What is the regional impact of the war in Sudan?
Foreign powers back different sides, while fears grow that violence could spread. Sudan has been at war for two years. The military has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and has made gains in recent weeks. Regional countries have been supporting different sides. What’s the impact on neighbouring countries? And is there a risk this conflict can spread? Presenter: Adrian Finighan Guests: Justin Lynch – Managing director of the Conflict Insights Group Mohy Omer – Served as senior Sudan policy adviser to the administration of former US President Joe Biden Elbashir Idris – Independent Sudan analyst Adblock test (Why?)
‘Ant Gang’ smugglers plead guilty to trafficking wildlife in Kenya
NewsFeed Four wildlife traffickers face sentencing in Kenya after being caught smuggling 5,000 rare queen ants. The species, native to Kenya, sells for over $130 each due to their size, bold colour, and demand in exotic pet colonies. Published On 15 Apr 202515 Apr 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Hamas ‘lost contact’ with group holding Gaza captive after Israeli attack
The armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas says it has lost contact with a group holding Israeli-US captive Edan Alexander in the Gaza Strip after “direct Israeli bombardment” targeted the area where he was being held. “It seems that the occupation army is deliberately trying to kill him and hence relieve themselves from the pressure caused by the dual-citizen prisoners in order to continue its genocide against our people,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, said on Tuesday. On Saturday, Hamas had released a video showing Alexander – a New Jersey native and a 21-year-old soldier in the Israeli army – alive. Alexander appeared to be under duress in the video and appealed to US President Donald Trump to get him out of Gaza and urged the US president not to believe “lies” told by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In his latest statement, Abu Obeida did not say where Alexander was being held in Gaza. The group’s armed wing later released a video warning families of the captives that their “children will return in black coffins with their bodies torn apart from shrapnel from your army”. Advertisement Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said Palestinians across the enclave believe that the US “has an interest” in securing Alexander’s release in a negotiated deal. “They believe this will increase pressure on the Israeli government to speed up the process and come to an agreement,” Mahmoud said. “If it is confirmed that Alexander has been killed, then the Palestinian groups will lose what they hoped would be a lever of pressure against the Netanyahu government to get him to sign a ceasefire agreement.” Hamas has previously blamed Israel for the deaths of captives held in Gaza, including as a direct result of bombardment, while also acknowledging on at least one occasion that a captive was killed by a guard. It said the guard had acted against instructions. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters at the White House in March that securing the release of Alexander, believed to be the last living US hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, was a “top priority for us”. The potential release of Alexander was at the centre of earlier talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month. Humanitarian situation at its ‘worst’ The announcement comes as Netanyahu said Israel would press on with its military offensive in Gaza to secure the release of captives and praised troops during a visit to the devastated north of the territory. “They are striking the enemy and Hamas will continue to suffer blow after blow. We insist that they release our hostages, and we insist on achieving all of our war objectives,” Netanyahu told soldiers in Gaza, according to a statement from his office. Advertisement In a phone call with Netanyahu, France’s President Emmanuel Macron said he told Israel’s leader that the suffering of the people in Gaza “must end”, and that only a ceasefire could free the remaining Israeli captives. Hamas released 38 captives under the last truce agreement that began on January 19. In mid-March, Israel’s military resumed its ground and aerial offensive on Gaza, abandoning the ceasefire and reimposing a total blockade of Gaza. Hamas decried the ongoing blockade, saying Israel has been preventing the entry of “all essential items necessary for life, including food supplies, medicine and fuel”. The United Nations has also warned that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is spiralling out of control. “The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Israeli forces continued to bombard areas across Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 21 people, according to Gaza’s civil defence. Since Israel’s assault began in October 2023, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israeli officials say that the offensive will continue until the remaining 59 captives are freed and until Hamas is demilitarised. Hamas insists it will free hostages only as part of a deal to end the war permanently, and has repeatedly rejected demands to lay down its arms. Israel issued a truce proposal to Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Monday, offering a 45-day temporary ceasefire in exchange for Hamas disarming and releasing 11 Israeli captives still held in Gaza. Advertisement Hamas said in a statement it was “studying” the proposal, but senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Al Jazeera prior to the release of the official statement that Hamas would not accept any demand to disarm. Adblock test (Why?)
