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May 20 (UPI) — The Trump administration is imposing visa restrictions on India-based travel agencies and their owners for facilitating illegal migration to the United States.

The State Department announced the punitive measure Monday amid a Trump administration crackdown on immigration, saying it was banning entry to owners, executives and senior officials of Indian travel agencies who knowingly facilitate illegal migration.

Specifics of who and what firms were targeted were not disclosed, but the State Department said its Consular Affairs and Diplomatic Security Services mission in India was working to identify those involved in human smuggling and trafficking operations.

“We will continue to take steps to impose visa restrictions against owners, executives and senior officials of travel agencies to cut off alien smuggling networks,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

“Our immigration policy aims not only to inform foreign nationals about the dangers of illegal immigration to the United States but also to hold accountable individuals who violate our laws, including facilitators of illegal immigration.”

Under the previous Biden administration, the State Department announced a policy in July that prohibited entry to executives of travel agencies and tour operators offering services to bring migrants into the United States illegally.

It was one of several actions the Biden administration took to curb illegal migration amid criticism during a surge in migrants entering the country following the end of pandemic-era restrictions.

The Biden administration in November 2023 first implemented a policy to target Nicaraguan charter flight companies, which was late superseded by another policy that included ground and maritime transportation firms.

The Biden administration also imposed a policy to bar visa issuance to Colombian transportation companies executives and owners.

Then in March, the Trump administration announced a further expansion to the policy to ban entry to foreign government officials facilitating irregular migration by failing to enforce immigration laws or policies.

UPI has contacted the State Department for comment.

Since President Donald Trump‘s inauguration in January, the White House has conducted a crackdown on both legal and illegal immigration that includes mass deportation efforts, which have been challenged in court.

Here is where things stand on Tuesday, May 20:

Fighting

• With peace talks on the horizon, Russia currently controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to ask for Ukrainian forces to retreat from four regions of Ukraine during peace talks.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ruled out withdrawing troops from parts of eastern and southern Ukraine currently under Kyiv’s control in an interview with The Kyiv Independent.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Telegram it seized the village of Marine, in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, and Novoolenivka village in the eastern Donetsk region. Ukraine did not immediately comment on the claims.

Ceasefire talks

• United States President Donald Trump said Moscow and Kyiv “will immediately start negotiations towards a ceasefire and an end to their war” following a phone call with Putin that lasted for more than two and a half hours on Monday night.
• Following the call, Putin told reporters that Russia is “ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord, defining a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement, [and] the timing of a possible peace agreement”.
• Putin repeated his oft-spoken point that any ceasefire would need to also address the “root causes of the crisis”, a reference to Ukraine’s potential entry into NATO.
• Zelenskyy said in a statement that Ukraine remains committed to peace talks, but Russia needs to also demonstrate its readiness to engage in meaningful dialogue. He also said the US is needed, saying: “It is crucial for all of us that the United States does not distance itself from the talks and the pursuit of peace, because the only one who benefits from that is Putin.”
• Moscow and Kyiv are also in talks about a major prisoner exchange, following a phone call on Monday, according to Zelenskyy.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said European Union leaders told Trump they are ready to put more pressure and sanctions on Moscow. “Europe will increase the pressure on Moscow through sanctions. This is what we agreed upon with @POTUS after his conversation with Putin,” Merz said on X.
• Germany has joined Denmark in calling on China to exert its influence on Russia over the war in Ukraine.
• Pope Leo XIV is interested in hosting talks between Russia and Ukraine, Trump said, a suggestion that was welcomed by US and European leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who said Italy is “ready to do its part to facilitate contacts and work for peace”. The Vatican did not confirm any such offer by the pope.

Economy

• Finland’s Ministry of Defence said it will use about 90 million euros ($101.35m) in proceeds from frozen Russian assets to buy ammunition for Ukraine. About $300bn of Russian assets have been frozen across the EU since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
• The EU is expected to lower the current $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil as far as $50 per barrel as part of its new sanctions package this week, the Reuters news agency reported, citing EU officials.
• Poland seized 5 million metric tonnes of tyres for civilian Boeing aircraft bound for Russia in violation of international sanctions.

May 20 (UPI) — Lithuania on Monday filed a case against Belarus in the International Court of Justice, accusing its southern neighbor of facilitating a large-scale smuggling scheme.

The filing initiates legal proceedings against Belarus in the World Court, based in The Hague.

“We are taking this case to the International Court of Justice to send a clear message: no state can use vulnerable people as political pawns without facing consequences under international law,” Lithuanian Justice Minister Rimantas Mockus said in a statement.

Lithuania specifically accused Belarus of violating the United Nations Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, which was adopted in 2000, to supplement the U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

According to the application to the ICJ, the Baltic county accuses Belarus of “facilitating, supporting and enabling” the smuggling of migrants into the country while failing to implement smuggling protection measures at their shared border.

Vilnius also charges Minsk with failing to exchange information about smuggling with Lithuania’s border control agencies and neglecting to protect the rights of migrants.

“The smuggling of migrants through Belarus into Lithuania has caused serious harm to Lithuania’s sovereignty, security and public order, as well as to the rights and interests of the smuggled migrants themselves, who have been exposed to grave abuses in trying to reach Lithuanian territory,” Vilnius said.

