Category World News

In the heart of the occupied city of Ramallah, a governor leads her people through a month of grief, defiance and hope.

On May 12, two days after the announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally addressed the nation. He stated that the Indian army had only “paused” military action and Operation Sindoor, launched in the aftermath of the April 22 massacre in Pahalgam to target “terrorist hideouts”, had not ended.

“Now, Operation Sindoor is India’s policy against terrorism. Operation Sindoor has carved out a new benchmark in our fight against terrorism and has set up a new parameter and new normal,” he said.

Modi’s speech was clearly not meant to reassure the Indian people that the government can guarantee their safety or security and is seeking peace and stability. Instead, it was meant to warn that the country is now in a permanent warlike situation.

This new state of affairs has been called not to secure the national interest but to satisfy Modi’s nationalist support base, which was bewildered and disappointed with the announcement of the ceasefire by United States President Donald Trump. The detrimental impact that this new militarised normal will have on Indian democracy is clearly a price worth paying, according to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The truth is, the political establishment unwittingly put itself in a difficult position when it decided to capitalise politically on the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack in India-administered Kashmir and whip up war fervour.

While victims of the attack like Himanshi Narwal, who survived but lost her husband, navy officer Vinay Narwal, called for peace and warned against the targeting of Muslims and Kashmiris, the BJP called for revenge and embraced anti-Muslim rhetoric.

As a ruling party, it did not feel the need to take responsibility for failing to prevent the attack or explain the carelessness in securing tourist destinations. It immediately converted this act of killing into an act of war against India.

Actions followed the hate rhetoric swiftly. Muslims and Kashmiris were attacked in several parts of India, and arrests were made of those criticising the Indian government. In Kashmir, nine houses were blasted immediately as punishment of those who had any link with “terrorists”, and thousands were detained or arrested. People with Pakistani passports were deported, and families were broken.

Then, Operation Sindoor was announced. The Indian army’s targeting of Pakistani sites was accompanied by frenzied calls from the mainstream media for the complete obliteration of Pakistan. Major TV platforms – entirely falsely – declared the Karachi port had been destroyed and the Indian army had breached the border.

The war cries and fake news emerging from the TV studios and the frantic messaging from the IT cells of the BJP led its supporters to believe that a decisive battle against Pakistan had been launched and its fall was imminent.

In parallel, critical voices were swiftly silenced. The Indian government requested the blocking of 8,000 accounts from the social media platform X, including those of BBC Urdu, Outlook India, Maktoob Media, veteran journalist Anuradha Bhasin and political content creator Arpit Sharma.

Just when war fever had gripped the BJP’s support base, the sudden announcement of a ceasefire by the US caught them by surprise. The truce was seen as a retreat and an admission of weakness.

Some of the BJP’s online supporters turned on the foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, who had declared the ceasefire as the representative of the government of India. He was viciously attacked, and his timeline was flooded with abusive and violent messages, calling him a traitor and coward. His daughter also faced abuse.

The trolling was so severe that Misri had to lock his social media accounts. Interestingly, but unsurprisingly, we did not hear about the blocking of any social media accounts trolling him or any action by the police against them. There was no action to protect Narwal either after she faced abuse and humiliation by the same crowd for daring to call for peace.

Meanwhile, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, which focuses on rights violations in marginalised communities, has released a report saying 184 hate crimes against Muslims – including murder, assault, vandalism, hate speech, threats, intimidation and harassment – have been reported from different parts of India since April 22.

On Saturday, Misri claimed that India was a democracy that allowed criticism of the government. But the experience of critics raising questions about the objective and efficacy of Operation Sindoor has been bitter.

Criticism of government requires parliamentary deliberation. But the government has been ignoring calls by opposition parties to convene the parliament, which means stalling democratic dialogue.

Now that the prime minister has announced the operation has not ended, total loyalty from the Indian people will be demanded. Opposition parties would feel compelled to suspend all questions to the government. Muslims would feel a burden to prove their allegiance to the nation. The government will happily blame a dire economic situation that is of its doing on the war. There will be freedom of speech, but only for those who speak in favour of the BJP.

Democracy in India thus remains in suspended animation as the country now faces a permanent enemy and a permanent war.

Disclaimer: This explainer contains distressing details

The criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs continues for its second day on Tuesday in Manhattan, New York, where he faces charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering.

The trial opened on Monday with jury selection, opening statements and two harrowing testimonies. The three-time Grammy winner has been accused of using his fame and fortune to abuse women over a period of 20 years.

Diddy, 55, who is a rapper, musician and founder of record label Bad Boy Records, has been in federal custody since his arrest in September. District Judge Arun Subramanian is presiding over the case. The trial officially began on May 5.