Can Texas retain and train more teachers?
In this week’s episode of the TribCast, Matthew and Eleanor ask the question: Are Texas teachers OK?
White House slams Ivy League institutions for ‘egregious illegal behavior’ amid Trump feud with Harvard
The White House blasted Ivy League institutions for “egregious illegal behavior” as the Trump administration goes head-to-head with Harvard University to install changes to the academic institution’s governance and admissions process. After Harvard refused to comply with a series of requests from the Trump administration to reform various practices on campus, the administration revealed Monday that it would freeze more than $2 billion in federal funding for the institution. When asked why federal funding is so available to institutions like Harvard, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it’s one President Donald Trump has often brought up himself. “It’s a question the president has obviously raised in his discussions, in negotiations with not just Harvard, but also Columbia and many other Ivy League institutions,” Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. TRUMP ADMIN SLASHES OVER $2.2B IN FUNDING TO HARVARD AFTER SCHOOL DEFIES DEMANDS “We have the antisemitism task force, which the president promised and delivered on,” Leavitt said. “The antisemitism task forces across the government, representatives from various federal agencies who meet on a weekly basis to discuss the question that you just raised. And I think a lot of Americans are wondering why their tax dollars are going to these universities when they are not only indoctrinating our nation’s students, but also allowing such egregious illegal behavior to occur.” However, Harvard University President Alan M. Garber said in a Monday statement that the Trump administration tacked on additional requests that go beyond addressing antisemitism on campus, and the institution would not comply because the demands were unconstitutional. Specifically, Garber said the new requests “direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” including auditing viewpoints of student, faculty and staff members on campus, and eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices and initiatives at Harvard. “It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner,” Garber wrote. “We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement.” The Trump administration’s Department of Justice unveiled the Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism in February, which aims to eradicate bias on campuses that have experienced incidents targeting Jewish students since October 2023. HARVARD WON’T COMPLY WITH TRUMP ADMIN’S DEMANDS AMID THREATS OF CUTTING FEDERAL FUNDING The task force evaluates conduct on the following campuses: Columbia University; George Washington University; Harvard University; Johns Hopkins University; New York University; Northwestern University; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Minnesota; and the University of Southern California. “Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws,” the task force said in a statement Monday. “The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. “It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support,” the statement said.
White House criticizes ‘rogue’ judge upholding parole program ‘completely abused’ by migrants
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed “rogue” judges during a press briefing Tuesday after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from revoking the legal status and work permits of more than 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. On Tuesday, Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Peter Doocy asked Leavitt why President Joe Biden was allowed to establish the program “with the stroke of a pen” but Trump was being stopped from ending CHNV the way it started. “I spoke to White House counsel’s office about this this morning because, obviously, another rogue district court judge is trying to block the administration’s mass deportation efforts with this latest injunction,” Leavitt said. She also slammed the Biden administration, accusing former officials of abusing the U.S. parole system “to fast-track legal status” for illegal immigrants. JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP FROM REVOKING LEGAL STATUS FOR 530,000+ MIGRANTS WHO FLEW INTO US VIA BIDEN PROGRAM “We will continue to focus on deporting as many individuals as we can,” Leavitt added. Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, wrote in her order blocking the Trump administration that each of the more than 530,000 migrants needed to have an individualized case-by-case review. DHS’ KRISTI NOEM SAYS TRUMP ADMIN WILL RESUME CONSTRUCTION OF 7 MILES OF SOUTHERN BORDER Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration said Talwani’s ruling essentially prohibits Trump from using his own executive authority to revoke parole that Biden granted when he was in office. “It is pure lawless tyranny,” a Trump administration official told Fox News. Under a Biden-era program known as CHNV, migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela were allowed to enter the U.S. via humanitarian parole after receiving advance travel authorization. The program permitted up to 30,000 nationals per month to enter the country. Republicans opposed the program and urged the Biden administration to shut it down. Several House lawmakers signed a letter at the time to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, calling for an end to CHNV as the U.S. faced “an unprecedented crisis” at its southern border. Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion and Louis Casiano and Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
