Oscar win brings hope to Palestinians in Masafer Yatta
Just last week, Israeli troops tore down a Palestinian family’s shed in Masafer Yatta, a remote, hilly corner at the southern edge of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It was the latest instance of destruction targeting a collection of hamlets whose population is threatened with expulsion. Over the weekend, Masafer Yatta residents cheered the Oscar win of a documentary, No Other Land, which depicts life in the beleaguered community, and hoped it would bring them some help. No Other Land follows Palestinian activist Basel Adra, as he risks arrest to document the destruction of Masafer Yatta West Bank, joined by his co-director, Israeli journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham. The joint Palestinian-Israeli production has won a string of international awards, starting at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2024. Five years in the making, it gained greater resonance amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as well as increasing raids in the West Bank that have caused the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians. Advertisement In al-Tuwaneh, one of the hamlets that make up Masafer Yatta, Salem Adra said his family stayed up all night for the Oscar ceremony. They watched as his older brother, Basel, the film’s co-director, came on stage to accept the award for the best documentary. “It was such a huge surprise, such joy,” he said. Salem said he hoped the Oscar win “opens the world’s eyes to what’s happening here in Masafer Yatta”. “It’s a win for all of Palestine and for everyone who lives in Masafer Yatta,” he said. Since the film was first released, he said, threats and pressure against his family have increased. Their car has been stoned by the settlers. After the movie won an award at the Berlin International Film Festival a year ago, the military returned over and over to the family, and once detained his father, searching his phone and asking: “Why are you filming?” The Israeli military designated Masafer Yatta as a live-fire training zone in the 1980s and ordered residents, mostly Arab Bedouin, to be expelled. Israel said the Bedouin did not have permanent structures in the area. But families say they have lived and herded their sheep and goats across the area long before Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war. After a 20-year legal battle by residents, Israel’s Supreme Court upheld the expulsion order in 2022. But about 1,000 residents have largely remained in place, as Israeli troops regularly demolish homes, tents, water tanks and olive orchards. Palestinians fear outright expulsion could come at any time. Advertisement In his acceptance speech on Sunday night, Basel called on the world “to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people”. He said he hoped his newborn daughter would “not have to live the same life I am living now … Always feeling settler violence, home demolitions and forceful displacement.” Adblock test (Why?)
Zambia government’s neglect exposing more children to lead poison, HRW says
Report says more than 95 percent of children in the central town of Kabwe had elevated levels of lead in their blood. The failure of Zambia’s government to intervene against “blatant violations” of environmental laws is worsening the exposure of a high number of children to severe health risks, mostly lead poisoning, at a shuttered mining site in the country’s central region, warns a new report. The Human Rights Watch report published on Wednesday said Zambia is allowing South African, Chinese and domestic mining companies to continue to operate in the lead-contaminated town of Kabwe, where residents are already reeling from decades of toxic lead exposure. Kabwe, about 150km (95 miles) north of capital Lusaka, is one of the world’s most polluted places after decades of lead and zinc mining. “Companies are profiting in Kabwe from mining, removing, and processing lead waste at the expense of children’s health,” HRW’s children’s rights director Juliane Kippenberg said, adding that more than 95 percent of children in the area had elevated blood lead levels. Kabwe’s mine was shut in 1994, yet the government is still “facilitating hazardous mining and processing” in the area by a subsidiary of the multinational mining company Anglo American, HRW said in its 67-page report, leaving an estimated 6.4 million tonnes of uncovered lead waste in dumps. Advertisement Nearly 200,000 people, many of them women and children, have been exposed to the contamination, the rights group said, urging the government to revoke the permits of mining companies and clean up the pollution hazard. The government of Zambia has yet to respond to the report. Highly sought for industry, lead is nevertheless a particularly toxic metal that can cause severe health problems including brain damage and death, particularly in children, according to the World Health Organization. More than 95 percent of children living near the Kabwe mine had elevated blood lead levels with about half requiring urgent treatment, the HRW report said. The concentration of lead in the soil had reached 60,000mg per kg (0.95oz per lb), according to the report, 300 times the threshold considered a hazard by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In 2022, a UN expert listed Kabwe as being among so-called “sacrifice zones” where pollution and resultant health issues were the norm for nearby communities. “The Zambian government should be protecting people from highly hazardous activities, not enabling them,” said Kippenberg. Adblock test (Why?)