“The large-scale smuggling of migrants has also overwhelmed Lithuania’s reception facilities and asylum systems, which has heavily affected Lithuania’s ability to respond to the migration crisis at the border.”

It said it has made “extensive efforts” to address the issue with Belarus, but that Belarus has “refused to engage in constructive and effective dialogue.”

Belarus not only continued to deny its responsibility under the U.N. protocol, it said, “but also the facts on the ground underlying those breaches,” it said.

Lithuania’s foreign ministry said the “unprecedented” flow of migrants from Belarus dates back to at least 2021, and that it has evidence confirming the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko is directly involved in the scheme.

According to the ministry, Belarusian state-owned companies have increased the number of flights from the Middle East and other regions and organized the issuance of visas and accommodations.

It said that when the migrants arrive in Belarus, many are taken to the Lithuanian border by security forces and are forced to cross into the country under what the ministry described as “dangerous and life-threatening conditions.”

Lithuania states that the smuggling scheme is an attempt to use migrants to retaliate against Vilnius and the European Union over their rejection of Lukashenko’s attacks on democracy and human rights abuses with sanctions.

Belarus has yet to respond to the development.

In December, the European Commission approved member states to adopt measures to country “the weaponization of migration by Russia and Belarus.”

It said Eastern EU countries that border both Belarus and Russia are at risk of migrants being used “as a political tool to destabilize our societies.”

Dagalo, who leads the rival Rapid Support Forces paramilitary, also announces a government as war ravages Sudan.

Sudan’s army chief and de facto head of state, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has appointed former United Nations official Kamil Idris as prime minister as part of changes to his sovereign council as the nation’s civil war grinds on into its third year.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed, critical infrastructure has been destroyed and more than 12 million people have been displaced as a result of the war, which shows no signs of stopping as vying leaders seek to consolidate their power.

“The chairman of the sovereignty council issued a constitutional decree appointing Kamil El-Tayeb Idris Abdelhafiz as prime minister,” a statement from Sudan’s ruling Transitional Sovereignty Council read on Monday.

Idris, a career diplomat, spent decades at the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organisation and was its director general from 1997 to 2008.

He also held various roles in Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and used to serve in the country’s permanent mission to the UN.

Idris, whose higher education was in international law and international affairs, also ran as an independent candidate in Sudan’s presidential election in 2010 against longtime military ruler Omar al-Bashir, who was later ousted in a 2019 coup.

The new prime minister replaces veteran diplomat Dafallah al-Haj Ali, who was appointed by al-Burhan less than a month ago as acting premier.

On Monday, al-Burhan also added two women to the council.

The military leader reappointed Salma Abdel Jabbar Almubarak and named Nowara Abo Mohamed Mohamed Tahir to the governing body.

The al-Burhan-led military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary headed by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, have been at war for more than two years after the two generals failed to agree on a plan to integrate their forces.

As al-Burhan tried to form an army-led government, Dagalo also announced the formation of a rival administration last month, shortly after signing a charter with allies in Kenya’s Nairobi.

The army, which holds areas in the central, eastern and northern parts of Sudan, has managed to claim some military victories in recent months, including taking control of the capital, Khartoum.

The RSF, which holds most of the western region of Darfur and some areas in the south with its allied militias, has been striking Port Sudan repeatedly this month to devastating effect.

Meanwhile, a worsening humanitarian crisis continues to engulf Sudan.

International organisations and some countries have warned of the risks of further escalating the conflict, including in cities like el-Fasher in Darfur that have served as humanitarian aid hubs.

May 19 (UPI) — The National Weather Service in Alabama warned Monday that weather radio broadcasts are offline for routine maintenance as severe storms are forecast to hit the state Tuesday.

The weather service said while all watches and warnings will be released over the next few days, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Radio transmitters will be offline during that time. Severe storms are forecast Tuesday for much of Alabama.

“NWS local offices plan to inform listeners both on-air and on their websites when updates are scheduled,” according to the NOAA Weather Radio website. NOAA Weather Radio is a network of stations that broadcasts warnings and weather information from the National Weather Service. The Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System, or AWIPS, went offline Monday and will remain down through Wednesday.

“Our Weather Radio broadcasts have concluded and will remain unavailable until our system updates are complete,” NWS Birmingham wrote Monday in a post on X. “Weather products will continue to be transmitted via the Internet, weather apps and wireless emergency alerts.”

“During the time of the update, forecast operations will be conducted in conjunction with our service back-up office in Peachtree City in Georgia to minimize any potential interruption to services,” the National Weather Service said Monday. “No impacts to our core services of forecast products and weather watches, warnings and advisories are expected during this period.”

The software updates will impact transmitters across northern and central Alabama. The NWS said its forecast office in Birmingham will remain open and staffed during the maintenance.

Approximately 31 million people from Texas, north to Iowa, could see severe storms starting Monday with forecasts showing strong winds, hail and tornadoes. That risk will shift Tuesday to Louisiana and north into Alabama and Indiana.

