According to The Associated Press news agency, US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that prohibits citizens from traveling in all 12 nations and restates citizens from seven.
Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen are among the nations that are prohibited.
People from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela will also experience more stringent restrictions in addition to the ban, which goes into effect on Monday.
In his directive, Trump said, “I must act to safeguard the United States’ national security and its interests.”
Trump claimed in a video message that the White House had “understood the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreigners who are not properly vetted” that the recent attack on a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado had “underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreigners.”
According to the president, “millions and millions of these illegals should not be in our country.”
We can’t, in any country, allow open migration from any country where we can safely and reliably vet and screen those who enter the United States, he said, adding, “We will not let what happened in Europe happen.”
We won’t permit foreigners who want to harm our nation.
“We cannot allow open migration from any nation where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen people,” I am signing a new executive order that places restrictions on travel in nations like Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya, and numerous others. – Photo of President Trump twitter.com/ER7nGM4TO2
Trump signed an executive order mandating citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations’ countries, including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, during his first term in office.
People from the countries whose names were cited were either denied entry to the US on their flights or held hostage at US airports upon landing. Tourists, visitors to friends and family, businesspeople, students and faculty members in US institutions, and others.
The Supreme Court upheld the order in 2018, which prohibited categories of travellers and immigrants from Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, and Libya, as well as North Korean and some Venezuelan government officials and their families. The order was frequently referred to as the “Muslim ban” or the “travel ban.”
Trump argued that the initial travel ban was intended to safeguard the US and that it was not anti-Muslim, and that it was justified by the president’s assertions. Trump’s first campaign for the White House had pushed for a Muslim travel ban, though.
A judge in the United States has temporarily halted the deportation of a suspect who is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado.
Following the president’s administration’s decision on Wednesday, Mohamed Soliman’s wife and their five children were detained in an effort to deport them.
Judge Gordon Gallagher ruled that Soliman’s wife, Hayam El Gamal, and her children could remain in the country as long as his decree is in place.
The judge argued that the Court also concluded that irreparable harm could be caused by deportation without recourse.
El Gamal had filed a legal petition for her release, which has not yet been proven guilty.
In addition to the 12 people hurt in the attack on Sunday, Soliman has been charged with a federal hate crime.
If Soliman’s relatives acted unfairly, or if they were merely targeted because of their ties to him, the Trump administration is unsure. Soliman appears to have been acting alone in the attack, according to authorities.
Trump’s administration, however, made it clear that they would aggressively look into and deport people they thought were connected to “terrorism.”
In a social media post on Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “All terrorists, their families, and terrorist sympathizers here on a visa should be aware that under the Trump Administration, we will find you, revoke your visa, and deport you,” in light of the horrifying attack that occurred yesterday.
Elgamal, her three daughters, and her two sons, all of whom are minors, were detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday.
In a video released online, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated, “We are looking into how much his family knew about this heinous attack, if they knew about it, or if they provided support for it.” “Justice will be provided,”
Before applying for asylum, Soliman and his family, according to DHS, were granted temporary visas in the US in 2022.
In 2023, Soliman’s visa expired. El Gamal, according to media reports, applied for an employment visa while working as a network engineer.
Critics claim that the practice of punishing a criminal suspect’s family constitutes unlawful collective punishment.
Human rights organizations have criticized Israeli actions that targeted Palestinians who were suspected of being involved in armed attacks in the West Bank, for instance.
Israel’s occupation of Gaza, which UN experts have described as a genocide, has been linked to the attack in Colorado. During the firebombing, the suspect allegedly yelled “Free Palestine.”
Other violent incidents have occurred on US soil as a result of the Washington-backed conflict. Following the alleged murder of two Israeli Embassy employees in Washington, D.C., last month, the incident in Colorado occurred.
Another crime connected to the war resulted in the murder of a six-year-old Palestinian boy in the Chicago area in October 2023. The 73-year-old suspect allegedly told the boy’s mother that Muslims “must die” as they were attacked. After being found guilty of murder and hate crimes, he received a 53-year sentence.
Three Palestinian American students were shot and seriously injured in Vermont a few weeks later.
The White House claimed in a news release that the party was opposed to every individual item in the “big, beautiful bill,” the broad-ranging tax and spending bill being proposed by US President Donald Trump, because it was “the party that opposed the legislation as a whole.”
Such a tactic is misleading, especially since the White House referenced measures in the bill that Democrats have supported to improve Americans’ lives and aren’t the justifications Democrats have used to justify their opposition to the “big beautiful bill.”
What the White House claims Democrats oppose is verified by this fact:
They oppose the most significant tax cut in history, which will result in a double-digit percent decrease in their tax bills. In fact, Americans earning between $30, 000 and $80, 000 will pay around 15% less in taxes”.
