FBI cuts ties with civil rights watchdog SPLC after conservative pressure

As part of its effort to distance itself from organizations it accuses of political bias, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has announced that it will no longer cooperate with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

FBI Director Kash Patel declared on social media that “every kinship with the SPLC has formally been ended.”

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According to Patel, “The Southern Poverty Law Center has long since abandoned its work on civil rights and evolved into a partisan smear machine.”

He criticized the interactive “hate map” at the center, which lists organizations linked to anti- and anti-government activities and lists their locations.

Their so-called “hate map” has been used to denigrate the majority of Americans and even sparks violence. They are unfit for any FBI partnership because of their scandalous track record, Patel claimed.

This week, the FBI has severed ties with a group that aims to track threats to civil rights, with Patel’s announcement.

The FBI also cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), accusing the anti-Semitism watchdog and Jewish advocacy group of spying on conservatives on Thursday.

At a time when Patel is reshaping the nation’s top federal law enforcement agency in a hurry, the announcements represent a radical rethink of long-standing FBI collaborations with prominent civil rights organizations.

Both organizations have provided research on domestic extremism, law enforcement training, and other services over the years. Some conservatives have also criticized them for what they claim is an unfair distortion of their beliefs.

Following Charlie Kirk’s murder, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was the target of that criticism. After Kirk’s shooting, there was a new focus on the SPLC’s portrayal of Turning Point USA, a group Kirk founded.

In a report titled “The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024,” the SPLC described the organization as a “case study in the hard right.”

Elon Musk, among others, expressed outrage at the SPLC this week over how Kirk and the organization were described.

Musk remarked, “It is unacceptable to encourage violence by evil propaganda organizations like SPLC.” Without going into further detail, he continued, “This is killing innocent people.”

In a statement released on Friday, Patel’s comments were not directly addressed by the SPLC, a legal and advocacy organization that was established in 1971.

The spokesperson added that the organization has been collecting information from the public for decades and that it is still “committed to uncovering hate and extremism as we work to educate communities and protect the rights and safety of marginalized people.”

Even before Patel’s announcement, the SPLC’s far-right critics have been active.

Republicans have long accused the SPLC of unfairly excluding conservatives. Senators James Lankford and Chuck Grassley pleaded with the FBI to end ties with the group in October 2023, calling it biased and unreliable. They also referred to faith-based and conservative organizations as “hate groups.”

Supreme Court allows Trump to nix temporary status for Venezuelan migrants

The Supreme Court of the United States has once more made it possible for President Donald Trump’s administration to revoke the country’s hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants’ temporary legal protection.

The administration requested on Friday that the judge hold the case against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem because she lacked the authority to end the Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, that was granted to immigrants under Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden while litigation raged.

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In May, the Supreme Court reversed a temporary order that District Judge Edward Chen of San Francisco issued earlier in the case.

The conservative majority wrote on Friday in an order that read, “The result that we reached in May is appropriate here.”

According to the lawyers for the migrants, some migrants have lost their jobs and homes, while others have been detained and deported after the justices first step.

The liberal justices on the court disagreed with Friday’s ruling.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote, “I think today’s decision represents yet another serious misuse of our emergency docket.” I dissent because, respectably, I can’t stand our repeated, gratuitous, and harmful interference with lower court cases while lives are on the line.

While the litigation was ongoing in court, Chen’s May ruling had put an end to the TPS termination. On September 5, Noem’s decision to end the program was determined by a final decision that violated a federal law that governs the actions of federal agencies.

Noem’s “discriminatory statements” regarding Venezuelans were also criticized by the judge, who criticized her for generalizing the alleged crimes committed by a few migrants “to the entire population of Venezuelan TPS holders” and calling her remarks a “classic form of racism.

He added that those in that group have lower rates of criminal activity, higher college enrollment, and workforce participation than general people.

More than 300,000 Venezuelan TPS holders could remain in the country for the time being, despite Noem’s assertion that their stay was “contrary to the national interest” in Chen’s ruling.

Trump’s second term as president has focused on reducing immigration, both legal and illegal, and moving to temporarily legalize some immigrants, increasing the number of potential deportees.

In accordance with US law, the TPS program provides recipients with deportation protection and access to work permits for nations affected by war, natural disasters, or other catastrophes.

Under Biden, the US government declared Venezuelans TPS eligible in 2021 and 2023. The program was extended to October 2026 just days before Trump’s January return.

Noem, a Trump appointee, moved to end the TPS designation for a subset of Venezuelans who had benefited from the designation by 2023 and rescinded that extension.

The administration criticized Chen’s decision to postpone his final ruling, which the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco did.

Given the Supreme Court’s previous actions in the case, Trump’s representatives claimed that the decision constituted a defiance of the court.

The Department of Justice informed the Supreme Court in its filing that “this case is well-known and involves the becoming increasingly well-known and untenable phenomenon of lower courts disregarding this court’s orders on the emergency docket.”

In recent weeks, some lower courts have attempted to follow Supreme Court emergency orders, which are frequently issued with little or no legal justification presented.

