EU warns of threat to Syrian transition while pledging billions in aid
NewsFeed The EU has pledged $2.7 billion in aid to Syria to help the country rebuild after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. The bloc made the pledge at a gathering of donor countries while warning that recent violence could threaten the progress made under the new leadership in Damascus. Published On 17 Mar 202517 Mar 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Cyprus recovers at least seven bodies after refugee boat capsizes
The border protection agency Frontex says irregular crossings into the EU over the Mediterranean rose last year. The bodies of at least seven people have been recovered off Cyprus after authorities mounted a major search and rescue operation following the capsizing of a boat carrying refugees, Cyprus’s state broadcaster says. An unspecified number of people are believed to be missing while two people were rescued on Monday from international waters about 30 nautical miles (55.5km) southeast of the island, the broadcaster said. Cyprus’s search and rescue coordination centre said boats and aircraft were deployed as part of the rescue operation without mentioning casualties. In an official statement, it said a search and rescue operation was “ongoing to locate missing persons after a migrant boat capsized 30 nautical miles (55 kilometres) southeast of Cape Greco”, referring to the southeastern-most point of the Mediterranean island. Several naval helicopters and police patrol boats were involved in the search for survivors, the centre added. According to the Cyprus News Agency, one survivor told authorities that on board were roughly 20 Syrians who had departed from the port of Tartous, the scene of recent bloodshed in Syria. Advertisement The eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus is less than 200km (125 miles) from the Syrian and Lebanese coasts and has long been a route for refugees seeking a better life in Europe. According to United Nations figures, 125 refugees died in the eastern Mediterranean last year, but the actual figure is likely to be higher. The European Union border protection agency, Frontex, said irregular border crossings into the EU over the eastern Mediterranean rose last year despite a broader decline in the bloc. Nicosia said it has the highest number of new asylum seeker applications in the EU per capita but has managed to significantly reduce the figure. Last month, the Ministry of Interior said asylum applications dropped 69 per cent from 2022 to 2024 while irregular maritime arrivals had stopped since May due to tougher government policies. The overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December has prompted some Syrian refugees to return home. The Republic of Cyprus government reported that an average of 40 Syrians per day have requested to return home since then. The government also said more asylum seekers were leaving Cyprus than arriving for the first time in its independent history. Adblock test (Why?)
National Republicans target South Texas Democrats for 2026 election
Reps. Cuellar and Gonzalez are moderate Democrats who represent border districts that increasingly vote Republican.
Judge who ordered deportation flights of Venezuelan gang members be returned faces calls for impeachment
After Obama-appointed Judge James Boasberg issued an order Saturday halting President Donald Trump’s rapid deportation of Venezuelan gang members, Texas GOP Rep. Brandon Gill swiftly announced plans to file articles of impeachment in an effort to remove him. Gill made the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, noting he would be filing the motion this week. In a subsequent tweet from Elon Musk, the entrepreneur turned Trump advisor responded simply, “Necessary.” “The very worst judges – those who repeatedly flout the law – should at least be put to an impeachment vote, whether that vote succeeds or not,” Musk followed up in a separate post on X Monday. TOM HOMAN CALLS OUT ‘RADICAL’ JUDGE FOR ‘DEFYING LOGIC’ WITH RULING TO STALL TRUMP DEPORTATIONS Republicans have been piling on Boasberg after he issued a 14-day restraining order halting the Trump administration from deporting violent Venezuelan gang members who entered the U.S. illegally, via powers laid out in the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act. Last used during World War II, the Alien Enemies Act was implemented in advance of a potential war with the French at the time, due to fears that immigrants would sympathize with France. The law provides the president broad powers to imprison or deport noncitizens during a time of war. “Another day, another judge unilaterally deciding policy for the whole country. This time to benefit foreign gang members,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, posted on X. “If the Supreme Court or Congress doesn’t fix, we’re headed towards a constitutional crisis. Senate Judiciary Cmte taking action.” TRUMP THANKS EL SALVADOR FOR TAKING IN ALLEGED GANG MEMBERS DEPORTED FROM US: ‘WE WILL NOT FORGET’ Boasberg’s ruling came in response to a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and left-wing legal advocacy group Democracy Forward. The lawsuit alleged that Trump’s intent to use his “wartime authority” to deport dangerous illegal immigrants was unlawful, since the U.S. is not in the midst of a “declared war.” The lawsuit followed a proclamation signed by Trump on Saturday, which alleged that violent gang members belonging to the Venezuelan-based Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang were “conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States.” Last month, Trump moved to designate a slew of Mexican drug cartels, including TdA, as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).” Fox News Digital reached out to Gill to glean more exact details about when he plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Boasberg, but did not hear back in time for publication of this story.
