Following disagreements over immigration policy, populist leader Geert Wilders resigned as prime minister of the Netherlands. A divided Europe is now under increasing far-right pressure, which is compounded by the crisis.
Due to Israel’s war and the closure of the Rafah crossing, displaced Palestinian Iyad Adwan, who lives in Gaza, won’t participate in the Hajj pilgrimage for a second year in a row. Adwan continues to be under siege amid the rubble as millions of people travel to Mecca. He tends his garden there.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has criticized a Guatemalan court order requiring the arrest of two senior Colombian officials, blaming the prosecutor’s office for being corrupt.
During the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), an investigation into bribes paid to Guatemalan officials by Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, on Monday, Guatemalan Public Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche charged Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and former Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez of corruption, influence peddling, obstruction of justice, and collusion.
Petro claimed on Tuesday that Camargo and Velasquez’s arrest was motivated by politics and demonstrates how subservient the attorney general’s office is to the mafia.
In a post on X, Petro wrote that “national corporations that deal with drug trafficking are attempting to overtake legal and government hands and whitewash their illicit business.”
Guatemala’s government added that it “emphatically rejects the arrest warrants” in a statement released on Monday.
The statement read, “These actions are carried out without any ground in the national and international legal system,” adding that “they are clearly political objectives.
Curruchiche claimed without providing any proof that Camargo and Velasquez abused their position while working for the CICIG in the notorious corruption case Odebrecht, in which the construction company admitted to paying officials for public contracts in 10 Latin American nations, when they announcing the warrants on Monday.
Although Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the emails, Curruchiche claimed Camargo and Velasquez were to blame for the allegedly false emails between Odebrecht employees and Camargo on Tuesday.
Velasquez, who is currently Colombia’s ambassador to the Holy See, was appointed as the minister of defense in January 2023, when Curruchiche’s office first announced its investigation. Velasquez oversaw the CICIG from 2013 to 2019, which found numerous corruption-related organizations in Guatemala.
The prosecutor’s office in Guatemala did not respond to a request for comment.
The accusations have been refuted by both Camargo and Velasquez.
In an X-post on Tuesday, Velasquez wrote that the corrupt Guatemalan Attorney General and Curruchiche, who have been detained by the US and the European Union, “expand their persecution of me and Luz Adriana Camargo.”
In a press conference held on Wednesday in Bogota, Colombia’s attorney general also rejected the allegations.
Camargo said, “I find comfort in knowing that I am innocent in the crimes that have been my responsibility because of political bias.”
The accusations against Colombian officials were untrue, according to Juanita Goebertus Estrada, director of Human Rights Watch’ Americas Division.
Velasquez and Camargo have no proven links to any organized crime, she said, adding that the warrants were only the most recent in a line of contentious actions taken by Guatemala’s Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras, who has been criticized internationally for repressing anti-corruption efforts.
Consuelo Porras’ record on democracy and human rights is terrible. She has consistently used criminal behavior as a tool in opposition to those who have tried to combat corruption in the nation, according to Goebertus.
Prior to the 2023 presidential run-off, Curruchiche’s office suspended then-candidate Bernardo Arevalo’s party, which he had been accused of interfering with elections. In January 2024, Arevalo assumed office and won the election.
The arrest warrants are a part of a wider pattern of judicial overreach, according to Guatemala’s government.
The Guatemalan government said in a statement on Monday that the “public prosecutor’s office, the Attorney General of the Republic, and judges associated with corruption are all involved in a series of actions that have distorted the meaning of justice in Guatemala.
Despite the arrest warrants, it seems unlikely that the two officials’ actions will be ported outside of Guatemala.
Petro won’t follow the arrest warrants, according to Sergio Guzman, director of Colombia Risk Analysis, a security think tank, and it’s very likely that he will file an injunction against Interpol for any international notices that ask for them.
However, the Petro administration’s arrest warrants have been viewed as evidence of corruption by Colombian opposition figures. The conservative candidate for president in the upcoming year’s election, Victory Davila, promised to follow the law.
After three months of being “harangued” over starvation in Gaza, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce defended the chaotic and deadly aid distribution by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Bengaluru’s Royal Challengers defeated the Punjab Kings by six runs to win their first Indian Premier League title, along with Virat Kohli, their star player.
Bengaluru finished second in 2009, 2011 and 2016, but won on Tuesday at Narendra Modi Stadium largely as a result of Krunal Pandya’s sensational 2-17 overs.
Bengaluru’s victory marked the conclusion of the 18th year of the most well-known T20 tournament in India.
“This victory benefits the team more than the fans,” the team said. Kohli, who has been a part of Bengaluru since its inaugural edition in 2008, said it has been “18 long years”.
“I gave my youth, my age, my best,” he said. I gave it everything I had. Never did I anticipate the coming of this day. When the final ball was bowled, I was overcome with emotion.
With 43 runs scored off 35 balls, Kohli led Bengaluru to 190-9 in 20 overs. Between them, Punjab’s pacers Arshdeep Singh (3-40) and Kyle Jamieson (3-48) both took six wickets.
After a strong first half-century from Shashank Singh, Punjab’s reply sputtered and finished with 184-7 (20 overs).
Phil Salt was lost by Bengaluru by 16 runs when he was batted. Kohli, who only managed three fours in a strange knock, was slowed by it. The Indian batsman finished the season with 700 runs, which is third in the list of highest run-scorers.
