Trump undoes stack of ‘harmful’ Biden executive orders, shrinks multiple agencies
President Donald Trump announced Friday the rollback of 19 “harmful” Biden-era executive orders, including some related to gender ideology and “radical” labor policies. Trump also reduced the functions of a number of government agencies as part of widespread cost-cutting measures. Some of the rescinded Biden executive orders include eliminating the Defense Production Act to push the “Green New Scam,” including mandates for electric heat pumps and solar panels, and an order that elevated alleged radical gender ideology in U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid, Trump said. DOGE SAYS 239 CONTRACTS CANCELED OVER 2 DAYS, INCLUDING A GRANT TO TEACH TRANS FARMERS ABOUT ‘FOOD JUSTICE’ Another Biden order that prioritized union-driven policies was rescinded, and Trump terminated proclamations that declared nearly a million acres for new national monuments, which the Trump administration said shielded large amounts of land from economic development and energy production. Since taking office, Trump has rescinded more executive orders than the total number of orders signed by Biden during the first year of his presidency, a White House fact sheet states. “President Trump is committed to continuing the review and repeal of harmful Biden administration policies to usher in a new golden age for America,” the fact sheet said. HOUSE DEM GOES ON SCREAMING RANT AGAINST ELON MUSK, DOGE: ‘SHAME!’ In addition, Trump pared down the functions of multiple agencies as he continues to downsize the federal government. A White House official told Fox News Trump’s actions eliminate non-statutory functions and reduce the statutory functions of unnecessary governmental entities to what is required by law. The entities affected include the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, United States Agency for Global Media, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Institute of Museum and Library Services, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, Minority Business Development Agency and Arctic Research Commission. “Cutting these governmental entities will save taxpayer dollars, reduce unnecessary government spending and streamline government priorities,” the White House said. “Through these actions, President Trump is keeping his promise to restore efficiency and accountability in the federal government.” The moves are part of the Trump administration’s effort to scale down the size of government through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The Elon Musk-led group has overseen the cancellation of billions of dollars in government contracts and grants and layoffs within multiple agencies.
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 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?)
Grenell developing ‘common sense’ plan to turn Kennedy Center financials around
Kennedy Center interim Director Richard Grenell is developing a “common sense” plan to turn the center’s financials around and make it “prosperous again,” as it grapples with $72 million of debt due to past leadership decisions. “The Kennedy Center is the premier arts institution in the United States,” Grenell told Fox News Digital. “It deserves to have the public’s full support and a balance sheet that is solid.” Sources familiar with the Kennedy Center’s current financials told Fox News Digital that it had been “budgeting to lose money.” But Grenell brought in a new chief financial officer, Donna Arduin, who is tasked with improving what she has described as a “dire situation.” KENNEDY CENTER DIRECTOR ENCOURAGES REPUBLICAN ATTENDANCE, SAYS ‘EVERYONE IS WELCOME’ “The Kennedy Center’s previous business plan was made to leave the Center in the red and it did just that,” Arduin told Fox News Digital. “The previous leadership were left with no other option than to pay employees’ salaries with monies supposed to be allocated for the debt reserves.” Arduin told Fox News Digital that the “gross mismanagement created a dire situation that we were shocked to discover.” In Fiscal Year 2025, the Kennedy Center is operating on a $234 million budget. Also, in FY25, the Kennedy Center had an operating deficit of $105.2 million dollars, which left a bottom-line deficit of $7.2 million dollars. Sources familiar with the numbers told Fox News Digital that the gap was filled with Kennedy Center fundraising dollars–$91 million from annual fundraising, and $7 million from earnings on the endowments. VANCE BOOED AT KENNEDY CENTER CONCERT Sources familiar with the leadership team’s plans told Fox News Digital that the plan will focus on getting rid of debt, improving on ticket sales and fundraising, and growing the center’s endowments. A source explained that the team will use the venue for profitable business events other than traditional shows and performances and will begin offering alternative programming. “There are a lot of opportunities and we are pursuing all of them,” the source said. The Kennedy Center has two affiliates—the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera. The new leadership team is currently working on business plans with its affiliates to ensure the Kennedy Center has larger endowments and “greater sustainability.” The official endowments combined total just $163 million, which new leadership told Fox News Digital is “not adequate for the size of this