What is Diddy charged with?

A five-count indictment, spanning 17 pages, against Diddy accuses him of sex trafficking, racketeering, forced labour and transporting individuals for the purpose of prostitution. Racketeering refers to fraudulent or dishonest conduct in business.

In November 2023, his ex-girlfriend and musician, Casandra Ventura, also known by her stage name Cassie, filed a lawsuit against Diddy, accusing him of sex trafficking, sexual assault and battery from 2007 to 2018.

The next day, Cassie and Diddy settled the lawsuit, with details of the settlement unknown. Since then, the hip-hop mogul has faced more than 50 lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault.

Diddy has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

If convicted, he could face punishment ranging from 15 years in prison to a life sentence.

What happened on day one of the Diddy trial?

The day began with the selection of 12 New York jurors and six alternates, who are used in case a juror is unable to attend due to an emergency, such as illness. Then, the court heard opening statements.

Courtroom sketches from Monday show Diddy with grey hair and a grey-beige sweater. His mother, Janice Combs, was also present in the courtroom.

“For 20 years, the defendant, with the help of his trusted inner circle, committed crime after crime,” Emily Johnson, assistant US attorney, said. “That’s why we are here today. That’s what this case is about.”

After this, witnesses were brought to the stand and evidence was presented.

Hotel attack video shown

A March 2016 surveillance camera video of Diddy physically assaulting Cassie was shown in court. In the video, he is seen in the lift bank of a hotel, aggressively shoving Cassie to the ground and kicking her multiple times. He is then seen picking up her belongings and dragging her across the floor and leaving.

Cassie is seen distressed, getting up to use the hotel landline phone. In another video clip, Diddy is seen throwing a glass vase, shattering it. This video first surfaced when it was aired by CNN in 2024, after which he apologised.

The video was shown to support the testimony of the first witness, Israel Florez, who is currently a Los Angeles police officer. In March 2016, Florez was a security guard at the Intercontinental Los Angeles Century City, where the surveillance camera video is from.

Florez told the court he received a call from a distressed woman and found Diddy and Cassie on the sixth floor. Florez said Cassie had a purple eye, and she declined his suggestion of calling the police.

Details about ‘freak-offs’ revealed

Prosecutors said in opening statements that Diddy was involved in “freak-offs” or sex parties that would span days and involve multiple sex workers. They said these parties were drug-fuelled, and the victims were blackmailed with video footage.

“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, the assistant US attorney, said.

Diddy’s defence held that these events were consensual and the victims did not call the police.

Daniel Phillip’s testimony

The second witness called to court was a male stripper, Daniel Phillip, who told the court he had sex with Cassie for money on multiple occasions between 2012 and 2013 while Diddy watched. Phillip told the court he saw Diddy physically assault Cassie, slapping her, dragging her by the hair and throwing a liquor bottle towards her.

“She literally jumped into my lap, and she was shaking, like literally her whole entire body was shaking. She was terrified,” Phillip said about Cassie.

Diddy’s defence team testifies

The defence team also spoke on the opening day.

Teny Geragos, the defence lawyer, held that her client is angry and violent, but the allegations against him amount to domestic violence rather than sex trafficking, and that his relationships have been consensual.

“This case is about voluntary choices made by capable adults in consensual relationships,” Geragos said during her opening statement. “For Cassie, she made a choice, every single day, to stay with him,” she was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Geragos added that those accusing Diddy were seeking financial compensation.

What could happen on Tuesday?

The trial is expected to resume at 9:30am (13:30 GMT) on Tuesday with the cross-examination of Phillip. After this, Cassie is expected to take the stand. Prosecutors have said four of Diddy’s accusers will testify during the trial, without identifying them publicly.

The trial is predicted to last about two months.

Can the Diddy trial be watched live?

On Monday, 59 white South Africans arrived in the United States as part of a refugee programme set up by President Donald Trump to offer sanctuary from what Washington has described as racial discrimination against Afrikaners.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration offered to resettle Afrikaners, descendants of European colonial settlers in South Africa, stating that they face harassment and violence in their country. At the same time, he froze aid to the African nation.

As the group arrived at Dulles International Airport near Washington, DC, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told them: “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.

“We respect the long tradition of your people and what you have accomplished over the years,” he said.

How is Washington justifying special treatment to Afrikaner refugees?

In a news conference on Monday, Trump doubled down on claims that white people have been subjected to systematic violence since the end of apartheid, or white minority rule, in South Africa.

The Afrikaner community are descendents of mainly Dutch settlers who established apartheid in 1948. Under apartheid, whites could seize land and resources from the Black population, who were relegated to “Bantustans” or overcrowded townships.