Iran ‘must stop and eliminate’ nuclear enrichment, says US envoy Witkoff
Washington, DC – United States special envoy Steve Witkoff has said that Tehran “must stop and eliminate” its nuclear enrichment programme to reach a deal with Washington, seemingly raising the bar of US demands ahead of another round of talks with Iranian officials. Witkoff’s remarks on Tuesday appear to contradict his suggestion a day earlier that the US would be satisfied with Iran enriching uranium at a low level to produce energy. “Any final arrangement must set a framework for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East – meaning that Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program,” Witkoff said in a statement on Tuesday. “It is imperative for the world that we create a tough, fair deal that will endure, and that is what President Trump has asked me to do.” Witkoff’s official title is special envoy to the Middle East, but US President Donald Trump has given him several high-stakes responsibilities beyond the region, including spearheading talks with Russia as well as Iran. Advertisement The US envoy held a round of negotiations with Iranian officials and was in direct contact with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman on Saturday. Further talks are scheduled for April 19. Later on Tuesday, the State Department also said that the US is seeking to “eliminate” Iran’s uranium enrichment. Moreover, the White House said Trump spoke to Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said and stressed “the need for Iran to end its nuclear programme through negotiations”. ‘They do not need to enrich past 3.67 percent’ Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Witkoff suggested that the US wants Iran to cap its uranium enrichment, a process of changing the atomic composition of uranium to produce nuclear fuel. When enriched at 90 percent, uranium can be used for weapons. “They do not need to enrich past 3.67 percent,” Witkoff said. “In some circumstances, they’re at 60 percent. In other circumstances, 20 percent. That cannot be. And you do not need to run — as they claim — a civil nuclear programme where you’re enriching past 3.67 percent, so this is going to be much about verification on the enrichment programme.” That assertion garnered criticism from conservative hawks who have been calling for abolishing the Iranian enrichment programme altogether. Tehran and Washington have gone through talks and tensions over the nuclear programme for decades. Successive US administration have said that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is one of their top foreign policy priorities. Advertisement In 2015, the US was a key party in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a deal that saw Iran scale back its uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against its economy. The US administration of then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat, hailed that deal as a means of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. But Trump, a Republican, nixed the deal in 2018 during his first term. Since then, the US has been piling sanctions on Iran, and Tehran has escalated its nuclear programme in response. After returning to the White House for a second term this year, Trump re-launched his so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran, with the aim of choking off Iranian oil exports, particularly to China. During his interview with Fox, Witkoff implied that the Trump administration is seeking concessions from Iran beyond the JCPOA, particularly over its missile programme. He said Washington is seeking “verification on weaponisation” from Iran, including “the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there”. However, his statement on Tuesday seems to indicate the US would like to see all uranium enrichment in Iran cease. While Iranian officials have been saying for decades that the country is not seeking a nuclear bomb, they have also stressed that their country has a right to use and create nuclear energy. Tensions between the two countries have been particularly high over the last month. In mid-March, Trump threatened to retaliate against Iran should one of its regional allies, the Houthi group in Yemen, continue its attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea. Advertisement “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social. Trump also indicated US could consider military action if the current round of nuclear talks falls through. “If the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger,” he said last week. Still, the US president has also stressed that he prefers a diplomatic deal to ensure that Tehran never acquires a nuclear weapon. ‘Negotiations may or may not yield results’ On Monday, Trump called for speedy negotiations to resolve the issue and again threatened to take “harsh” action against Tehran. With the talks under way, foreign policy hawks have cautioned Trump against drawn-out negotiations or entering a deal that resembles the JCPOA. Last week, nine Republican Congress members — including Claudia Tenney of New York and Barry Loudermilk of Georgia — penned a letter to Trump calling for “permanently stripping Tehran of the ability to enrich uranium”. “The regime in Tehran has mastered the art of delay and deception, using diplomatic negotiations as a shield while advancing its nuclear ambitions,” the lawmakers wrote. “We cannot afford another failed agreement that enables Iran to play for time. Nor can we repeat the mistakes of the past by permitting Iran to enrich uranium or maintain the capability to ever reconstitute its nuclear program.” Advertisement Israel — the US’s top ally in the region — is widely believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal. Iranian officials have also expressed doubt about a new deal, noting that Tehran lived up to its commitments under the JCPOA while the US abandoned the agreement. “The negotiations may or may not yield results,” Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
