US anti-abortion rally celebrates Trump’s return

Tens of thousands of anti-abortion activists, joined by masked neo-Nazis, converged in Washington on Friday to hear President Donald Trump address a rally.The self-described “pro-life” movement is on a roll as it staged the 52nd annual March for Life on the National Mall, invigorated by recent victories to restrict abortion and Trump’s return to the presidency.They scored a historic win in 2022 when the conservative-dominated Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling enshrining the right to abortion access everywhere in the United States.The march was something of a victory lap for the new Republican president, who claims credit for the ruling after appointing three of the conservative justices who were behind the decision during his first term.”In my second term, we will again stand proudly for families and for life,” Trump said in a pre-taped video message broadcast to the crowd.Trump, who was touring natural disaster zones in North Carolina and California, vowed to “protect the historic gains” made by the anti-abortion movement.At least 100 members of the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group, marched in military style to the sidelines of the rally and stood in columns holding US flags, Christian symbols and banners reading “Strong families make strong nations.”Their leader Thomas Rousseau — flanked by two men with white bandanas covering their faces — told AFP in front of the Washington Monument he believed in “patriotic principles,” including the “restitution of the American family unit.””We’re here to espouse our ideas in front of a lot of people who care about issues, morality, the state of the country,” said Rousseau, 26, though he noted Patriot Front was not supported by the March for Life organization. Some rally attendees were angered by the group’s presence. “Pro life isn’t pro white,” said 36-year-old Greg Stearns, a philosophy teacher from North Carolina, who added, “I can’t stand seeing them here. It sends all the wrong messages.”- ‘Most pro-life president’ -The “March for Life” started with a rally on the National Mall, featuring speeches from high-ranking Republicans including Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson.Holding signs reading “Let’s love little lives” and “God will not be mocked,” protestors in winter clothes walked towards the Supreme Court and US Capitol.Some wore Donald Trump’s “Make American Great Again” hats but most people did not have political paraphernalia, with many attending as part of church and religious school groups.Organizers say the goal of their movement is to not only change laws, “but to change the culture to ultimately make abortion unthinkable.””This shows that the silent majority is here and loud. It’s huge that we can be here and unified,” said Reagan West, a 20-year-old business student at the evangelical Liberty University in Virginia.Many conservative states have acted since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling to introduce curbs, and 29 percent of women aged between 18 and 44 now live in an area where abortion is mostly or entirely banned, according to the website Politifact.Polls, however, repeatedly show a clear majority of Americans support continued access to safe abortion.Trump has touted himself as the “most pro-life president ever” and in 2020 became the first sitting commander-in-chief to attend the March for Life. But he has a spotty record on the issue and, worried that a strong anti-abortion stance could be a vote loser, Trump refused to back a federal ban during his election campaign.”Praise God for President Trump. He’s not our Savior, though,” said David Makovey, who flew from California for the march.Makovey, a 27-year-old construction worker, told AFP that he supported Trump’s recent decision to pardon 23 anti-abortion activists jailed for blockading abortion clinics.On Friday, the Washington Post reported the Justice Department will scale back prosecuting demonstrators who interfere with patient access to reproductive health clinics. “A lot of people question his faith… at least President Trump is doing something about it, right?” Makovey added.

Two US migrant deportation flights arrive in Guatemala

Two US military planes carrying dozens of expelled migrants arrived in Guatemala on Friday, authorities said, without specifying whether they were part of the deportation operation launched by President Donald Trump.A total of 79 Guatemalans — 48 men and 31 women — were on a first flight that landed at around midnight, the Central American country’s migration institute said.The second, with an unspecified number of migrants on board, arrived Friday morning.The White House announced late Thursday that “538 illegal immigrant criminals” had been arrested and hundreds deported by military aircraft, saying that “the largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway.”The Guatemalan government did not confirm whether any of those migrants were among the deportees that arrived Friday.”These are flights that took place after Trump took office,” an official in the Guatemalan vice president’s office told AFP.A Pentagon source told AFP that “overnight, two DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft conducted repatriation flights from the US to Guatemala.”Early Friday the White House posted an image on X of men in shackles being marched into a military aircraft, with the caption: “Deportation flights have begun.”And Trump told reporters that the flights were to get “the bad, hard criminals out.””Murderers, people that have been as bad as you get. As bad as anybody you’ve seen,”  he said.Deportation flights were carried out regularly under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, whose administration removed some 270,000 people in fiscal year 2023 — more than any year of Trump’s first presidency.Friday’s deportees were taken to a reception center at an air force base in Guatemala’s capital, away from the media.Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States. On his first day in office he signed orders declaring a “national emergency” at the southern border and announced the deployment of more troops to the area while vowing to deport “criminal aliens.”His administration said it would also reinstate a “Remain in Mexico” policy under which people who apply to enter the United States from Mexico must remain there until their application has been decided.The White House has also halted an asylum program for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.