Schumer book events called off over ‘security concerns’ week of release
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s book, “Antisemitism in America: A Warning,” is slated for release on Tuesday, but promotional events for the long-serving lawmaker’s book that were scheduled for this week are being called off. “Due to security concerns, Senator Schumer’s book events are being rescheduled,” a statement to Fox from a book tour spokesperson noted. The senator had been scheduled for multiple events this week. DEMS CRY FOUL AFTER SCHUMER’S ANNOUNCEMENT ON IMPENDING VOTE TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN Schumer irked some Democrats last week by voting to overcome a procedural hurdle and advance a Trump-backed government funding measure to a vote as the nation faced the prospect of a partial government shutdown. He and a number of other Senate Democratic caucus members voted to invoke cloture, but then voted against passing the measure. Two members of the Senate Democratic caucus – Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. – voted to both invoke cloture and to pass the measure. SPENDING BILL TO AVERT SHUTDOWN SUCCESSFULLY BEATS FILIBUSTER WITH HOURS UNTIL DEADLINE Shaheen announced last week that she will not seek re-election in 2026. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only Senate Republican who voted against passing the funding measure last week. PRESIDENT TRUMP SIGNS CONTINUING RESOLUTION, OFFICIALLY AVERTING A SHUTDOWN CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Ahead of the vote, Schumer said that while the “bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse.” Fox News’ Kelly Phares contributed to this report
DHS: Deported Brown University doctor attended Hezbollah chief’s funeral, supported terror leader
Federal authorities said the Brown University assistant professor and doctor deported to Lebanon despite having an H-1B visa expressed support and attended the funeral of a slain Hezbollah leader responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans. “Last month, Rasha Alawieh traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah – a brutal terrorist who led Hezbollah, responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Alawieh openly admitted to this to CBP officers, as well as her support of Nasrallah.” “A visa is a privilege, not a right – glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security,” McLaughlin said. Rasha Alawieh, a 34-year-old physician specializing in kidney transplants who was most recently living in Rhode Island, was detained at Boston Logan International Airport on Thursday while coming back from a trip to Lebanon. EL SALVADOR TAKES IN HUNDREDS OF VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS FROM US, EVEN AS JUDGE MOVES TO BLOCK DEPORTATIONS Alawieh was questioned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and allegedly told federal agents she had attended the funeral of Nasrallah, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Sady reportedly wrote in a new filing Monday. The filing has since been placed under seal, but Politico and The Providence Journal were able to report its contents beforehand. Alawieh allegedly stated she supported Nasrallah “from a religious perspective,” but not politically, according to Politico. Federal authorities said they also conducted a search of Alawieh’s phone and found “sympathetic photos and videos” of Hezbollah leaders, as well as materials showing “various other Hezbollah militants” in a deleted folder. “With the discovery of these photographs and videos, CBP questioned Dr. Alawieh and determined that her true intentions in the United States could not be determined,” DOJ lawyers wrote, according to the Journal. “As such, CBP canceled her visa and deemed Dr. Alawieh inadmissible to the United States.” U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, on Friday ordered an in-person hearing regarding Alawieh’s case to take place on Monday. Sorokin ordered that Alawieh not be deported for at least 48 hours without giving the court 48 hours notice. Alawieh was reportedly placed on a flight to Paris anyway and then arrived back in Lebanon over the weekend. FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS DEPORTATIONS AFTER TRUMP INVOKES ALIEN ENEMIES ACT Sorokin reportedly postponed Monday’s hearing just before it was scheduled to start and rescheduled it for March 25 to give the DOJ more time to respond to allegations federal agents ignored a court order in sending Alawieh out of the U.S. CBP official John Wallace said in an affidavit that federal agents were not notified of the court order through the proper channels before Alawieh was placed on an Air France flight Friday, Politico reported. Alawieh first came to the United States in 2018 to pursue a nephrology fellowship at Ohio State University. She went on to complete a fellowship at the University of Washington and an internal medicine program at Yale. Her cousin, Yara Chehab, attempted to intervene in court last week while Alawieh had been detained at the airport for over 36 hours. Her federal lawsuit says Brown Medicine sponsored Alawieh for an H-1B visa to do the work of an assistant professor. Alawieh was issued an H-1B visa on March 11 to pursue an assistant professor of medicine and clinician educator role at Brown University. The lawsuit says she worked for Brown prior to the issuance of her current H-1B visa. