White South African refugees brought to US due to ‘government-sponsored racial discrimination’: State Dept
FIRST ON FOX: The United States is set to welcome 49 white South African refugees who are victims of “government-sponsored racial discrimination” in their homeland, according to the State Department. The U.S.-chartered flight touched down at Dulles Airport in Virginia on Monday afternoon, when Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau welcomed the group of Afrikaners. “Faced with undeniable government-sponsored racial discrimination in South Africa, the first Afrikaner refugees have arrived in the United States,” a senior State Department official said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital. “The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program was intended for situations like this. Under President Trump’s strong leadership, the State Department has helped to provide a new life for these refugees in America, where they will live in freedom, safety, and opportunity.” TRUMP TO BRING WHITE AFRIKANERS TO US AS REFUGEES FROM SOUTH AFRICA, IN WAKE OF EXPROPRIATION LEGISLATION President Donald Trump first initiated their resettlement with an executive order entitled, “Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa,” directing the State Department to bump up Afrikaners to the front of the line for resettlement. South Africans are now able to submit a statement of interest with the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, which will review the documents and contact those who are eligible for the interview process. Trump has virtually halted the refugee program for those from war- and famine-ravaged nations like Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. White South Africans say they have been denied jobs and targeted for violence on account of their race. Trump’s executive order came in response to a law passed by the South African government allowing it to take private land for public use, sometimes without compensation. Trump claimed the law would be used to target South Africa’s White minority Afrikaner group, descended from Dutch and other European settlers who arrived more than 300 years ago. TRUMP, SOUTH AFRICA IN GROWING ROW OVER HOTLY CONTESTED LAND LAW, COUNTRY’S DEALS WITH US FOES The South African foreign ministry said claims that White South Africans faced a “well-founded fear of persecution” were “unfounded.” “It is most regrettable that it appears that the resettlement of South Africans to the United States under the guise of being ‘refugees’ is entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy; a country which has in fact suffered true persecution under Apartheid rule and has worked tirelessly to prevent such levels of discrimination from ever occurring again,” spokesperson Chrispin Phiri at the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation added. The Afrikaners’ arrival comes as Trump tries to push back on the racial politics of South Africa, where adviser Elon Musk grew up during apartheid. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Afrikaner families traveling to the U.S. are largely from farming communities. Since apartheid ended in the 1990s, South Africa has sought to atone for segregationist policies, including with the land redistribution law signed in January. The policy came after a 2017 audit found that White South Africans owned three-quarters of individually-owned farms and agricultural property, while making up 7% of the population. Black South Africans had been denied the right to own prime agricultural land during the apartheid era.
PKK disbands, potentially ending decades of conflict in Turkiye
[unable to retrieve full-text content] The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has announced that it plans to disband and disarm.
Ivory Coast opposition leader resigns but vows to still fight for victory
Tidjane Thiam’s campaign has been halted as presidential candidates are not allowed to hold dual citizenship. Ivory Coast’s main opposition leader has said he is resigning as party leader but would still lead the fight to win the election, after having been barred from standing in an October presidential vote. “In the interest of the party, I’ve decided to place my mandate as president of the party in your hands, the activists,” Thiam said in a speech published on social media on Monday. “This decision does not change the commitment I made in December 2023 to personally lead our party to victory in October 2025.” President Alassane Ouattara, 83, who has been in power since 2011, has yet to say whether he plans to run again but has said he is eager to “continue serving my country”. Tidjane Thiam’s campaign for the presidency of the West African country has been mired in tussles over his nationality, as presidential candidates are not allowed to hold dual citizenship. Thiam was born in the Ivory Coast and renounced his French passport in March to enable his run for the top job. However, a court in Abidjan struck him off the electoral list last month, saying the 62-year-old politician had lost Ivorian nationality when he acquired French citizenship in 1987. Advertisement Thiam also faces a legal case against his election as head of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast–African Democratic Rally (PDCI) after a party member also contested his Ivorian nationality at the time he was chosen. PDCI deputy president Ernest N’Koumo Mobio assumed the party’s interim leadership following Thiam’s announcement. He appealed for “cohesion, serenity and discipline” and called a party meeting early Monday due to “the urgency linked to the political situation”. Three other opposition figures have also been excluded from the presidential race, including former President Laurent Gbagbo due to court convictions. Thiam alleged irregularities on Monday. “While we had the right to hope for inclusive, transparent and peaceful elections, it is clear that the unjustified removal of the PDCI candidate is part of the logic of eliminating the leaders of the main opposition parties to ensure tailor-made elections and a certain victory,” he said. The authorities regularly reject claims of any political intervention in the electoral process, saying decisions are taken by an independent judiciary. Adblock test (Why?)
