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SvennoJ 5 hours ago

US scholars sue Trump over crackdown on pro-Palestine protesters

Two graduate students and a professor at Cornell University have filed a lawsuit in New York, seeking a nationwide injunction blocking the enforcement of two presidential orders that threaten to deport or jail those who advocate for Palestinian rights.

Momodou Taal, a British Gambian citizen and a PhD student at Cornell, is one of the plaintiffs.

“The US government claims to be zealous about free speech – except when it comes to Palestine,” he said in a statement.

“We’ve been here before: McCarthyism to Civil Rights to Vietnam, times when this country has deviated from its stated commitments to free speech. This is another generational moment, another hour of reckoning. Why is there a Palestine exception?”

The first of the executive orders, numbered 1416, directs the government to step up immigration screening to prevent the entry of individuals who may pose a “threat” to the US, while the second, numbered 14188, calls for the use of all available tools “to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence”.

 

UN experts slam ‘disproportionate’ arrests of pro-Palestinian students in US

US campuses including Columbia University in New York were rocked by student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, drawing accusations of anti-Semitism.

Immigration officers arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of protests at Columbia, on the weekend of March 9-10 after US President Donald Trump pledged to deport foreign pro-Palestinian student demonstrators.

The White House later said authorities had supplied a list of other Columbia students who officers were seeking to deport over their alleged participation in protests.

“These actions are disproportionate, unnecessary, and discriminatory and will only lead to more trauma and polarisation negatively impacting the learning environment within university campuses,” a group of United Nations-appointed experts said in a statement.

“These actions create a chilling effect on the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association,” they added.

The independent experts, appointed by the UN to report on rights issues, urged US authorities “to cease repression and retaliation, including in the form of arbitrary detention of US lawful permanent residents, and removal of international students who have participated in university protests”.



Around the Network
SvennoJ 5 hours ago

Peace president:

Trump says Iran will be ‘held responsible’ for Houthi attacks

In a post on his Truth Social platform, President Trump raised the prospect of direct confrontation with Iran as the US ups attacks on the Houthi militia in Yemen.

Trump said Houthi attacks “all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN”.

“Any further attack or retaliation by the ‘Houthis’ will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there,” he said, further accusing Tehran of “dictating every move” by the rebels while providing them with weapons and intelligence.

“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!”



White House says Iran ‘better take this president seriously’

Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has doubled down on Trump’s earlier threat to Iran, telling reporters “our message to Iran is, you better take this president seriously”.

“I think the Houthis learned this past weekend … there’s a new sheriff in town,” she said, referring to US strikes on Yemen.

“This president is not just going to sit on his hands and allow terrorists to launch attacks on commercial vessels and US Navy ships. Those actions will not be tolerated,” she added.

Leavitt had earlier blamed Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea on former President Joe Biden’s “pathetic weakness”.

 

UN verifies two children killed in US strikes on Yemen, despite Pentagon claims

The UN children’s fund (UNICEF) has said the organisation has verified that at least two boys, aged six and eight, were killed in US strikes on Saada, Yemen on Saturday.

The post on X came shortly after US Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich, the director of operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters there were “no credible indications of civilian casualties” in the ongoing attacks on Yemen, which he said have so far targeted about 30 sites.

UNICEF said a third child was wounded in the strikes in Saada and the condition of a fourth child had not yet been confirmed.

“UNICEF calls for the protection of children and civilians at all times,” it said.



SvennoJ 4 hours ago



The United States has remained a unified nation for centuries, but history has shown that no country is immune to political, economic, or cultural fractures. Some U.S. states have strong independent identities, economic power, or political movements that could lead to secession in the future. While breaking away from the U.S. would be incredibly difficult legally and economically, some states have serious secessionist movements or unique conditions that make them potential candidates for independence. In this video, we’ll explore 10 U.S. states that could potentially break away in the future, looking at their reasons, movements, and feasibility. From Texas to California, let’s dive into the states that might one day go their own way.



SvennoJ 1 hour ago

The Trump effect

Israeli PM’s office says attacks resumed after talks failed: Report

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has said that Israel has resumed military operations in Gaza after Hamas rejected a US proposal to extend the ceasefire, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid.

Israel and Hamas have been engaged in mediated negotiations after Israel refused to enter into the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which was meant to begin following the first phase, which lasted for six weeks.


Israeli strikes kill 20 in Gaza City: Report

Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent is reporting that at least 20 people have been killed and more than 50 injured as a result of a series of Israeli air strikes on Gaza City, in the north of the Gaza Strip.



Translation: More than 35 Israeli air strikes have hit Gaza in the past half hour, with ambulance and civil defence crews struggling to evacuate the dead and wounded.


Israel unilaterally ending Gaza ceasefire: Hamas

A senior Hamas official has told the Reuters news agency that the Israeli attacks mean that Israel is unilaterally ending the ceasefire in Gaza that began on January 19.


Israeli minister warns ‘gates of hell’ will be opened on Gaza: Report

Israeli media has reported that the country’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said that the “gates of hell” will be opened on Gaza if Hamas does not release all the captives still held in the Palestinian territory.

Israel will unleash forces on Hamas that they “have never known before”, the minister is reported to have said.

Death toll in Gaza now over 100, including many children: Report

The Reuters news agency, citing medics, says that at least 100 people have been killed, including many children, in Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip.


Trump was consulted prior to latest attack on Gaza: White House

Israel consulted with President Trump before launching their latest attack on Gaza, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“As President Trump has made clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran – all those who seek to terrorise not just Israel but the US – will see a price to pay, and all hell will break loose,” she told Fox News.

“The Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran and Iranian-backed terror proxies should take President Trump very seriously when he says he’s not afraid to stand for law-abiding people and stand up for the US and our friend and ally Israel.”