The president of El Salvador made an offer to house US citizens who were detained there. Why haven’t US officials responded with a no yet? Al Jazeera’s John Holman has been inside the notorious prison.
As Pakistan prepares to host the International Cricket Council’s Champions Trophy starting on Wednesday, it has implemented extensive security measures. It anticipates that a successful tournament will inspire nation confidence.
As the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory panel led by billionaire Elon Musk, moves closer to the FAA’s headquarters on Monday as it fights to slash federal workers and access government data.
Despite recent efforts to increase hiring, hundreds of probationary employees were among the FAA’s fired. The FAA’s current workforce is stretched thin, according to insiders, and there is a chronic underresourcing of the air traffic control system.
The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) union said in a statement on Saturday that the administration’s decision to fire FAA probationary employees “represents without cause nor based on performance or conduct.”
The union pointed out that the termination notices appeared to have been sent from outside the government’s official communications systems, which are used to ensure email security and transparency when records requests are made.
“Several hundred employees have been impacted with messages being sent from an ‘ exec order ‘ Microsoft email address, not an official.gov email address”, the union explained.
On February 14, messages started arriving at 7 p.m. ET and continued through the night.
The firings occurred a few weeks after a fatal midair collision near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC, occurred.
On January 29, that collision between a passenger jet and a Black Hawk military helicopter sparked debates about air traffic control personnel’ safety and conditions.
All passengers on both aircraft were killed: 64 civilians and three soldiers.
On the day of the crash, a controller was in charge of overseeing both commercial and helicopter flights. Trump and his allies attributed the incident to unconfirmed diversity initiatives. The collision remains under investigation.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated in a social media post on Sunday that DOGE staff will visit FAA headquarters to “get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can create a new, better, modern, and safer system.”
A quarter of all international flights arrive or depart from US airports, according to the FAA, which handles an average of 45, 000 flights per day.
The PASS union criticized the firings, claiming that “draconian action will increase the workload and impose new duties on a workforce that is already stretched.”
Since late last month, Rwanda-backed rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have tightened their hold on Bukavu, the second major city to fall under the control of the country’s east.
On Sunday, M23 rebels seized the city’s 1.3 million-person population after Congolese forces abandoned it.
The capital of the DRC’s South Kivu province, Bukavu lies 101km (63 miles) south of Goma, which was captured by the rebels in late January.
Residents of Bukavu tried to leave, but looters filled the streets with what they could find as the rebels made their way into the city.
Residents and business owners sat in silence as M23’s entrance to the city center was anticipated.
As the rebels scurried through major city intersections on Monday morning, people gradually started to leave.
On Monday morning, most stores and stores in Bukavu were closed as were most of the country’s border crossing to Rwanda as traffic grew more and more congested.
In the eastern DRC, M23 is the most active of more than 100 armed groups fighting for control of trillions of dollars worth of minerals. Those minerals are critical for much of the world’s technology.
The rebels are supported by about 4, 000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to United Nations experts.
The M23’s push has drawn international concern, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying that a “regional escalation must be avoided at all costs”.
The transboundary Teesta River’s distribution has been the subject of a decades-old conflict between India and Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is pushing for the completion of a billion-dollar megaproject and wants a larger share than it currently does.
Since the resignation of Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August, however, relations between Dhaka and New Delhi have been at an all-time low.
So what’s holding up the project? Why does West Bengal, an Indian state, oppose it? And how is China involved?
Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Taqbir Huda, a former South Asian regional researcher at Amnesty International and a human rights lawyer from Bangladesh, is a former Amnesty International researcher in South Asia.
Filippo Menga, an associate professor of geography at the Italian university of Bergamo, is
Since Washington’s top diplomat was in Saudi Arabia to push the plan, which Arab states opposed, Netanyahu has declared he is “committed” to the United States’ proposal to occupy the Gaza Strip and relocate its Palestinian residents.
Netanyahu pledged to support US President Trump’s plan to establish a different Gaza in a statement released on Monday.
At the conclusion of the 15-month conflict, which has claimed the lives of more than 48, 000 Palestinians and caused a severe humanitarian crisis, the Israeli leader added that “neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority” would rule the enclave.
Netanyahu’s remarks come a day after he hailed “Trump’s bold vision for Gaza’s future” during a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem.
The Trump administration’s attempts to occupy Gaza and forcefully relocate Palestinians are condemned by human rights organizations as violating international law and causing ethnic cleansing.
Arab nations have also criticized the proposal, but it is expected to be on Rubio’s agenda this week during his visits to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomed Rubio on Monday in Riyadh, making it the top US diplomat’s most recent stop in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia is leading Arab efforts to come up with a plan to stop Hamas from attacking the Gaza Strip that may include a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal.
Any Palestinians who attempt to relocate from their land are deposed by the Saudi Foreign Ministry.
Rubio asserted in a recent interview that the US was still open to alternatives from Arab governments, but that for the time being, “the Trump plan is the only plan.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s security cabinet was expected to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire on Monday.
There is still not a consensus on the second phase, which will see Hamas release dozens of captives in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting truce, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Far-right members of the Israeli government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have said they would quit Netanyahu’s coalition if the war does not resume.
19 Israelis who were held hostage have been freed so far as part of the first stage of the ceasefire agreement, which started on January 19. At this point, 33 captives are expected to be released on staggered intervals.
If all captives aren’t freed, Netanyahu has declared that “the gates of hell will be opened” on Gaza.
Nour Odeh, a journalist from Amman, Jordan, reported on the Israeli premier’s report that relatives and supporters of the prisoners held in Gaza have been protesting for ever.
The Israeli prime minister has been accused of trying to stall negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza, of trying to avoid phase two, partly because he is attempting to keep his coalition partners content, Odeh said.
The Trump administration’s top officials have also urged the transaction to proceed.
Trump “wants to see” the second stage of the agreement, according to US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, who stated on Sunday that it is “absolutely going to begin.”
“We are not leaving anybody behind”, he said, referring to the remaining captives.
Meron Rapoport, an editor for Israeli news outlet Local Call, said that while Netanyahu’s government has little desire to move to the second stage of the ceasefire, it is being pressured on two fronts.
Rapoport from Tel Aviv told Al Jazeera that “Netanyahu is seeing in Trump’s plan the fulfillment of the dream to leave Gaza for Palestinians.”
“He is] being pressured by the US and the hostage’s families, who have not yet been released, to enter the second stage at the same time.”
The second stage of the agreement, he added, “would lead to the end of the war” and the possibility of Marwan Barghouti’s release as prominent Palestinian political prisoners.