“Trump’s acceptance of Afrikaners as refugees into the United States is an assault across many fronts.”
Afrikaners landing in US with refugee status is “deeply offensive”
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,174
Here is where things stand on Tuesday, May 13:
Ceasefire
- Moscow has yet to say whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin will attend direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slated for Thursday in Istanbul and proposed by Kyiv over the weekend. The leaders have not met since December 2019.
- United States President Donald Trump said he is “thinking about flying over” to Istanbul to join the potential Putin-Zelenskyy talks.
- “I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday – I’ve got so many meetings – but I was thinking about actually flying over there. There’s a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen,” Trump said. “Don’t underestimate Thursday in Turkey.”
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he held a joint call with Ukrainian and European officials to discuss a “way forward for a ceasefire” on Monday.
- Europe will reportedly push the White House for new sanctions on Moscow if Putin either fails to attend the Istanbul meeting, or fails to agree to an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire”, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
- Germany said it is also preparing sanctions against Moscow if the talks stall.
Fighting
- Ukraine says that Russia is “completely ignoring” calls for a 30-day ceasefire made over the weekend by the US and Europe. It was due to begin on Monday.
- “Russian shelling and assaults continue,” Zelenskyy said in a nightly address. “Moscow has remained silent all day regarding the proposal for a direct meeting. A very strange silence.”
- Ukraine’s military said that there had been 133 clashes with Russian forces along the front lines up to Monday night.
- The heaviest fighting continues in the Donetsk region on Ukraine’s eastern front and Russia’s western Kursk region. Ukraine’s military said the intensity remains unchanged since the ceasefire was supposed to begin.
- Moscow called the 30-day ceasefire an excuse by Europe to “provide a breather for Kyiv to restore its military potential and continue its confrontation with Russia”.
Music mogul ‘Diddy’ faces allegations of abuse during first day of US trial
A number of witnesses have taken to the stand in the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is facing allegations of racketeering and sex trafficking during his time as head of an entertainment empire.
Testimony in the trial began on Monday after the final phase of jury selection and opening statement from lawyers. Combs, donning a light-grey sweater, gave a thumbs-up to supporters in the courtroom in New York City in the United States.
“For 20 years, the defendant, with the help of his trusted inner circle, committed crime after crime,” Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson told the court. “That’s why we are here today. That’s what this case is about.”
A number of witnesses testified that they had experienced physical violence, intimidation, and manipulation by Combs, while the rapper’s lawyers said that he has been charged with the wrong categories of crimes and “his kinky sex and his preferences for sex” were being portrayed as nefarious.
Attorney Teny Geragos told jurors that they may end up thinking Combs was a “jerk” or “kind of mean”, but that he is not being charged “with being mean or a jerk”.
“This case is about voluntary choices made by capable adults in consensual relationships,” Geragos said during her opening statement.
Johnson, the US attorney, said that Combs “viciously attacked” women who refused to participate in the parties that were called “freak offs”.
“They will tell you about some of the most painful experiences of their lives. The days they spent in hotel rooms, high on drugs, dressed in costumes to perform the defendant’s sexual fantasies,” Johnson told jurors of testimony from victims in the case.
‘She was shaking’
The courtroom became audibly silent as a video of Combs beating and kicking his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura in 2016 was shown.
A stripper named Daniel Phillip testified that Combs had thrown a liquor bottle towards Ventura before grabbing her by the hair and dragging her screaming into another room, where Phillip says he heard Combs yelling and beating Ventura.
“She literally jumped into my lap and she was shaking, like literally her whole entire body was shaking. She was terrified,” Phillip testified of Ventura.
Geragos conceded that Combs is prone to jealousy and had committed an act of “horrible, dehumanising violence” in the video shown to jurors, but that it was evidence of domestic abuse, not alleged acts of sex trafficking or racketeering that are at the centre of the case.
Prosecutors say that Combs, who faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted of all five felony counts to which he had pleaded not guilty, pushed women to engage in drug-fuelled parties and then blackmailed them with videos of their encounters.