Can Trump legally force US universities to silence protests?
United States President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to target US universities that are hubs of student protests, from even before his election in November. Since he was sworn in on January 20, he has taken steps to back his plans, including executive orders. On Monday, he launched a new tirade, threatening to halt federal funding for schools, colleges, and universities if they allow “illegal protests”. Trump took to his Truth Social platform to deliver his newest threat, one that includes a promise to imprison “agitators”. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested,” Trump wrote. But who is he targeting, what has Trump done so far, can he compel universities to act against student protesters, and how might higher education institutions respond? Who are the intended targets? US Ambassador to the UN Elise Stefanik shared Trump’s remarks in a post on X, saying “antisemitism and anti-Israel hate will not be tolerated on American campuses”, confirming that pro-Palestinian protesters and speech critical of Israel are the targets of the president’s threat. Under President @realDonaldTrump, colleges and universities will be held accountable. Antisemitism and anti-Israel hate will not be tolerated on American campuses. Promises made, promises kept. @POTUS @realDonaldTrump @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/h9nq1gVJRO — Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) March 4, 2025 Advertisement Trump’s announcement comes after he signed a series of executive orders in January targeting alleged anti-Semitism on campuses. In one directive, he pledged to deport foreign university students and staff involved in pro-Palestinian protests as part of the crackdown. He also created a task force through the Attorney General’s office devoted to combating alleged anti-Semitic speech, investigating universities that do not do enough to crack down on such speech. The orders and threats come months after huge pro-Palestine, student-led protests swept the country last spring as Israel’s genocide raged in Gaza. Students demanded an end to Israel’s military offensive, an end to US support for Israel, and for their universities to divest from companies with ties to Israel. Columbia University was widely seen as the epicentre of the protests, which resulted in mass arrests and student suspensions, ending in the resignation of the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, several months later. The demonstrations also spread to other universities including Harvard, Yale, and the University of California. Can Trump legally compel universities to stop protests? “It’s complicated,” said Jenin Younis, a civil liberties and free speech lawyer. “It’s hard to say that the tweet itself is unlawful, since it alone isn’t enforceable,” Younis told Al Jazeera of Trump’s latest post threatening funding. “So, it depends how the administration executes this particular threat, and it has not yet given details.” Advertisement Radhika Sainath, a senior lawyer at Palestine Legal, a US-based nonprofit, said the executive orders aren’t binding rules for universities to follow. “This executive order sets up a framework to encourage – but not require – schools to spy on and report their non-citizen students and staff,” Sainath told Al Jazeera. “As far as we can tell, these will be non-binding guidelines with no enforcement power or pressure.” Still, Trump’s directives are extremely concerning, experts said. “The strength of these orders lies in their chilling effect,” Younes said, adding they are clearly intended to silence First Amendment-protected speech. Fearing consequences, some universities may voluntarily clamp down on speech they believe will subject them to funding cuts, she said, and pressure students and professors alike into silence. Universities received $60bn in funding for research and development in 2023, constituting 55 percent of their total budget for science and engineering research. According to Sainath, this is the “most significant escalation in McCarthyite tactics from the Executive Branch regarding Palestine since October 7, [2023]”. Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, director of research for Israel-Palestine at the nonprofit DAWN, says Trump’s threats are a “twisted new form of transnational repression”. “Restricting free speech and expression by cutting state funds, or more accurately, creating a chilling effect by threatening to do so, is a hallmark of autocratic takeovers,” Omer-Man told Al Jazeera, adding that in his view, such tactics can be “as effective as outlawing unpopular political views outright”. Advertisement Were universities targeted under Biden’s administration? Yes. Universities that witnessed pro-Palestine protests across the country were also targeted in multiple ways under former US President Joe Biden, who was critical of the student encampments. University heads had tried, and largely failed, to quell the demonstrations, which often saw the police intervening violently, with videos emerging from different states showing hundreds of students and even faculty members being arrested. In Columbia University, several deans resigned, as well as Shafik, who stepped