Guerre en Ukraine: Zelensky affirme que Poutine essaie de “manipuler” Trump

Le président ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky a affirmé vendredi que son homologue russe Vladimir Poutine voulait “manipuler” Donald Trump, après que le chef du Kremlin a fait l’éloge du dirigeant américain et s’est dit prêt à discuter avec lui.Kiev avait précédemment mis en garde contre tout pourparler de paix entre Poutine et Trump sur la guerre qui dure depuis près de trois ans sans sa participation et celle de l’Europe. “Il veut manipuler le désir du président des États-Unis des Etats-Unis d’Amérique de parvenir à la paix”, a déclaré M. Zelensky dans un message quotidien sur les réseaux sociaux, en ajoutant:  “Je suis convaincu qu’aucune manipulation russe ne peut désormais réussir”.Il a déclaré que Vladimir Poutine, qui a lancé une invasion à grande échelle de l’Ukraine en février 2022, était prêt à poursuivre la guerre et à “manipuler les dirigeants du monde”. M. Poutine avait auparavant fait l’éloge de M. Trump en le qualifiant de dirigeant “intelligent” qui aurait pu empêcher le déclenchement du conflit. Le dirigeant russe n’a pas précisé quand les discussions auraient lieu et le Kremlin a déclaré vendredi qu’il attendait toujours des “signaux” de Washington, bien que M. Trump ait annoncé jeudi qu’il était prêt à rencontrer M. Poutine “immédiatement”.”Nous avons toujours dit, et je veux le souligner une fois de plus, que nous sommes prêts pour ces négociations sur les questions ukrainiennes”, a déclaré Vladimir Poutine à un journaliste de la télévision publique russe. Faisant l’éloge de Donald Trump en tant qu’homme “intelligent” et «”pragmatique”, M. Poutine a également répété l’affirmation infondée du républicain selon laquelle il aurait remporté l’élection présidentielle américaine face à Joe Biden en 2020. “Je ne peux qu’être d’accord avec lui sur le fait que s’il avait été président – si sa victoire n’avait pas été volée en 2020 – il n’y aurait peut-être pas eu la crise en Ukraine qui a éclaté en 2022”, a déclaré Vladimir Poutine.- Pression de Trump -Le conflit ukrainien a plongé les relations entre les deux puissances nucléaires à leur plus bas niveau depuis la guerre froide. Donald Trump, qui a été investi lundi, a qualifié le conflit de “ridicule” et a menacé la Russie de sanctions économiques plus sévères si elle n’acceptait pas de mettre fin à son offensive.”S’ils ne règlent pas cette guerre rapidement, presque immédiatement, je vais imposer des droits de douane massifs à la Russie, des taxes massives et des sanctions importantes”, a déclaré le républicain lors d’une interview accordée à Fox News jeudi.S’exprimant le même jour au Forum économique mondial de Davos, M. Trump a déclaré qu’il demanderait à l’Arabie saoudite et à l’OPEP de faire baisser les prix du pétrole : “Si les prix baissaient, la guerre entre la Russie et l’Ukraine prendrait fin immédiatement”.Vladimir Poutine a réfuté l’affirmation de M. Trump selon laquelle la baisse des prix du pétrole pourrait accélérer la fin du conflit. “J’ai du mal à imaginer que des décisions préjudiciables à l’économie américaine seront prises”, a déclaré M. Poutine vendredi.- “Retour à la réalité” -Aucune des deux parties n’a montré de signes de désescalade des hostilités depuis l’investiture de Donald Trump, bien que ce dernier ait affirmé qu’il mettrait fin au conflit en “24 heures” une fois au pouvoir.Vendredi, Kiev a mis en garde contre l’exclusion de l’Europe de toute négociation.”Il (Poutine) veut négocier le sort de l’Europe sans l’Europe. Et il veut parler de l’Ukraine sans l’Ukraine”, a déclaré le chef du bureau présidentiel ukrainien, Andriy Yermak.”Cela ne se produira pas. Poutine doit lui-même revenir à la réalité, ou il sera ramené à la réalité. Ce n’est pas ainsi que cela fonctionne dans le monde moderne”. Les attaques aériennes russes près de Kiev ont tué trois personnes et en ont blessé plusieurs autres, ont déclaré des responsables ukrainiens vendredi, tandis que l’Ukraine a tiré 120 drones sur au moins 12 régions russes, dont la capitale Moscou.Le Kremlin a lancé des attaques de drones ou de missiles contre Kiev presque tous les jours depuis l’envoi de troupes en Ukraine en février 2022, visant ostensiblement des installations militaires et énergétiques.”Trois personnes ont été tuées dans une attaque ennemie dans la région de Kiev”, ont indiqué les services d’urgence dans un communiqué diffusé sur les réseaux sociaux. Des fragments d’un drone ont frappé un immeuble résidentiel de dix étages, après que le chef de la région a déclaré qu’une maison privée avait également été touchée. De la fumée noire s’échappe d’un immeuble résidentiel endommagé par l’attaque, tandis que les secouristes sortent les corps des victimes, comme le montrent les images officielles de la scène. En Russie, l’armée ukrainienne a déclaré avoir lancé une attaque de drone pendant la nuit, frappant une raffinerie de pétrole, des installations de centrales électriques et une usine d’électronique.Les médias d’État ont indiqué qu’une usine de microélectronique avait interrompu ses activités après que six drones ukrainiens eurent endommagé des installations de production et de stockage dans la région de Briansk.burs/phz/asm/ib