Combs’s status as a high-profile entertainer has brought substantial attention to the trial, as well as larger debate about how powerful figures in sectors such as entertainment, business, sports, and politics often evade accountability for acts of abuse.
As the case began, the jury and alternates – 12 men and six women – were seated in the courtroom. Opening arguments started after the judge finished explaining the law as it relates to this trial, along with incidentals such as that a light breakfast will be provided to the jury in addition to lunch.
The jury for this case is essentially anonymous, meaning their identities are known to the court and the prosecution and defence, but will not be made public.
“We will keep your names and identities in confidence,” Subramanian told jurors.
It’s a common practice in federal cases to keep juries anonymous, particularly in sensitive, high-profile matters where juror safety can be a concern. Juror names also were kept from the public in US President Donald Trump’s criminal trial last year in state court in New York.
Subramanian urged jurors to judge the case only based on the evidence presented in court. It’s a standard instruction, but it carried added significance in this high-profile case, which has been the subject of intense media coverage.
UN urges calm as heavy fire, clashes erupt in Libya’s Tripoli
The United Nations has called for urgent de-escalation in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, as rival gunmen exchanged fire in the city’s southern districts after the killing of a powerful militia leader, prompting authorities to impose an emergency lockdown warning.
Residents reported hearing heavy gunfire and explosions across multiple neighbourhoods from about 9pm local time (19:00 GMT), according to journalists on the ground.
Reporting from Libya’s Misrata, Al Jazeera’s Malik Traina said security sources had confirmed the killing of Abdel Ghani al-Kikli, widely known as “Gheniwa”, who is the head of the powerful Stability Support Authority militia.
Gunfire and clashes then consumed several parts of Tripoli.
Al-Kikli was one of the capital’s most influential militia leaders and had recently been involved in disputes with rival armed groups, including factions linked to Misrata.
Traina said that at least six people have been injured, although it remains unclear whether they are security force members or civilians.
“People are angry that every time these armed groups clash, civilians are caught in the crossfire,” he continued, adding that residents are demanding “accountability”.
“When these groups fight and people are killed, no one is held responsible. Locals want justice, and expect the authorities to hold those behind the violence accountable,” he said.
In a statement early on Tuesday, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said it was “alarmed by the unfolding security situation in Tripoli, with intense fighting with heavy weaponry in densely populated civilian areas”.
UNSMIL added that it “calls on all parties to immediately cease fighting and restore calm, and reminds all parties of their obligations to protect civilians at all times”.
UNSMIL is alarmed by the unfolding security situation in Tripoli, with intense fighting with heavy weaponry in densely populated civilian areas.
The Mission calls on all parties to immediately cease fighting and restore calm, and reminds all parties of their obligations to… pic.twitter.com/SZ8oKgZ1p8
UNSMIL voiced support for local mediation efforts, particularly those led by elders and community leaders, emphasising the need to protect civilians amid mounting tensions.
Schools shut, residents told to stay indoors
The Ministry of Internal Affairs urged residents to stay home and avoid movement, warning of further instability. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education suspended classes across Tripoli on Tuesday, citing the deteriorating security situation.
Libyan social media platforms have been flooded with videos and images showing gunfire, plumes of black smoke rising, armed men in the streets and convoys entering the city.
Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency captured the sound of medium-calibre gunfire in several neighbourhoods, including areas where the Stability Support Authority militia is known to operate.
Several districts have seen what local sources describe as “suspicious military manoeuvres”, with convoys arriving from Az-Zawiyah, Zintan, and Misrata – seen by many as preparations for a possible showdown in the capital.
Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees to the US
A group of 59 white Afrikaners from South Africa has arrived in the United States as part of a refugee programme set up by the administration of US President Donald Trump to offer sanctuary from what Trump has depicted as racial discrimination against white people.
In a press conference on Monday, Trump mirrored the claims of a myth popular on the far right that white people in South Africa have been subjected to systematic violence since the end of white minority rule in that country.
