Prior to a summit in the middle of the month, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has pressed NATO members to agree to Donald Trump’s demand for a significant increase in defense spending.
The US president argued that NATO allies should increase defense spending from the current 2 percent target to 5 percent of GDP.
You must be more than just flags to be an alliance, according to the saying. You must form formations. You must have a purpose beyond conferences. Hegseth arrived for a meeting of the defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday to meet with the demands that you maintain your combat readiness.
Hegseth continued, “We’re here to continue the work that President Trump started, which is to commit to 5% defense spending across this alliance,” adding that “it must happen by the summit at The Hague later this month.”
Members of the military alliance should increase defense spending to 3.5% of GDP and commit a further 1.5% to broader security-related spending as a compromise with the new target, according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Rutte told reporters on Wednesday that “we have to go further and we have to go faster.”
The NATO summit in The Hague will have a new defense investment plan at its heart, he added.
Meeting a 5-percent target, according to Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, will be “extremely challenging” for some European nations, including Spain, Germany, and Belgium, according to a report from Brussels.
However, Ahelbarra stated that they have decided to coordinate their military strategy, particularly when it comes to purchasing long-range missiles and training their troops to be prepared for any potential geopolitical change.
European NATO members have been steadily increasing their defense spending since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ahelbarra claimed that Russia’s continued status as the “biggest threat to stability in the region” is “concerned” by European members.
Budgetary goals for defense
According to diplomats, nations are attempting to bargain the deadlines to meet the 5-percent target.
According to Rutte, some nations believe that 2032 will be too late, while others believe that this unrealistic goal, given the current levels of industrial production and spending, is unrealistic.
Dovile Sakaliene, the minister of defense in Lithuania, argued on Wednesday that 2030 is “definitely too late” and that the target has been set for at least by 2030.
Stockholm also wants the bloc to meet its 5-percent target by 2030, according to Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson on Thursday.
Every Muslim must perform rituals and acts of worship in order to fulfill the five Pillars of Islam’s sanctified observance, which includes all the financial and physical requirements.
According to a government spokesman on Wednesday, more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims have flown to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj this year. Ghassan al-Nuwaimi, a spokesman for the Hajj Ministry, did not specify how many domestic pilgrims were taking part, but he did give an approximate number for foreigners at the pilgrimage this year. There were 1, 611, 310 pilgrims from abroad last year.
Worshippers poured into Arafat on Wednesday, some traveling by foot and carrying their belongings in temperatures ranging 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
The Day of Arafat, which God visits the faithful and pardons them for their sins, is considered to be the most holy day of the year, according to the prophet’s traditional sayings.
In Islam, Mount Arafat, a rocky hill southeast of Mecca, is of great significance. The Prophet Muhammad is said to have delivered his final sermon at Arafat, which is mentioned in the Quran.
Pilgrims pray and reflect in Arafat from midnight until sunset, during which time they stay.
They will travel to Muzdalifah, which is located halfway between Arafat and the sprawling tent city of Mina, where they will gather pebbles to perform the “stoning of the devil” in the symbolic ceremony.
Despite spending millions of dollars on crowd control and safety measures, the large number of participants continues to be challenging. High temperatures have been a major issue in recent years, which has been one of the biggest challenges.
Health Minister Fahad bin Abdulrahman Al-Jalajel stated earlier this week that “10, 000 trees have been planted to provide more shade, there is increased hospital bed capacity, and the number of paramedics has tripled.”
For her summer internship, Hadija Mahmoud* is pulling an all-nighter that is high on caffeine and adrenaline. She needs to board the train in Washington, DC to New York City in the morning to get there.
Mahmoud is a 21-year old international student who has just finished her junior year at Georgetown University. She is concerned and anxious after her immigration attorney advised her against leaving the country for the summer due to recent border control regulations.
As the Trump administration attempts to expand social media screenings for applicants, the State Department issued a warning on May 27 to U.S. embassies all over the world to temporarily halt scheduling new student visa appointments. This is the latest in a line of restrictions targeted at international students.
“It’s been very turbulent, and equally terrifying with each development that comes”, Mahmoud told Al Jazeera, speaking from her college dormitory in Washington, DC.
Mahmoud is not the only person who feels this way. Many other international students feel as though they must remain silent because they fear that even a minor mistake could lead to their deportation.
1.1 million international students
According to NAFSA, a US nonprofit organisation that focuses on international education and student exchange, over the 2023/2024 academic year there were just more than 1.1 million international students studying in the US.
5.6% of the nearly 19 million total US higher education students were from abroad, making up 5.6%.