down as president after she was summoned to a congressional committee over allegations the university had failed to protect students and staff from rising anti-Semitism. After the questioning, Shafik allowed police into campus to arrest the students and was faced with angry calls to resign. Trump now appears to be doubling down on targeting universities and students. He is “escalating the crackdown” on the Palestine movement and attempting to undermine the students’ and staff’s constitutional rights to speak out and organise, Sainath said. Will the threats work? Not on protesters, according to the experts. Omer-Man said the unprecedented support for Palestine on US campuses was “so powerful precisely because students and faculty already faced consequences for speaking out against Israeli apartheid and stood up anyway”. Students have continued to speak up for Palestine ever since Trump unveiled his executive orders. Advertisement Universities, though, are under pressure. This week, Columbia University was forced to reiterate its commitment to “combating antiSemitism” after Trump’s administration said it could pull more than $50m in contracts between the university and the federal government. A statement by federal agencies cited the school’s “ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students”. However, Omer-Man said young Americans have “never been dissuaded by violent attempts to bury the nation’s conscience”. Sainath agreed. “Students – and faculty – are
‘Public execution’: The Israeli checkpoint terrorising a Palestinian town
Deir Sharaf, occupied West Bank – An Israeli military checkpoint dominates the lives of the villagers of Deir Sharaf, who already live in the shadow of an illegal Israeli settlement. The permanently crewed metal blockade blights the occupied West Bank village’s main road, which connects six northern West Bank cities and is a major gateway into Nablus. The checkpoint, initially a dirt mound barrier in October 2022, is a chilling reminder of the threat of violence hovering over thousands of Palestinians who are forced to travel through 800 or so West Bank checkpoints and roadblocks every day. “Nowadays, if you make one wrong move when you pass through the checkpoint, you’ll be shot,” said villager Adam Ali, a 55-year-old father of four who has seen this first-hand. He witnessed the November 12 shooting of 18-year-old Walid Hussein by soldiers who then stood by as he bled to death. Hussein was accused of carrying a knife by the military but witnesses tell a different story. “The boy was unarmed and did nothing,” Adam said. “The Israeli soldiers shot him and watched him die.” Plumes of smoke rise above Deir Sharaf after settlers from the illegal Einav settlement stormed the town on November 2, 2023, following the death of an Israeli when his car came under fire [File: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP] A ‘public execution’ Hussein was from the Ein Beit el-Ma refugee camp in Nablus – where memorials to him adorn walls and hang on street corners. Advertisement Multiple witnesses, including Adam and his 15-year-old son Mohammed, said Walid was asked to stop and get out of his car by the soldiers. When he took a step towards them, he was shot several times. They say he did not immediately succumb to the bullets. “The ambulance tried to get to him but they blocked it,” said Mohammed. “His blood was everywhere. It was an execution.” No soldiers were injured. Local and international media reported witnesses saw no weapon and no intent from Walid to harm the soldiers. Those in the neighbourhood Hussein once called home question the Israeli narrative of a knife, saying it isn’t the first time the military has used such an excuse for a public “execution”. “We’re living in hell – the idea of leaving is becoming harder to fight,” Adam said. “Life is so hard – I hope death will be more merciful.” Demonstrators holding Palestinian flags face an Israeli soldier holding a weapon during a protest demanding Israel reopen roads to Nablus, in Deir Sharaf on October 20, 2022 [Raneen Sawafta/Reuters] Villagers describe “a life of terror” dominated by Israeli soldiers and settlers who stream in from the nearby illegal Shavei Shomron settlement, built in 1977 and equipped with air raid sirens, a military perimeter and 24/7 security. The illegal settlement is at the centre of far-right settler politics in the West Bank, and hosts more than 1,000 settlers, including a politician who attended the inauguration of United States President Donald Trump. Mayor Shadi Abu Halaweh says there is almost nowhere else in the occupied West Bank like Deir Sharaf, bisected by a checkpoint separating east from west and transforming the lives of the 3,000 villagers overnight. Advertisement It was first established around the same time as the rise of the Lions’ Den resistance group in Nablus and the subsequent Israeli crackdown on it. Armed soldiers patrol all day, stopping cars and conducting searches – often involving intimidation and violence. Abu Halaweh says two people have been killed and three seriously injured at the checkpoint since it was set up – and violent incidents have increased since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza. Mayor Shadi Abu Halaweh says life in Deir