The NWS is urging Alabama residents to gather several weather sources — the Internet, weather apps and local emergency management — to ensure they receive all severe weather warnings in order to stay safe over the next few days.

Deadly storms and tornadoes over the weekend hit 10 different states, including Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Kentucky, where at least 28 people were killed.

Sale of genetic testing company raises concerns about privacy of 23andMe’s 15 million customers.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has bought the genetic testing company 23andMe, a company once valued at $6bn, for $256m through a bankruptcy auction.

Regeneron said in a statement on Monday that it aims to bolster its capabilities in genomics-driven drug discovery by using customer DNA profiles, collected via its popular direct-to-consumer saliva testing kits.

It added it would prioritise the ethical use of customers’ DNA data.

However, the transaction has put the spotlight back on data privacy issues, especially in light of 23andMe’s recent challenges. Founded in 2006, 23andMe has collected the genetic information of roughly 15 million people.

The genomics firm, once a trailblazer in ancestry DNA testing, has faced dwindling demand for its core services and reputational damage from a 2023 data breach that exposed sensitive genetic and personal information of millions of users.

The hack and subsequent bankruptcy filing have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers who warned that millions of customers’ genetic data could be sold to unscrupulous buyers.

After the company’s bankruptcy filing in March, several congressional committees and federal agencies, including the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and  the Federal Trade Commission, penned letters voicing concerns  that the company’s data could end up in the hands of malicious parties.

The Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability in the House of Representatives launched an investigation into the matter.

Acknowledging the heightened scrutiny, Regeneron said it will uphold 23andMe’s existing privacy policies and comply with all applicable data protection laws.

The drugmaker also committed to working transparently with a court-appointed independent overseer who will assess the implications of the deal for consumer privacy and is expected to deliver a report to the court by June 10.

The court is scheduled to consider approval of the transaction on June 17.

Investments in genomics “make good strategic sense” for Regeneron but might take a decade or more to see a return, Bernstein analyst William Pickering told the news agency Reuters.

“Given Regeneron’s track record, we also believe 23andMe customers are in good hands from a privacy perspective,” Pickering added.

As part of the agreement, Regeneron will acquire all units of 23andMe except the company’s on-demand telehealth service Lemonaid Health, which is being shuttered.

After the transaction, expected to be completed in the third quarter, 23andMe will operate as a wholly owned unit of Regeneron.

Despite the news of the purchase, Regeneron’s stock was down 0.6 percent from the market open on Wall Street as of 12pm in New York (16:00 GMT) although it had gone up 2.86 percent over the previous five days.

May 19 (UPI) — The first immigrants who agreed to self-deport and accept a $1,000 stipend left on a chartered flight out of the United States on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said.

The flight took 64 nationals — 26 from Colombia and 38 from Honduras — back home in “Project Homecoming.” They boarded a charter bus and then a World Atlantic Airlines charter that left Houston at 9:30 a.m. CDT. Children were given toys and everyone received a lunch bag.

“This was a voluntary charter flight, not an ICE enforcement operation,” DHS said in a news release, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“All participants were offered the same benefits as any illegal alien who self-deports using the CBP Home App. They received travel assistance, a $1,000 stipend, and preserved the possibility they could one day return to the United States legally.”

Earlier this month, HHS announced the program.

They said migrants typically would be given about three weeks to prepare to depart.

“Today, DHS conducted its first Project Homecoming charter flight of 64 individuals who voluntarily chose to self-deport to their home counties of Honduras and Colombia,” Secretary Kristi Noem said. “If you are here illegally, use the CBP Home App to take control of your departure and receive financial support to return home. If you don’t, you will be subjected to fines, arrest, deportation and will never be allowed to return. If you are in this country illegally, self-deport NOW and preserve your opportunity to potentially return the legal, right way.”

The app was redesigned from the Biden administration’s CBP One, which allowed migrants to schedule an appointment at a port of entry to make an initial claim of asylum.

In February, DHS launched a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign warning undocumented migrants that they will be deported if they are in the United States.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association cautioned people against self-reporting and taking the stipend.

“AILA cautions individuals when reviewing the announcement to understand it is deceptive and gives people the impression there are no consequences, such as being barred from returning in the future,” AILA said. No one should accept this without first obtaining good legal advice from an immigration attorney or other qualified representative.”

The group said the offer may be a “trap.”

“It is unethical for the government to tell people ‘Self-Deportation Is Safe’ but not explain the hardship and legal risks to them, especially for people who do not have an attorney and will not know their rights under the law,” the group said.

HHS posted photos of migrants headed to their Central American countries.

HHS noted returnees to Honduras were also eligible for $100 in government assistance and food vouchers.

The Colombian government provided social services from the Family Welfare Institute and the Department of Social Prosperity.

The self-deportation plan comes amid other ways the Trump administration is trying to deport migrants.

The State Department is using AI to monitor social media of foreign students for alleged “pro-Hamas” sympathies. The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1958 are being used to deport people with supposed criminal records.

The Trump administration through the end of March arrested more than 158,000 unregistered immigrants, including more than 600 suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Of the arrests, 75% had convictions or pending charges, DHS said.

During November when Joe Biden was president, U.S. agents arrested more than 21,000 unauthorized immigrants — about one-third of Trump’s numbers.

