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Firefighters in Northern Ireland mop up after fire swept through forest
Firefighters in Northern Ireland are mopping up after a significant fire swept through forest land in the southeastern corner of the province overnight
‘There is no ceasefire. Attacks are ongoing’: how Putin’s envoy played US over Ukraine
White House welcome for key member of Russian president’s inner circle raises fears over America’s commitment to peaceKirill Dmitriev’s meetings with US officials in the White House last week went largely below the radar. And deliberately so.The dapper investment envoy to Russian president Vladimir Putin, who also serves as a key negotiator for Moscow on Ukraine, posted an image of his flight plan on social media to make the point that a senior sanctioned Russian official was being welcomed by the Trump administration. Otherwise, details of what was discussed remain opaque. Continue reading...
U.S. to revoke all visas for South Sudanese: Rubio
by Tom BARFIELDWashington is revoking all visas for South Sudanese passport holders and blocking new arrivals, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday, complaining the African nation is not accepting its nationals expelled from the United States.The State Department "is taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and prevent further issuance to prevent entry," Rubio said in a statement.It was the first such measure singling out all passport holders from a particular country since Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20, having campaigned on an anti-immigration platform.Rubio accused the transitional government in Juba of "taking advantage of the United States," saying that "every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country... seeks to remove them."Washington "will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full cooperation," Rubio added.The world's newest country and also one of the poorest, South Sudan is currently prey to tensions between political leaders.Some observers fear a renewal of the civil war that killed 400,000 people between 2013 and 2018.South Sudanese nationals had been granted "temporary protected status" (TPS) by the administration of Trump's predecessor Joe Biden, with the designation set to expire on May 3, 2025.The United States grants TPS, which shields people against deportation, to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other "extraordinary" conditions.There were about 133 South Sudanese in the United States under the TPS program, with another 140 eligible to apply, the Department of Homeland Security said in September 2023.But the Trump White House has begun overturning TPS designations, revoking protection in January from more than 600,000 Venezuelans.A federal judge this week put that decision on hold after calling into question the government's claims that the majority of Venezuelans in the US were criminals.According to the Pew Research Center, as of March 2024 there were 1.2 million people eligible for or receiving TPS in the United States, with Venezuelans making up the largest group.The Trump administration's singling out of South Sudan also comes after growing numbers of Africans attempted to enter the US via its southern border -- an alternative to risky routes into Europe.tgb/acb© Agence France-Presse
Facing a government crackdown on dissent, Turkey's protesters put aside their differences
The arrest of an opposition presidential candidate last month has triggered the largest anti-government protests Turkey has seen in more than a decade, uniting demonstrators from different walks of life and sometimes diametrically opposed political views
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are still held by Russia with uncertain hope of release
In its 3-year-old war, Russia has detained what human rights activists say are thousands of Ukrainian civilians and has charged them with various crimes
Canadian police say arrest made after man barricaded himself inside Parliament's east block
Canadian police police say a man has been arrested after an hours-long lockdown on Parliament Hill
Phone footage appears to contradict Israeli account of killing of Gaza medics
Israel says soldiers fired on ‘terrorists’ in ‘suspicious vehicles’ but footage shows clearly marked ambulancesMobile phone footage of the last moments of some of the 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers killed by Israeli forces in an incident in Gaza last month appears to contradict the version of events put forward by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).The almost seven-minute video, which the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Saturday was recovered from the phone of Rifat Radwan, one of the men killed, appears to have been filmed from inside a moving vehicle. It shows a red fire engine and clearly marked ambulances driving at night, using headlights and flashing emergency lights. Continue reading...
Spaniards march across 40 cities to protest the growing housing crisis
Protesters have returned to the streets across Spain in anger over high housing costs with no relief in sight
‘Shame’ on world leaders for neglect of displaced civilians in DRC, says aid chief
US and Europe criticised by head of Norwegian Refugee Council for ‘neglect’ of people living ‘subhuman’ existence World leaders should be ashamed of their neglect of people whose lives were “hanging by a thread” at a time of surging violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the international charity leader Jan Egeland has said.In a stinging attack on aid cuts and the “nationalistic winds” blowing across Europe and the US, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s head told the Guardian how people were living out in the open, in overcrowded, unsanitary displacement encampments around the city of Goma, where 1.2 million people have had to flee from their homes as the M23 rebels advanced through the DRC’s North and South Kivu provinces. Continue reading...
Jaguar Land Rover to enact shipment pause to US in April as it develops post-tariff plans
The British maker of Jaguar and Land Rover cars is pausing shipments to the U.S. as it works to mitigate the impact of a 25% tax on vehicle imports imposed by the Trump Administration
Amadou Bagayoko of music duo Amadou & Mariam dies aged 70
Malian singer and guitarist, who sold millions of albums with his wife, Mariam Doumbia, had been ill for a while, say familyThe guitarist and singer Amadou Bagayoko of the Malian music duo Amadou & Mariam has died aged 70 after an illness, his family said, paying tribute to the Grammy-nominated blind musician.Amadou and his wife, Mariam Doumbia, formed a group whose blend of traditional Malian music with rock guitars and western blues sold millions of albums across the world. Continue reading...
Iran's currency falls to record low against the dollar as tensions run high
Iran’s rial currency traded at a record low against the U.S. dollar as the country returned to work after a long holiday