Sharaf has changed since Israel set up the checkpoint [Al Jazeera] Since October 7, 2023, nearly 100 people have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the Nablus governorate, which includes Deir Sharaf, according to United Nations figures. A long-awaited ceasefire agreement in Gaza took hold last month, but killing continues across the West Bank, Israel looking set to expand its attacks, and its officials saying a military deployment could last until next year. Fears of ethnic cleansing have been sparked by the expulsion of 50,000 Palestinians from their homes in refugee camps in besieged Jenin and Tulkarem – an operation threatening to engulf the Nablus region next. ‘I feel I could be killed in my own home’ At times of tension, the last place Palestinians want to be is near a checkpoint. The Israelis say checkpoints are intended to prevent armed resistance activity and monitor suspects. But Palestinians in the West Bank say they are designed to control their movement and instil fear among motorists and nearby residents – while protecting settlers and providing safe entry for Israeli military vehicles. Advertisement Not many homes or businesses remain on the western side of the checkpoint – and those that do are isolated and prone to attacks from settlers. Abu Halaweh said residents on the western side live in constant fear of settlers, who are “always sabotaging”, stealing, and destroying property. Israeli human rights monitor B’Tselem says the barrier prevents about 50 families who live in the western part of the village from accessing the rest of it by car. Basil Wawi, a 40-year-old government employee and father to two-year-old twin girls, described the horror of living on the wrong side of the divide. “Before [the checkpoint], they would stop cars occasionally. Now, they search you, your phone, and sometimes arrest you just for going home.” He recounted a settler assault in November 2023 when settlers broke into his home in broad daylight and set fire to it. The settlers, Wawi added, were protected by the military, who blocked him from returning to his home for three hours – shooting at anyone who tried to help him or oppose the invaders. “Most people don’t know what it’s like to feel like you could be killed in your own
Ukraine reels as Trump pulls US support while Russia’s war rages on
Kyiv, Ukraine – Zynaida Shelepenko is still reeling about what happened in the White House on Friday. “They cornered Zelenskyy like two bandits, like two mafiosi who want your money and your humiliation,” the 52-year-old bank clerk told Al Jazeera, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with United States President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Therefore, Shelepenko said, she was not surprised with Trump’s Monday night decision to freeze military aid to Ukraine after Zelenskyy refused to apologise for the spat and said his aborted visit to Washington, DC, “didn’t bring anything positive”. The Ukrainian president and his US counterpart have since struck more conciliatory tones, but to Shelepenko, there is a clear winner from these tensions between Washington and Kyiv, which until Trump came to power were close allies. “Guess who’s cheering now? The vampire, the killer of children in the Kremlin,” she said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We saw the most shameful moment in American history.” Advertisement If the US aid is stopped altogether, the move will entail “great financial and legal problems” for US arms manufacturers such as Lockheed that have been commissioned to produce weaponry for Kyiv, said military analyst Mykhailo Zhirokhov, who is based in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv. Washington may also stop providing intelligence data to Ukraine, including crucial, real-time information from military satellites, and stop training Ukrainian pilots and other servicemen to operate F-16 fighter jets and advanced weaponry, he said. “This would be the worst-case scenario,” Zhirokhov told Al Jazeera. The best-case scenario would be a diplomatic solution reached within several months before Kyiv runs out of the weapons and ammunition that have already been delivered, he said. The halt will significantly affect Ukraine’s air defence capabilities, especially in large cities such as Kyiv and Odesa, where advanced, US-made Patriot systems are stationed. Even though the systems and missiles have been supplied by Germany and Israel, the missiles are manufactured only in the US and each costs several million dollars. Patriots have proved to be the most effective and far-reaching weapon against most Russian cruise and ballistic missiles – even the ones Putin has termed as indestructible. There will also be a dire shortage of missiles for the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and Western-supplied F-16 jets, Zhirokhov said. Despite Trump’s reputation for being chaotic and unpredictable, his decision has an underlying geopolitical motive, according to Kyiv-based analyst Igar Tyshkevych. Advertisement Trump sees Ukraine as an obstacle in a brewing confrontation with ascending China over global dominance. By cajoling Moscow and lifting US sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine, Trump wants Putin to side with