Justice Department had argued Google could not be trusted to run the online advertising exchange.Alphabet’s Google has escaped a breakup of its advertising technology business, marking the third time in recent years that United States antitrust enforcers have tried to force a Big Tech breakup and lost.US Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, on Wednesday declined to make Google sell AdX, where publishers pay Google a 20 percent fee to sell ads in auctions that happen instantly when users load websites.The US Department of Justice (DOJ) had argued Google could not be trusted to run the online advertising exchange after Brinkema ruled that Google had illegally quashed competition.Brinkema filed her opinion under seal for 14 days, leaving the details of how Google must change its ad business unknown for now. She gave the two sides 30 days to submit a joint proposed final judgement.The case focused on Google’s ad tech “stack” – the suite of tools that website publishers use to sell ads and advertisers use to buy them.Brinkema ruled last year that Google had willfully monopolised both the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets, and had unlawfully tied the two products together.The government’s case portrayed Google as simultaneously controlling multiple sides of the digital advertising marketplace and owning the platform that publishers use to sell ads as well as the exchange where transactions occur – all while commanding huge advertiser demand. Prosecutors had sought the sale of Google’s ad auction site AdX and the open-sourcing of critical auction technology.Google characterised the proposed remedies as extreme government overreach that would harm publishers, advertisers and consumers. It had also argued that splitting up the service would be technically unfeasible.AdX is a small part of Google’s business. Google’s shares pared gains slightly after the ruling and were up 0.6 percent.The company welcomed the court decision. “We’re very pleased the court rejected the DOJ’s proposal to break apart tools that help small businesses reach new customers and grow,” said Google executive Lee-Anne Mulholland.The DOJ is “pleased that the court ordered substantial relief”, it said in a social media post on X.“We are one step closer to restoring competition and bringing relief for the American people in online advertising markets. The Department is evaluating appropriate next steps,” the DOJ said.While Google has been ordered to change some business practices, the ruling is the third time in a row that a judge has rejected a bid by US antitrust enforcers to break up Big Tech.Sacha Haworth, executive director of The Tech Oversight Project, said the rulings “prove that the courts alone will not save us from Big Tech”. The advocacy group has proposed legislation aimed at restoring competition in digital advertising.A federal judge in Washington last year rejected an attempt by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to make Meta Platforms sell off Instagram and WhatsApp, saying the agency failed to prove that Meta holds a monopoly in a social media landscape that has shifted drastically since the case was brought in 2020. The FTC has filed an appeal.Likewise, another judge in Washington, who previously ruled that Google holds an illegal monopoly in online search, rejected the DOJ’s bid to make the company sell its Chrome browser, citing rising competition from generative artificial intelligence companies such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Read briefing Dutch police have arrested 34 suspects after a drug-related shooting in a small town in the east of the country that left a security guard dead and two police officers injured.Jolanda Aalbers, head of the regional police, told reporters on Tuesday that a “large group” of masked men had opened fire at 4am (02:00GMT) when police arrived at a house in Overasselt, a village near the German border, to investigate reports of suspicious activity.During the shootout, a 51-year-old security guard was killed while two of the officers arriving at the scene sustained injuries that were not life-threatening, Aalbers said.“When the first police unit arrived at the scene, shots were fired immediately,” the police chief said. “That was an incredibly traumatic incident. They had to rescue their colleagues and get them to safety. I have tremendous respect for what they did.”Aalbers added that several weapons, data storage devices, and vehicles were seized at the scene.Among those arrested were suspects from the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Algeria, according to regional prosecutors.They said that there were indications the shooting was connected to a “long-running” conflict, as the same house had been shot a dozen times in a single incident last year. Two people were convicted in that incident.Local media linked the incident to the criminal underworld of Dutch drug lord Jos Leijdekkers, also known as “Bolle Jos” (“Fat Jos”). One of the Netherlands’ most wanted criminals, he was previously convicted for his role in international cocaine trafficking.Dutch Minister of Justice and Security David van Weel said that police “acted swiftly in response to the life-threatening situation in Overasselt, which involved an unprecedented number of people”.In a post on X, he noted that 34 arrests had been made and said “the investigation is still ongoing” while condemning the “horrific act of violence”.