Illegal border crossings have plunged to the lowest level in decades.

In March, there were 7,181 encounters at the border, which is a 95% reduction from 136,473 in the same month a year ago and 97% from 2022 of 211,181.

In April, it was roughly 8,400.

US Supreme Court lets Trump terminate Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of people from Venezuela.

Washington, DC – The United States Supreme Court has enabled the administration of President Donald Trump to revoke the protected immigration status of about 350,000 Venezuelans.

The top court’s justices issued a brief order on Monday, granting the administration’s request for lifting the suspension that had been placed by a lower court in March.

In February, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem terminated a 2023 Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Venezuelans that had been issued by the administration of former President Joe Biden.

TPS is a programme that shields noncitizens already in the US on a temporary basis from deportation and allows them to seek a work permit if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deems their home country to be unsafe to return to.

Millions of people have fled Venezuela in recent years due to political repression and a crippling economic crisis spurred in part by US sanctions against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

The Supreme Court did not elaborate on why it sided with the Trump administration on Monday. The ruling simply added that liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson “would deny” the government’s request.

The DHS had argued that TPS designations are not subject to judicial review.

Noem had declared the 2023 designation for Venezuela “contrary to the national interest”, citing gang membership and “adverse effects on US workers”. However, she kept a previous TPS issued for Venezuelans in place.

DHS welcomed the ruling on Monday, saying without evidence that the Biden administration granted TPS to “gang members” and “known terrorists and murderers”.

“The Trump Administration is reinstituting integrity into our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe,” the agency said in a social media post.

Several Democrats described the push to deport Venezuelans – part of a border immigration crackdown – as cruel, rejecting the Trump administration’s allegation that people under the TPS designation are criminals and “terrorists”.

“Venezuelans face extreme oppression, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings and torture,” Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said in a statement.

“Poverty levels are surging, and essentials like electricity, water and medical care are scarce. The dire circumstances in Venezuela make it clear that this is exactly the type of situation that requires the government to provide TPS.”

May 19 (UPI) — A federal judge ruled Monday that a DOGE-lead takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace by the Trump administration was “unlawful.”

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said the removal of USIP’s president and his replacement by a DOGE-appointed official along with the termination of “nearly all” its staff and transfer of USIP property to the U.S. General Services administration was “effectuated by illegitimately-installed leaders who lacked legal authority to take these actions, which must therefore be declared null and void,” she wrote.

Personnel from White House adviser Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency gained access to the U.S. Institute of Peace after originally being turned away in March. USIP then sued the administration for “unlawful dismantling,” with its acting chief saying DOGE “has broken into our building.”

Legislation signed in 1984 by then-President Ronald Reagan had created the USIP to be an “independent nonprofit corporation established by Congress.”

The Trump administration fired most of USIP’s 12-member board, leaving U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Defense University President Peter Garvin as its three remaining board members.

The three then installed Kenneth Jackson as acting USIP president.

In March, nearly two months to the day of Monday’s ruling, Howell rejected an initial complaint filed by the U.S. Institute of Peace against the Trump administration’s attempted takeover, but questioned the tactics used by DOGE in its appropriation.

“By design, USIP was established by the two political branches to advance a safer, more peaceful world with the specific tasks of conducting research, providing training on peacemaking techniques, and promoting peaceful conflict resolution abroad — without formally involving the U.S. government in foreign disputes,” Howell wrote in a 102-page memorandum opinion.

“The President second-guessed the judgment of Congress and President Reagan in creating USIP 40 years ago,” Howell, an appointee of ex-President Barack Obama, wrote Monday.

Meanwhile, USIP stated in its complaint that the White House “incorrectly labeled” the institute a “governmental entity” part of the “federal bureaucracy.”

However, Howell declined to issue a temporary restraining order, saying USIP was a “very complicated entity” with both qualities of non-governmental organizations and features of government agencies, such as having to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests.

In 2003, a USIP spokesman said the think tank is required by law to be a non-partisan institution, and is mandated only to address issues related to overseas conflict.

In her 4-page ruling, Howell wrote Monday that USIP Acting President George Moose would stay as its leader and banned the administration from “further trespass against the real and personal property belonging to the Institute and its employees, contractors, agents and other representatives.”

The White House, meanwhile, contended that the U.S. Institute of Peace had existed for 40 years but “failed to deliver peace.”

“President Trump is right to reduce failed, useless entities like USIP to their statutory minimum, and this rogue judge’s attempt to impede on the separation of powers will not be the last say on the matter,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told NBC Monday.

May 19 (UPI) — U.S. officials announced Monday that Louisiana’s McNeese State University will be site of the federal government’s new national center for liquefied natural gas safety.

The university in Lake Charles was selected by officials to be the site of the “National Center of Excellence for Liquefied Natural Gas Safety” as a subsidiary part of the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

“The sheer volume of product supplied by the state of Louisiana is unparalleled and growing, and there is no better place to locate our Center of Excellence,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

McNeese State, the first U.S. undergraduate institution to offer a certificate program in the business of liquefied natural gas, is already the site of its own LNG Center of Excellence.

It was described as a “game-changer” for the region in terms of workforce development and “groundbreaking research.”

