US launches major air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen; At least 9 killed
President Trump warns Houthis, promises intensified action as US strikes escalate in Yemen. United States President Donald Trump has announced a series of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in the most significant military action of his second term to date. At least nine civilians were killed and nine injured in the strikes in Sanaa on Saturday, according to Yemen’s Houthi-run Health Ministry. “Your time is up, and your attacks must stop, starting today. If they don’t, hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before,” Trump said in a statement on Truth Social, his social media site. “I have ordered the US military today to launch a decisive and powerful military operation against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen,” Trump added. “We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” he said in the post, accusing the Iran-aligned group of threatening Red Sea shipping. The Houthis, who control much of the Arabian Peninsula country, started a campaign targeting the busy sea route in support of Palestinians in Gaza after Israel began bombing the besieged enclave. Advertisement Trump also told Iran it needed to immediately stop supporting the Houthis. He said if Iran threatens the US, “America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!” Earlier, Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported attacks in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. [Al Jazeera] The strikes take place as the armed group announced this week it would resume attacks on Israeli ships after Israel failed to stop its punishing blockade of the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The Yemeni group said it was “resuming the ban on the passage of all Israeli ships” in the Red Sea. “Any Israeli ship attempting to violate this ban shall be targeted in the declared zone of operations,” it said in a statement on Tuesday. The “ban” also covers the Arabian Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden, the group said. The strikes affected global trade, forcing a significant volume of maritime traffic between Asia and Europe away from the Suez Canal to take the far longer journey around Africa. The group halted its drone and missile attacks, which had targeted vessels with tenuous Israeli links when the Gaza ceasefire was declared in January. But it threatened to resume the attacks when Israel blocked all aid into war-battered Gaza on March 2, in the hope of pressuring Hamas into releasing remaining captives it took in its October 7, 2023 attack. Earlier this month, the US designated the Houthi movement, known formally as Ansar Allah, as a “foreign terrorist” organisation. Adblock test (Why?)
WPL 2025 final: Mumbai Indians claim second title as Delhi Capitals despair
Delhi lose third straight final as Mumbai wins by eight runs. The Mumbai Indians have claimed their second Women’s Premier League (WPL) title with an eight-run win against the Delhi Capitals, who have seen their third straight defeat in the final. Delhi, ever present in the three finals of the fledgling competition, would have felt very much in the game after reducing Mumbai to 149-7 at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in the first innings on Saturday. Captain and India international Harmanpreet Kaur’s 66 held together Mumbai’s hopes of keeping at bay the side they overcame in 2023’s inaugural final. It was a miserly bowling performance from Delhi, led by South African Marizanne Kapp’s 2-11. Despite a series of cameos in the chase, including a powerful late-innings blast from Kapp, it was Mumbai’s masterful control – led by 3-30 from England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt – that smothered Delhi’s hopes. Having won the toss, Delhi were instantly vindicated in their decision to field first when West Indies opener Hayley Matthews was bowled for three by Kapp. The right-armed seamer opened and bowled straight through her four overs as she also removed Mumbai’s other opener, Yastika Bhatia, in her third over. Advertisement Sciver-Brunt and Kaur began the fight for the 2023 champions with a partnership of 89, brought up in 10 overs, for the third wicket. The former would have thought she was in for more runs when powerfully sweeping Shree Charani while on 30. However, the sweetly timed stroke perfectly picked out Minnu Mani at square. Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur plays a shot during the WPL Twenty20 final [Indranil Mukherjee/AFP] Kaur’s 66, the top score of the final, held the innings together thereafter, but she was desperate for someone to stay with her. The next biggest partnership of the innings was the unbeaten eighth-wicket stand of 17. Delhi’s reply could not have got off to a worse start with captain Meg Lanning and opening partner Shafali Verma both removed inside the first three overs. Jess Jonassen followed in the first over after the powerplay before Annabel Sutherland followed in the eighth. Another WPL final and another defeat loomed. The captain may have departed, but her deputy, Jemimah Rodrigues, grasped the moment. The Delhi vice captain praised her captain’s leadership in the build-up to the final, but it was her dynamic innings with the highest strike rate in the match of anyone facing more than seven deliveries that gave her side a chance. Back-to-back boundaries to start the 11th propelled the right-hander to 30, but Amelia Kerr struck back before the over was out with a caught-and-bowled to remove the Delhi number four, who was premature in closing her bat face in search of a single. Mumbai Indians’ Amelia Kerr takes the catch to dismiss Delhi Capitals’ Jemimah Rodrigues [Indranil Mukherjee/AFP] Kapp, a leading light with the ball, appeared to be offering one final glimpse of hope for Delhi as she and Sarah Bryce started another partnership before a mix-up and a momentary hesitation by the latter saw her comfortably run out. Advertisement It was the third highest partnership of the innings at 18, but with the best being 22, it was a shallow return in search of a foundation upon which to build a chase. Kapp continued her near one-woman pursuit to try to end Delhi’s losing streak in finals, and when Kerr carried a catch over the boundary in the 16th, it appeared the tide may well be turning. When the powerful all-rounder holed out to long-on and Matthews – the first wicket she claimed in the match – for 40, the game and the final was well and truly up. Sciver-Brunt, who claimed Kapp’s wicket, bowled Shikha Pandey the very next ball, and the chase quickly ended. The celebrations for the hosts in Mumbai will long continue. However, so too will the pain of third time unlucky in a final for Delhi. Adblock test (Why?)