Read briefing International aid organisations are struggling for money as the United States has led a sharp cut in Western donations.The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that it is being forced to halve the scope of its assistance in the occupied West Bank due to funding issues.The United Nations agency said on Tuesday that critical financing constraints mean it must pull back on assistance, reducing its support for 400,000 people to 200,000. International aid organisations across the globe have been struggling for money as the United States has led a sharp cut in support, with other Western nations also reducing donations.Starting this month, food assistance provided to families in the West Bank in the form of cash, vouchers, food, livelihood programmes and nutritional services will be cut, the WFP said in a statement. A lack of funding is also affecting the WFP’s operations in Gaza, it added.The UN agency estimates that 900,000 people are food insecure in the West Bank. Its Country Director for Palestine, Shaun Hughes, said the WFP is “prioritising the most vulnerable while cutting assistance to others despite widespread needs”.In Gaza, the WFP supports 1.5 million people, “including one million who receive monthly food assistance,” it noted.The agency’s spokesperson for the Palestinian territories, Claire Nevill, told The Associated Press that the agency has started reducing its cash assistance to around 75,000 families in Gaza.The WFP said the cash value of its assistance for 375,000 people in the Palestinian enclave had been reduced by 40 percent in July.The world’s leading authority on food insecurity, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, said in July the situation in Gaza had improved since famine was declared in parts of the Palestinian territory last year, but warned conditions were still at crisis levels.The WFP said it needs additional funding of $386m over the next six months to serve around two million food-insecure people across Gaza and the West Bank.“We urge the international community to act immediately and step up support for Palestinians,” Hughes said.The UN launched its 2026 appeal for aid by asking for just half the amount it said it needed, despite humanitarian needs globally being at an all-time high.UN data showed that the US remained the biggest fund provider in 2025, despite the cuts implemented by US President Donald Trump, but its share shrank from more than one-third of the total to 15.6 percent.
Read briefing Iranian state television has reported numerous strikes on Iranian territory on Tuesday, as the US launched fresh strikes on the country. Iran has vowed to respond to the new wave of attacks, despite US President Donald Trump warning against retaliation.
Read briefing It will see Greece take delivery of a multilayered air defence system to counter what it and Israel say are common threats.The multibillion-dollar agreement comes as tensions increase between Greece and Turkiye.The neighbours have been at odds over a range of territorial issues for more than five decades.With Israel and Greece strengthening their alliance, what are the ramifications for the region?George Tzogopoulos – senior fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy
Read briefing Carney and Trump continue to trade barbs amid ongoing threats against Canadian sovereignty and economic disputes.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has reprimanded the United States for what he describes as a flippant approach to the ongoing trade dispute between the two countries.On Tuesday, Carney hit back against a series of insults and disparaging remarks from US President Donald Trump and his officials, saying that talks can proceed once Washington takes a more serious approach to the issues at hand.“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough, and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa. “It’s not constructive, but that’s their democracy.”The Liberal Party leader’s remarks come as tensions flare once again between the US and Canada, which have historically had tight relations.But Trump’s second terms have caused those ties to fray. Since returning to office in 2025, Trump has imposed a series of tariffs on Canadian products, prompting retaliatory actions.The latest round of tariffs came on August 22, when negotiations between the two countries fell through.As a result, 50 percent tariffs were imposed on roughly $20bn worth of Canadian goods. Canada has pledged to respond with tariffs on US goods, worth roughly the same dollar amount, starting on September 8.In the aftermath of the failed negotiations, Carney blamed the impasse on last-minute US demands.He accused the Trump administration of seeking to limit Canada’s ability to cement trade deals with other countries and of requesting changes to laws protecting Canada’s French language and culture.Carney also said Trump’s team attempted to push an asymmetrical deal that would damage Canada’s industries.“Canada’s a sovereign state. We will strike free trade deals with the countries we wish to strike free trade deals with,” Carney told reporters on Tuesday. He added, “Of course, we’re not going to accept those terms.”The trade war between the two countries has prompted a surge of nationalism in Canada.A June poll from the research firm Abacus Data found that national pride surged 12 points in two years, reaching 77 percent this year.Carney has faced pressure not to yield to US demands. In addition to imposing steep tariffs, the Trump administration has also pushed Canada to cede its sovereignty and become a “51st state” within the US.Trump has also taken symbolic actions designed to assert US dominance over the two countries’ shared border region. On August 27, the US president signed an executive order directing federal entities to refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America”.