institution.” Under the last leadership team, the Kennedy Center built “The REACH,” an intimate theater at the Kennedy Center hosting concerts, comedy shows, and poetry readings. It also has a restaurant. But sources familiar with the financials told Fox News Digital that former leadership took out a significant chunk of debt to build the venue—costing the center nearly $200 million. “There wasn’t a profitability plan for that,” the source explained, noting that thus far, the space has been “underutilized,” bringing in just $2 million per year. WHOOPI DECLARES SHE ‘HAS NO PLANS TO GO’ TO KENNEDY CENTER AFTER TRUMP BECOMES CHAIRMAN OF VENUE “America’s premier institution for the arts deserves better,” Arduin said. “The new team has already written a responsible budget that will make us prosperous again.” She added: “We are using common sense.” President Trump in January fired the theater’s board of directors and announced he had been elected board chair by his new handpicked board. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Wall Street Journal in January: “The Kennedy Center learned the hard way that if you go woke, you will go broke. President Trump and the members of his newly-appointed board are devoted to rebuilding the Kennedy Center into a thriving and highly respected institution where all Americans, and visitors from around the world, can enjoy the arts with respect to America’s great history and traditions.” Some groups who disagreed with the move decided to cancel shows at the center. Producers of Broadway’s “Hamilton” pulled out of a planned run there next year. “Our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center,” producer Jeffrey Seller said earlier this month. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The show was performed at the Kennedy Center during Trump’s first term in office. Grenell told Sean Hannity earlier this month that “everyone is welcome” at the Kennedy Center. “Look, the reality is, the Kennedy Center is open for business for everyone,” Grenell told Hannity. “We just want an arts center that celebrates the arts — we want common-sense art.”
Rubio boots South African ambassador from US: ‘persona non grata’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S. was no longer welcome in the country, while calling him a “race-baiting” politician who hates America and President Donald Trump after he said the commander-in-chief is leading a global White supremacist movement. On Thursday, South African Ambassador Embrahim Rasool addressed the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) in Johannesburg while explaining Trump’s opposition to his country’s expropriation law and its anti-Israel stances. He said Trump’s Make America Great Again movement was a White supremacist response to demographic changes in the U.S. SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT SIGNS CONTROVERSIAL LAND SEIZURE BILL, ERODING PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS “What Donald Trump is launching is an assault on incumbency, those who are in power, by mobilizing a supremacism against the incumbency, at home, and, I think I’ve illustrated, abroad as well,” he said. “So in terms of that, the supremacist assault on incumbency, we see it in the domestic politics of the USA, the MAGA movement, the Make America Great Again movement, as a response not simply to a supremacist instinct, but to very clear data that shows great demographic shifts in the USA in which the voting electorate in the USA is projected to become 48% white.” Rubio, in a post on X, blasted Rasool over his remarks. “South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country,” the secretary said. “Emrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS. We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.” Trump has criticized South Africa over a land expropriation law that allows the government to make land seizures without compensation. In February, Trump issued an executive order penalizing South Africa. “In shocking disregard of its citizens’ rights, the Republic of South Africa recently enacted Expropriation Act 13 of 2024, to enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation,” the order states. TRUMP FREEZES AID TO SOUTH AFRICA, PROMOTES RESETTLEMENT OF REFUGEES FACING RACE DISCRIMINATION “It is the policy of the United States that, as long as South Africa continues these unjust and immoral practices that harm our Nation: (a) the United States shall not provide aid or assistance to South Africa; and (b) the United States shall promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.” The order also took aim at South Africa’s position against Israel, which it has accused in the International Court of Justice of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as well as reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements. “The United States cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country or its undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests,” the order said. The South African government has claimed Whites of all backgrounds, not just Afrikaners, still own approximately 70% of South Africa’s land. The government is on record saying the Expropriation Act will only be used to take land needed for public purposes — such as for a new school — from people of any color when the owner refuses to sell, and even then there would be “fair and equitable compensation.”
