Category World News

After the president criticized her and renewed his attacks on the Somali community in Minnesota, progressive US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has responded.

Trump launched a racist tirade on Tuesday, calling on Omar and other Somali immigrants to leave the country.

Omar responded on social media by saying, “His obsession with me is creepy.” “I hope he receives the assistance he so desperately needs.”

Trump has recently increased his anti-immigration rhetoric, particularly following last month’s deadly shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC.

After the US and allies withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2021, the suspect in the shooting is an Afghan man. Trump has cited the shooting as evidence for a rise in immigration from “third-world nations,” including Somalia, according to Trump.

“If we continue to import garbage into our country, we’re going to go the wrong way.” I’m a garbage person, Ilhan Omar. She is garbage. The US president called her friends “waste”

These people don’t actually work, they do. These people don’t say, “Let’s go, come on,” they say that. Make this place fantastic, please. These individuals only complain and do nothing. They complain, and where they came from, they don’t receive anything.

Trump claimed to have watched Omar’s complaints about the US for years but does not know her personally. She is an incompetent person, in my opinion. He called her a “real terrible person.”

Omar, a former child refugee who fled Somalia’s protracted civil war, is regarded as the first Somali American to serve in the US Congress. One of the largest Somali diaspora communities in Minnesota, where she represents a congressional district, is represented by her.

A 2021 Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Report highlighted the community’s contributions and a trend toward upward mobility, while US Somalis experience higher unemployment and poverty rates, similar to those of other refugee groups.

Although many Somali refugees arrived with limited education, low employment participation, and high poverty levels, the situation has changed significantly in two decades.

“Poverty levels have decreased, workforce participation has increased, median household income has increased, and educational attainment has increased marginally.”

Trump has, however, ordered a review of the status of permanent residents from 19 nations and imposed a number of harsh measures in response to the National Guard shooting.

The US president has also been critical of immigration as a general drain on US resources, with his first and current wives coming from Eastern Europe.

Trump has long been in the crosshairs of Minnesota’s sizable Somali community.

For instance, Trump imposed severe immigration bans on five predominantly Muslim nations during his first term in office, as well as on North Korea and Venezuela. Somalia was one of the nations that the alleged “Muslim ban” involved.

Trump has also recently criticized the Somali community for a welfare embezzlement scandal involving the COVID era that involved dozens of people being detained, some of whom are Somali immigrants.

Trump has consistently targeted Omar with criticism over the years. He repeatedly described her and other immigrant politicians as “telling the greatest and most powerful nation on earth how our government is run” (psd) for.

Trump wrote on social media in 2019 that “why don’t they go back and help fix the completely broken and crime-infested places where they came” (incorrect).

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Minnesota, which appears to be aimed at the Somali community, was just launched by the Trump administration.

Trump’s call to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was “seriously retarded” last week during the Thanksgiving holiday, sparking outrage and accusing him of not standing up for Somali gangs who were allegedly “roving the streets.”

Omar is “always wrapped in her swaddling hijab,” the US president said while also making an offensive appearance in front of the camera.

Justice Democrats, a progressive group, decried Trump’s “disgustingly racist” criticism of Omar and the Somali community on Tuesday.

Justice Democrats wrote in a social media post that “Trump knows how to distract himself from his own administration’s failures.”

Following discussions between senior US officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, a Russian official said, “No compromise” was reached on the crucial issue of controlling Ukrainian territory to end Moscow’s war.

As the United States attempts to put an end to the deadliest war in Europe since the Second World War, Steve Witkoff, the special envoy of US President Donald Trump, and his son Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow on Tuesday.

The discussions ended at midnight and lasted for almost five hours. Top Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, who was present, said, “We haven’t found a compromise, but some American solutions can be discussed.”

Although Ushakov described the conversation as being “very helpful and constructive,” he also emphasized that “a lot of work is still to be done both in Moscow and Washington.”

Washington has updated its 28-point draft since it was previously leaked, which has drawn strong criticism from Russia and its allies for favoring Russia, and the US delegation had traveled to the Russian capital to discuss it.

The subsequent counterproposal by Kyiv and Europe has received criticism from the Kremlin, with Putin claiming on numerous occasions that it is “unacceptable” to his country.

The Russian leader made inflammatory remarks at an investment forum prior to his meeting with US officials, claiming that his country was prepared to fight off against Europe.

Putin remarked about Ukraine’s European allies as saying, “They are on the side of war.” We can see clearly that all of these modifications are intended to essentially stop the entire peace process and make demands that Russia will find utterly unacceptable.

Following the attacks on Russian ships carrying Russian oil off Turkiye, the 73-year-old added that Russia would increase its attacks on Ukrainian ports and vessels as well as tankers supporting Kyiv.