Washington and “drag [Moscow] as far as possible” from China, Tyshkevych said. “Trump thinks he has to do it fast,” he told Al Jazeera. “To him, it’s of paramount importance to finish pressuring Ukraine so that it agrees to concessions to Russia and to a ceasefire.” Zelenskyy, left, meets Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, February 28, 2025 [Brian Snyder/Reuters] Ukraine spent ‘too much time’ on debates To a history teacher-turned-soldier, Trump’s plan resembles the 18th-century partitions of Poland between Russia, Austria and Prussia. At the time, Poland included most of what is now western and central Ukraine and was in an alliance with Lithuania. The partitions were partly caused by the Polish parliament’s cumbersome voting system, where each aristocrat had veto power and could stall decisions on the most problematic issues for months. “Their parliament spent too much time on debates, while Russia and the Germans were improving their armies,” Anatoly, a 37-year-old serviceman recovering from contusions at a hospital in central Kyiv, told Al Jazeera. “Unfortunately, Ukraine too spent too much time on debates, on the destruction of [Soviet-era] weaponry and on the minimisation of armed forces, while [expletive] Putin waged wars in Chechnya and Georgia and restructured his army,” said Anatoly, who withheld his last name in accordance with wartime protocol. Advertisement In the early 1990s, Kyiv gave up its entire Soviet-era nuclear arsenal, the world’s third-largest, in return for security guarantees from four nuclear powers – Russia, the US, France and the United Kingdom. Throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s, the West also funded the destruction of conventional Soviet-era weapons such as tanks, artillery and shells, while Kyiv transferred its heavy bombers to Moscow as payment for natural gas supplies. However, the spat in Washington, DC benefits all sides, according to Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher with Germany’s Bremen University. Trump got rid of commitments worth tens of billions of dollars and will potentially help US arms manufacturers earn billions on weapons the European Union will commission for Kyiv, he said. “Trump paid for it by being called names in the Northern Hemisphere. Well, he got used to that,” Mitrokhin told Al Jazeera. Zelenskyy gained the most by reviving his fading image of a tireless, fearless hero, Mitrokhin said. Zelenskyy will get a lot more Western – mostly European – military aid, while what seems like a Gordian knot actually helped shift the EU’s position towards defending Ukraine instead of empty declarations, he said. Rescuers and medical workers evacuate a patient from a hospital hit by a Russian drone strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 1, 2025 [Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters] “Moreover, Zelenskyy doesn’t have to sign the deal on the real US control over funds for arming and rebuilding Ukraine, and a full lack of external control over his work is what every top Ukrainian official dreams about,” Mitrokhin said. Advertisement Zelenskyy will not have to conduct a presidential vote as his armed forces managed to prevent the fall of the key eastern city of Pokrovsk and even counterattacked on the eastern front, he said. Meanwhile, anti-Trump politicians in the UK, France, Canada and Germany seeking a stronger NATO without Washington feel emboldened. “This scandal is a political gift to them,” Mitrokhin said. Even Putin will reap political gains, as “Trump will be a more active friend without being burdened by Ukraine”, he said. But
‘Will make you rich’: Trump wants to take Greenland ‘one way or the other’
The US president reiterates interest in acquiring the island, painting a picture of prosperity and safety for its ‘incredible people’. United States President Donald Trump has again pledged to take the Danish-ruled island of Greenland “one way or the other”, promising financial gain and security to the “incredible people” of the island if they choose to be a part of the US. “We will keep you safe, we will make you rich, and together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before,” Trump said on Tuesday night during his annual speech to the US Congress. “It’s a very small population, a very, very large piece of land, and very, very important for military security,” he added. Trump has been drumming up his vision to take Greenland, citing its strategic and economic importance. Opinion polls suggest that most Greenlanders oppose joining the US, although a majority favour eventual independence from Denmark. Even before starting his second term as president, Trump said he hoped to make Greenland a part of the US, even though NATO ally Denmark says it is not for sale. Greenland’s strategic location and rich mineral resources could benefit the US. It lies along the shortest route from Europe to North America, vital for the US ballistic missile warning system. Advertisement “We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America,” Trump said in his speech. But he made clear he would not give up if persuasion fails, saying: “One way or the other we’re going to get it.” Trump’s interest in Greenland has invigorated its independence movement, prompting calls for swift secession discussions with Denmark, its former colonial ruler. But Greenland’s ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit party has said it will not rush an independence vote after a March 11 general election, cautioning of possible economic and welfare implications. “The future of Greenland is really for the people of Greenland to decide,” Denmark’s UN Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen told reporters on Monday. “Independence is possible and they have the right to self-determination.” Adblock test (Why?)