Together, students from India and China made up 54 percent of the total, with India leading at 331, 602 (29 percent) and China at 277, 398 (25 percent).
“Sorry for the United States,”
Fanta Aw, the executive director and CEO of NAFSA, who is a former international student herself, says she is aware of how crucial cultural exchange between local students and local communities is in today’s increasingly connected world.
“I think this is a major loss for the United States, other countries will open their doors and they are already welcoming students”, Aw told Al Jazeera.
“Students want certainty,” the statement. They desire consistency. And they want to know that the system works. And they already lose trust if they keep seeing action after action, she adds.
You will have years to recover from this and possibly never recover from it if you continue down this path. Because by then, more other countries are competing for these same students”.
“We are seeing Germany,” Japan is what we see. We’re seeing South Korea. Malaysia has always been a student destination. With all the universities in the American style, the US is in competition with in the Middle East.
Where are international students studying?
A sizable number of international students study at prestigious universities in the Midwest and other US states, despite the presence of many of them concentrated on the East and West coasts.
The most international students from New York City were 27, 247 at New York University, and 20, 321 at Columbia University, according to data compiled by Open Doors during the academic year 2023/2024. Northeastern University in Boston follows, with 21, 023 international students.
Noor Ali*, a 23-year-old Pakistani student who is pursuing her master’s degree in journalism on a full scholarship from the university, is one of those students heading to the Midwest.
Ali has requested that Ali’s institution be kept secret and her identity kept secret for security reasons. Despite having already received her student visa, she’s still concerned about entering the US.
She explains how she flew out that day when both nuclear neighbors were engaged in a face-off far above the surface and that India had obtained her visa the day after India attacked Pakistan and Pakistan retaliated against India.
“Miraculously, the appointment was not canceled,” he said. And I ended up going there for my interview. And I ended up getting the visa, which was insane. I had no idea where I came from. But I mean, I’ve gotten it now”! Ali beams and is unconcerned by her luck.
She chose the US because of her familiarity with the nation through movies and TV shows, even though she had the option to study in Europe. Even without having visited, she feels like she understands American life and culture.
These principles of American democracy refer to American freedom. And there was a lot of emphasis on ethics and morality, which was popular in the past and a lot of emphasis was placed on diversity.
Ali’s ideals are not without scepticism or worry. She has repeatedly reevaluate her choice after admitting to being extremely scared. She continues to find encouragement in the recent criticism of the Trump administration’s policies.
“The core of American democracy or ideals of freedom are getting reinforced”, says Ali. She believes unwaveringly that the cultural immersion will be worthwhile for her.
crackdown on pro-Palestine faculty and students
The Trump administration’s latest step in its crackdown on US universities has particularly focused on international students who have shown support for Palestinians in Gaza over the past year.
You’d think that because Georgetown has a sizable international student population in comparison to other US schools, there will be a lot more advocacy and grassroots work happening on campus, according to Mahmoud.
On September 4, 2024, students marched at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, in support of Palestine.
Mahmoud feels her college hasn’t been a very vocal campus when it comes to the rights of students, nor in providing a proper safety net for freedom of speech.
“Dr. Badar Suri’s detention on campus, in my opinion, was a significant turning point. I felt the need to look through my social media to see if anything I posted might have led to my flagging,” says Mahmoud.
Mapheze Saleh, right, wife of arrested and detained Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan Suri, holds a sign calling for her husband’s release after speaking at a news conference following his hearing at Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, on May 1, 2025]Jacquelyn Martin, AP Photo]
Following a federal judge’s order, Dr. Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral researcher of conflict studies, was detained on March 17 outside his Rosslyn, Virginia, home, and held in immigration detention for two months. He was then released on May 14. Suri has spoken out against Israel’s occupation of Gaza, whose wife Mapheze Saleh is of Palestinian descent in the US.
That particular case became a real turning point on the campus, she says, where a lot of international students had spoken up and taken to social media.
What is the stakes?
According to NAFSA, the 1.1 million international students studying in the US contributed $43.8bn to the US economy during the 2023–2024 academic year, creating 378,175 jobs nationwide.
That means that for every three international students enrolled, one US job was created or supported.
California’s population had the highest number of foreign students, with 140, 858 contributing to the state’s economy and supporting 55, 114 jobs. New York followed with 135 813 students, creating 51 719 jobs, and generating $6.3 billion. Texas came third, with 89, 546 international students contributing $2.5bn and supporting 22, 112 jobs.
12 states each received more than $ 1 billion from international students’ economic contributions overall. NAFSA estimates that the US economy is boosted by international student spending in these 12 states, contributing 57 percent to the overall budget.