Andrii Sybiha, the Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs, said it was obvious that Putin did not want the war to end.

He stated on Thursday that he was prepared to fight through the winter. He is currently threatening navigation freedom and sea ports,” Sybiha wrote on social media.

Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, stated that a “dignified peace” was required while he was in Ireland.

When questioned about his fear that the US might lose interest in the peace process, he responded that he worried that Kyiv’s allies would soon become “tired.”

He explained that Russia’s goal is to “retire the interest of America from this situation.”

Trump, on the other hand, acknowledged the difficulty of the negotiations.

At a cabinet meeting in Washington, DC, Trump said, “Our people are over in Russia right now to see if we can get it settled.” Not an easy circumstance. What a mess, he continued, noting that the conflict was causing tens of thousands of casualties each month.

A senior figure in Kyiv told the AFP news agency that Witkoff and Kushner might meet with Ukrainian leaders on Wednesday in Brussels.

Russia claimed that it had taken Pokrovsk, a city of “special significance,” in Ukraine’s Donbass, as a result of the flurry of diplomatic activity.

Moscow claims that the development is inevitable, and Kyiv refutes this.

Putin said on Tuesday that the Russian army could easily advance in any direction that the General Staff thought was most promising from this base and this sector.

More than 19% of Ukraine is under the control of Moscow’s forces, up one point from the previous year. According to pro-Ukrainian maps cited by Reuters, Russia’s troops advanced more quickly in 2025 than they did in any other year since 2022.

Russia demanded a cap on the size of the Ukrainian army, complete dominance of the Donbass, and recognition of Moscow’s presence in the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson in the earlier, leaked US peace proposal.

A member of Honduras’ electoral council accused one of her fellow members of trying to stifle progress while the Central American nation is still waiting for the results of Sunday’s presidential election.

Cossette Lopez-Osorio of the National Electoral Council (CNE) claimed in a social media post that her panelist, Marlon Ochoa, “intimidated” her fellow panelist by attempting to postpone a press conference on Tuesday.

Lopez-Osorio wrote that the press conference held to announce the resume of the results release had been canceled.

Councillor Marlon Ochoa voted against restarting the process and ordered LIBRE party members and his staff to storm the Hotel Plaza Juan Carlos to avenge against their orders to stop the event from happening in public.

The allegations only add to the already contentious atmosphere surrounding Sunday’s race.

As the votes are being counted, two candidates, one from the center-right Liberal Party, and one from the right-wing National Party, Nasry “Tito” Asfura.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Asfura was only 39.86 percent of the vote, while Nasralla had a nearly identical share of the vote.

In early voting counts, Rixi Moncada of the left-leaning LIBRE party, the race’s former frontrunner, had lost ground. About 20% of the votes have not yet been tallied, according to the CNE.

Infighting on the council

However, controversy had already seized control of the council before the first ballots had been cast for Sunday’s election, leading parties alleging malpractice.

A three-person panel serves as the CNE’s chairperson. Honduras’ legislature selects each CNE councillor to represent the three main political parties: LIBRE, the party of Xiomara Castro, and the Liberal Party, the National Party.

The National Party is represented by Lopez-Osorio. She and her LIBRE counterpart, Ochoa, have a turbulent relationship.

Ochoa complained to federal prosecutors in October that Lopez-Osorio had been caught in audiotapes conspiring with the Honduran military to influence the outcomes.

Lopez-Osorio refutes the allegations. She called Ochoa’s complaint “outrageous,” telling the Honduran newspaper La Prensa, “these are fabricated recordings.”

Attorney General Johel Zelaya, however, on October 29 began an investigation into the audio recordings.

Ochoa, however, continued to raise questions about the election process as the November 30 vote approached.

For instance, he cited connectivity issues in a social media post on November 9 that a voting system test had “failed.”

According to him, that result “provides further evidence that the leaked audios are accurate and that there is an electoral process conspiractiously carried out by the electoral body itself.”

Additionally, the CNE has experienced some well-known conflicts. The joint chiefs of staff head of Honduras, Roosevelt Hernandez, stated in October that the armed forces would conduct its own vote counting.

However, legal experts claim that the Honduran military’s review of the results has no constitutional basis because the CNE president, Liberal Party member Ana Paola Hall, refrained from doing so.

Trouble at the voting booth

Honduras’ presidential election has long been plagued by concerns about irregularities and electoral interference.

For instance, in March, campaigners argued that voting was hampered by long lines and delayed distribution of election materials. Due to the delays, some polling places remained open through the night.

The government website crashed this week, and the vote count also sputtered. Lopez-Osorio addressed some of the “technical failures” and “transmission issues” that have hampered the proceedings in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.