Pope Leo calls for release of jailed journalists, notes their courage
The new pontiff talks of witnesses ‘who report on war even at the cost of their lives’. Pope Leo XIV has called for the release of journalists imprisoned for doing their work while affirming free speech. Leo, who was elected pontiff on Thursday after the death of Pope Francis, gave his first news conference at the Vatican on Monday. Addressing some of the thousands of journalists who travelled to Rome to cover his election as the first American pontiff, he said journalists jailed “for seeking and reporting the truth” must be released. “The church recognises in these witnesses – I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives – the courage of those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed because only informed individuals can make free choices,” he said. “The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press.” The new pope also reiterated his message of peace that he had communicated to large crowds on Sunday as well. Advertisement “Peace begins with each one of us – in the way we look at others, listen to others and speak about others,” he told assembled journalists at the Vatican’s vast Paul VI Audience Hall. “In this sense, the way we communicate is of fundamental importance. We must say ‘no’ to the war of words and images. We must reject the paradigm of war.” Leo, who was active on social media before becoming pope, cautioned against “communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred”. “Let us disarm words, and we will help to disarm the world,” he said, urging reporters to favour a path of communication for peace. During his first Sunday blessing as pontiff, Leo advocated for genuine peace in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere. He said he carries in his heart the “suffering of the beloved people of Ukraine” and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and release of all people held by the Palestinian group Hamas in the enclave. Adblock test (Why?)
Operation Sindoor: Read FULL text of PM Narendra Modi’s address to nation HERE
Addressing the nation on Monday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi outrightly rejected talks with Pakistan. He said, talks and terrorism can not got together. Though it is an old stand of the Narendra Modi government, it is significant in the current situation. Calling it the “one- thousand- year
Meet Wing Commander Vyomika Singh: Know her education qualification, career details, awards and more
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, an IAF helicopter pilot, played a key role in Operation Sindoor and became a symbol of courage, leadership, and inspiration for women in defence.
Dem’s immigration reform plan adds Border Patrol agents, offers select migrants pathway to citizenship
Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego unveiled a border security and immigration reform plan that was immediately endorsed by several House Democrats. Gallego, the son of Mexican and Colombian immigrants, offered a “five-pillar” framework he said expresses his commitment to securing the southern border. “We don’t have to choose between border security and immigration reform,” Gallego said. “We can and should do both.” STABLECOIN BILL, INITIALLY BIPARTISAN, HITS SNAG AS DEMS SPLINTER “Americans deserve the right to feel safe knowing their border is secure, but for decades, Congress has tried and failed to take action because politics got in the way. It’s time to push forward and enact a plan that works,” Gallego said. Typically seen as a Republican issue, Gallego’s border security plan combines GOP priorities like staffing-up the Border Patrol, with Democrats’ favored “pathway to citizenship” for select migrants, in part for economic benefit. Gallego’s plan also outlines asylum process reform by “expedit[ing]” people’s passage through the system and also seeking to enforce that other countries do their “fair share” to resettle asylum seekers and combat cartel violence and economic instability in their home areas. ARIZONA KAMALA HARRIS RALLY SPEAKERS COURT ‘JOHN MCCAIN REPUBLICANS’ SUPPORT; MAN BRINGS BORDER MAP FOR VP It increases the annual green card quota and increases the use of e-Verify, an application that verifies an employee’s legal status when it comes to working in the U.S. In terms of asylum case reform, Gallego seeks to hire additional officers to process claims and afford them more jurisdiction in deciding the outcome of applicants’ cases. “I commend Sen. Gallego for this pragmatic and much-needed framework,” said Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, a supporter of the plan. “More Democrats need to move to the middle on this issue and embrace this type of approach,” he said. “As a border-district congressman, I know it’s past time we reform our asylum system, stop the flow of dangerous drugs by investing in our Border Patrol officers, develop legal pathways, tackle the root causes of irregular migration, and ensure South Texas, and communities all along the border – can safely thrive.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In the north, Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., also lent his support to the plan. “Sen. Gallego is a serious Democratic leader, and I applaud him for offering a balanced immigration policy that secures our borders, fixes the broken asylum system, grows our economy, and treats immigrants with dignity,” Suozzi told Fox News Digital. “We can achieve these goals without pandering to the far left’s impractical demands or the far right’s mean-spirited extremism.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Gallego’s plan.