Gaza aid surge having an impact but challenges remain

Hundreds of truckloads of aid have entered Gaza since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire began last weekend, but its distribution inside the devastated territory remains an enormous challenge.The destruction of the infrastructure that previously processed deliveries and the collapse of the structures that used to maintain law and order make the safe delivery of aid to the territory’s 2.4 million people a logistical and security nightmare.In the final months before the ceasefire, the few aid convoys that managed to reach central and northern Gaza were routinely looted, either by desperate civilians or by criminal gangs.Over the past week, UN officials have reported “minor incidents of looting” but they say they are hopeful that these will cease once the aid surge has worked its way through.In Rafah, in the far south of Gaza, an AFP cameraman filmed two aid trucks passing down a dirt road lined with bombed out buildings.At the first sight of the dust cloud kicked up by the convoy, residents began running after it.Some jumped onto the truck’s rear platforms and cut through the packaging to reach the food parcels inside. UN humanitarian coordinator for the Middle East Muhannad Hadi said: “It’s not organised crime. Some kids jump on some trucks trying to take food baskets.”Hopefully, within a few days, this will all disappear, once the people of Gaza realise that we will have aid enough for everybody.”- ‘Prices are affordable’ – central Gaza, residents said the aid surge was beginning to have an effect.”Prices are affordable now,” said Hani Abu al-Qambaz, a shopkeeper in Deir el-Balah. For 10 shekels ($2.80), “I can buy a bag of food for my son and I’m happy.”The Gaza spokesperson of the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said that while the humanitarian situation remained “alarming”, some food items had become available again.The needs are enormous, though, particularly in the north, and it may take longer for the aid surge to have an impact in all parts of the territory.In the hunger-stricken makeshift shelters set up in former schools, bombed-out houses and cemeteries, hundreds of thousands lack even plastic sheeting to protect themselves from winter rains and biting winds, aid workers say.In northern Gaza, where Israel kept up a major operation right up to the eve of the ceasefire, tens of thousands had had no access to deliveries of food or drinking water for weeks before the ceasefire.- UNRWA’s fate clouds aid surge  -With Hamas’s leadership largely eliminated by Israel during the war, Gaza also lacks any political authority for aid agencies to work with.In recent days, Hamas fighters have begun to resurface on Gaza’s streets. But the authority of the Islamist group which ruled the territory for nearly two decades has been severely dented, and no alternative administration is waiting in the wings.That problem is likely to get worse over the coming week, as Israeli legislation targeting the lead UN aid agency in Gaza takes effect.Despite repeated pleas from the international community for a rethink, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which has been coordinating aid deliveries into Gaza for decades, will be effectively barred from operating from Tuesday.UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler warned the effect would be “catastrophic” as other UN agencies lacked the staff and experience on the ground to replace it.British Foreign Secretary David Lammy warned last week that the Israeli legislation risked undermining the fledgling ceasefire.Brussels-based think tank the International Crisis Group said the Israeli legislation amounted to “robbing Gaza’s residents of their most capable aid provider, with no clear alternative”.Israel claims that a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the October 2023 attack by Hamas gunmen, which started the Gaza war.A series of probes, including one led by France’s former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality related issues” at UNRWA but stressed Israel had not provided evidence for its chief allegations.