Is Israel using starvation as a weapon of war?
Israel’s government is refusing to allow food, medicine and fuel into the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, Israel once again cut off much-needed food, medicine and fuel supplies into Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has been clear: the move is meant to pressure Hamas into accepting a new set of ceasefire terms, contrary to the agreement reached by the two sides last month. But despite Israel’s apparent attempt to use starvation as leverage, the global response has largely been muted. While Arab countries have condemned the blockade, the US and Europe do not appear willing to hold Israel to the terms of the original agreement. So, can Israel be held to account? And if so, how? Presenter: Sami Zeidan Guests Akiva Eldar – Political analyst and contributor to Haaretz Tahani Mustafa – Senior analyst on Palestine at the International Crisis Group Adil Haque – Professor of law and a Judge Jon O Newman Scholar at the Rutgers Law School Adblock test (Why?)
Trump threatens further tariff hikes after Canada retaliates
US president posts warning on social media after Canada PM Trudeau slammed ‘dumb’ trade war. US President Donald Trump has warned Canada that he will escalate his trade war after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Trump’s 25-percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday, prompting Trudeau to announce retaliatory tariffs on more than $100bn of American goods that will take effect over 21 days. The US president responded on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns, saying: “Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the US, our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!” Trump has repeatedly referred to the Canadian prime minister as the “governor” of Canada in recent weeks as he called for the country to become the US’s 51st state. Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday that Trump’s “dumb” trade war was motivated by a desire “to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy because that’ll make it easier to annex us”. “Now, first of all, that’s never going to happen,” said the Canadian leader. “But yeah, he can do damage to the Canadian economy … but he is rapidly going to find out, as American families are going to find out, that that’s going to hurt people on both sides of the border.” Advertisement Vina Nadjibulla, vice president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, told Al Jazeera that the trade war would “hurt consumers and businesses and the economy in Canada and the US” within “a few weeks”. Canada said it will challenge the US measures at the World Trade Organization and through the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. “Canadians are reasonable and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight,” said Trudeau, who will step down as prime minister after the governing Liberal Party chooses a new leader on Sunday. Ontario premier Doug Ford said he would issue a 25-percent export tax on electricity sold to the US and may later cut it off completely if the US tariffs persist. In 2023, Ontario powered 1.5 million homes in Michigan, New York and Minnesota. ‘No justification’ Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum joined Canada and China – which was also hit Tuesday with a doubling of duties on goods to 20-percent – in promising to respond to the tariff hikes imposed by the Trump administration. “There is no motive or reason, nor justification that supports this decision that will affect our people and our nations,” she said during a daily news conference in Mexico City, signalling that she would announce US products to be targeted by Mexico on Sunday. Sheinbaum took issue with a White House “fact sheet” published on Monday, which repeated the claim that Mexican drug trafficking continues because of “an intolerable relationship” with the government, slamming the allegations as “offensive, defamatory and without support”. Advertisement Recently Mexico’s government seized more than a tonne of the opioid fentanyl, dismantling 329 methamphetamine labs, and extraditing 29 drug cartel figures to the US last week. Trump has also said he was taking action to combat fentanyl trafficking via the US’s northern border, accusing Ottawa of failing to do enough to stem the flow of the drug and its precursor chemicals into the US. Trudeau said the claim was “completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false”. Meanwhile Beijing announced it would respond with tariffs of up to 15 percent on a range of US farm exports and expanded the number of US companies subject to export controls and other restrictions. Adblock test (Why?)