The lower courts and litigants are bound by this court’s rulings. It is unacceptable to disregard those orders, as the lower courts did here, regardless of whether they are one- or multiple-page orders.

The Supreme Court granted 532, 000 Venezuelan, Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan migrants a different type of temporary legal status, “humanitarian parole” in another case on May 30.

Police say one victim possibly shot by officer during Manchester attack

One of the victims of a murder-slaying at a Manchester synagogue may have been shot by an officer, according to British police.

One of the two victims who were killed had a gunshot wound, according to Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Steve Watson, who confirmed the attacker’s death on Friday. Jihad al-Shamie was shot dead at the scene.

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According to Watson, “It follows that this injury may have been caused by the urgently needed action my officers took to put an end to this vicious attack,” according to a statement.

After al-Shamie, 35, sped into pedestrians and began stabbing people outside Manchester’s Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holy day of Judaism, two men, Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed during the attack on Thursday.

In the attack, three more people were hurt.

However, according to Watson, Daulby was shot in an attempt to stop the attacker from entering the synagogue, along with another member of the public whose injuries were minor.

Family pays homage

Through Greater Manchester Police, Daulby’s family described him as a “hero” in a tribute.

He was a beloved brother, loving uncle to his four nieces, one nephew, and a cherished cousin, according to his family, and tragically lost his life in the courage to save others.

His courageous performance in the end will forever be remembered, they continued.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was heckled by Manchester residents during a vigil held in the rain for the victims, some of whom claimed the government didn’t do enough to stop the spread of anti-Semitism.

The school for my children is closed today, yelled one man. You allowed this to occur. You are all accountable. You have allowed the street and in Manchester to be raped by Jews.

Lammy addressed the community, telling them to “stand in defiance of those terrorists who seek to divide us.”

In Manchester, United Kingdom, on October 3, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy holds a memorial vigil for the victims of the synagogue attack [Getty].

However, one person yelled “you enabled it, every Saturday” in response, making reference to pro-Palestine marches that have regularly occurred since Israel’s war on Gaza started on October 7, 2023.

Additionally, the deputy prime minister was reportedly told to “Leave us alone, go to Palestine.”

Since the start of the war, the UK has seen a sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents, just like other European nations and the United States.

Hamas says it agrees to parts of Trump’s Gaza plan but seeks more talks

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Hamas claims that some aspects of US President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in Israel’s nearly two-year conflict with Gaza call for further negotiations, but that some aspects do so.

A knowledgeable source told Al Jazeera on Friday that Hamas had given the organization until Sunday to respond to Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan.

The Palestinian organization stated in a statement that it had agreed to “release all occupation captives, both living and dead,” in accordance with President Trump’s proposal’s exchange formula, including providing the necessary field conditions for the exchange.

It further stated that it was prepared to “discuss the details” of the exchange “immediately through mediators.”

On the basis of Palestinian national consensus and with Arab and Islamic support, the organization added that it was prepared to “hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats)”.

However, it stated that a “unanimous national position and relevant international laws and resolutions” should be used to decide the aspects of the proposal that concern “the future of the Gaza Strip and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”

The statement comes after Trump stated on his Truth Social platform that Hamas would be a “all HELL, like no one has ever seen, will break out against it” if a deal wasn’t reached by Sunday.

Trump’s strategy includes a call for the Hamas to disarm in addition to other issues that were not addressed in the Hamas statement.

Trump’s comments on Hamas’ “acceptance” of his proposal were revealed later on Friday by the White House press secretary.

Leavitt posted a picture of Trump addressing television cameras from his desk in response to Hamas’ acceptance of his peace plan in the “Behind the Scenes in the Oval Office” on X.

More discussions?

The Hamas statement “opened a window for negotiations,” according to Ali Hashem of Al Jazeera. There is a chance for a lot of exchange, he said within the upcoming 48 hours.

Hashem expressed concern for Hamas’ opposition to Blair’s plans for an international transitional body that would oversee post-war Gaza’s governance.

He noted that the Trump plan leaves no chance for a future Palestinian state with the West Bank that Israel has occupied.

They may have a lot of reservations because it, in some ways, isolates Gaza from the entire Palestinian cause. They don’t want Gaza to be cut off from the larger picture, Hashem said.

He said that “the majority of the Arab and Islamic countries” claimed that the paper they signed up to was different from what President Trump had stated. He claimed that Hamas’ reservations “could align with the Arab and Islamic positions.”

The armed group added that it applauded “the efforts of US President Donald Trump and other Arab, Islamic, and international efforts” in bringing the conflict to an end.

“Hamas exhibited a lot of positivity here,” praising President Trump’s initiative and accepting the paper’s spirit. They are demonstrating their willingness to extend their hand in this way,” Hashem said.

The ball is now in President Trump’s court, according to the statement. “They have reservations, they have some points that they want clarification over.”

US releases video of another strike on a boat near Venezuela

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Four people were reported killed by the US’s “trafficking narcotics” when the US released a video that it claims shows its military striking a boat close to Venezuela’s coast. President Donald Trump stated that the US was engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with cartels following the strike.