teams are 9-1, have young quarterback stars with plenty of offensive talent and middle-of-the-road defences, meaning that points will flow freely.

Several rival teams may not agree, but many people believe this could be the Super Bowl match-up in Atlanta come February.

Plays of the week

Stat attack

• Washington’s defeat by Houston saw the first lead change in a game involving the Redskins all season – their first nine games had seen whoever took the lead first stay in front.
• Andrew Luck joins Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks to throw three or more touchdowns in seven consecutive games in the same season.
• Luck also tied with Aaron Rodgers in second place with 160 touchdown passes in his first 80 games – Dan Marino leads the way with 182 in his first 80 NFL games.
• Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s 27 rushing attempts are the most in the Super Bowl era – five more than the previous high mark set by Tim Tebow.
• Saquon Barkley is the only bright spark for the New York Giants this season – he became the first rookie to score a rushing and receiving touchdown in a game for 36 years on Sunday.
• For the third time this season, the Atlanta Falcons lost after leading or drawing in the final 30 seconds of the game – only the Cleveland Browns can match that record.

Vote

Gruden and Carr go at it on the sidelines

There should be a close relationship between a quarterback and his head coach, but every so often temperatures flare on the sidelines – as Derek Carr and John Gruden showed during the Oakland Raiders game.

Gruden has struggled since returning to the NFL from the broadcast booth on his whopping $100m deal, failing to get the best out of the talented but underperforming Carr at quarterback.

The angry exchange of words may have actually helped in this case, though, as Oakland actually managed to win the game against Arizona.

Bears only sing when they’re winning

The Chicago Bears haven’t had much love this season despite being a surprise success, which they took a step further when beating the Minnesota Vikings to stretch their lead at the top of the NFC North.

Since the NFL relaxed the rules on touchdown celebrations, the players have been getting ever more creative by the week, and Eddie Jackson pulled out all the stops with his number.

Heads-up play of the week

New York Giants linebacker Alec Ogletree showed remarkable hands to scoop the ball out of the grasp of his own team-mate before scoring an interception return touchdown.

Janoris Jenkins initially got his hands on the ball against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but, as he rolled around trying to control it, Ogletree came flying in and picked it up out of his grasp.

He then turned a pick into a pick six by rumbling into the end zone to complete one of the plays of the week.

Someone needs to sign this extremely talented pika to a label ASAP.

This adorable creature known as a pika is a species native to North America and Asia and is known for making the easily one most adorable squeaks ever. In this case, having the flawless ability to cover Queen. 

This video, uploaded by Joe Vevers to YouTube, samples Freddie Mercury singing “Ay-Oh” to an audience, and is perfectly synced it up with the Pika’s mouth movements.

The result is a hilarious and endearing tribute to the legendary singer. Just be sure to have a box of tissues nearby because this cover bring you to tears in the best way possible.

Tijuana, Mexico – Tensions soared on Sunday in Tijuana when a small but vocal group of local residents began marching towards the sports complex serving as a shelter for thousands of Central Americans, to protest their presence in the city.

After rallying for two hours at the base of a monument, waving Mexican flags and chanting “Get out!”, about 200 Mexicans marched through Tijuana to the shelter. Riot police prevented them from approaching the entrance.

“I think that this time, the situation got out of hand,” said Keyla Zamarron, a local psychologist who attended a simultaneous demonstration against discrimination.

Zamarron told Al Jazeera she decided to take to the streets to show her support for the Central Americans after she saw how Tijuana residents verbally and physically confronted migrants and refugees during the week. Regardless of what anyone thinks about migration, children should not be subjected to further trauma, she said.

“When I saw so much aggression, so much violence, I felt a lot of sadness,” said Zamarron, holding her handwritten sign with the message, “Childhood Has No Borders.”

Thousands arrived in Tijuana

More than 2,500 migrants and refugees, most of them from Honduras and El Salvador, have arrived in Tijuana following a month-long journey. Thousands more are on their way, fleeing violence and poverty.

The mayor of Tijuana expects some 10,000 people to arrive in the border city and that their stay may last months. The city needs financial and other assistance from the federal government to continue to shelter the migrants and refugees, he said.

US President Donald Trump referenced the Tijuana mayor’s comments in a tweet on Sunday. He also once again falsely referred to Central Americans arriving at the border to legally seek asylum as an “invasion”.

“Likewise, the U.S. is ill-prepared for this invasion, and will not stand for it. They are causing crime and big problems in Mexico. Go home!” Trump tweeted Sunday, without offering evidence for his assertions.

Over the past month, Trump has enacted extreme measures in response to the asylum seekers. He deployed thousands of active duty troops to the border, placed restrictions on asylum claims in contravention to law, and announced plans for tent camps to indefinitely detain asylum seekers while their claims are processed. 

“Illegal Immigrants trying to come into the U.S.A., often proudly flying the flag of their nation as they ask for U.S. Asylum, will be detained or turned away,” Trump later wrote in another tweet Sunday.

Back in Mexico, Miguel Angel Garcia attended the protest against the Central Americans with his six-year-old daughter. He came on his own and could not attest to other people’s motivations or messages, but he said he was protesting the government, not the migrants and refugees.