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital reached out to Brown University, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, the Justice Department and Chehab’s attorney but did not immediately hear back.
VA rescinds 2018 directive on transgender treatments, aligning with Trump ‘two sexes’ EO
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) quietly rescinded a 2018 policy providing transgender-related medical services to transgender and intersex veterans on Friday, aligning the VA with the Trump administration’s orders to part ways with “radical gender ideology” within the U.S. military. The memo states the VA “will conduct a comprehensive review of care with respect to trans-identifying Veterans and will undergo the rulemaking process to revise the medical benefits package as deemed necessary; however, this rescission does not affect existing clinical guidance.” The VA maintains that it will not provide “gender-affirming” surgeries in its facilities or through non-VA care, as these procedures are excluded from the medical benefits package already. Additionally, the VA will not cover plastic reconstructive surgery for cosmetic or gender alteration purposes. The department also requires medical necessity for any surgical care provided, and gender alteration surgery remains unauthorized as a medical treatment. TRANSGENDER SAILORS, MARINES OFFERED BENEFITS TO VOLUNTARILY LEAVE SERVICE OR FACE BEING KICKED OUT The memo says the directive providing transgender treatments – such as hormone therapy, prosthetic devices, and other tools to aid in their presentation of the desired gender – was rescinded because “it is not compliant with the definitions and terms described” in Trump’s executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” Transgender and intersex veterans will still receive healthcare from the VA “that is compatible with generally accepted standards of medical practice as determined by appropriate health care professionals to promote, preserve, or restore the health of the individual,” according to the new guidance. Regarding VA facilities, the memo states the department has “already addressed that all intimate spaces such as bathrooms and locker rooms are designated by Sex (M, F) or unisex for single person spaces (e.g., one door, one stall bathroom),” adding that all “signage related to gender identity has been changed.” LGBT ACTIVISTS MOBILIZE TO CHALLENGE TRUMP’S ‘EXTREME GENDER IDEOLOGY’ EXECUTIVE ORDERS Also in line with Trump’s order, the VA will maintain sex-segregated spaces based on biological sex. Under this directive, decisions regarding inpatient and residential room assignments will be made according to clinical guidance. If necessary, veterans may be assigned to private rooms or bathrooms. Trump’s executive order, signed in January, mandates that federal agencies adopt the definition of sex as recognizing only male and female. It requires replacing the term “gender” with “sex” in official federal materials, prohibiting funding for sex-change treatments and programs promoting “gender ideology,” and prohibiting transgender individuals from using facilities or participating in programs that align with their gender identity. TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDERS BANNING ‘RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY,’ DEI INITIATIVES IN THE MILITARY Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Trump’s executive orders on gender identity, as the administration challenges district court rulings through appeals. The Pentagon has also set deadlines for the end of the month to voluntarily part ways with transgender Marines, sailors, airmen and Guardians as part of Trump’s order to discharge all transgender service members. The VA typically provides healthcare, benefits and support to veterans, including medical care, disability benefits and financial assistance. It also helps veterans transition from military to civilian life. An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press last week says the department will be another target of Trump’s plan to downsize the federal workforce, with an expected 80,000 job cuts. Fox News Digital has reached out to the VA for comment.