“We are excited to be on the forefront of helping ensure safety and sustainability in the energy sector and look forward to working with PHMSA to develop a world-class facility to house their staff,” Dr. Wade Rousse, president of McNeese State University, said Monday.

2020’s Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act, otherwise known as the PIPE Act, established the center with the aim to “enhance” the United States as the “leader and foremost expert” in LNG operations to facilitate research and development, training, regulatory coordination and to encourage development of LNG safety solutions.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., explained that in 2020 Congress passed the PIPES Act which, he claimed, “improved pipeline safety and infrastructure” in the United States as he also thanked the Trump administration.

The Louisiana Republican, 73, was critical of the Biden administration’s perceived “hostility” toward fossil fuel industry industry.

Last year, the current president solicited $1 billion and got hundreds of millions of dollars from the oil and gas industry in the 2024 campaign while promising to roll back fossil fuel regulations in his effort to stamp out climate change policy.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced last week it had expedited oil and gas production on public land in vehement opposition to environmental experts and activists.

Meanwhile, the Trump Energy Department in February signed-off on a Biden policy to permit the use of liquified natural gas as marine fuel in order to reduce LNG regulations targeting motor boats.

Kennedy, who reportedly received more than $300,000 in campaign contributions via the fossil fuel industry from 2021-2022, added that as part of the legislation was language that was included to create the “first-ever” National Center of Excellence for LNG Safety in Louisiana under PHMSA, which by 2013 had marked a record number of 116 enforcement orders against American pipeline operators for various safety violations by the federal regulator.

“The Center will advance LNG safety by promoting collaboration among government agencies, industry, academia, and other safety partners,” stated PHMSA’s Acting Administrator Ben Kochman.

“Consolidating such remarkable levels of expertise,” according to Kochman, will “benefit the LNG sector for many generations to come.”

May 19 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to revoke special legal protections for nearly 350,000 Venezuelan nationals living in the United States temporarily.

Homeland Security had asked the justices to lift a lower court’s injunction that blocked Secretary Kristi Noem’s revocations of the Temporary Protected Status program, or TPS.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said she would deny emergency relief.

The brief order said Northern California district court order is “stayed pending the disposition of the appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, if such a writ is timely sought.”

The TPS program, created in 1990, provides temporary legal status and work authorization to nationals from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions.

On Feb. 3, Noem terminated the designation, which began in March 2021 and was extended by the Biden administration in October 2023. On April 7, protected Venezuelans were to lose their government-issued work permits and deportation protections.

Another 250,000 immigrants from the Central American country who arrived before 2023 will lose their status in September.

In all, about eight million people have left Venezuela since 2014 due to political persecution, violence, and a lack of food and access to essential services. In 2023, Nicolás Maduro was elected in a race contested as fraudulent by the opposition and outside observers.

The Venezuelan program is the largest TPS designation.

At least 60 days before a TPS designation expires, the agency’s secretary is required to review the conditions in a country designated for TPS to determine whether the conditions supporting the designation continue to be met.

On March 30, District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco blocked the action and said the decision to terminate the TPS program for the Venezuelans appeared to be “predicated on negative stereotypes.” The appointee of President Barack Obama said the order was “motivated by unconstitutional animus” and unlikely to prevail in a court’s final decision.

On April 15, Massachusetts-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, also appointed by Obama, separately temporarily blocked a TPS revocation of about 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela in the United States. It was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court

Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the administration’s emergency appeal of the decision by Chen: “So long as the order is in effect, the secretary must permit hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals to remain in the country, notwithstanding her reasoned determination that doing so is ‘contrary to the national interest.'”

Seven Venezuelan nationals covered by TPS and a group that represents others challenged the change.

Lawyers for TPS beneficiaries told the Supreme Court in a filing: “Staying the district court’s order would cause far more harm than it would stop. It would radically shift the status quo, stripping plaintiffs of their legal status and requiring them to return to a country the State Department still deems too dangerous even to visit.”

The U.S. State Department advises Americans not to travel to Venezuela, the highest travel advisory level.

At the end of Trump’s first term, officials described Venezuela as “the worst humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere.” A different form of temporary relief to some of its migrants was granted.

This litigation is separate from lawsuits involving Trump’s use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. The Supreme Court ruled Friday again against the administration, saying more notice is needed for people to challenge their removal under the act, which has been used during wars. In April, the justices paused deportations of any Venezuelans held in northern Texas.

Washington, DC – A measure known as the “nonprofit killer” has been removed from an enormous tax bill being advanced in the United States Congress, according to the bill posted online by the House of Representatives.

The provision, which no longer appeared on the President Donald Trump-backed “One Big, Beautiful Bill” on Monday, would have given the executive branch the authority to strip the tax-exempt status of nonprofits that it deems supportive of “terrorism”.

Advocates have warned that the legislative effort – which failed to pass as a stand-alone bill last year – could be abused to crack down on groups that the administration does not agree with, particularly nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) that support Palestinian rights.

Israel has given little indication that it is relenting after more than 19 months into its war on Gaza. The past week has seen an intensification of violence across the besieged Palestinian territory, which has killed hundreds of people.