“They are one of the worst countries in the world to deal with,” Trump said of Canada in a recent radio interview.Other cabinet-level officials in the Trump administration have echoed Trump’s remarks disparaging Canada.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the news outlet CNBC that Canada’s economy is ill-equipped to handle a trade war with the US, and he blamed Carney for escalating the situation.“Well, I don’t think you can be in a tit-for-tat with someone who’s 13 times larger than you are,” Bessent said on Monday.Of Carney, he added, “He came to power on an anti-American, anti-Trump agenda. He was 20 points behind in the polls. And then he started this. And it’s unfortunate that he’s not doing what’s best for the Canadian people.”US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, posted an image of two female Canadian cadets on social media, in an apparent effort to mock the country’s armed forces.“This is real,” he wrote beneath the image of the two women, alongside an emoji of the Canadian flag.Hegseth, a former TV host, has frequently castigated efforts to include women, LGBTQ people and racial minorities in the military as “woke” distractions from the US military’s core mission.When reporters asked Carney to respond to such messages, he replied that such comments were “beneath” the officials’ office.“Our plan has always been standing up for Canada, first and foremost, here at home,” Carney said.
Read briefing Argentinian football legend Lionel Messi has announced his retirement from international football. He shared a letter on Instagram explaining how difficult his decision was. Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reports from Buenos Aires.
Read briefing Israeli forces demolish Palestinian homes in Nablus, while in Hebron settlers cleared land for a new outpost. Settlement expansion, land confiscation and demolitions are tightening Israeli control over Palestinian land across the occupied West Bank.
Read briefing ‘Nothing is worth using.’ Residents in Nepal’s Devighat are returning to flood-ravaged homes, sifting through mud and debris to salvage whatever they can. More than 900 people have died, while around 4,200 remain missing across Nepal and Tibet.
Read briefing On August 7, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye signed a security agreement in Mecca.Now their defence and foreign affairs ministers are working out how to turn the pact into an operational framework.The terms clearly state that an attack against one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all of them.And with that in mind, the Istanbul meeting focuses on coordinating defence production capabilities and deepening cooperation in the industry.It comes as tension in the Middle East is running high, with no end in sight to the war in Iran.But what are the hurdles to these three countries forming a functioning military and security model?Muhanad Seloom – Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Middle East Council on Global AffairsRabia Akhtar – Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of LahoreGalip Dalay – Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House specialising in Turkish foreign policy
Read briefing Ukraine’s Dmytrivka community gathered to mourn Taras Didych, who was killed while rushing to help after a Russian strike hit an ammunition warehouse in nearby Myla. The community leader was among 38 killed in the attack.
Read briefing Teenager struggled in Barca’s La Liga start at Elche but improves against Athletic Bilbao, according to Hansi Flick.Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has indicated that teenage star Lamine Yamal is finding his way back to his “top level” before Monday’s La Liga clash against Rayo Vallecano.The 19-year-old struggled in Barca’s first match of the season at Elche but improved against Athletic Bilbao in the second, Flick said, although he did not find the net.“I know everyone is worried about how is Lamine, how is he doing. And of course, look at his situation – he played a World Cup after a huge injury,” Flick told reporters on Sunday.Flick said the Spanish World Cup winner is returning to his best, which Yamal has not hit since suffering a hamstring injury in April.The winger returned at the World Cup but, despite Spain’s success, had limited individual impact at the tournament.“Now he’s coming back after three weeks holiday, and also the first game maybe was not his best game.“But I said this, I was very happy that he starts the game and he worked for the team.”Yamal disappointed in the first half against Athletic on Thursday but stepped up a gear after the break.“He played 90 minutes against Bilbao. And for him at the moment, it’s also good to [have] 90 minutes on the pitch,” Flick continued.“We saw him in some situations really on this top level. And now, you couldn’t see this in the training today, but I saw it, and it was excellent.“Everyone loves Lamine, and he’s in a good way. And we have to support him, and we do that.”Yamal seemed in a bad mood after the game against Elche but happier in training before the Rayo clash.“Of course, it’s always good when the players are smiling, but it’s not every day the same way,” Flick added.Barca won both of their opening fixtures with Raphinha playing as a makeshift number nine after the champions were unable to land top target Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid.“Of course, I’m happy with my team. [Sporting director] Deco is working on that to strengthen the team. We don’t have pressure,” Flick said, reiterating he is content with the players available to him if Barca don’t sign a new striker.
