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US President Donald Trump has signed a travel ban on 12 mostly Middle Eastern and African countries, reviving a controversial measure from his first term expected to trigger a fresh wave of legal challenges.Trump said on Wednesday the measure was spurred by a makeshift flamethrower attack on a Jewish protest in Colorado that US authorities blamed on an Egyptian man they said was in the country illegally.The move bans all travel to the United States by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, according to the White House.Trump also imposed a partial ban on travelers from seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from those countries will be allowed.”The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted,” Trump said in a video message posted on social media platform X.”We don’t want them.”- World Cup, Olympics, diplomats excluded -The ban will not apply to athletes competing in the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Trump’s order said.Nor will it apply to diplomats from the targeted countries, according to the spokesman of the secretary-general of the United Nations headquartered in New York.”As we’ve said before, whatever system is put in place (should be) one that respects people’s human dignity,” said Stephane Dujarric, who added it was for individual countries to determine how to control their borders.UN rights chief Volker Turk warned that “the broad and sweeping nature of the new travel ban raises concerns from the perspective of international law.” And Amnesty International USA called the ban “discriminatory, racist, and downright cruel.”Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro meanwhile claimed Trump was being “poisoned” by “lies” about his country, while Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello warned that it was the United States that posed a risk to visitors from Venezuela and elsewhere.With seven of the 12 countries banned from Africa, the African Union said the move would harm “people-to-people ties, education exchange, commercial engagement, and broader diplomatic relations” and urged “constructive dialog.”Yemen’s internationally recognised government urged Washington to “reconsider” the travel ban, or to at least exempt Yemeni citizens “in recognition of the difficult humanitarian conditions” in the war-ravaged country.In Myanmar, one student affected by the ban only got her US study visa two days ago and said it would hit many young people’s dreams of escaping oppression.”We don’t really have life here, and people want to escape to a country where we can breathe, we can walk, we can study,” she told AFP from Yangon.In Haiti, Pierre Esperance, a human rights activist in the capital Port-au-Prince, warned that following the decision, the impoverished and violence-hit country “will be further isolated.”The ban could yet face legal challenges, as have many of the drastic measures Trump has taken since his whirlwind return to office in January.- ‘Terrorists’ -Rumors of a new Trump travel ban had circulated following the fire attack on Jewish protesters in Colorado, with his administration vowing to pursue “terrorists” living in the United States on visas.US officials said suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national according to court documents, was in the country illegally having overstayed a tourist visa, but that he had applied for asylum in September 2022.Trump gave specific reasons for each country facing travel restrictions — a list that notably did not include Egypt — insisting the move aimed to protect the United States from “foreign terrorists and other national security” threats.His proclamation said Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and war-torn Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen lacked “competent” central authorities for processing passports and vetting.Iran, with which the United States is in negotiations on a possible nuclear deal, was included because it is a “state sponsor of terrorism,” the order said.For most of the other countries, Trump’s order cited an above-average likelihood that people would overstay their visas.dk-burs/gw/bjt/sla