At least 11 people dead in Pakistan after military raids
The raids take place in the Mohmand and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan’s security forces have raided two hideouts used by an armed group in the restive northwest, triggering gun battles that killed at least two soldiers and nine of the group’s fighters, the military says. The raids were conducted on Saturday in the Mohmand and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. According to local police, the fighters belonged to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban. The outlawed TTP is a separate group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban, who reseized power in neighbouring Afghanistan in August 2021 as United States and other NATO troops were in the final stages of a withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war. Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries and have even been living openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban. In a separate incident on Saturday, fighters ambushed security forces in northwestern Pakistan’s Kurram district, bordering Afghanistan, local police said. Authorities have yet to confirm any casualties in that attack. Advertisement Pakistan’s military is engaged in an ongoing operation in Kurram, an area that has witnessed years of violence between Sunni and Shia Muslim communities. Hundreds of people have been killed in fighting between armed groups, exacerbating tensions in the region. Since November, Kurram has remained isolated after authorities blocked key roads following sectarian violence. The closure has led to severe shortages of medicine and food, deepening a humanitarian crisis. Also on Saturday, a bomb exploded outside a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing a Muslim leader, local police said. It was unclear who was behind the attack, and an investigation was being conducted. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Inch by inch’: Myanmar rebels close in on key military base in Chin State
Falam township, Chin State – In the mountains of western Myanmar, photographs of fallen fighters line a wall of a rebel headquarters – an honour roll of some 80 young men, beginning with 28-year-old Salai Cung Naw Piang, who was killed in May 2021. The true toll on the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) extends beyond this hall and grows as war against Myanmar’s military grinds on in Chin State – a Christian region of the country bordering India where ethnic Chin fighters have expelled the military from most of their territory. “Even if they don’t surrender, we will go till the end, inch by inch,” CNDF Vice President Peter Thang told Al Jazeera in a recent interview. Launched in mid-November, the Chin offensive to capture the town of Falam – codenamed “Mission Jerusalem” – has come at a heavy cost. About 50 CNDF and allied fighters were killed in the first six weeks, some buried alive after direct air strikes by jet fighters of Myanmar’s military regime on earthen bunkers, Thang said. Advertisement Thang estimated similar casualties among Myanmar’s military, and more than 100 government soldiers captured, in the continuing operation. Formed by civilians to fight the military after the 2021 coup in Myanmar, the CNDF has encircled the regime’s last garrison in a hilltop base in Falam. “We are facing a difficult time,” Thang admitted. “If God is willing to hand over the enemy, we will take it,” he said of Mission Jerusalem’s ultimate objective. Taking and holding Falam – Chin State’s former capital – would also mark the first district centre captured by the country’s new rebel forces without support from established ethnic armies, according to Thang, who ran a travel agency in Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon before the coup. “We have more challenges than others,” he said. “The military has so much technology. We have limited weapons, and even some of them we can’t operate,” he added. Peter Thang, Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) vice president, sits in front of the CNDF flag during an interview in a village at the front line in Falam, Chin State, Myanmar, in January 2025 [Valeria Mongelli/Al Jazeera] Besieged hilltop base With the CNDF supported by fighters from 15 newly formed armed groups, including from Myanmar’s ethnic Bamar majority, about 600 rebels have besieged Falam and the roughly 120 government soldiers who, confined to their hilltop base, depend on supplies dropped by helicopter for their survival. Unlike established ethnic armies who are fighting to gain more territory for themselves, the rebel forces massed in Chin State said they aim to overthrow Myanmar’s military regime entirely. Advertisement While the CNDF and allies in the Chin Brotherhood (CB) coalition scored previous victories against the military with help from the powerful Arakan Army (AA) to the south in Rakhine State, seizing Falam independently would represent a new phase in Myanmar’s revolution. But the biggest challenge in the battle remains aerial attacks by the military. Operations against the hilltop base in Falam trigger bombardments from the military’s Russian and Chinese fighter jets, along with rocket-propelled grenades, artillery, sniper and machinegun fire from troops defending the outpost. A Chin National Defence Force fighter points to the Myanmar military’s hilltop base in Falam, Chin State, Myanmar [Valeria Mongelli/Al Jazeera] CNDF commanders told how the besieged soldiers once chatted freely with locals and some had even married local Chin women. But that all changed when Myanmar’s security forces shot peaceful protesters demonstrating against the military’s ousting of Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021. Demonstrators fought back, and an uprising was born that has become steeped in blood and the lore of many martyrs. Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing, a 19-year-old protester, was the first victim – shot in the head by police on February 9, 2021 in the country’s capital, Naypyidaw. In April 2021, armed with hunting rifles, the Chin launched the first significant battle of Myanmar’s uprising in Mindat town, which has since been liberated. Now the rebels are equipped with assault rifles and grenade launchers. They control most of the countryside and several towns, but remain outgunned, as the military entrenches itself in urban centres. Unable to launch ground offensives from their depleted ranks, the regime’s generals have turned to forced conscription and indiscriminate air strikes nationwide. Advertisement According to rights group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the military has killed at least 6,353 civilians since the coup. With at least 3.5 million people displaced inside the country, according to the United Nations, observers predict even fiercer fighting this year. A CNDF fighter stands near the ruins of a Christian church bombed by a Myanmar military jet in Falam township, Chin State, Myanmar [Valeria Mongelli/Al Jazeera] ‘Some died, others ran in all directions’ In Falam, CNDF defence secretary Olivia Thawng Luai said spouses live with some of the soldiers in the surrounded hilltop holdout. “Most soldiers want to leave their base but they are under the commander’s control,” said Olivia Thawng Luai, a former national karate champion. “They aren’t allowed to leave the base or use their phones,” she said. Another senior CNDF figure, Timmy Htut, said the commander in the besieged base still has his own phone – and the rebels call his number regularly. “One day he will pick up,” he said. “When he’s ready.” Attempts by the military to send reinforcements to Falam have failed. Helicopters, facing sheets of gunfire, have dropped conscripted airborne recruits on Falam’s outskirts, ordering them to fight their way into the town. None has succeeded. Olivia Thawng Luai, CNDF defence secretary, at the front line in Falam town [Valeria Mongelli/Al Jazeera] A captured soldier said his unit was dropped in without a plan, and, under heavy fire and pursued by resistance fighters, they scattered in chaos. Advertisement “Some died, others ran in all directions,” the soldier told Al Jazeera. “The headquarters said they couldn’t waste their jet sorties for just a few of us,” he said. The military, he continued, has lost “many skilful,
UN chief calls for global action against rising ‘anti-Muslim bigotry’
Marking the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, Guterres speaks out against bigotry, xenophobia and discrimination. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern over “a disturbing rise in anti-Muslim bigotry”, calling on governments to protect religious freedom and for online platforms to curb hate speech. Guterres made the remarks on Saturday to mark the International Day to Combat Islamophobia marked every year on March 15. Rights groups around the world and the UN have noted a rise in Islamophobia, anti-Arab bias and anti-Semitism since the start of Israel’s 17-month war on Gaza. “We are witnessing a disturbing rise in anti-Muslim bigotry. From racial profiling and discriminatory policies that violate human rights and dignity, to outright violence against individuals and places of worship,” the UN chief said in a video post on X. “This is part of a wider scourge of intolerance, extremist ideologies and attacks against religious groups and vulnerable populations.” He called on governments, without specifying any one nation, to “foster social cohesion and protect religious freedom”. Advertisement “Online platforms must curb hate speech and harassment. And we must all speak out against bigotry, xenophobia and discrimination,” he added. We are witnessing a disturbing rise in anti-Muslim bigotry that is part of a wider scourge of intolerance & attacks against religious groups & vulnerable populations. This International Day to Combat Islamophobia, let’s work together to uphold equality, human rights & dignity. pic.twitter.com/QIO1TeWME5 — António Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 15, 2025 Meanwhile, UN Under-Secretary-General Miguel Angel Moratinos said Muslims were facing “institutional discrimination and socioeconomic restrictions”. “Such biases are manifested in the stigmatisation and the unwarranted racial profiling of Muslims and are reinforced by biased media representations, and by the anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies of some political leaders,” he said in a speech to the UN