The tax bill’s specifics are still pending. According to analysis from the Tax Policy Center, it would reduce taxes for middle-class households by an average of 2.4 percent in its current form.
Although it receives a sizable tax cut, it is not the biggest tax cut ever. That was 2.9% in 1981 under Ronald Reagan.
It is accurate to say that tax bills will drop by a little more than 11 percent across all tax brackets, at least in the near future. The Non-Partisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that those making between $30, 000 and $80, 000 will receive 15% less.
They oppose NO TAX ON TIPS for law enforcement, nurses, and other workers in the service sector, as well as NO TAX ON OVERTIME for the millions of Americans who work in the industry.
Their opposition to Trump’s tax and spending bill is the only way to prove this.
The idea of no tips tax has been supported by both Democrats and Republicans. On the campaign trail, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump made the pledge to do so. The No Tax on Tips Act, which was approved by the US Senate on May 20, was supported by Senate Democrats. The bill was co-sponsored by prominent Democrats, including Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen, and was unanimously approved by Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.
They oppose historic tax cuts for seniors, they claim.
Democrats have generally opposed tax cuts for seniors outside of the “big beautiful bill.” Numerous Democrats have supported legislation that would increase seniors’ tax breaks. A Republican-led bill that would increase the standard deduction for adults over 65 would be co-sponsored by California’s Democratic Senator Jimmy Panetta.
The “You Earned It, You Keep It Act,” which would essentially eliminate taxes on social security benefits, was introduced by House Democrats in 2024. However, the bill has never been passed through the committee.
They oppose a tax credit increase for children, they claim.
Again, they oppose Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” not the child tax credit.
Democrats have long advocated for expanding the child tax credit. Senate Democrats introduced legislation to expand the child tax credit in April, including legislation introduced by Colorado’s Michael Bennett and Georgia’s Raphael Warnock. The proposed legislation would permanently increase the tax credit, from $2,000 to $6,000 for newborns, from $4,000 to $4,000 for children between the ages of one and six, and from $3,000 to $3,000 for children between the ages of six and seventeen.
The “big beautiful bill” would increase the child tax credit by only $500, which would start in 2028.
They oppose the creation of new savings accounts for infants and the possibility for children to grow naturally in America.
House Republicans created new children’s savings accounts in the “big beautiful bill.” For every child born between January 1st, 2025 and January 1st, 2029, the accounts would include a $1, 000 gift.
Famous Democrats have actually backed the idea of savings accounts for newborns, which is why they have been.
The American Opportunity Accounts Act, which would provide $1,000 to newborns and up to $2,000 in annual contributions, was introduced by Cory Booker of New Jersey in 2018. In 2023, he reintroduced the bill.
They oppose expanding access for hard-working American families to childcare.
This is a false statement. Child care access is not covered by the White House link, but rather the Paid Family and Medical Leave Credit. Employees who have worked a year and make $57,600 or less are eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid leave under Trump’s bill.
Democrats have focused on expanding access to child care, including universal pre-K, while doing so gives parents more time at home. Republicans fought a Democratic plan to keep open child care facilities that had been struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2023.
In order to protect their communities, they are opposed to historic border security.
Trump reportedly increased Trump’s chances of winning in November 2024 by putting pressure on Republicans to vote against a bipartisan border security bill last year. Republicans’ plans to use US military installations for migrant detention have been criticized by Democrats as a waste of resources from the Department of Defense. Democrats have long opposed funding for the border wall, even during Trump’s first term.
A border wall would, according to a 2018 Stanford University analysis, only reduce migration by 0.6%. Despite this, the “big beautiful bill” allocates more than $50 billion to finish the wall and the maritime crossings, $45 billion to build and maintain detention facilities, and $ 14 billion to transport.
“They oppose expanded health savings accounts,” which give Americans more options and freedom of spending.
This is a bit accurate. Democrats have not been strong supporters of health savings accounts. The socioeconomically disadvantaged, who may not have the funds to contribute to the accounts, are not helped, according to the opinion. Democrats have voiced opposition to the bill’s potential $ 880 billion cut in funding for crucial government programs like Medicaid.
They oppose scholarships that let people choose the educational options that best suit their families, according to them.
The White House conflates the debate over school choice with scholarships in the proposed legislation. Republicans claim that by allowing students to have the opportunity to access a higher standard of education, funds that otherwise go to the public school system can be redirected to private institutions.
A federal judge in the United States has decided that Venezuelan immigrants who were deported to El Salvador under a obscur 1798 law must be able to contest their removals and detention.  ,
President Donald Trump’s latest failure to use the Alien Enemies Act to quickly remove alleged gang members from the US without the proper process is the ruling from Judge James Boasberg on Wednesday.