Hamas’s lead negotiator said the group was ready to enter a new round of talks aimed at sealing a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where rescuers said Israeli strikes killed at least 37 people on Thursday.Negotiator Khalil al-Hayya made the declaration in a speech marking the start of Eid al-Adha festivities, typically a joyous date on the Muslim calendar, but one many Gazans say they will not be able to celebrate this year amid crushing shortages.”We reaffirm that we are ready for a new, serious round of negotiations aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire agreement,” Hayya said, adding the group was in contact with mediators.Talks aimed at brokering a new ceasefire have failed to yield a breakthrough since the last brief truce fell apart in March with the resumption of Israeli operations in Gaza.Israel and Hamas appeared close to an agreement late last month, but a deal proved elusive, with each side accusing the other of scuppering a US-backed proposal.- Stepped-up Gaza campaign -The Israeli military has recently stepped up its campaign in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the war.Gaza civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said that “37 people have been martyred in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip” as of Thursday afternoon, reporting attacks up and down the length of the territory.The Israeli military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.International calls for a negotiated ceasefire have grown in recent weeks, particularly as the humanitarian situation in the devastated Palestinian territory has worsened.The World Health Organization warned Thursday that Gaza’s “health system is collapsing”, pointing to the risks faced by the Nasser and Al-Amal medical facilities — the “last two functioning public hospitals in Khan Yunis”, where many displaced Gazans are sheltering.”What is happening in Gaza is not a war. It’s a genocide being carried out by a highly prepared army against women and children,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has previously used the legal term to describe the conflict.French President Emmanuel Macron, who has declined to use the term himself, vowed at a joint appearance with Lula to “ramp up pressure in coordination with the Americans to obtain a ceasefire”.France is due later this month to co-host with Saudi Arabia a United Nations conference in New York on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday warned Israel of “further concrete actions” over its Gaza offensive and restrictions on aid.- ‘Rejoice over flour’ -Israel has faced mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza, after it imposed a more than two-month blockade that led to widespread shortages of food and other essentials.On a normal Eid al-Adha, Gazans would be preparing for large family gatherings, traditionally centred around the sacrifice and eating of a sheep.But this year, “one kilo of meat has become a dream”, said Mohammed Othman, 36. “We just hope to find bread to feed our children on the day of Eid, and they will rejoice over flour as if it were meat.”Israel recently eased its aid blockade and has worked with the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to implement a new distribution mechanism via a handful of centres in south and central Gaza.But since its inception, GHF has been a magnet for criticism from the UN and other members of the aid world — which only intensified following a recent string of deadly incidents near its facilities.The United Nations and other aid groups have declined to work with GHF, citing concerns it serves Israeli military goals.GHF shut down its distribution centres on Wednesday for what it called “reorganisation” to improve its work, but said it had reopened two of them on Thursday.The group said it had distributed more than 8.4 million meals’ worth of food since opening a little over a week ago.Gaza rescuers and eyewitnesses implicated Israeli troops in instances of deadly gunfire near a GHF centre in Rafah.Israel’s military has maintained it does not prevent Gazans from collecting aid, but army spokesperson Effie Defrin said after one such incident on Tuesday that soldiers had fired towards suspects who “were approaching in a way that endangered” the troops.He added that the incident was under investigation.- Hostage bodies recovered -During their October 2023 attack, militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the remains of two Israeli-Americans killed on October 7 — Judy Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai — had been recovered in “a special operation” in Gaza and returned to Israel.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said their return was “a stark reminder of the enduring cruelty” faced by the families of hostages still in Gaza.Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, at least 4,402 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,677, mostly civilians.

A series of Israeli air strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday night, after the military said it would target underground Hezbollah drone factories.Plumes of smoke were seen billowing from the Lebanese capital, shortly after huge numbers of people had fled the area, clogging the roads with traffic.Lebanese news agency ANI said it counted nearly a dozen strikes, including two which were “very violent”. AFP journalists in the city heard at least two strong detonations.”The IDF (military) is currently striking terror targets of the Hezbollah aerial unit,” the Israeli military said in a statement on Telegram.Less than two hours earlier, its Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee had warned on social media that residents of the suburbs were “located near facilities belonging to the terrorist organisation Hezbollah” and should evacuate immediately.In a separate statement, the military had said it would “soon carry out a strike on underground UAV (drone) production infrastructure sites that were deliberately established in the heart of (the) civilian population” in Beirut.The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon wrote on X that the strikes “generated renewed panic and fear”, and called for a “halt to any actions that could further undermine the cessation of hostilities”.”Established mechanisms and diplomatic instruments are at the disposal of all sides to address disputes or threats, and to prevent unnecessary and dangerous escalation,” it added. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun in a statement voiced “firm condemnation of the Israeli aggression” and “flagrant violation” of a November 27 ceasefire “on the eve of a sacred religious festival”, the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.He said the strikes were “irrefutable proof of the aggressor’s refusal… of a just peace in our region”.Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also issued a statement condemning the strikes as a “flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty” and of a 2006 UN resolution.- Suspected drone production -One resident described grabbing her children and fleeing her home in the southern suburbs after receiving an ominous warning before the strikes.”I got a phone call from a stranger who said he was from the Israeli army,” said the woman, Violette, who declined to give her last name.Israel also issued an evacuation warning for the village of Ain Qana, located in southern Lebanon around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Israeli border.The Israeli military then launched a strike on a building there that it alleged was a Hezbollah base, ANI reported.Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah engaged in more than a year of hostilities that began with the outbreak of the Gaza war and culminated in an intense Israeli bombing campaign and ground incursion into southern Lebanon.The November ceasefire sought to end the fighting — which left Hezbollah severely weakened — but Israel has continued to regularly carry out strikes in Lebanon’s south.Strikes targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs, considered a Hezbollah stronghold, have been rare, however.”Following Hezbollah’s extensive use of UAVs as a central component of its terrorist attacks on the state of Israel, the terrorist organisation is operating to increase production of UAVs for the next war,” the military statement said, calling the activities “a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon”.Under the truce, Hezbollah fighters were to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometres from the border, and dismantle their military posts to the south.Israel was to pull all its troops from Lebanon, but it has kept them in five positions it deems “strategic” along the frontier.The Lebanese army has been deploying in the south and removing Hezbollah infrastructure there, with prime minister Salam saying Thursday that it had dismantled “more than 500 military positions and arms depots” in the area.