“When your enrolment declines, then you’re going to have some economic challenges and that’s going to force institutions to have to make some very difficult decisions and choices”, NAFSA executive director Fanta Aw explains.
In most of the nation, there is a decline in the number of high school graduates. Because that is already declining, it’s not like they can match that with American domestic students.
“So when you cannot have the level of enrollment at the undergraduate level here in the US and that is then compounded with the decline in international students, that’s a perfect storm”.
Aw claims that many foreign students who return to their home countries make tax-free contributions to their countries.
What subjects are studied by foreign students?
In the 2023-2024 academic year, among the 1.1 million students, the most popular majors were Math and Computer Science, Engineering, and Business and Management.
2, 691 of the 371. 3 million dollars that were contributed by international students to English language programs were supported by this job.
(Al Jazeera)
In terms of degrees, nearly half (502, 000) of all international students were registered for postgraduate programmes, 343, 000 in undergraduate programmes, 243, 000 in Optional Practical Training (OPT), and 39, 000 in non-degree programmes.
After a full-day of detention on Wednesday, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a shadowy organization supported by the United States and Israel, will not immediately resume providing aid in the war-torn territory. Instead, operations will resume when repairs and maintenance work on its distribution centers are finished.
The GHF stated in a statement posted on Facebook that it would “share information on opening times as soon as work is finished” and that its “distribution sites will not open as early as” Thursday morning.
The GHF also strongly advised aid seekers traveling to its locations to “follow the routes” the Israeli military had set out to ensure safe passage.
While “reorganisation work” was being carried out, the Israeli military warned Palestinians on Wednesday to avoid approaching GHF aid distribution sites, stating that access roads to those locations would be “considered combat zones.”
Since the GHF distribution sites are still closed for a second day, it seems that Israel’s military hasn’t issued any new instructions regarding the safety of them.
Israeli forces fired four rockets at Palestinians seeking aid early on Tuesday as they began distribution of food supplies in Gaza.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the Israeli attack claimed the lives of at least 27 people and injured about 90 more.
At least 31 people were killed and more than 150 were hurt when Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of aid seekers in Rafah on Sunday, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency. On the same day, one person was also fatally shot at a second aid distribution facility in central Gaza, south of the Netzarim Corridor.
Then, on Monday, when Israeli forces opened fire again near the Rafah distribution center of the GHF, killing three more people and injuring about 30 others.
Mass casualty incidents that are “Unprecedented” are unprecedented
The Israeli military had refuted reports that its troops shot at civilians Sunday near or within the GHF aid distribution center, saying only that its forces fired warning shots at those who didn’t use “designated access routes.”
The soldiers only fired at people who “were approaching in a way that endangered” the soldiers, according to Effie Defrin, a spokesperson for the Israeli army.
The GHF, which began chaotic aid distribution operations on May 26, has also labeled reports of aid seekers being killed in large numbers “outright fabrications,” claiming it has not yet seen any evidence of an attack at or near its facilities.
Following Sunday’s attack, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed that it had received “a mass casualty influx of 179 cases,” including 21 patients who were “declared dead upon arrival.” According to the group, there were both women and children among the victims, with the majority of them suffering “gunshot or shrapnel wounds.”
Palestinians in Gaza are “afflicted by an unprecedented scale and frequency of recent mass casualty incidents,” according to the ICRC.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has demanded an independent investigation into the deaths and for “perpetrators to be held accountable” following reports of aid seekers being killed by Israeli forces in recent days.
On Wednesday, the United Kingdom called for an “immediate and independent investigation” into the tragic events. Hamish Falconer, the UK’s foreign minister for Middle East, described the deaths as “deeply disturbing” and called Israel’s new aid delivery methods “inhumane.”
At least 48 people were killed in Israeli-led attacks across the Strip on Wednesday, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense, as Israel continues to expand its wider assault on Gaza. At least 18 people were killed when a tent was attacked in southern Khan Younis to shelter displaced Palestinians.
Since Israel’s invasion of Gaza in October 2023, at least 54, 418 Palestinians have died and 124, 190 have been injured, according to health ministry data in the region.
Vietnam’s long-standing two-child policy has been discontinued in order to reverse its declining birthrate and lessen the strain placed on an aging society.
This week, all restrictions were lifted, and couples will be able to choose how many children they want, according to Vietnamese media.
According to Vietnam’s Minister of Health, a future population decline “threatens” its long-term economic and social development as well as its national security and defense, according to the Hanoi Times.
The replacement rate needed to prevent the population from shrinking from 1999 to 2022, according to the news outlet, has started to decline.
The birthrate in the nation was at a record low of 1.91 per woman in 2024.