The reason for the disappearance of the NGO provision remains unclear, and experts warned it may yet reappear in the bill before the final vote in the House, expected later in the week.

The office of Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

With a razor-thin majority in the House, Republicans need every vote to pass the tax bill, which Trump has put at the top of his agenda in Congress.

Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, said the section may have been removed to avoid putting the must-pass bill at risk, especially because the House parliamentarian, a nonpartisan office that oversees procedures, may have rejected it for violating the rules.

“It’s possible that this is a hiccup that they didn’t want, given that it wasn’t even likely to go through,” Hamadanchy told Al Jazeera.

“I can’t tell you that is the reason for sure. What I can tell you is that we continue to be very vigilant in case it comes back, either later this week or in the future.”

For weeks, Trump has been calling on Congress to pass the bill, which extends his 2017 tax cuts, a key component of his economic plans.

But the proposal has faced some opposition from conservative budget hawks, who have argued it does not cut spending enough and would add to the nation’s $36.2 trillion debt. So Republicans can ill-afford unnecessary issues that could derail the passage of the legislation.

‘Chill free speech’

Rights groups have been rallying against the “nonprofit killer”, saying it violates free speech and the right to due process.

The proposal would have granted the secretary of state power to unilaterally declare an NGO “terrorist supporting” and make it ineligible for tax exemptions.

It also said the government would not have to reveal the reason behind the designation if “disclosure of such description would be inconsistent with national security or law enforcement interests”.

Under the current rules, organisations certified to be nonprofits by the government get breaks on their federal income taxes. The status also makes donations to such groups tax deductible for donors.

While the withdrawn measure would have allowed a targeted NGO to challenge the secretary of state’s decision in court, losing the tax exempt status, even if temporarily, could have proven costly for nonprofits, especially smaller organisations.

Hamadanchy said being accused of supporting terrorism could also have prompted banks to close down the accounts of the groups.

“And then you have legal costs fighting off the designation because even if you might win in court, it’s going to take time to get there, and it’s going to cause a lot of damage to your organisation through that process,” he said.

“And that’s sort of the point because they want to chill speech.”

Hamadanchy noted that existing laws already make material support for a designated “terrorist” group a criminal offence with severe penalties.

The legislative push coincided with the Trump administration’s crackdown on Palestinian rights supporters, especially on college campuses.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked the student visas of several Palestine advocates – who have not been charged with a criminal offence – over allegations of “support for terrorism”.

Some advocacy groups have portrayed the “nonprofit killer” as part of a broader push to muzzle voices critical of Israel.

“This bill is designed to silence dissent, especially from Muslim, Palestinian and civil rights organizations that speak out against injustice and genocide,” the Council on American Islamic Relations said in a statement last week.

“It threatens every nonprofit that engages in advocacy, educates the public, or challenges government policy.”

The apparent setback for the nonprofit provision came nearly two weeks after House leaders cancelled a vote on a bill to restrict boycotts of Israel after a backlash from right-wing legislators who voiced opposition to the measure on free speech grounds.

Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, said it would be “interesting” to see how Republican leaders would deal with staunchly pro-Israel measures like the “nonprofit killer” going forward.

“They on the one hand likely see this as a fun opportunity to embarrass Democrats – whose opposition will be framed as anti-Israel or enabling terror and antisemitism – and on the other hand they have to worry about principled opposition from within their own ranks,” Friedman told Al Jazeera in a statement.

On October 7, 2024 – exactly one year into the United States-backed Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip that has now killed more than 53,000 Palestinians – the Washington-based Heritage Foundation unleashed a policy paper titled Project Esther: A National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism.

The conservative think tank is the same force behind Project 2025, a blueprint for consolidating executive power in the US and forging the best-ever right-wing dystopia. The “national strategy” proposed by Project Esther – which is named for the biblical queen credited with saving the Jews from extermination in ancient Persia – basically consists of criminalising opposition to Israel’s current genocide and exterminating freedoms of speech and thought along with a whole lot of other rights.

The first “key takeaway” listed in the report is that “America’s virulently anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and anti-American ‘pro-Palestinian movement’ is part of a global Hamas Support Network (HSN)”. Never mind that, in reality, there is no such thing as a “global Hamas Support Network” – just as there is no such thing as the HSN’s alleged “affiliated Hamas Support Organizations (HSOs)” that the Heritage Foundation has also taken the liberty of inventing. Among these alleged HSOs are prominent American Jewish organisations such as Jewish Voice for Peace.

The second “key takeaway” of the report is that the so-called HSN is “supported by activists and funders dedicated to destroying capitalism and democracy” – a curious choice of terms, no doubt, from a think tank that is doing its best to eradicate what remains of US democracy as we speak.

The phrase “capitalism and democracy” appears no fewer than five times in the report – although it’s not quite clear what Hamas has to do with capitalism aside from governing a Palestinian territory that has for more than 19 months been on the receiving end of billions upon billions of dollars’ worth of US-funded military destruction. From the perspective of the arms industry, at least, genocide is capitalism at its best.

And as per the genocidal logic of Project Esther, protesting the mass slaughter of Palestinians is fundamentally anti-Semitic – hence the need to pursue the prescribed national strategy of “extirpating the influence of the HSN from our society”.