General Assembly. Rights advocates have for years raised concerns about the stigma faced by Muslims and Arabs because of how some people conflate those communities with armed groups. At present, many pro-Palestinian activists, including in Western nations such as the United States, have complained and say that their advocacy for Palestinian rights is wrongly labelled by their critics as support for Hamas in Gaza. In recent weeks, rights watchdogs have published data noting record levels of anti-Muslim hate incidents and hate speeches in countries such as the United Kingdom, the US and India, among others. Advertisement A report released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Tuesday said that the 8,658 complaints regarding anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents last year – representing a 7.4 percent rise year on year – was the highest number since the group began compiling data in 1996. Adblock test (Why?)
Can an aspirin a day keep cancer at bay?
For decades, aspirin has been known as a go-to painkiller. New research reveals how it may also help fight cancer. While previous research hinted at a link between aspirin use and improved cancer survival, a study published in Nature last week explains why. However, experts caution that aspirin is not a cure – and it carries risks like increased potential for internal bleeding. So, how might aspirin keep cancer from spreading? And what does this mean for future treatments? What have studies found about aspirin use and cancer? Recent studies have revealed how aspirin, a widely used painkiller, may help prevent the spread of cancer, although it is unclear whether it would work the same for all types of the disease. Researchers have been exploring this link for decades. The first clinical study, published in 1988, showed that regular aspirin use significantly lowered the risk of colorectal cancer, though the underlying reason remained unclear. Now, a new study from the University of Cambridge offers more insight. It found the mechanism by which aspirin may help prevent cancer from spreading, a process known as metastasis. Advertisement Metastasis is responsible for the majority of cancer-related deaths, as cancer cells break away from the original tumour and try to take root elsewhere across the body. As these drifting cancer cells go rogue, aspirin may enhance the body’s natural ability to fight back, keeping the cancer cells from taking hold of more organs. How can aspirin keep cancer from spreading? The key to aspirin’s effect on cancer lies in the body’s immune system, a complex network of cells and proteins that defends against infections, diseases and harmful germs. When cancer cells break away from a tumour, they enter the bloodstream, where the immune system – specifically types of white blood cells known as T-cells – normally hunts them down and destroys them. However, platelets – tiny cell fragments in the blood that help with clotting – can interfere with this process. Cancer takes advantage of platelets by triggering a response similar to an injury. When platelets detect the free-floating cancer cells, they rush to coat them, much like they would cover a wound to stop bleeding. This creates a protective shield, making it harder for the immune system to recognise and attack the cancer cells. Additionally, platelets release signals that suppress T-cells, preventing them from doing their job. Aspirin disrupts cancer’s attempts at trickery by reducing the production of a molecule that platelets use to suppress immune activity. With the platelets weakened, T-cells regain their ability to recognise and destroy cancer cells before they have a chance to form new tumours. Advertisement How could aspirin be used against cancer? The study suggests that aspirin could be used after treatments like surgery where tumours are removed. This is because some cancer cells may have already escaped from the tumour and begun to settle in other parts of the body, a process known as seeding, where tiny cancer cells embed themselves in new areas and may later grow into tumours. However, experts caution against immediately using aspirin as a cancer treatment without further research. The painkiller carries the potential for serious side effects such as internal bleeding because by weakening the platelets, it can weaken their ability to help blood clot. Aspirin blocks a molecule that prods platelets to clump together. This makes the blood thinner and increases the risk of uncontrolled bleeding. This is especially dangerous in the stomach, where aspirin can irritate the lining and cause ulcers, and in the brain, where it raises the risk of a hemorrhagic stroke if a tiny blood vessel bursts. Additionally, the study was carried out on mice, not humans, so its effects on cancer spread still need to be confirmed before it can be recommended for treatment. “Our research provides a molecular explanation for observations from clinical studies, but proper clinical validation is still needed,” Rahul Roychoudhuri, a professor in Cambridge’s Department of Pathology who was part of the Nature study, told Al Jazeera. Several clinical trials, such as the ADD-ASPIRIN trial in the United Kingdom, Ireland and India, are under way to determine which