President Trump comforts mother whose son died of fentanyl poisoning: ‘Up there watching you’
Speaking at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on Friday, President Donald Trump comforted a mother whose son died from fentanyl poisoning, telling her, “He’s up there watching you” and “he’s so proud of mom.” Trump highlighted the profound impact of fentanyl poisoning on U.S. citizens, saying during his speech that “more Americans died from fentanyl last year than died in the Korean War, or the Iraq War or the Afghanistan War. All of them combined.” He blamed President Joe Biden’s open border policies, the cartels and countries such as Mexico, Canada and China for allowing the fentanyl problem to become so widespread. TRUMP PLEDGES TO MAKE US CAPITAL ‘CRIME-FREE’ AND THE ‘TALK OF THE WORLD’ Stepping aside for a few moments, the president called to the stage Anne Fundner, an anti-drug activist and mother who lost her son – Weston – to fentanyl poisoning, to speak about how the deadly drug is hurting Americans. While onstage, Fundner thanked Trump and his administration for shutting down the border, targeting the cartels and migrant crime groups as “foreign terrorist organizations” and for instituting tariffs to target countries where fentanyl is flowing from. “The cartels were allowed to operate on American soil and took hundreds of thousands of American lives. And so, we knew there was only one person that could save us from the devastation on our American soil. And that was President Trump,” said Fundner. “I feel like I can speak for the entire fentanyl fighting community when I say thank you to President Trump and thank you to Pam Bondi and everyone out here who is fighting this fight. God bless you. God bless you, President Trump.” VENEZUELA AGREES TO RESUME DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN RESPONSE TO PRESSURE FROM TRUMP In a heartfelt moment caught on the microphone, Trump leaned in to hug Fundner and said, “He’s up there watching you. He’s so proud of mom. “I just said to Anne, ‘Weston is up in heaven watching his mom, and he’s so proud of you, he’s so proud of you,” Trump said afterward. Turning to the crowd, Trump also addressed a group of parents who also lost children to fentanyl, saying, “We want to acknowledge you and also, your daughters, your sons, they’re looking down on you, and they’re loving you like crazy.” The president said that since he took office the DEA and FBI have seized 1 million deadly doses of fentanyl. “And that’s just the beginning,” he said. “At my direction and working with Pam and everybody else, we’ve launched an all-out war on fentanyl traffickers. And it’s a war that we’re going to win. We’re going to win this war.” He also hinted that the death penalty for certain cartel drug trafficking crimes is being considered but acknowledged that “America may not be ready for it.” TOM HOMAN WARNS MAJOR SANCTUARY STATE WILL ‘GET EXACTLY WHAT THEY DON’T WANT’ “Wherever you have the death penalty, you don’t have drugs,” he said. “But I just don’t know if this country is ready for it. So, I tell people and it’s always an option.” The Trump White House has previously told Fox News Digital that it would be “ruthlessly aggressive” in responding to cartel threats to American lives. “This department will not rest until we have ended the fentanyl epidemic in America once and for all,” Trump said on Friday. In addition to taking action against the cartels, Trump said his administration would soon be launching a series of ads to emphasize the negative effects of drug use in an attempt to lessen the widespread deaths across the U.S.