“We are against the federal government for permitting their entry without registering them,” Garcia said. “The government has failed us as Mexicans.”

Garcia has lived in Tijuana for 40 years but, like so many residents, he is a migrant himself. Garcia is originally from Guerrero and his wife is from Chihuahua, he said. He has relatives living in the US, including a sister-in-law who applied for asylum.

Garcia first explained that his issue was with the undocumented status of the Central Americans, but later also stated that they use drugs, drink and urinate in public.

Concern and uncertainty

For those who have recently arrived in Tijuana, there’s a sense of uncertainty over the mixed reception. 

Jiezel Rivera, a 31-year-old father from Villanueva, one of the most violent urban areas of Honduras, was not sure exactly what to expect in Mexico. But for him and thousands of others fleeing Honduras in the first wave of the exodus, the reception in northern Mexico has been an abrupt shift from the overwhelming support and solidarity in the country’s southern states and capital.

Rivera can see the US border from the shelter, and their welcome in Tijuana has included thrown rocks and insults, but he and his friends are still not sure crossing is their best option.

“We feel confused,” he told Al Jazeera.

One of Rivera’s cousins was murdered a year ago. Rivera does not know the full story, but he got word that some gang members suspected his involvement in the killing.

“I was scared to go out on the street with my kids,” Rivera, whose children are aged 9 and 10, said.

When he saw on the news that hundreds of Hondurans were gathering in nearby San Pedro Sula to flee the country and head to the United States as a group, he saw it as a way to protect both himself and his children.

Fears of deportation

More than 4,500km later, Rivera is unsure of what to do next. Like many of the thousands of Central American migrants and refugees now in northern Mexico, he is full of questions and hesitations.

Trump’s restrictions on asylum and the inherent limitations of political asylum claims are cause for concern for Rivera and others, as is the long wait in a city where residents are protesting their presence.

People who plan to seek asylum in the US must sign up on a waiting list in a plaza close to the pedestrian border crossing between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California.

The wait can be weeks or even months, depending on how many asylum claims per day US officials decide to process or how much of a bottleneck they create to attempt to dissuade asylum seekers. Al Jazeera has spoken with asylum seekers who have already been waiting three and four weeks. 

The priority for Rivera and many others is to avoid deportation to Honduras where reentry could present a life or death situation for those fleeing violence or political persecution.

At least one Honduran from the mass exodus killed himself while awaiting deportation following his reported arrest in central Mexico.

Darwin Donaldo, whose last name has not been released by authorities, hanged himself with his t-shirt at in an immigrant detention centre in southern Mexico on Saturday, local media reported.

YouTuber Hamish Patterson revealed in a heart wrenching new video on Sunday that his cat, Mike the mini puma, managed to survive the deadly California wildfire that ravaged Malibu.

In the video, Patterson shows his home completely destroyed by the wildfires, mourning the devastation.

“We found the cat,” said Patterson tearfully as he holds onto Mike in the video. “My kitty made it.”

Patterson goes on to say that he doesn’t know how Mike survived the fires, and that he’s amazed by the fact that he survived for nine days alone, with just a bit of food left out by friends and neighbors.

Despite the loss of their home, the entire Patterson clan is doing well — and they’re doing even better now that Mike has returned. 

Carlos Ghosn, the chairman of Nissan and one of the world’s most powerful motor industry bosses, is reportedly under arrest in Japan over allegations of financial misconduct.

Japanese media on Monday reported that the Brazilian-born executive had been held after prosecutors questioned him for various improprieties, including under-reporting his income. 

A towering figure in the car industry, Ghosn is credited with turning around several major manufacturers. He currently leads an alliance of Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi. 

The Tokyo prosecutor’s office had no comment on the reports about Ghosn. Mitsubishi and Renault have also not commented, neither has Ghosn’s side.

Nissan’s board to meet

Nissan’s board is now set to meet on Thursday when it is expected to agree to sack Ghosn and Representative Director Greg Kelly.

In a statement, Nissan said it had been investigating Ghosn and Kelly for months, after receiving a report from a whistle-blower. The Japanese car giant has since uncovered misconduct going back several years, the statement said.

“The investigation showed that over many years both Ghosn and Kelly have been reporting compensation amounts in the Tokyo Stock Exchange securities report that were less than the actual amount, in order to reduce the disclosed amount of Carlos Ghosn’s compensation,” it said.

“Also, in regards to Ghosn, numerous other significant acts of misconduct have been uncovered, such as personal use of company assets, and Kelly’s deep involvement has also been confirmed.”

The company said it had provided information to Japanese prosecutors and would recommend that the board of directors “promptly remove Ghosn from his positions”.

France’s concern

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that Paris would remain extremely vigilant about the fate of Renault and its alliance with Nissan after Ghosn’s reported arrest. 

Speaking at a news conference in Brussels, at the start of a two-day state visit to Belgium, Macron said: “It is too early to comment on the facts.”

But he went on to add that the French state, as a Renault shareholder, “will be extremely vigilant to the stability of the alliance and the group”.

Macron said his government would give “all its support” to employees of Renault, one of France’s major companies.