Federal judge’s order for Trump to return deported migrant temporarily halted on appeal
A U.S. appeals court will review the Trump administration’s bid to avoid returning a 20-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker who was deported to El Salvador earlier this year, keeping him in Salvadoran custody for now. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed last week to take up Trump’s appeal – staying through May 15 a lower court’s ruling that required the Trump administration to immediately return him to U.S. soil. The appeals court also ordered plaintiffs in the case to submit their response to the court before noon on Monday. The Trump administration will have through 9 a.m. Tuesday to respond. At issue is the case of Daniel Lozano-Camargo, a 20-year-old Venezuelan national previously referred to in court documents as “Cristian,” who was deported to El Salvador in March in the Trump administration’s early wave of Alien Enemies Act removals. FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS RETURN OF DEPORTED MIGRANT TO US, REJECTING TRUMP REQUEST U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, a Trump appointee, ruled in April that his deportation violated an agreement the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) struck in 2024 with Lozano-Camargo and a group of young asylum seekers who had entered the U.S. as unaccompanied children. Under that agreement, DHS agreed not to deport the migrants in question until their requests for asylum could be fully adjudicated in U.S. court. Last month, Gallagher said Lozano-Camargo’s deportation was a “breach of contract,” since his asylum case had not yet been heard, and ordered the U.S. government to facilitate his release. She reiterated that decision in court last week, rejecting a new filing from the Justice Department that said it had determined Lozano-Camargo was eligible for removal under the law, citing his earlier arrest and conviction for cocaine possession in Houston this year. Justice Department officials claimed in earlier court documents that Lozano-Camargo was a member of a “violent terrorist gang” but have not linked him to Tren de Aragua. Portions of their most recent court filing have been redacted. Gallagher had specifically ordered the Trump administration to make a “good faith request to the government of El Salvador” to “release Cristian, [or Lozano-Camargo], to U.S. custody for transport back to the United States to await the adjudication of his asylum application on the merits by USCIS,” which it had not done. BOASBERG GRILLS DOJ OVER REMARKS FROM TRUMP AND NOEM, FLOATS MOVING MIGRANTS TO GITMO IN ACTION-PACKED HEARING Gallagher emphasized in court last week that her decision has nothing to do with the strength of his asylum request, and is based solely on due process protections. “I don’t think that this is a case about whether or not Cristian is going to eventually get asylum,” she told lawyers for the Trump administration. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Process is important. We don’t skip to the end and say, ‘We all know how this is going to end so we’ll just skip that part,’” she said. “Whether he ultimately receives asylum is not the issue. The issue is – and has always been – one of process.” Still, Gallagher agreed to stay her ruling for 48 hours, giving the administration time to appeal it to the higher court, which it did.
PM Narendra Modi addresses nation after Operation Sindoor: Key Takeaways
See what Prime Narendra Modi told the nation in his address after successful conclusion of Operation Sindoor.
PM Modi address amid India Pakistan ceasefire: ‘Dirty truth of Pakistan…cannot be a bigger proof of state-sponsored terrorism’
Prime Minister Narendra in his address to the nation on Monday evening noted that “the world has seen that dirty truth of Pakistan” referring to the incident where high rank officers of the Pakistanoi Army were paying homage to the terrorists killed by the Indian Army.