Read briefing A deadly Israeli strike on Deir el-Balah killed two Palestinians including a 3-year-old child. Their deaths come amid near-daily Israeli attacks despite the so-called ceasefire, with at least 1,303 Palestinians killed and 4,336 injured since it began.
Read briefing World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés is renewing his call for an independent investigation into Israeli strikes that killed seven aid workers in Gaza in April 2024. The workers were traveling in three clearly marked vehicles on a route approved by and in compliance with Israeli authorities.
Read briefing Syrian foreign minister and Libyan PM agree to cooperation committee and reopening of diplomatic missions closed for 14 years.Syria and Libya have agreed to reopen Syria’s embassy in Tripoli, which has been closed for 14 years, and reactivate a committee for coordinating bilateral ties during talks between Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah of Libya’s internationally recognised government and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani.Al-Shaibani arrived in Tripoli on Sunday to meet with Libyan officials, according to a statement from Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU).Libya has been split since 2014 between the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, led by Dbeibah, and an eastern administration, led by Osama Hammad and backed by renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar. Representatives of Libya’s rival governments signed a deal on Sunday to hold national elections within two years.Damascus and Tripoli signed an agreement to reactivate the Libyan-Syrian Joint Higher Committee, a committee at the prime ministerial level tasked with coordinating political, economic and social ties between the two countries.Dbeibah and al-Shaibani also agreed to open a Syrian consulate in Benghazi, raising the level of diplomatic representation between the two states.The talks covered security cooperation and counterterrorism, according to the GNU statement. The two sides also discussed consular services and the status of prisoners, detainees and refugees from both countries.Economically, they addressed unresolved financial dues between Libyan and Syrian institutions. The Syrian foreign minister also met with Libya’s oil and gas minister and the country’s investment authority chief to discuss energy and investment cooperation.The Syrian embassy in Libya has been closed since 2012 after Libya’s then-Transitional National Council recognised the Syrian opposition and diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed during then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.Syrian opposition forces ousted al-Assad in December 2024, ending 61 years of Baath Party rule.In August 2025, a Syrian delegation raised the post-Assad Syrian flag over the Tripoli embassy, signalling that its reopening was imminent.Dbeibah called Sunday’s meeting the start of “a new chapter” in their relations, saying it should be “based on shared interests, practical cooperation and addressing outstanding issues”.
Read briefing Video footage shows a lorry being swept away by raging floodwaters in Rodriguez as torrential monsoon rains batter the Philippines. According to local media reports, the passengers managed to escape the vehicle before it fell into a creek.
Read briefing Iceland’s Prime Minister, Kristrún Frostadóttir, cast her vote on Saturday as the country held a referendum to decide whether to resume talks on joining the European Union (EU). The vote comes 13 years after Iceland paused its previous EU accession talks.