patients are most likely to benefit most from taking aspirin and whether it works for specific types of cancers. Advertisement Roychoudhuri added that he does not anticipate an “immediate fast-tracked translation” of aspirin to cancer treatment. Has aspirin been used against diseases in the past? Some patients with a high genetic risk for cancer, such as those with Lynch syndrome (a condition that increases the likelihood of developing certain cancers), are already recommended aspirin as a preventive measure in countries such as Australia and the UK. Since the 1980s, aspirin has also been prescribed to help prevent heart attacks and strokes in people at high risk of heart disease, by reducing the ability of platelets to form harmful clots that can block blood flow to the heart or brain. This clot-preventing effect helps lower the risk of heart attacks in those with a history of cardiovascular disease. Does this mean we are close to a breakthrough in curing cancer? Not necessarily. While aspirin may help slow or prevent the spread of cancer, it does not eliminate tumours entirely. However, scientists are working to identify biomarkers – measurable signs in the blood – and platelet activity to help detect individuals at risk for cancer early on. “This would allow for timely treatment with aspirin while minimising unnecessary exposure for those who do not require it,” said Paola Patrignani, a professor of pharmacology at Gabriele d‘Annunzio University in Italy. Experts say the findings could also contribute to the development of drugs that inhibit cancer spread. “Our discoveries open possibilities for developing more targeted therapies that could potentially provide the benefits without aspirin’s side effects,” Roychoudhuri said. Advertisement Patrignani, who is involved in research funded by Cancer Research UK to investigate whether other anti-platelet drugs, like clopidogrel, might offer similar benefits, says these studies will require another three to five years to be completed.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,115
These are the key developments on day 1,115 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Here is the situation on Saturday, March 15: Fighting Russian President Vladimir Putin called for beleaguered Ukrainian troops in the Russian region of Kursk to “surrender”, saying that “if they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment”. Putin’s remarks were broadcast on Russian television hours after United States President Donald Trump said that “thousands” of Ukrainian troops were surrounded by the Russian military in Kursk, adding that he has “strongly requested” Putin to spare their lives. Ukraine’s General Staff denied again that its forces in Kursk were encircled by Moscow’s troops and said that any reports to that effect were “fabricated by the Russians for political manipulation and to exert pressure on Ukraine and its partners”. A Russian missile struck a residential area in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, injuring 11 people, including two children, the regional governor said. Kryvyi Rih is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown and has been the target of repeated attacks in Russia’s three-year full-scale invasion of its neighbour. Advertisement Russian guided bombs struck a series of targets in Ukraine, including a residential area in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, killing one person, the regional governor said on Telegram. Near Ukraine’s Black Sea city of Odesa, Russian drones attacked the port of Chornomorsk, cutting power completely to the area’s residents, the regional governor said. Russian air defences downed four Ukrainian drones attacking the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. One drone damaged the roof of an apartment building a few kilometres from the Kremlin. Several other buildings were lightly damaged by drone fragments, but there were no injuries, according to emergency officials. A far-right anti-Russian activist was shot dead on a street in Odesa and a suspect has been arrested, Zelenskyy said on Telegram. The suspect, a 46-year-old man, was described as a “deserter” from the Ukrainian army. Police said, “We cannot rule out the possibility that this crime was committed on behalf of Russian secret services”. Ceasefire Putin met with US envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss details of the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Moscow’s war on Ukraine, asking him to convey Moscow’s thoughts to Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Trump said he was “being a little bit sarcastic” when he repeatedly claimed as a presidential candidate that he would have the Russia-Ukraine war solved within 24 hours – and even before he even took office. “Well, I was being a little bit sarcastic when I said that,” Trump said in a clip released in advance of a television interview to be broadcast on Sunday. In a speech at the US Department of Justice, Trump said that ceasefire negotiations with Russia were ongoing and praised his relationship with Putin, saying that the Russian leader “has respect for this country”. He again suggested that Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s 2022 invasion, saying, “You