France expels 12 Algerian officials as tensions escalate
Move comes after Algeria expelled French diplomats, following France’s arrest of an Algerian consular official linked to an alleged kidnap. France says it will expel 12 Algerian diplomatic and consular staff members and has recalled its ambassador from Algiers, deepening a crisis that threatens to unravel months of attempted reconciliation between the two countries. The announcement on Tuesday comes a day after Algeria ordered 12 French diplomats to leave within 48 hours. Algiers announced the expulsions after French prosecutors indicted three Algerian nationals, including a consular official, over the alleged kidnapping of a prominent government critic in Paris last year. The activist, Amir Boukhors – better known to his more than one million TikTok followers as “Amir DZ” – was granted asylum in France in 2023. He was abducted in a Paris suburb in April last year and released the next day. French authorities said the three suspects are also facing charges of “terrorist” conspiracy. Strained relations It is the first time France has detained an employee of the Algerian consulate, marking a sharp escalation in tensions between Paris and the former French colony. Advertisement French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday that the expulsions were directly linked to the arrests. The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs noted that Algeria’s move, if carried out, would mark the first expulsion of French diplomats from the country since its independence in 1962. Algeria, which has issued nine international arrest warrants for Boukhors on charges including fraud and “terrorism”, is demanding his extradition. The escalation comes despite recent overtures between the two countries. Just a week earlier, Barrot met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and declared bilateral relations had returned to normal after a period of simmering tensions. French President Emmanuel Macron’s backing of Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed region of Western Sahara last year sparked outrage in Algiers. The jailing of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal by an Algerian court last month only added to the strain with Macron calling for his release. Adblock test (Why?)
Does Trump want a Gaza ceasefire before his Middle East trip?
Parsing through Donald Trump’s Middle East agenda with Steven Cook from the Council on Foreign Relations. US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama want the same things in the Middle East, argues Steven Cook, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations: “disentangling the US from its foreign adventures”. Cook tells host Steve Clemons that Trump wants a deal with Iran, and may be pressuring Israel to end its war on Gaza before his proposed trip to the Gulf region next month. There is a “trust deficit” between Trump and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, adds Cook, and this explains why Trump told Netanyahu to “be reasonable” regarding Syria and Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Adblock test (Why?)
Top Hegseth advisor Dan Caldwell placed on administrative leave by Defense Department
A top advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was escorted out of the Pentagon on Tuesday and placed on administrative leave, according to a Defense Department official. Reuters first reported Caldwell had been placed on leave for an “unauthorized disclosure” of information amid an investigation into Pentagon leaks. An official confirmed to Fox News Digital that Reuters’ reporting is accurate but declined to comment on an ongoing investigation. Caldwell previously worked at restraint-minded think tank Defense Priorities and Concerned Veterans for America, a group formerly led by Hegseth. A foreign policy realist, he has argued that the U.S. should dramatically reduce its footprint in Europe and pull out forces in Iraq and Syria. GENERAL WHO HELPED TRUMP DECIMATE ISIS TERRORISTS IN FIRST TERM CONFIRMED AS JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN Last month the Defense Department announced a probe into “recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information” and said it planned to use polygraphs to determine the source of leaks. “The use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy,” DOD Chief of Staff Joe Kasper wrote in a memo. “This investigation will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defense.” He wrote that “information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure” would be referred for criminal prosecution.” Caldwell did not immediately reply to a request for comment.