The October publication of the Heritage Foundation report occurred on the watch of President Joe Biden’s administration, which the think tank diagnosed as “decidedly anti-Israel” despite its complete and utter complicity in the genocide in Gaza. The report included many suggestions on how to “combat the scourge of antisemitism in the United States … when a willing Administration occupies the White House”.

Fast forward seven months, and a recent New York Times analysis indicates that, since US President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, “the White House and other Republicans have called for actions that appear to mirror more than half of Project Esther’s proposals”. These range from threats to withhold gargantuan sums of federal funding for US universities that refuse to silence resistance to systematic slaughter to efforts to deport legal US residents for the crime of expressing solidarity with Palestinians.

In addition to allegedly infiltrating US academia and disseminating “anti-Zionist narratives across universities, high schools, and elementary schools, often under the umbrella or within the rubric of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and similar Marxist ideology”, Project Esther’s authors contend that “the HSN and HSOs have mastered the use of America’s liberal media environment [and] are quick to gain attention for any and every demonstration, no matter how large or small, from every network across the country”.

And that’s not all: “The HSN and HSOs have made prolific and unchecked use of social media platforms, such as TikTok, across the entire digital ecosystem to spout antisemitic propaganda.”

To all of these ends, the policy paper offers a whole host of recommendations for how to stamp out the domestic pro-Palestine movement as well as humane and ethical attitudes in general: from purging “HSO-supporting faculty and staff” from educational institutions to making “potential demonstrators fear affiliation with HSOs” to banning “antisemitic content” from social media – which in Heritage Foundation jargon of course means anti-genocidal content.

And yet in spite of all of Project Esther’s ruckus over the ostensibly existential anti-Semitic threat posed by the HSN, it turns out that “no major Jewish organizations appear to have participated in drafting the plan, or publicly endorsed it since its release”, according to a December article in the Forward.

A news outlet catering to American Jews, the Forward reported that the Heritage Foundation had “struggled to attract Jewish supporters for its antisemitism plan, which appears to have been assembled by several evangelical Christian groups”, and that Project Esther “focuses exclusively on left-wing critics of Israel, ignoring the antisemitism problems from white supremacists and other far-right groups”.

Meanwhile, in an open letter published this month, influential American Jewish leaders warned that a “range of actors” in the US are currently “using a purported concern about Jewish safety as a cudgel to weaken higher education, due process, checks and balances, freedom of speech and the press”.

Now, if the Trump administration seems to be taking Project Esther and running with it, it is more out of concern for propagating a white Christian nationalist agenda that utilises Zionism and anti-Semitism charges to its own extremist ends. And this, unfortunately, is just the beginning of a far more elaborate project.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

May 19 (UPI) — The Russian government announced Monday that the nonprofit Amnesty International is no longer welcome within its borders.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation put out a statement that it “has made a decision to recognize the activities of the international non-governmental organization Amnesty International Limited, registered in London, as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation.”

The agency then claimed that while “the organization positions itself as an active conductor of human rights protection in the world,” it alleges that “the London headquarters of AIL is the center of preparation of global ‘Russophobic’ projects, paid for by accomplices of the Kyiv regime.”

It then further purported that Amenesty International has not only worked to “intensify the military confrontation in the region,” but has also justified “the crimes of Ukrainian neo-Nazis,” and has sought an increase for funding of Ukraine as it insists “on the political and economic isolation of [Russia].”

“The organization’s members support extremist organizations and finance the activities of foreign agents,” the agency said.

The Amnesty Eastern Europe and Central Asia regional office responded Monday with a warning that the Russian declaration means “any participation in our activities, including donations and reposts, is punishable in the Russian Federation.”

“If you read us from Russia, or are planning to be there, please refrain from sharing our online and offline materials,” it said. “We will continue to protect human rights in Russia and in the world, and we will keep you informed,” before a final wish for readers to take care.

According to AIL, its Moscow office has been shut down since April of 2022 by Russian authorities after the Russian Ministry of Justice delisted it from the register of the representative offices of foreign nongovernmental organizations and international organizations. This allegedly came after Russia’s media regulator blocked access to Amnesty International’s Russian-language website.

Russia has a list of over 200 “undesirable organizations,” which includes the Clooney Foundation for Justice, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Greenpeace. Russian citizens can receive as many as five years in prison for funding or working with any of the groups that have been banned.

May 19 (UPI) — Former President Joe Biden sent out a thank you Monday to those who have shown concern since it was announced that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“Cancer touches us all,” Biden posted to his social media outlets Monday, “Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”

A Biden spokesperson confirmed Sunday that he has an aggressive form of prostate cancer that was discovered Friday after he had experienced urination issues. It was also found that the disease has metastasized to his bones and was considered to have a Gleason score of nine, which is seen as a “high-grade” level of cancer that can spread quickly.

However, the cancer appears to be a hormone-sensitive type, which allows for efficient management.

Several current and former holders of public office have since sent well wishes to Biden, from both sides of the American political landscape.

“Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis,” wrote President Donald Trump to Truth Social Sunday. “We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”

“Michelle and I are thinking of the entire Biden family,” posted former President Barack Obama to his social media Sunday. “Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace. We pray for a fast and full recovery.”

Then-Vice President Biden was the lead advocate of the “Cancer Moonshot” cancer cure initiative launched by the White House during the Obama administration and then re-launched it in 2022 as President.

“Doug and I are saddened to learn of President Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis,” wrote former Vice President Kamala Harris Sunday. “We are keeping him, Dr. Biden, and their entire family in our hearts and prayers during this time. Joe is a fighter, and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership.”

“We are hopeful for a full and speedy recovery.”

Cancer has directly impacted the Biden family before, as the former President’s son Beau Biden died at age 46 in 2015 from an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Britain’s top football host will not front 2026 World Cup coverage and is ‘bowing out by mutual agreement’ after backlash to a social media post about Zionism.

Gary Lineker, a former England captain and the face of football on British television for more than two decades, will leave the BBC, the public broadcaster said in a statement on Monday.

Lineker, 64, had been due to cover the 2026 FIFA World Cup for the BBC, but his early departure comes after he apologised last week for sharing a social media post about Zionism which featured a picture of a rat, historically used as an anti-Semitic insult.

Lineker said that he deleted the posts after learning of the offensive references.

According to multiple British media reports, the high-profile host is “bowing out by mutual agreement”.

He rose to become the BBC’s highest-paid star after presenting its Match of the Day (MOTD) highlights show for 25 years. The BBC announced last November that he would step down from MOTD this year, but carry on working for it until 2026.

“Gary has acknowledged the mistake he made. Accordingly, we have agreed he will step back from further presenting after this season,” BBC director general Tim Davie said in a statement.

Lineker repeated his apology on Monday, saying he would never consciously repost anything anti-Semitic.

“I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am,” he said. “Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action.”

Voicing Palestinian support

In recent years, Lineker’s desire to put forward his political views on social media has caused headaches for the BBC, which has strict rules on impartiality.

He was temporarily taken off air in 2023 after he criticised the previous government’s immigration policy on social media. In 2018, he opposed Brexit and called for a second referendum.

But it was Lineker’s support for the Palestinians affected by the war on Gaza that most recently brought him into conflict with the BBC.

Lineker had already caused friction at the public broadcaster when he recently said Israel was to blame for the origins of the Gaza conflict, because it turned the occupied territory into an “outdoor prison”.

Speaking on May 9 in an interview with The Telegraph at the Football Business Awards, just days before he was accused of the anti-Semitic social post on X, Lineker expressed that his issues are with the Israeli government rather than Jewish people.

“Obviously, October 7 was awful, but it’s very important to know your history and to study the massacres that happened prior to this, many of them against the Palestinian people,” he said in the interview with The Telegraph, which was published last Thursday, on May 15.

“Yes, Israelis have a right to defend themselves. But it appears that Palestinians don’t – and that is where it’s wrong. Palestinians are caged in this outdoor prison in Gaza, and now it’s an outdoor prison that they’re bombing,” Lineker added.

In the same interview, the TV host also disputed whether Israel could justifiably argue that it was still acting in self-defence. “I understand that they needed to avenge, but I don’t think they’ve helped their own hostage situation at all,” Lineker said.

“People say it’s a complex issue, but I don’t think it is. It’s inevitable that the Israeli occupation was going to cause massive problems, and I just feel for the Palestinians.”

The former striker played for England for eight years until 1992 and had been a top scorer for Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur in the 1980s and early 1990s.

He is also the co-founder of a podcasting production business, Goalhanger, which makes series such as the podcasts The Rest Is History and The Rest Is Football.

Lineker will leave his role at the BBC on Sunday after his final episode of Match of the Day.

May 19 (UPI) — The Ukrainian military said Monday that the Security Service of Ukraine attacked a Russian facility in the Black Sea with the use of drones.

The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, posted to Telegram Monday that “with the help of surface and air drones,’ it destroyed “enemy radars and warehouses” built on gas production platforms.

The post also included a video of the attack that showed the approach of the drones from a drone’s point of view before a long-distance view of an explosion on the Russian structure.

“Within one special operation, SBU specialists used two types of drones that demonstrated the effectiveness of paired work,” The SBU said.

The assault was carried out by the 13th Main Directorate of the SBU’s Military Counter-Intelligence Department and used both aerial and naval drones to target what the Telegram post described as “Russian military infrastructure placed on Ukrainian offshore drilling rigs,” known as the Boyko towers.

A Russian Neva radar system, stored supplies and living quarters were reportedly destroyed in the attack.

The attack destroyed a Russian Neva-B radar system used for monitoring aerial and surface activity, as well as supply storage and living quarters on the platform, the SBU reported. Neva-B radar systems can track as many as 200 targets at one time and is intended to warn of incoming attacks on infrastructure.

The SBU purports that through the use of drones, it has so far been able to attack 11 Russian warships and the “Crimean Bridge,” a reference to the Kerch Strait Bridge, which linked Crimea to the Russian mainland and was attacked by Ukraine in October of 2022.

“We once again reminded the enemy that [there is no place for Russian rubbish] in the Black Sea,” the Security Service of Ukraine added.