Although their birthrates are declining, their economies are more advanced than Vietnam’s. Regional neighbours include Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
The World Bank predicts Vietnam’s population will reach its highest point in 2040, avoiding the trap of “getting old before it gets rich.”
In 1988, the nation’s communist government implemented the two-child policy to ensure that it had sufficient resources as it transitioned from a planned to a market economy. Vietnam was also surviving decades of war at the time.
[Nhac Nguyen/AFP] Newborn babies at the Hanoi, Vietnam, National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2022
According to the Associated Press, Vietnam’s two-child policy was most strictly enforced by Communist Party members, but families everywhere could suffer from government subsidies and financial losses if they had a third or fourth child.
According to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam is also experiencing significant disparities between its population and its birthrate.
The highest-cost of living is in urban areas like Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, where the birthrate is lowest. However, gender differences are also significant. At birth, there were 111 boys for every 100 girls in Vietnam last year.
According to the World Bank, the gender gap between male and female births is greatest in the Central Highlands and Mekong River Delta and the lowest in the region, which is most pronounced in North Vietnam and the Northern Midlands and Mountains.
According to Vietnamese media, doctors in Vietnam are forbidden from telling parents about their children’s sex in order to stop sex-selective abortions. However, the practice continues and doctors are communicating with patients using coded words.
The General Statistics Office warned that there could be an “surplus of 1.5 million men aged 15 to 49 by 2039, rising to 2.5 million by 2059 if left unchecked.”
The Health Ministry has also proposed tripling the fine for “foetal gender selection” to about $3,800 in an effort to reverse this trend.
On Thursday, June 5, 2018, this is how things are going.
Fighting
At least nine people were hurt when Russian drones struck apartment buildings in Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, early on Thursday, according to the city’s mayor.
According to Russian-installed officials, new Ukrainian drone attacks have affected energy infrastructure in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. Vladimir Saldo, the newly appointed Russian-appointed Kherson region governor, claimed the attacks left 97 settlements without power and with 68, 000 people living in them.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the settlements of Ridkodub in eastern Ukraine and Kindrativka in the Sumy region of Ukraine are under Russian control.
The Kremlin said that despite an explosion, the Crimean bridge, a major Russian-built rail and road bridge connecting Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula, was still intact.
talks on a ceasefire
After accusing Ukraine’s leaders of ordering a bombing attack in Western Russia on Saturday, which left seven people dead and 115 others injured, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he doesn’t believe they want peace.
The attack, which crossed a railroad line carrying passenger trains, was viewed by Putin as a “terrorist” plot to scuttle the peace talks.
Putin also stated in a phone call to Donald Trump that he would have to react to Ukraine’s Sunday drone attacks, which targeted Russia’s far-northern and Siberia-area bomber fleet.
Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, claimed that in spite of Ukrainian attempts to “disrupt” them, the Russian leader said on the phone that the ceasefire talks “on the whole were useful.”
About 20 Russian warplanes were hit by a drone attack in Siberia, according to two unnamed US officials, about 10 of which were destroyed by Ukraine, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine.
Following Ukraine’s drone attack over the weekend, Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, stated that the risk of an escalation was “going way up.”
A ceasefire should be in place until a meeting with Putin, according to Zelenskyy. At a briefing in Kyiv, he said, “I think our partners can support” agreeing a ceasefire with the Russians until the leaders meet.
According to the Vatican, Pope Leo urged Russia to stop its hostility of Ukraine when he for the first time phoned Putin, according to the Vatican.
International diplomacy
Sergei Shoigu, the head of North Korea, and Kim Jong Un, the head of Russia’s Security Council, met and pledged to support Moscow’s position on Ukraine without condition.
The military bloc’s head, Mark Rutte, stated that Ukraine will be invited to the NATO summit in The Hague.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has stated that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will inform Trump when he travels to show that Europe is firmly on Ukraine’s side and that no chance for peace should be overlooked.
Wadephul also claimed that Germany is urging Russia to impose new sanctions on Moscow, and that this should be coordinated with the US, because he claimed Russia is not seriously engaging in peace talks.
By the end of the year, Ukraine and the US have discussed how to make a minerals fund operational. Yulia Svyrydenko, the country’s deputy prime minister, stated during her visit to Washington, DC that the first meeting of the fund is scheduled for July.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, met with Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, in Washington, DC, during his stay there.
After meeting with Western counterparts at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov stated that Kyiv’s allies have expressed a willingness to pay for Ukrainian companies to manufacture defense in allies.
With a goal of sending 100 000 drones to Ukraine, United Kingdom Defense Secretary John Healey announced that the country would increase by tenfold the number of drones it would supply there.