Although apartheid ended in 1994 – when the African National Congress won the first racially inclusive democratic election in South Africa – most commentators agree that racism persists today, with many Black people still disproportionately lacking access to land, resources and opportunities.

In January, President Cyril Ramaphosa introduced a new law seeking to address land ownership disparities – which have left three-quarters of privately owned land in South Africa in the hands of the white minority – by making it easier for the state to expropriate land.

Ramaphosa has insisted that the law does not amount to land confiscation, but creates a framework for fair redistribution by allowing authorities to take land in the public interest without compensation only in exceptional circumstances, like when the area is abandoned.

Shortly after the introduction of the Expropriation Act, Trump wrote on his Truth Social account: “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY… the United States won’t stand for it, we will act.”

Washington has said it agreed to grant Afrikaners refugee status after the introduction of the law.

Trump is also at odds with the African nation’s prominent position in the International Court of Justice’s case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Is there a ‘genocide’ risk against white South Africans?

“It’s a genocide that’s taking place,” Trump told reporters at the White House, a claim that has drawn criticism from South African officials and the international media.

Trump’s claim echoes white nationalist beliefs that South Africa’s legislation aimed at rectifying apartheid is now, in fact, discriminatory against the Afrikaner community.

Right-wing organisations, such as the Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum, have been championing a narrative that Afrikaners are under an existential threat.

Elon Musk, the South African-born tech billionaire and a close ally of Trump, is perceived by many as an ally of the Afrikaner cause.

He has repeatedly posted his outrage on X against what he claims is unfair treatment of white South Africans – even going as far as claiming a “white genocide” was occurring.

Still, South African whites own most of the country’s private land and have about 20 times more wealth than Blacks on average. In corporate South Africa, white individuals occupy 62 percent of top management positions while 17 percent of leadership roles are held by Black managers.

And even statistics provided by AfriForum and the Transvaal Agricultural Union – also a group sympathetic to white farmers – show that the total number of farmers, across all races, killed every year numbers about 60. This is a country that sees 19,000 murders in all, annually.

Some younger Afrikaners have taken to social media to mock the asylum offer, posting parody videos that highlight the privileges white people enjoy in South Africa today.

How has South Africa reacted?

In March, the South African government called Trump’s claims that Afrikaners face persecution “completely false”, noting they have remained among the richest and “most economically privileged” groups.

On Monday, President Ramaphosa told an Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, that “we think that the American government has got the wrong end of the stick here, but we’ll continue talking to them.”

Ramaphosa said he had spoken to Trump about the issue.

The South African president said the far-right Afrikaners seeking refugee status were a “fringe grouping”, adding that they are “anti-transformation and anti-change [and] would actually prefer South Africa to go back to apartheid-type policies. I said to him [Trump] that I would never do that.”

Ramaphosa also revealed that he is set to meet with Trump soon regarding the issue.

What’s the status of US-South Africa relations?

Tensions between the Trump administration and the government of South Africa are high, with the US expelling South Africa’s ambassador in March due to criticisms of Trump.

The Trump administration is also at odds with Pretoria’s prominent position in the International Court of Justice’s case against Israel, which stands accused of genocide in Gaza.

Another major flashpoint was the abrupt pause in US aid funding in January and the dismantling of USAID operations in South Africa. This particularly affected the PEPFAR program, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

In 2023 alone, South Africa received roughly $460m in PEPFAR funds, covering nearly 18 percent of the country’s total HIV/AIDS budget. The funding freeze is jeopardising efforts to combat one of the world’s most severe HIV epidemics.

Trade diplomacy has not escaped the fallout, either. With a proposed 30 percent tariff rate, South Africa was among the hardest hit by Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs on April 2, which disproportionately affected some African nations. Only five other countries faced steeper trade hikes than South Africa.

Although a 90-day pause was granted before the tariffs’ implementation, the looming threat of higher trade levies – especially on car exports – has created deep anxiety in Pretoria.

Is this consistent with US refugee law and policy?

Yesterday’s arrival of dozens of Afrikaners into the US comes as the Trump administration blocks nearly all other refugee admissions and leans into rhetoric about an “invasion” of immigrants from poorer nations.

Speaking from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera correspondent Patty Culhane said the Trump administration “has made a priority of getting these people [white South Africans] into the United States”.

As Gaza lies in ruins, who will lead its reconstruction, and what future awaits under siege without a political roadmap?

A group of white South Africans granted refugee status have arrived in the US. The Trump administration says white South Africans suffer oppression. The welcome for white South Africans contrasts with an aggressive deportation policy for other ethnic groups.