UEFA Champions League: Benfica vs Barcelona – team news, kickoff, stream
Who: Benfica vs BarcelonaWhat: UEFA Champions League round of 16 first legWhere: Estadio de Luz, Lisbon, PortugalWhen: Wednesday, March 5 at 8pm (20:00 GMT) Follow Al Jazeera Sport’s live text and photo commentary stream. Five-time winners Barcelona visit Lisbon to face Benfica on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie. Barca have not won the competition since 2015 but finished second in the group stage and are among the favourites to lift the trophy. Benfica have reached the final on seven occasions but have only lifted the trophy twice – in 1961 and 1962. What is Barca’s response to favourable Champions League draw? Barcelona coach Hansi Flick dismissed claims that his team have an “easy” path to the Champions League final, ahead of their last 16 clash against Benfica. Should the Spanish giants progress from the tie, they will face either Borussia Dortmund or Lille in the quarterfinals. Real Madrid, the record 15-time winners, as well as Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are in the other half of the draw. Barcelona, who top the Spanish league by a point, could only meet those sides in a potential final. Advertisement “In this phase, there’s no easy game – every team deserves to be here at this stage, and I think Benfica too,” Flick told reporters on Tuesday. “Benfica is a fantastic team [and] we play in a great stadium and it’s really a special atmosphere there. “Their [fans] push the team on a lot, supporting them, and it will be really tough tomorrow – hard work for us.” The road to Munich 🏆#UCL pic.twitter.com/XxOXoJwUAD — UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 4, 2025 Flick would not be drawn on who the tournament favourites are and which side would pose the most threat to Barca’s hopes. “Always the next match. Benfica is for us the next difficult opponent,” the German coach said. “It’s not good to [talk about] these things. We focus on the next match and the next match, and that’s a good way to do this. “It always starts at 0-0, and you have to give everything… the other teams are doing really well and they always want to win against us.” Barcelona’s Raphinha, centre, celebrates scoring his side’s fifth goal during a Champions League opening phase match with Benfica [Armando Franca/AP] What happened the last time Barca met Benfica? Barcelona beat Benfica 5-4 in Lisbon in a thrilling group-stage comeback. Defender Pau Cubarsi said his team had to focus more to stop the Portuguese side, for whom Vangelis Pavlidis scored a 30-minute hat-trick. “It was complicated… we gave up a lot of chances. We have to try not to concede goals,” said Cubarsi, who made his Barcelona debut in January 2024 and has rapidly become a key figure. Advertisement “We have to know how to manage games… this is a two-legged tie and we have to give everything from the start,” continued the 18-year-old. “Each year, Barca should be competing for everything. For me, we are the best club in the world. This year, people say we have the best pathway in the tournament, but I don’t see it like that.” Bruno Lage’s Benfica are three points behind Portuguese league leaders – and cross-city rivals – Sporting Lisbon [Pedro Nunes/Reuters] What is Benfica take on the Barca test? Benfica manager Bruno Lage, whose side are second in the Portuguese league, told fans to brace for more excitement on Wednesday following the nine-goal thriller in the league phase. Lage said Benfica, who lost the last meeting to a stoppage time Raphinha strike, will stay true to their identity of attacking football when they host Barca, and that he expects the Spanish giants to do the same. “I can’t predict how many goals will be scored in the game, but I can predict a great game of football because they’re two teams with an eye for attack,” Lage told a news conference on Tuesday. “I think it’s going to be a tough match and we will go out for the win. Sure, tomorrow’s result will be important, but the result of the second leg will be more decisive. “We’re going up against a great team who score a lot of goals but we’re also looking at the positive things we’ve done against this opponent: the number of chances we’ve had, the number of times we’ve been in front of the goalkeeper… we believe we can get through this tie.” Advertisement Benfica supporters want a different outcome to that late-January rip-roaring encounter at Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz in which Barcelona fought back from two goals down to win. “We will try to find the spaces our rivals offer us because they often do,” Lage added. We have to know how to take advantage of the spaces that Barcelona will give us – that should be the key.” 