Wall Street closed lower Thursday as a spat between President Donald Trump and his billionaire former aide Elon Musk spilled into the public eye, but global markets were mixed while investors assessed trade talks between Washington and Beijing.Major US indexes fell, with shares in Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla tanking more than 14 percent as …

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A Japanese company lost contact with its Moon lander Resilience during a daunting final descent, dealing a blow to its bid to make history two years after a prior mission ended in a crash.Tokyo-based ispace had hoped to become only the third private firm — and the first outside the United States — to achieve …

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Uzbekistan are heading to next year’s World Cup for the first time in the country’s history, a feat that caps years of progress in a part of the world not known for its footballing prowess.The Central Asian nation qualified for football’s premier international tournament on Thursday thanks to a 0-0 draw with the United Arab Emirates — enough to seal the achievement with one game to spare.”I cannot convey my feelings. I am very, very happy — for the first time in 34 years the Uzbekistan national team has reached the World Cup,” Otabek Khaydarov, a 36-year-old entrepreneur told AFP in Tashkent after the final whistle.Ex-Soviet Uzbekistan started competing as an independent nation in the 1990s, following the break-up of the USSR.Footage shared on social media showed the players, draped in national flags, mobbing coach Timur Kapadze in the press room after the game.The expansion of the tournament from 32 to 48 teams has given traditional outsiders, like Uzbekistan, the chance to break into the top ranks of world football.But their success is not just down to a larger World Cup. Uzbekistan is one of Asia’s fastest developing footballing nations.And across Central Asia, the sport is in the ascendancy — backed by state funding and growing popularity in a region where combat sports traditionally reign supreme.Ravshan Khaydarov, the coach of Uzbekistan’s under-23 national team, said qualification is the result of “a long-term effort”.”Presidential decrees adopted to reform football five or six years ago marked the beginning of a process that is still ongoing,” he told AFP on the sidelines of a match in Tashkent, ahead of the crunch game against UAE.The construction of new stadiums and training centres, sometimes with FIFA’s support, has been crucial, he said.- State affair -Such backing from the top is essential in a region dominated by autocratic regimes.In both Uzbekistan and neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, the national football federations are controlled by powerful secret service chiefs.On the pitch, Uzbekistan’s charge to the tournament — to be staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico — was led by the star trio of centre back Abdukodir Khusanov, striker Eldor Shomurodov and winger Abbosbek Fayzullaev.Khusanov, who moved to Manchester City in a reported $45-million deal earlier this year, has become a national hero at home.Bootleg jerseys featuring his name and number are available at bazaars across the landlocked country.Footballing bosses are confident the success of Khusanov and Shomurodov, who plays for Roma in Italy, can be replicated.More than a third of the country’s 35 million people are under the age of 20 — a huge talent pool waiting to be coached.”It is important to have a systemic approach to identifying talent and selecting the best players who will become famous. The world will know Uzbekistan thanks to our national team,” said coach Khaydarov.”Our dream is to see Uzbek players in the best European clubs.”- ‘Creativity’ – The country has already had glory at the youth level, recently winning the Asian U17 and U20 Cups and qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.”The strength of Uzbek football lies in the combination of play, technique, passing and attacking,” said Azamat Abduraimov, a former player and now coach.”Uzbek football has always been renowned for its creativity. We have always had good strikers and creative, technical midfielders. But we lacked success because we were weak in defence,” he added. Centre-back Khusanov, who Abduraimov coached as a teenager, has helped address that balance.Many see 21-year-old winger Fayzullaev, who plays for CSKA Moscow and was voted Asia’s best young player in 2023, as the next Uzbek in line for a big money move to Europe.His playing style has been compared to star Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who just won the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain.For the national team, qualifying for next year’s World Cup brings a new set of challenges.Uzbekistan has never played an international match against a top European side, and most of its young talent still lack experience on the biggest stages.In Tashkent, supporter Otabek was relishing the step up.”I would like to have strong opponents at the World Cup, I know at that there will be no weak ones there.”