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
Finnish court convicts Russian man for war crimes in Ukraine
Finnish court sentences Russian fighter to life imprisonment for war crimes against Ukrainian soldiers in 2014. A Russian national has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Finland for war crimes committed in Ukraine. The district court of Finland’s capital, Helsinki, ruled on Friday that Voislav Torden, then a commander of the far-right Russian nationalist paramilitary group Rusich, was involved in four different war crimes against Ukrainian soldiers during battles in eastern Ukraine in 2014. A fifth charge was dismissed. Torden was arrested in the summer of 2023 in Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre (832-mile) border with Russia. The case involves an armed attack on soldiers of a Ukrainian battalion in the Luhansk region. According to the court, Torden was involved in the killing of a soldier, among other things. He also reportedly took degrading photos of the deceased, which he later disseminated. Ukraine hails ‘key milestone’ The 38-year-old defendant denied the allegations in court, the Finnish broadcaster Yle reported. His lawyer, Heikki Lampela, told Finnish media that Torden was surprised by the ruling and would appeal it. Advertisement This is the first case in which a Finnish court has convicted someone for war crimes in Ukraine, Yle reported. The office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general hailed the court’s decision as “a key milestone in holding perpetrators of grave violations of international humanitarian law accountable.” “Ukraine remains committed to working with partners worldwide to ensure there is no impunity for war criminals,” it said in a statement posted on social media. Russia slammed the verdict and called the case against its citizen “shameful” and politically motivated. “The verdict of the Finnish judiciary provokes nothing but deep outrage and indignation. The bias of Helsinki district court, which gave an openly politicised sentence to the Russian citizen, is obvious,” the Russian embassy in Finland said in a statement. Adblock test (Why?)
Will Israel be held accountable for genocidal acts in Gaza?
UN report finds systemic sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians. A United Nations investigation concludes Israel has carried out genocidal acts by destroying Gaza’s main fertility clinic and maternity hospitals. Israel has rejected the report, which also alleges sexual violence. What are the implications? And will there be accountability? Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault Guests: Sari Bashi – programme director at Human Rights Watch Muhammad Dahleh – human rights lawyer Arwa Damon – founder of the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance Adblock test (Why?)
Shutdown averted after Schumer caves and backs Trump spending bill
A government shutdown was averted just hours before the Friday 11:59 p.m. deadline after enough Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., helped Republicans defeat the filibuster. Senators voted 54-46 to pass the stopgap spending bill, which only needed 51 votes to be approved. Nearly all Republicans backed the measure, with only Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., opposing. All Democrats opposed it, with the exception of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats, also voted to pass the bill. It now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature. The Senate earlier took a key procedural vote on a stopgap spending bill, which needed to meet a 60-vote threshold to move forward, also known as the legislative filibuster. CHUCK SCHUMER WILL VOTE TO KEEP GOVERNMENT OPEN: ‘FOR DONALD TRUMP, A SHUTDOWN WOULD BE A GIFT’ House Republicans passed the short-term bill, called a continuing resolution, earlier in the week. The bill will keep spending levels the same as fiscal year (FY) 2024 until Oct. 1. If a spending bill was not passed by the Friday deadline, the government would enter into a partial shutdown. During a partial government shutdown, federal agencies and non-essential services would be halted. However, government functions deemed “essential” would continue. National security protocols, such as border patrol, law enforcement and disaster response, stay active during shutdowns, for example. The Friday evening vote to pass the six-month CR came after a critical procedural vote earlier in the afternoon. A handful of Senate Democrats provided the Republican majority with the necessary votes to overcome the filibuster and move forward with the stopgap spending bill. DEM HEARD SCREAMING AT COLLEAGUES DESPITE SCHUMER’S UNITY CLAIM AS SHUTDOWN LOOMS Deep divisions emerged within the Democratic Party over the past couple of days, with even House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., refusing to answer questions about whether he had confidence in Schumer. In one of several Senate caucus meetings, a senator yelled loud enough that it was heard outside of heavy, thick wooden doors. The voice was identified by the press as belonging to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., but her office would not confirm. SENATE REPUBLICANS COIN ‘SCHUMER SHUTDOWN’ AHEAD OF CRITICAL VOTE ON TRUMP SPENDING BILL Prior to its passage, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., criticized his fellow Democrats for their planned “no” votes that risked a government shutdown. “It wasn’t that long ago before we were lecturing that you can never shut the government down. So, that’s kind of inconsistent,” he told reporters on Thursday. CANADA EXPLOITING ‘LOOPHOLE’ HURTING US DAIRY FARMERS AMID TRUMP TARIFFS, SENATORS SAY Ahead of the final vote, 10 Democrats joined nearly all Republicans to overcome the legislative filibuster. Those senators were Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., John Fetterman, D-Pa., Gary Peters, D-Mich., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. The senators managed to beat the 60-vote threshold, with an ultimate margin of 62-38.