Read briefing King Haakon VIII says King Harald represented Norway with ‘pride and joy’, promises to listen to Norwegians as monarch.The new monarch of Norway, King Haakon VIII, has praised his late father, King Harald, for how he represented Norwegians, and promised to give everything for the country as king.King Haakon gave his first speech as king on Saturday, which was aired live on television, a day after his father’s death.“We are in mourning. At the same time, it brings us comfort and strength to know that so many are mourning with us,” he said, as reported by Norway’s public broadcaster NRK.King Harald died on Friday at age 89 after 35 years as monarch. He suffered from haemolytic anaemia, which causes fatigue and shortness of breath.“As king, my father represented Norway and the Norwegian people with pride and joy, through visits around the country, at events here at the royal palace, and while working on Norway’s behalf around the world,” Haakon said.Tens of thousands of people gathered outside the royal palace in Oslo to pay their respects. Haakon thanked the public, saying it had been “a powerful and moving experience to see the Palace Square filled with people, flowers, messages of condolence, and candles.”The government has declared a national mourning period, which will last until after the funeral. A date has not yet been announced, but the Church of Norway will hold memorial services across the country on Sunday. In churches and city halls around Norway, people came to write in condolence books and light candles.In his speech, Haakon said he and his wife, Queen Mette-Marit, and his daughter, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, would be present and listening.“We believe in our popular government – and in democracy. We believe in a society built on law and justice – and where everyone is of equal value,” he said.Haakon is due to take an oath to defend Norway’s constitution and laws before the legislature on Tuesday.He becomes king in the wake of controversy surrounding his wife’s relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Haakon’s stepson, Marius Borg Hoiby, was also found guilty of rape, domestic violence other charges and sentenced to four years in prison in June.
Read briefing Officials at Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital say cancer medicines have completely run out across the besieged enclave, after an Israeli strike damaged the facility’s water tanks, laboratory equipment, and storage areas in Deir el-Balah.
Read briefing Algeria says at least 12 people have been killed in wildfires sweeping the northeast, with the toll expected to rise. Survivors describe losing homes, livelihoods, and entire villages as thousands battle fires amid extreme heat and drought.
Read briefing The country is controlled by two rival governments, and diplomatic efforts are focused on holding new elections, hoping they will pave the way to governing the fractured country.William Lawrence – Director of the North African Area Studies Program at the National Council on US-Arab Relations, former US diplomat in LibyaFaraj Najem – Libyan historian and political researcher and author of, Tribe, Islam and State in Libya
Read briefing Mladic died in prison in The Hague after failed requests by Serbian authorities to secure early release to his home country.Ratko Mladic, a war criminal convicted for his role in orchestrating the Srebrenica Genocide in 1995 – the first genocide on European soil since the second world war – died in prison in The Hague at the age of 84.He had been serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity – crimes whose “seriousness” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres restated after his death on Thursday.“The Secretary-General stands in solidarity with the victims, survivors and their families who suffered the crimes for which Mr Mladic was found guilty … [and] reiterates his call on all those in position of power to refrain from denying the seriousness of the crimes that have been adjudicated,” Guterres’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.On Friday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused the UN war crimes court of “uncivilised behaviour” for not allowing Mladic early release, which would have seen him die in Serbia. Earlier this year, Belgrade requested he be allowed to receive medical treatment outside prison, saying his health condition was “serious”.Known as the “Butcher of Bosnia”, Mladic was one of the most notorious military commanders of the wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia. Under his command, Bosnian Serb forces seized Srebrenica, near the Serbian border, in July 1995, despite the UN declaring the municipality a “safe area”. In the following days, the forces killed more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys.Here is a timeline of the major events of Mladic’s life, leading up to his death in detention this week:Ratko Mladic, a Bosnian Serb, was born in March 1942 in the village of Bozanovici in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (in today’s Bosnia and Herzegovina). His father was a member of a communist-led resistance to the Axis powers in World War II.In 1966, Mladic married Bosiljka Jedic and later had two children, Darko and Ana.At the age of 22, Mladic joined the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) and moved up the ranks. By 1991, he was the head of the Operational Teaching Department of the 9th Corps in Knin (today’s Croatia) and later commanded the Headquarters of the 9th Corps Maritime Division.The Presidency of the Social Federative Republic of Yugoslavia promoted Mladic to the rank of major-general in 1991 and lieutenant–colonel general in April 1992. He commanded the headquarters of the JNA’s Second Military Area Command in Sarajevo.The Bosnian Serb army, led by Mladic, laid siege to the capital city of Sarajevo.The longest military siege of a capital city in modern history, it lasted 1,460 days, killing more than 11,500 people. An estimated 480,000 to 500,000 missiles were fired on the city.In July 1995, Mladic’s troops captured Srebrenica and Zepa, enclaves under the protection of the United Nations. In what was later termed a genocide, 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed, and between 25,000 and 30,000 were expelled from the area.Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, political leader of the Bosnian Serbs, were indicted before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for war crimes committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This included the killings at Srebrenica, along with the mass expulsion of Bosniak civilians.Mladic was charged with 20 offences, including genocide. In 1996, the ICTY issued an international arrest warrant for Mladic and Karadzic.Mladic remained in hiding after the ICTY indictment, moving to different locations in Serbia.War crimes prosecutors and media investigations continued to track Mladic’s movement based on rumours, witness interviews, intelligence, and court documents.In 2001, he reportedly moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina before going back to Serbia.On May 26, 2011, Mladic was arrested in Lazarevo, northern Serbia, at his cousin’s house. He was taken into custody in Belgrade and then transferred to The Hague to be prosecuted by the ICTY.The trial commenced in June 2011, and closing arguments were delivered in December 2016. Mladic refused a plea deal.Mladic was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 over the Srebrenica genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.In late 2022, Mladic was hospitalised in “poor health”, his family said at the time.In June 2025, Mladic had filed a request to be freed, saying he only had a few months to live. His request was denied.Mladic died while hospitalised in The Hague, after spending approximately 15 years in custody and detention over war crimes in Bosnia.
Read briefing Less than a month into his presidency, Abelardo de la Espriella has announced an effort to expel undocumented immigrants.Bogota, Colombia – Opposition politicians and migrant communities in Colombia have decried President Abelardo de la Espriella’s plan to launch a deportation campaign against foreign nationals living irregularly in the country.De la Espriella unveiled the crackdown during a security council meeting on Sunday, ordering police to begin operations as soon as this week.The policy is expected to primarily affect Venezuelans, by far the largest migrant population in Colombia.It marks a stark departure from measures under previous administrations, which largely sought to create legal immigration pathways for those fleeing hardship in neighbouring Venezuela.“I will not accept any illegal immigrants, wherever they come from,” said de la Espriella in a video shared on the social media platform X on Sunday evening. “They will have to leave and be deported. It is a political decision I am taking responsibility for.”The far-right president – who was inaugurated earlier this month – said his government will first target those “committing crimes” and then those whose “status has not been regularised”.While de la Espriella did not address any specific nationalities, some 95 percent of Colombia’s migrant population are Venezuelan, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental group.Approximately 2.8 million Venezuelans reside in Colombia, making it home to the largest Venezuelan migrant community in the world.While nearly 2 million have a Temporary Protection Permit (PPT) authorising them to live in the country, an estimated 500,000 lack permission to be in Colombia, according to migration authorities. Many of them were granted temporary permits that have since expired.De la Espriella, a political outsider, pledged to tackle illegal immigration during his presidential campaign, his first bid for elected office.The former lawyer has aligned himself with right-wing leaders such as US President Donald Trump, who initiated his own deportation campaign in the United States.De la Espriella’s declaration on Sunday triggered uproar among opposition leaders, including leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, who narrowly lost the presidency in a June run-off. He leads the Historic Pact, the largest party in Colombia’s Congress.“Today, de la Espriella has added xenophobia to all the authoritarian, despotic and discriminatory traits of his policies,” Cepeda wrote on X.Cepeda then accused de la Espriella of failing to protect Colombian deportees from the United States.“De la Espriella is bold enough to target migrants from Latin American countries in Colombia, yet cowardly when it comes to protecting our fellow migrants in the United States,” he said.Maria del Mar Pizarro, a Historic Pact congresswoman, also denounced de la Espriella’s plans in an interview with Al Jazeera. She questioned whether the deportation campaign was about security or discrimination.“Foreign nationals who commit crimes must be prosecuted,” she said. “But persecuting and deporting someone — simply because their immigration status is not in order — is populism, not security.”Given the porous nature of the roughly 2,200-kilometre (1,370-mile) land border between the two countries, Pizarro added that there is little to stop deported Venezuelans from returning to Colombia.