She denied that there was any kind of conspiracy behind the hiccups. She addressed CNN host Fernando del Rincon, “It is literally a technical failure in the disclosure platform.”

Lopez-Osorio stated that the CNE was “looking for explanations” and had spoken with ASD SAS, the technology company. She continued, adding that the vote counting would continue.

In the final days, she said, “We have very small margins, and we also have a large number of ballots to process.”

Her remarks were echoed by a statement that was made on the CNE website. According to a portion of the article, “The CNE has demanded that ASD SAS provide the quickest possible technical solution so that all citizens have full and permanent access to statistical data.”

However, those remarks are unlikely to stifle efforts to contest the upcoming election results.

Trump, a supporter of the right-wing Asfura, has already posted information on his website Truth Social that amplifies allegations of election fraud.

Honduras appears to be trying to influence the outcome of their presidential election. There will be hell to pay” if they do! Trump wrote on Monday.

The candidate with the left appears to be prepared to contest the outcomes, Moncada. She criticized Trump for his “imperial foreign interference” in the electoral process in a statement released this week. She added that the initial election results provided evidence that the audio leak from October was real.

She wrote, “The elections are not lost.” The two-party system “imposed its electoral plan on us, following the fallacy that the 26 audio recordings exposed.”

She continued, “I hereby declare that I will keep my positions and refrain from giving up.”

Barcelona came back from a strong defeat to Atletico Madrid 3-1 to move four points clear of La Liga leaders.

Atletico went ahead on Tuesday thanks to Raphinha’s equalization before Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres scored the winning goal to wrap up their 13-game winning streak in league play.

If Robert Lewandowski had not tipped the first-half penalty over the bar, Barcelona might have been more at ease.

Real Madrid, who are second, travels to Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, hoping to reclaim the lead over Barca, while Diego Simeone’s Atletico are fourth and six points adrift of the Catalans.

After losing to Madrid in October, Barca won their fifth straight La Liga game, but they haven’t consistently shined. However, this display, against a title rival, gave Flick’s side a welcome boost.

According to Spanish reports, they were without defender Ronald Araujo, who is currently taking a mental health break, as well as ill midfielder Frenkie de Jong and the longer-term absentees.

Nerves were tingling at Camp Nou following a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea last week in the Champions League, followed by a shaky victory over Alaves to take the lead in La Liga.

After a tense opening, Atletico took the lead with a ball, as one might expect, in front of Barcelona’s persistently high defensive line.

Joan Garcia was barely appreciative when Baena sprinted past the linesman’s raised flag behind him.

The Spaniard broke, but a VAR review revealed that the goal had been reinstated because he was on par with Pau Cubarsi.

Barcelona quickly responded and leveled with Raphinha in the 26th minute thanks to Pedri’s back-fitting start.

The Brazilian winger, who has also recently recovered from injury, slipped the ball into Jan Oblak’s empty net.

After Pablo Barrios had sent down Dani Olmo, Barcelona should have given up the lead, but Lewandowski spurned a penalty and fired fired high and wide of Oblak.

Moments later, the veteran Polish player almost made amends, but Oblak undoubtedly deflected his header past Lamine Yamal’s cross.

When Raphinha should have hit the intended target early in the second half, Giuliano Simeone couldn’t avoid the goal with a beckoning finish.

After Lewandowski managed to bundle the ball into his path, Olmo, who scored twice against Alaves on Saturday, gave Barcelona a sharp lead with a deft finish.

Olmo, a playmaker who struggled with consistency at Barca as a result of a number of physical issues, injured his shoulder and was replaced by Marcus Rashford.

Fans were left hoping it was just a scare ahead of Barca’s crucial Champions League game against Frankfurt, but Pedroi also suffered a broken leg after 70 minutes and was replaced by Flick.

Thiago Almada, an Atletico substitute, had the best chance to equalize, but he lost balance and slammed his finish wide as Joan Garcia ran out.

In stoppage time, Barca’s win was sealed thanks to an error from Blak, who saved from Rashford before Alejandro Balde scored the winner, giving his side three crucial title points while putting an end to Atletico’s own ambitions.

Raphinha praised Barcelona’s unwavering ability to win.

The key is to believe in the finished product. The Barcelona captain told Movistar, “We are prepared to come from behind,” but we are aware that this can happen in a lot of games [falling behind].

We are gaining more self-assurance. We were aware that this was crucial. The league’s fate could depend on three points, which are extremely crucial.

The Atletico keeper expressed his frustration with his side’s mishandled chances.

More goals were necessary. Barcelona had a lot of chances today. We had two chances to win, but it was impossible, Oblak told Movistar.

Algeria’s history under French rule, according to Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, necessitated compensation.