White House deports alleged ‘gang members’ despite court order
NewsFeed The Trump administration has sparked fury by deporting alleged “Venezuelan gang members” to El Salvador, despite a court order prohibiting their expulsion. Civil rights groups are now asking the court to demand that the White House turn over information on the timing of events. Published On 17 Mar 202517 Mar 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
How Trump’s US aid freeze has stymied Colombia’s immigration system
Children like Samantha are the core group currently eligible for Colombia’s temporary protection permit (PPT), since eligibility for adults was restricted in 2023. Colombia established the PPT programme in 2021 to encourage Venezuelans to seek legal immigration status. It was hailed as a breakthrough in addressing the migration and refugee crisis: The permits are valid until 2031 and allow Venezuelans to access Colombia’s education system, employment and other services. Andrés Moya, a professor at the Universidad de Los Andes School of Economics, has studied the benefits of the PPT. He found that Venezuelans with regularised immigration status had higher monthly incomes, better health and higher consumer spending. And it costs the Colombian government less to support them, compared with migrants and refugees without documents. The upside is particularly evident with children, Moya added. “If we invest in these children, they’re going to be in a better position later on in life to contribute back, to work, to create their own businesses, to increase consumption,” he said. If not, Moya warned, families are “going to either keep migrating and increasing the crisis throughout the region, or they’re going to become a burden to the system”. But since USAID stopped distributing foreign assistance, the programme that processes the special permits — called the “Visibles” project — has sputtered. Some Visibles offices reopened on February 28 with a skeleton staff. The Colombian government has had to rehire employees with its own funds. There were originally 171 staff processing documents nationwide before the aid freeze, according to a spokesperson for Colombia’s migration agency. Now, the government hopes to keep 92. Adriana Llano Medina works as a volunteer to register Venezuelan children for their migration documents. Faces have been blurred for applicants’ privacy [Austin Landis/Al Jazeera] When the sites shut down around the country last month, Llano Medina said only a single person was left on the Medellín staff — a programme coordinator — to handle high-level complaints. She credited her informal link to that coordinator with helping to save an eight-month-old child’s life. When the Venezuelan infant contracted a high fever in late February, the coordinator managed to arrange an emergency PPT so the baby could receive hospital care. She worried other children without documents might not get the same help in an emergency. From 2021 until the funding freeze, Llano Medina estimated that she registered at least 1,500 kids for their PPTs. She showed Al Jazeera the three notebooks and two tablets where she writes out each child’s information and stores their pictures to fill out their paperwork. Now, she struggles to scrape together bus fare to get to the hospital for her volunteer shift. “It’s a commitment that I make from the heart. I like contributing because, honestly, there aren’t many people who do it for free,” she said. Llano Medina pointed to Samantha as one of the lucky ones. The five-year-old’s fever eventually broke, and within days, she felt well enough to go to school. But her mother, Loaiza, still worries about what may happen next time they face a medical emergency. She plans to restart the PPT registration process for both Samantha and Clarion once her local migration office can rehire staff. “What gives us hope is knowing that once the process opens up, we can finally get rid of this burden,” she said. “They’ll have health insurance… and we won’t be turned away.” Adblock test (Why?)