👥 𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧! #BenficaBarça pic.twitter.com/RaK1e0Xe8y — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 4, 2025 Barcelona team news Barcelona midfielder Gavi is a doubt for Wednesday’s Champions League clash. Gavi, who featured in Barcelona’s thrilling 5-4 win at Benfica, was on the bench in their last two league games and missed a training session due to illness. “We will see. Yesterday, he did not train as he did not feel so good. He will visit the doctor again, we have to wait,” Flick said. The 20-year-old has played 24 games this season, registering two goals and three assists since returning from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Benfica team news Lage confirmed that attacking midfielder Angel Di Maria and midfielder Florentino will miss Wednesday’s game as they recover but sounded optimistic that winger Renato Sanches should be ready. “The most important thing is for the team to function as a team, as a whole, regardless of who plays,” Lage said. Head-to-head The two European giants have surprisingly only met on 10 occasions. Barca have won four of those, including the victory this season, while Benfica have only won twice. Advertisement
Vance denies criticising UK, France over Ukraine peacekeeping proposal
VP says he did not mock allies who fought in US-led wars after UK, France commit to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine. United States Vice President JD Vance has denied that his criticism of a potential European peacekeeping force in Ukraine was aimed at the United Kingdom and France, both of which have supported US-led wars in the past. Vance, in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity aired Monday evening, said the economic pact with Kyiv sought by President Donald Trump “is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years”. Vance took to X on Tuesday to clarify his remarks, claiming that it was “absurdly dishonest” to suggest he had been referring to the UK and France. The UK and France are the only countries that have publicly committed to a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine as part of broader continental efforts to secure a deal between Moscow and Kyiv. “I don’t even mention the UK or France in the clip, both of whom have fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond,” Vance posted on X, after his remarks drew an angry response from politicians and veterans in both countries, who said he was dishonouring hundreds of troops killed while fighting alongside US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Advertisement However, he went on to question the viability of what British Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier called “a coalition of the willing” to police any ceasefire in Ukraine. “But let’s be direct: there are many countries who are volunteering (privately or publicly) support who have neither the battlefield experience nor the military equipment to do anything meaningful,” said Vance in the social media thread. Vance’s criticism follows a dramatic row in the Oval Office last week during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign a minerals deal with Washington. Zelenskyy left the White House without signing the deal. Trump, who has been accused of sidelining both Kyiv and European allies as he moves to negotiate directly with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, has since cut off military aid to Kyiv. Vance’s latest broadside drew criticism in the UK and France. French President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party said on X, “The French and British soldiers who died fighting terrorism, who fought and sometimes died alongside American soldiers, deserve better than the disdain of the American vice president.” In the UK, Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, said, “The disrespect shown by the new US vice president to the sacrifices of our service personnel is unacceptable.” Obese-Jecty cited Mr Vance’s description of serving as a Marine Corps journalist in Iraq in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. The vice president had said he “was lucky to escape any real fighting”. Advertisement Johnny Mercer, a British veteran and a former junior defence minister, called Vance a “clown”. Adblock test (Why?)