Trump claimed that the US’s Tren de Aragua gang’s presence represented an invasion at the time of his initial invocation of the wartime law in March.
Boasberg quickly blocked Trump’s use of the law to quickly deport detainees, but two planes carrying 238 deported people had already left the US for El Salvador. The judge’s request to turn the plane around was rejected by the Trump administration.
Boasberg has since stated that he has found cause to believe the administration acted in vain.
As part of a deal with the Trump administration, the deportees were housed in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Centre, or CECOT prison, upon arrival.
Boasberg claimed in the order on Wednesday that there was “significant evidence” that many of the imprisoned in El Salvador had no connection to Tren de Aragua.
According to Boasberg, they “throw on flimsy, even frivolous, accusations” and “slumber in a foreign prison.
Prior to now, court records had previously suggested that some of the men may have been deported based solely on their clothing or tattoos.
Before being flown, the administration “plainly deprived” the immigrants of a chance to challenge their removals, according to Boasberg.
He declared that their cases must now be heard before a court, as they “would have been if the government had not provided constitutionally inadequate process.”
They must now receive that process, according to Boasberg, which was improperly withheld. The government could smuggle someone off the street, hand him over to a foreign nation, and then effectively foreclose any remedial course of action after this relief.
The Trump administration was not specifically required to bring deported people back to the US in the ruling.
Prior to the US Supreme Court’s ruling, the Alien Enemies Act required that those deported be given a chance to challenge their removal, and it put a stop to some planned deportations that could have been carried out legally.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to send a case to the highest court for a final decision in the future.
Till then, the Alien Enemies Act has been upheld by three federal judges in New York, Texas, and Colorado. Trump was within his rights to invoke the law, according to a fourth federal judge in Pennsylvania.
Trump campaigned on the promise to deport “criminal” non-citizens from the US in large numbers, but his efforts have been hindered by pending immigration court cases and legal challenges.
More than two and a half hours after Novak Djokovic defeated Alexander Zverev in the French Open quarterfinal, a crucial moment arrived. Djokovic had a lead in the fourth set, but Zverev had a chance to reclaim the match.
The longest of a buggy and breezy Wednesday night exchange, in which Djokovic won with a forehand winner, ended the pair’s 41-stroke encounter. After that, he remained put, breathing heavily, and holding his hips as he listened to the ovation from the throngs of Court Philippe-Chatrier spectators.
Djokovic may be 38 at the time. This season, he might have fallen to sixth place in the rankings after going through two three-game losing streaks. Djokovic is now two wins away from winning his 25th Grand Slam record, but neither his resolve or ability to perform at his best on big stages have changed.
Third seed Zverev, who is a decade younger and was last year’s runner-up at Roland-Garros, won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to set up a semifinal showdown with top-seeded Jannik Sinner.
Serbian tennis player Djokovic kicks back during his Roland Garross match against Zverev [Susan Mullane-Imagn Image/Reuters]
Sinner defeated Alexander Bublik 6-1, 7-5, and 6-0 earlier on Wednesday, continuing his dominating run through the bracket. Through five matches, Sinner has conceded a total of only 36 games, not including a set that he hasn’t dropped so far.
So Friday will see a tantalizing showdown between Sinner, a player that many consider to be the best player in tennis history, and Djokovic, a player who is currently at the top of the men’s game. In their previous three head-to-head matches, Sinner and Jokovic are tied at 4-4, but Sinner has won each other.
No one has spent more weeks ranking first than Djokovic. No one has ever won more major championships or advanced to the semi-finals than his total, which is now 51 after surpassing the second-old man’s total in Paris.
The 23-year-old Sinner has won three Grand Slam titles. His unbeaten streak at majors now includes 19 matches, including the US Open from last year and the Australian Open from this year. Additionally, he has won those 26 sets in a row.
In the New York City mayoral race, a young immigrant who identifies as a democratic socialist is taking on a centrist former governor from a political dynasty.
With state legislator Zohran Mamdani and ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo leading the race, the New York Democratic primary is seen as a reflection of the battle between progressive activists and the conservative old guard of the United States Democratic Party.
The Democratic candidates will meet for a debate on Wednesday night, ahead of the primary vote on June 24.
Missing from the stage will be incumbent Eric Adams who was elected as a Democrat four years ago. The current mayor is running for re-election as an independent amid dwindling popularity.
Here is a look at the elections in the Big Apple and what it could mean for the city and the country.
Why are the primaries important?
New York City is solidly Democratic, so the party’s nominee is likely to cruise to victory in November.