don’t want to pick on somebody that’s a lot larger than you.” Advertisement United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Putin of not taking US-led attempts to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine seriously. French President Emmanuel Macron in a post on X, also called on Moscow to stop its “acts of violence” in Ukraine. G7 foreign ministers warned Russia of new sanctions unless it accepted a ceasefire “on equal terms”, saying sanctions could include “caps on oil prices, as well as additional support for Ukraine, and other means”. Politics and diplomacy European support for Ukraine will be discussed in a video conference with about 25 European Union and other world leaders, as well as Zelenskyy, on Saturday. Diplomatic sources said EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas is to propose that the 27-country bloc supply up to 40 billion euros ($43.5bn) in new military aid to Ukraine. The UK’s Starmer will urge leaders from the so-called “coalition of the willing”, which includes Europe, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, to make concrete commitments to support Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia to accept a ceasefire during the video conference. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko is visiting North Korea, North Korean state media report. Russia and Venezuela announced plans to increase energy cooperation after Washington ordered US oil giant Chevron to pull out of the Caribbean country. Adblock test (Why?)
US says South African ambassador ‘no longer welcome’
The Trump administration has frequently sparred with South Africa over the legacy of apartheid and criticism of Israel. The administration of President Donald Trump has declared South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool a persona non grata in the United States. In a social media post on Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Rasool was “no longer welcome in our great country”. “Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates POTUS,” Rubio wrote, using the acronym for President of the United States. “We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.” Rubio linked his remarks to an article by the right-wing media outlet Breitbart, wherein Rasool is quoted as saying Trump mobilised a “supremacist instinct” and “white victimhood” as a “dog whistle” during the 2024 elections. Rasool’s expulsion is the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration castigating South Africa, a country that has supported Palestinian rights and helped spearhead a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel, a US ally, of genocidal acts in Gaza. Advertisement Earlier this week, the news outlet Semafor reported that Rasool, a veteran diplomat, has been denied what are typically routine opportunities to speak with officials at the US State Department, as well as with high-level Republicans, since Trump’s inauguration. Rasool returned to his post as South Africa’s ambassador to the US in January. He previously served in the role from 2010 to 2015, during the presidency of Barack Obama. South Africa is governed by the African National Congress (ANC), a party that emerged out of the anti-apartheid struggle that ended white minority rule in that country. But its government has been a target of particular ire for the Trump administration and allies like right-wing billionaire Elon Musk, who is of South African origin. Trump’s government has accused the ANC government of discriminating against its white population. Trump has nixed aid to South Africa and, in February – at a time when the White House had almost entirely shuttered refugee admissions for people fleeing violence and repression around the world – Trump offered expedited citizenship for white Afrikaners “escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination”. The announcement was a response to a land distribution law meant to address inequalities that have continued since the apartheid era. The South African government says that Trump is misinformed about the law, which has not been used to confiscate any land. Vincent Magwenya, a spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, told the Reuters news agency that his country was “not going to partake in a counterproductive megaphone diplomacy” – referring to Trump’s propensity for issuing missives about South Africa on social media. Advertisement Despite Trump’s portrayal of Afrikaners as a besieged minority, South African authorities say that the economic legacy of apartheid, during which white South Africans exercised near-total control over the economy, persists in continued levels of economic inequality between Black and white residents. A 2017 government audit found that while Black people make up 80 percent of the population of South Africa, they own just 4 percent of privately held farmland. The white Afrikaners who own the vast majority of South Africa’s farmland comprise a mere 8 percent of the population. Rasool and his family were themselves expelled from their home in Cape Town during the apartheid period, when Black people were forcibly relocated to designated non-white areas with almost no resources or economic opportunities. Adblock test (Why?)