“Without border control, legalisation and intelligence efforts against criminal gangs, the government pays for the deportation, and the problem returns,” she said.De la Espriella has announced that the deportation operation will begin with a pilot programme in the coastal city of Barranquilla, which is home to an estimated 182,000 Venezuelans.Members of the Venezuelan diaspora in the city, however, fear that the crackdown will feed into stereotypes about their community.“We must not confuse irregular immigration status with criminality. They are two completely different things,” said Juan Carlos Viloria Doria, the vice president of Venezuelans in Barranquilla, a migrant advocacy organisation.While he backed the need to prosecute those who commit crimes, he said the law should apply to everyone “independent of nationality”.Viloria also noted that many migrants could face political persecution if deported back to Venezuela.Experts at the United Nations and other human rights watchdogs have accused the Venezuelan government of “repressive” activities, including the arbitrary detention and torture of political dissidents.“We have people who left because they believed their lives, their freedom, or their safety were at risk,” Viloria explained. “Added to that are the economic, social and humanitarian conditions that Venezuela still faces.”Despite being home to the world’s largest petroleum reserves, Venezuela has suffered from a plummeting gross domestic product (GDP) and rampant hyperinflation in the past decade.
Read briefing The president said graduates of the new academy would serve the US Space Force, NASA and the civilian flight industry.United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing the country’s first-ever Space Academy.On Friday during an event honoring the four-person Artemis II crew at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas, Trump made the unexpected announcement. He described the training facility as “a big deal” and said it would be “top line”.“I will sign an executive order to begin the process of creating a new national academy. It’s called the US Space Academy,” Trump told the astronauts and NASA employees who gathered to hear him speak.Trump likened the space academy to other prestigious US service institutions, like the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the US Military Academy in West Point, New York. Those schools, similar to colleges, prepare a select number of young adults in the US to become officers in the country’s military branches.“They’re all great. But … we’re gonna have an academy for what the people in this room love the most,” Trump said. “That’s really exciting.”The order also establishes a new presidential commission that would “advise and assist” Trump in the academy’s creation.This commission will be led by NASA administrator Jared Isaacman and include top administration officials, among them Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink and Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.The president said graduates of the new academy would serve the US Space Force, NASA and the civilian flight industry.Space has been a significant priority during Trump’s two terms in the White House. In December 2019, Trump signed into law a bill establishing the Space Force, marking the creation of the US military’s sixth branch.“There are grave threats to our national security,” Trump said at the time. “The Space Force will help us deter aggression and control the ultimate high ground.”At Friday’s ceremony, Trump presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to each of the four members of this year’s Artemis II crew: NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.The medal is the highest civilian honour in the US for achievement in space flight.In April, the Artemis II crew looped around the far side of the moon, taking humans further into space than ever before. The mission was an important step in the Trump administration’s plan to return astronauts to the moon by 2028.Trump said one of his meetings this past spring was interrupted by news of the crew’s endeavours.“I was at a very important meeting with the biggest people in the country,” Trump explained. “And somebody said, ‘I’d like to watch Artemis.’ I said, ‘You would? Really?'”He added that he paused the meeting to accommodate the request. “We actually had a television pulled up, and everybody was spellbound.”At Friday’s event, the Artemis II crew also presented Trump with a gift: a blue flight jacket with the NASA logo.“Mr President, when we were in your office and you were so gracious to us – lavishing us with gifts and so much of your time – we had mentioned getting you one of these blue flight jackets,” Glover said to Trump. “And so here we have your jacket today.”In May, an unmanned Blue Origin rocket exploded at a launch facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida, causing damage to the site. The incident spurred questions about NASA’s readiness for upcoming missions.The Artemis III mission was initially expected to return humankind to the moon. But in February, NASA scrapped that plan, instead announcing that Artemis III would focus on running drills in Earth’s orbit, to ensure the safety of future moon missions.The mission will practice docking with Moon lander models from the private companies Blue Origin and SpaceX.In June, NASA announced new crew members for the two-week Artemis III mission, scheduled for next year.
Read briefing 