Putin and Trump to talk with proposed Russia-Ukraine truce in balance
United States President Donald Trump says he will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about ending the Ukraine war with territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant expected to feature prominently in the talks. “We want to see if we can bring that war to an end,” the US president told reporters on Air Force One during a flight back to the Washington, DC, area from Florida on Sunday. “Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance. “I’ll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend.” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Monday that Putin would speak with Trump by phone but declined to comment on Trump’s remarks about land concessions and power plants. “Yes, this is indeed the case,” he said during a news briefing. “Such a conversation is being prepared for Tuesday.” Trump is trying to win Putin’s support for a proposed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine accepted last week as both sides continued trading heavy aerial strikes through the weekend and Russia moved closer to ejecting Ukrainian forces from their months-old foothold in the western Russian border region of Kursk. Advertisement Asked about what concessions were being considered in the ceasefire negotiations, Trump said: “We’ll be talking about land. We’ll be talking about power plants. … We’re already talking about that, dividing up certain assets.” Trump gave no details but was most likely referring to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility in Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear plant. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacks that have risked an accident at the plant. Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari said one of the main topics of discussion is indeed expected to be the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. “This is the largest nuclear facility in Europe, which came under Russian control early in the conflict in March 2022. Since then, it has been shut down, but it remains under the control of Russian forces and Russia’s state nuclear energy organisation, Rosatom,” she said. “There is also the proposed temporary ceasefire. Russia maintains that any such agreement must include security guarantees for its side, meaning it does not want Ukraine to use the opportunity to rearm, regroup and restart the conflict,” she added. The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin had sent Trump a message about his ceasefire plan via US envoy Steve Witkoff, who held talks in Moscow, expressing “cautious optimism” that a deal could be reached to end the three-year conflict. In separate appearances on Sunday TV shows in the US, Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, emphasised that there were still challenges to be worked out before Russia agrees to a ceasefire, much less a final resolution to the war. Advertisement Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that he saw a good chance of ending the Russian war after Kyiv accepted the US proposal for a 30-day interim ceasefire. However, Zelenskyy has consistently said the sovereignty of his country is not negotiable and Russia must surrender the territory it has seized. Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and now controls parts of four eastern and southern Ukrainian regions since it invaded the country in 2022. Putin said his actions in Ukraine are aimed at protecting Russia’s security against what he casts as an aggressive and hostile West, in particular NATO’s eastward expansion. Ukraine and its Western partners said Russia is waging an unprovoked war of aggression and an imperial-style land grab. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine drop its NATO ambitions, that Russia keeps control of all the Ukrainian territory it has seized and that the size of the Ukrainian army be limited. It also wants Western sanctions eased and a presidential election in Ukraine, which Kyiv said is premature while martial law is in force. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said on Monday that the conditions demanded by Russia to agree to a ceasefire showed that Moscow does not really want peace. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday that Western allies other than the US were stepping up preparations to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia with defence chiefs set to firm up “robust plans” next week. Advertisement Britain and France both have said they are willing to send a peacekeeping force to monitor any ceasefire in Ukraine. New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney – who met with his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron, on Monday in Paris – also pledged to support Ukraine’s sovereignty. On the front lines, Ukrainian forces launched a drone attack on southern Russia overnight, sparking a fire at an oil refinery, local authorities said on Monday, as Moscow launched a barrage of nearly 200 drones against Ukraine. Astrakhan Governor Igor Babushkin said staff of a “fuel and energy” complex were evacuated before the attack, which sparked a large blaze. “One person was wounded during the attack. The victim has now been taken to the hospital,” Babushkin wrote on social media. The latest bombardment comes as Ukraine criticised Russia for refusing to accept the US-proposed ceasefire without any conditions. Moscow also launched its own barrage of 174 drones on Ukraine, where air defence units shot down 90, including the Iranian-designed Shahed drone, the air force said. About 500 people in the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa lost power because of the attacks and one person was wounded, Governor Oleg Kiper said, adding that several buildings were damaged, including a preschool. Adblock test (Why?)