In Justice Department speech, Donald Trump threatens opponents with jail
“This is a storied hall, if there ever was one.” That is how President Donald Trump opened his remarks to the United States Department of Justice, before he launched into a speech that denounced judges, prosecutors and members of his predecessor’s government as corrupt. It was an extraordinary moment that hinted at potential legal action against political rivals. Trump went on to argue that the 2024 election had granted him a mandate to investigate those he felt had committed “abuses” under the presidency of former President Joe Biden. “I will insist upon and demand full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have occurred,” Trump said. “ The American people have given us a mandate, and really, just a far-reaching investigation is what they are demanding into the corruption of our system.” Critics have long feared that Trump would seek retribution against his political rivals if he returned to power. While on the campaign trail in 2024, he repeatedly referred to Democrats as “the enemy from within”, calling them “evil” and more dangerous than the threats posed by China and Russia. He also threatened critics, like Republican Liz Cheney, with jail and said he would appoint a special prosecutor to go after Biden. Advertisement But Friday’s speech to the Justice Department was a platform for Trump to renew those threats — and continue to spread false claims that cast doubt on his defeat to Biden in the 2020 presidential election. “I think it was the most humiliating time in the history of our country,” Trump said of Biden’s term. “What a difference a rigged and crooked election had on our country. When you think about it, the people who did this to us should go to jail. They should go to jail.” President Donald Trump speaks at the Justice Department in Washington, DC, on March 14 [Pool via AP] Trump justifies department firings Trump even took aim at prosecutors who worked in the Justice Department, particularly those who participated in criminal investigations against him. Since taking office for a second term on January 20, the president has led a campaign against what he considers “Biden bureaucrats“, though critics point out that many are nonpartisan civil service members. Among the thousands of federal employees terminated in the last two months were career prosecutors who participated in the two federal probes into Trump’s behaviour: one for alleged mishandling of classified documents, and the other for attempting to subvert the 2020 election. Both cases were ultimately dropped after Trump won re-election on November 5. The Justice Department has a policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents. But while career prosecutors are tasked with serving whichever president is in office, Trump has sought to ensure their removal. Advertisement He has also accused the Biden administration of “weaponising” the Justice Department in an effort to derail his re-election campaign. “As we begin a proud new chapter in the chronicles of American justice, this really is something we’re turning the page on: four long years of corruption, weaponisation and surrender to violent criminals,” Trump said on Friday. “ But first, we must be honest about the lies and abuses that have occurred within these walls. Unfortunately, in recent years, a corrupt group of hacks and radicals within the ranks of the American government obliterated the trust and goodwill built up over generations. They weaponised the vast powers of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies to try and thwart the will of the American people.” Trump touted the firing of Justice Department prosecutors from the stage, describing them as “Marxist”, though he did acknowledge he may have fired some loyal public servants. “Last month, I fired all the radical left pro-crime US attorneys appointed by Joe Biden. There were so many that were bad, and I know there were some that were probably very good. But there were so many that were so bad and so evil, so corrupt,” he said. His speech appeared to signal more firings to come, as Trump continues his campaign against officials associated with Biden. “We will expel the rogue actors and corrupt forces from our government. We will expose and very much expose their egregious crimes and severe misconduct of which was levels — you’ve never seen anything like it,” Trump said. Advertisement “It’s going to be legendary. It’s going to also be legendary for the people that are able to seek it out and bring justice.” Demonstrators protest against the Trump administration near the White House on March 14 [Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo] Trump calls coverage of court cases ‘illegal’ Before his election, Trump faced a total of four criminal indictments: the two federal cases, plus a state-level case in Georgia about alleged election interference and another in New York for falsifying business records. That case pertained to alleged efforts to cover up a hush-money payment to an adult film actress, Stormy Daniels, who claimed they had an affair. While Trump denied any sexual relationship with Daniels and refuted the allegations of wrongdoing, he was nevertheless found guilty of 34 felony counts in the New York case. In the weeks before his January inauguration, he was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, which did not involve any punishment. “The case against me was bull****,” Trump said bluntly at one point on Friday. He was the first president — past or present — to face criminal charges, much less be convicted. Trump re-litigated those cases, however, in front of the Justice Department audience on Friday and even issued vague threats to journalists for their coverage of the cases. He accused members of the media of attempting to illegally sway the judges presiding over his criminal cases. “They take tremendous abuse in The New York Times and The Washington Post,” Trump said of the judges. Advertisement “They take such abuse. And honestly, very simply, they’re afraid of bad publicity. They don’t want bad publicity, and it’s truly interference in my opinion. And it should be illegal, and it probably is illegal in some form.”