In 2021, then-Democratic candidate Eric Adams beat Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, by nearly 40 percentage points. Adams has since garnered a national profile.
What’s at stake?
The next mayor will be the executive of the largest city in the United States – tackling numerous issues and pressing challenges, including housing, cost of living, congestion and public transport.
The implications for New Yorkers are obvious, but the outcome of the race will also affect the nearly 65 million people who visit the city every year.
New York is a major financial and cultural hub, not just for the US but for the entire world.
Politically, the primary race could serve as a bellwether for the Democratic Party and the electoral viability of left-wing candidates ahead of the congressional midterm elections next year and the presidential vote two years later.
The job comes with a national profile. The last three New York mayors ran for president.
Mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo speaks during a Democratic mayoral forum at Medgar Evers College in New York City, April 23 [David ‘Dee’ Delgado/Reuters]
Who are the frontrunners?
In the Democratic primaries, the two frontrunners are Cuomo, 67, and Mamdani, 33.
The son of a former governor, Cuomo has an extensive resume. He served as the US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and New York attorney general before becoming the state’s governor in 2011.
He resigned in 2021 after a sexual harassment scandal and is now staging what was once thought to be an unlikely political comeback, rebuilding alliances with politicians who called on him to step down a few years ago.
He is running a campaign focused on improving the management of the city, addressing mental health issues and “combating anti-Semitism”.
If Cuomo is the ultimate insider, Mamdani is his foil as a political insurgent.
Born in Uganda to parents of Indian descent, Mamdani, who is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists for America (DSA), has been serving in the state assembly since 2021.
He is running on a progressive platform that includes freezing rent, eliminating fees for public buses and establishing affordable, city-owned grocery stores.
Mamdani’s rise in the polls has been fuelled by small donors and an “army” of left-wing volunteers.
Candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani waits for the subway following a campaign stop in New York City, US, April 1, 2025 [Brendan McDermid/Reuters]
Who else is running?
Also running on the Democratic side are city comptroller Brad Lander; New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams; former comptroller Scott Stringer; State Senator Jessica Ramos; State Senator Zellnor Myrie; Michael Blake, a political consultant and former state legislator; and Whitney Tilson, an investor.
Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is running as an independent after the scandals and investigations that have plagued his tenure.
Conservative activist Curtis Sliwa is the sole Republican in the race.
What are the key dates?
The first Democratic debate will take place on June 4, and the second and final one is set to take place on June 12. Early voting starts on June 14, and the primary election is on June 24.
The general election will be on November 4.
Incumbent New York Mayor Eric Adams is running as an independent [File: Julia Nikhinson/AP Photo]
What is ranked choice voting?
In local elections in New York City, one can vote for as many as five candidates at once with the ranked-choice system.
Here’s how it works: Voters choose their candidates in order of favourability. In the first round of counting, the top choice votes are tallied. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent, more counting ensues with the bottom candidate removed.
With each new round, the votes of the eliminated candidate are counted by the next choice on the ballot.
What do the polls say?
Cuomo is leading the race, according to most surveys. An Emerson College poll last week showed the former governor with 35.1 percent support as a first choice – ahead of Mamdani with 22.7 and Lander with 10.5.
Mamdani may appear like a distant second, but his rise in the race has been stunning. He was polling at 1 percent in February, according to an Emerson survey.
The democratic socialist lawmaker does have a path to victory – consolidating the anti-Cuomo vote in the later rounds of counting.
A protest in solidarity with Palestinians in New York City, September 24, 2024 [File: John Taggart/EPA]
Why has Israel-Palestine been a key issue in the race?
The next New York City mayor will not be deciding how much military aid Israel gets or how the US will vote on United Nations Security Council proposals calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Yet, the conflict in the Middle East has been a factor in the local elections.
Mamdani has been an outspoken supporter of Palestinian rights. He participated in a hunger strike outside the White House in November 2023 to demand an end to the war on Gaza.
His positions have sparked outrage from Israel’s backers. Although Mamdani is a citizen, Republican New York City Council member Vickie Paladino called for his deportation on Monday.
Paladino later doubled down in response to the outrage over her statement, claiming that Mamdani would not have been eligible for citizenship under the current regulations due to his involvement in pro-Palestine groups.
For his part, Cuomo has positioned himself as Israel’s top defender, accusing several of his opponents – not just Mamdani – of being too critical of the US ally.
“It’s very simple: anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism,” he said in April.
Fix the City, a pro-Cuomo political group, has received large donations from pro-Israel donors, including $250,000 from billionaire Bill Ackman, according to New York’s Campaign Finance Board.
New York City – home to Columbia University – has seen waves of protests against US support for Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed more than 54,600 Palestinians.