“It’s a genocide that’s taking place,” Trump told reporters at the White House, a claim that has drawn criticism from government officials, news media, and even some Afrikaners themselves.
The move comes as the Trump administration blocks nearly all refugee admissions from non-white countries and leans into rhetoric about an “invasion” of immigrants from poor countries.
While people fleeing widespread violence and persecution in countries such as Haiti and Afghanistan have found a closed door, Al Jazeera correspondent Patty Culhane says that the Trump administration “has made a priority of getting these people [white South Africans] into the United States and paying for them to get here”.
‘Wrong end of the stick’
The South African government has called Trump’s claims that Afrikaners face persecution “completely false”, noting that they have remained among the richest and “most economically privileged” groups, even after the end of the apartheid system that upheld white minority control of the political, economic, and military resources of the country and denied basic rights to the Black South African majority.
South African whites still own about three-quarters of all private land in the country, and have about 20 times the wealth of the Black majority, according to the international academic journal the Review of Political Economy.
“We think that the American government has got the wrong end of the stick here, but we’ll continue talking to them,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, himself a veteran of the struggle to end apartheid, said on Monday.
Tensions between the Trump administration and the government of South Africa have been high, with the US expelling South Africa’s ambassador over previous criticism of Trump and at odds with the African nation’s prominent position in a case before the International Court of Justice accusing US ally Israel of genocide in Gaza.
The Trump administration offered in February to resettle Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa, stating that they face discrimination and violence against Afrikaner farmers.
“I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last few years,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told the group of Afrikaners who arrived in the US on Monday. “We respect the long tradition of your people and what you have accomplished over the years.”
Bill Frelick, refugee policy director with Human Rights Watch, said the fast-track process of bringing Afrikaners into the US was unprecedented.
Trump signs executive order to bring down prescription drug prices
United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that he says will bring down the price of prescription drugs in the US by as much as 90 percent.
In an announcement on Monday, Trump said drug companies who have been “profiteering” will have to bring prices down but laid the blame for high prices primarily on foreign countries.
“We’re going to equalise,” Trump said during a news conference. “We’re all going to pay the same. We’re going to pay what Europe pays.”
People in the US have long been an outlier when it comes to the prices they pay for numerous types of life-saving medication, often paying several times more than their peers in other rich countries for nearly identical drugs.
That phenomenon is often attributed to the substantial economic and political influence that the pharmaceutical industry wields in the US.
The high cost of medical drugs has been a source of popular discontent in the US for years, and Trump accused the pharmaceutical industry of “getting away with murder” in 2017.
But in his remarks on Monday, the US leader also seemed to say that US pharmaceutical companies were not ultimately to blame for the difference in prices. Trump instead framed those high prices in the familiar terms of a trade imbalance with partners such as the European Union and said the US has been “subsidising” lower drug prices in other nations.
That perspective seems to align with the framing of the pharmaceutical industry itself. The industry’s most powerful lobbying arm stated the cause of high prices for US consumers is “foreign countries not paying their fair share”.
Senator Bernie Sanders, a left-wing politician who has railed against the high prices paid by US patients for years, said Trump’s order wrongly blames foreign countries rather than US companies for those prices.
“I agree with President Trump: it is an outrage that the American people pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” Sanders said in a statement.
“But let’s be clear: the problem is not that the price of prescription drugs is too low in Europe and Canada. The problem is that the extraordinarily greedy pharmaceutical industry made over $100bn in profits last year by ripping off the American people.”
A fact sheet shared by the White House said the administration will “communicate price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to establish that America, the largest purchaser and funder of prescription drugs in the world, gets the best deal”.
The stock prices of US drugmakers ticked upwards after the announcement. Experts have cast doubt on Trump’s optimistic assertion that drug prices would drop quickly and substantially.
“It really does seem the plan is to ask manufacturers to voluntarily lower their prices to some point which is not known,” Rachel Sachs, a health law expert at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, told The Associated Press news agency.