US arrests second student, imposes ‘receivership’ on Columbia University
The administration of President Donald Trump has arrested a second student protester and set a deadline for Columbia University, one of the most prestigious campuses in the United States, to cede control of one of its academic departments. In a news release on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security accused Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian student at Columbia, of overstaying her F-1 student visa. The statement explained that agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained her for deportation. Another foreign student, Ranjani Srinivasan of India, had her student visa revoked for participating “in activities supporting Hammas”, a misspelling of the Palestinian armed group Hamas. The Trump administration has repeatedly conflated participation in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza with support for Hamas. It has also accused demonstrators of supporting “terrorists”. Kordia’s arrest marks the second time in less than a week that a Palestinian student at Columbia University has been taken into ICE custody for deportation. On Saturday, protest spokesperson Mahmoud Khalil likewise was arrested and placed in immigration detention, first in New Jersey and later in Louisiana. Advertisement Civil liberty advocates say the arrests are meant to stifle free speech rights, and Khalil’s lawyer this week argued he has not been able to contact his client privately, in violation of his right to legal counsel. Khalil is a permanent resident of the US, with a green card, and his American wife is eight months pregnant. The Trump administration, however, says it plans to strip him of his green card. “It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in the news release. But the arrests and student visa revocation were not the only strong-armed actions the Trump administration took against Columbia in the last 24 hours. In a letter issued late on Thursday night, the administration demanded that Columbia’s Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies (MESAAS) be placed in an “academic receivership” wherein an outside authority takes control, often as punishment for mismanagement. The letter specified that the university must come up with a plan to create the academic receivership role no later than March 20. Failure to comply, the letter warned, would negatively affect “Columbia University’s continued financial relationship with the United States government”. Setting up a receivership was just one in a list of demands, which included abolishing the university’s judicial board for hearing disciplinary matters, banning masks on campus and adopting a controversial definition of anti-Semitism that some fear could limit legitimate criticisms of Israel. Advertisement Columbia University is a private school, one of eight campuses that makes up the much-vaunted Ivy League in the northeast region. But Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly attacked the university since it became the epicentre of pro-Palestinian protests in 2023 and 2024 as students rallied against the devastation wrought by Israel’s war, which United Nations experts compared to a genocide. How did we get here? The protests hit a peak last April, after a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill. The university president at the time, Minouche Shafik, appeared before a congressional panel to face scrutiny over allegations that Columbia and other schools had failed to address anti-Semitism on campus. The very next day, Shafik authorised New York City police to enter an encampment that student protesters had set up on Columbia’s East Lawn, leading to mass arrests. Tensions escalated from there. Student protesters argued that their free speech rights were being curtailed, and that officials were conflating criticisms of Israel’s war with anti-Semitism. Some occupied a school building, Hamilton Hall, to show defiance against attempts to dismantle the protest movement. But what happened at Columbia kicked off a series of similar measures across the country, as police were called onto campuses to arrest peaceful protesters. More than 3,000 protesters are estimated to have been arrested between April and July. Trump campaigned for re-election on the platform that he would seek out and deport foreign students who participated in the protests. Advertisement His allies even codified the threats into last year’s Republican Party platform, making it one of 20 pledges: to “deport pro-Hamas radicals and make our college campuses safe and patriotic again”. Upon taking office for a second term on January 20, Trump immediately issued an executive order calling for the removal of foreigners who bear “hostile attitudes” to US “citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles” or who support “threats to our national security”. The US has long been an ally of Israel and has supported its campaign in Gaza, which has killed at least 48,524 Palestinians. In the months since taking office, Trump has directed the Justice Department to “investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities”. And on social media this month, he warned he would take heavy-handed action against any campus that hosts what he called “illegal protests” — although he failed to define what that category might entail. “All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump wrote. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on [sic] the crime, arrested.” Already, on March 7, the Trump administration announced the immediate cancellation of $400m in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University, in what was considered a warning shot against all institutions of higher education to conform with the president’s demands. Advertisement Secretary of Education Linda McMahon pointed to increases in reported acts of anti-Semitism after the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel in October 2023 as a reason for the cancellation. “Since October 7, Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment on their campuses — only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them,” McMahon said in an accompanying news release. “Universities must