The four Israeli women hostages to be freed on Saturday

Four young women soldiers, abducted by Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023 while serving near the Gaza border, are set to be released on Saturday, according to a list provided by Hamas as part of its ceasefire agreement with Israel.Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy were captured together while deployed in a surveillance unit at the Nahal Oz military base, close to the Gaza border. Their abduction was filmed by the militants.Three other women soldiers were taken hostage with them: Agam Berger, who is still held in Gaza and presumed alive; Noa Marciano, whose body has since been repatriated to Israel; and Ori Megidish, who was freed alive by the Israeli military in late October 2023.- Liri Albag, 19 -Liri Albag was doing her military service on the border with the Gaza Strip when she was abducted from the Nahal Oz base.According to press reports, hostages who were released earlier told her parents that Albag was forced by her captors to cook, clean and babysit.The Jerusalem Post reported in July that she had passed messages to her family via hostages who had been released, telling her sister Shai not to cancel her traditional post-army trip and most of all not to touch her favourite shoes.In January, she appeared in a video of around three and a half minutes released by Hamas.”She loves travelling, singing,  photography and cooking,” Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.Her parents Shira and Eli Albag have campaigned for the hostages’ release.- Karina Ariev, 20 -Karina Ariev was abducted while doing her military service at the border with Gaza. A video of her capture showed her being wounded. She was shown in January 2024 in a new video released by Hamas on Telegram, alongside hostage Daniella Gilboa. She turned 20 in captivity.”She dreams of becoming a psychologist and is known for being compassionate and for bringing people together,” the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said.- Daniella Gilboa, 20 -Daniella Gilboa from Petah Tikva was abducted while doing her military service along the border with Gaza. She was identified as a hostage by the clothes she was wearing in videos she sent to her boyfriend on the morning of the attack.Gilboa, who turned 20 in captivity, was shown, alongside hostage Karina Ariev, in January 2024 in a video published by Hamas on the social network Telegram.Gilboa “is a passionate musician who studies piano and singing, aspiring to pursue a professional career in music,” the forum said.- Naama Levy, 20 -Naama Levy, now 20, was abducted while doing her military service along the border with Gaza. In a video of her capture released by Hamas, she is shown being escorted to a vehicle wearing trousers which appeared to be covered with blood. In other images, the granddaughter of survivors of the Nazi death camps appears with a swollen face.The second child of four, she grew up in India where she studied at a US international school. As a child, she took part in the Hands of Peace programme, which promotes peace between young Israelis and Palestinians.She is a keen triathlete.”Family and friends describe her as gentle and quiet, yet full of light, joy, strength and determination,” the forum said.

LA prosecutors say won’t charge Marilyn Manson with sexual assault

The top prosecutor in Los Angeles said Friday that his office will not bring charges against goth rocker Marilyn Manson, who has been accused of sexual assault and domestic violence.Following “a comprehensive four-year investigation,” prosecutors determined that “allegations of domestic violence fall outside of the statute of limitations,” said a statement from Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.”And we cannot prove charges of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt,” it added. Manson has faced allegations from multiple women, including his ex-fiancee, the actress Evan Rachel Wood, and Esme Bianco, who featured in “Game of Thrones.”Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, has denied wrongdoing.He filed court proceedings in 2022 against Wood for conspiracy, fraud and defamation after she accused him of raping her, but later dropped the civil suit.The 56-year-old musician has long cultivated a controversial image with his ghostly make-up and stage name evoking serial killer Charles Manson, one of the most notorious criminals in US history. “While we are unable to bring charges in this matter, we recognize that the strong advocacy of the women involved has helped bring greater awareness to the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault,” Hochman’s office said in a statement. Manson is currently on a global tour. Hours after the prosecutor’s statement was released, he announced on Instagram that the tour would include shows in the United States.