With Mayank Agarwal (24) and Rajat Patidar (26), Kohli established crucial partnerships. The scorecard was constantly ticking thanks to their cameos.
While Jamieson scored his second goal by catching Patidar LBW, Azmatullah Omarzai took the crucial wicket and sent Kohli back.
Jitesh Sharma then provided the acceleration, hitting two sixes and two fours off of each, as well as two sixes and two fours from 15 balls for Liam Livingstone.
Just enough to push Bengaluru past 190 from 131-4 in 14.5 overs.
Punjab responded with a strong start, with a 43-ball effort from Priyansh Arya (24) and Prabhsimran Singh (26).
After the powerplay, Pandya struck after Salt made a smart catch by leaping across the boundary to win Arya back.
First, he returned Prabhsimran, who had earlier been clung to a dropped catch.
The 10th over saw Shreyas Iyer fall short for Romario Shepherd for one-off.
Josh Inglis hit a 39-run run on 23 balls, including four sixes, before diving in a 13th over to save Pandya in yet another devastating blow for the Kings’ chase.
The Bengaluru bowlers slashed the run rate after that, making it an uphill task for Punjab.
Shashank Singh held on, netting 61 not out of 30 balls, including six sixes, to only dwindle the victory margin.
After being detained at a protest outside an immigration detention center, a New Jersey mayor sued a close ally of US President Donald Trump.
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, accused acting US Attorney Alina Habba of “subjecting him to false arrest and malicious prosecution” in a civil complaint filed on Tuesday.
Additionally, the complaint lists Ricky Patel, a special agent with the investigations unit of the Department of Homeland Security, as a co-defendant.
Mayor Baraka is accused of suffering “severe reputational harm, emotional distress, and other damages” as a result of this false arrest, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit comes as a result of a May 9 protest outside Delaney Hall, a Newark immigration detention facility that is privately run.
As protesters gathered outside the gate, Baraka, a long-time critic of the facility, joined three Democratic members of the US House of Representatives for a tour of the 1, 000-bed detention facility.
The GEO Group, the organization’s owner, is accused of allowing Baraka to enter Delaney Hall’s wire gate. However, it states that Patel threatened arrest him if he refused to leave once more.
Baraka complied, but shortly after, Department of Homeland Security agents surrounded, handcuffed, and led him away as he stood with protesters outside the gate.
The agents “pushed, shoved, and assaulted” the mayor’s security team before arresting him, according to the complaint. The Delaney Hall grounds are alleged to be trespassed on by Baraka.
Despite being invited inside, Baraka claimed on social media that they abused their position to violently arrest me at Delaney Hall on Tuesday. “Nobody is above the law,” said one.
Baraka was initially accused of trespassing because of his actions during the demonstration by Habba. However, she had already moved to dismiss the charge on May 19 and the judge in charge had rebuked her.
Judge Andre Espinosa addressed a representative for Habba’s office, noting that “your role is not to secure convictions at all costs, nor to satisfy public clamor, nor to advance political agendas.”
Espinosa remarked, “The hasty arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, followed quickly by the dismissal of those trespassing charges by your office,” Espinosa continued.
An arrest, particularly one made of a prominent figure, is not a preliminary investigative tool. Only after a thorough, impartial evaluation of reliable evidence should it be taken place because it is a serious action that has serious reputational and personal repercussions.
LaMonica McIver, a US Congress member, was also present at the Delaney Hall protest, and she announced she would be pursuing criminal charges at the same time she announced she wanted the trespassing charge dismissed.
During Baraka’s arrest, Habba charged McIver with assaulting law enforcement. The investigation is ongoing. However, Representative McIver has called the allegations against her “purely political,” and she supported Baraka’s lawsuit in a statement released on Tuesday.
The statement reads, “The way Mayor Baraka was treated at Delaney Hall was outrageous.” There was never any legal or factual justification for his arrest or charge, the statement goes on. It is scandalous how the administration interacts with our justice system.
Habba herself voiced her opinion in the days leading up to Baraka’s lawsuit, calling it a waste of time.
On Monday, Habba wrote on social media that “he intends to sue the Feds.” Please join me in putting a priority on public safety and violent crime, my advice to the mayor. Much better use of time for New Jersey’s outstanding citizens.
Before joining Trump’s administration following his second inauguration in January, Habba had previously worked for the president’s personal legal team.
Trump’s second term as president has faced logistical challenges, including a lack of detention facilities, despite his pledge to pursue a “mass deportation” policy. Delaney Hall was given a 15-year contract by his administration to help meet the growing bed demand, which the facility first opened in May.
Baraka has argued that Delaney Hall was subject to improper local permission and has frequently participated in protests outside the immigration center. Any permitting violations are disputed by the GEO Group.
The Trump administration has long been accused of retaliating against those who oppose the president’s signature policies, including his immigration crackdown, by critics, particularly on the left.
For instance, in the lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Habba is accused of defaming Baraka during her trespassing arrest and detention.
According to the lawsuit, defendant Habba was acting for political reasons and was acting without proper legal grounds when she authorized and/or directed the arrest of Mayor Baraka.
Further, the complaint claims that Baraka “broke into” the detention facility and that other Trump administration employees “in promoting a false and defamatory narrative”.
In the Democratic primary for governor of New Jersey in November, Baraka will run. His lawsuit claims that the arrest and subsequent trespassing charge were intended to “damage him politically.”