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To prioritise the release of the captives in Gaza, or to continue fighting what critics are calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “forever war” – that is the question increasingly dividing Israel.

Israel’s government, laser-focused on the idea of a total victory against Hamas in Gaza, appears to be opting for the latter.

And that is only increasing the criticism Netanyahu has received since October 2023, firstly for his government’s failure to stop the October 7 attack, and then for failing to end a now 19-month war, or provide a clear vision for what the “day after” in Gaza will look like.

Netanyahu’s decision in March to unilaterally end a ceasefire instead of continuing with an agreement that would have brought home the remaining captives has widened the cracks within Israeli society, as opponents realised that the likelihood of the captives leaving Gaza alive was becoming more remote.

In recent weeks, a wave of open letter writing from within military units has emerged protesting the government’s priorities.

The discontent has also gained traction with the public. Earlier this month, thousands of Israelis gathered outside the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv to protest against Netanyahu’s decision to call up a further 60,000 reservists as part of his escalation against the bombed out and besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where his forces have already killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children.

In mid-April, current and former members of the air force, considered one of Israel’s elite units, also released a letter, claiming the war served the “political and personal interests” of Netanyahu, “and not security ones”.

Prompted by the air force, similar protests came from members of the navy, elite units within the military and Israel’s foreign security agency, Mossad.

Political and personal interests 

Accusations that Netanyahu is manipulating the war for his own personal ends predate the breaking of the ceasefire.

In the minds of his critics, the longer the war continues, the longer Netanyahu feels he can defend himself against the numerous threats to his position and even his freedom.

In addition to facing trial on numerous counts of corruption dating back to 2019, he also faces calls to hold an inquiry into the government’s political failings before the October 7 attack.

Netanyahu also faces accusations that members of his office have allegedly been taking payment from Qatar – the Gulf state has previously dismissed the allegations as a “smear campaign” intended to hinder efforts to mediate an end to the conflict.

The continuation of the war allows Netanyahu to distract from those issues, while maintaining a coalition with far-right parties who have made it clear that any end to the war without total victory – which increasingly appears to include the ethnic cleansing of Gaza – would result in their departure from government, and Netanyahu’s likely fall.

And so there are questions about whether Netanyahu’s announcement of a further escalation in Gaza, including the occupation of territory and displacement of its population, will mark an end to the conflict, or simply bog Israel down in the kind of forever war that has so far been to Netanyahu’s benefit.

‘I don’t know if they’re capable of occupying the territory,” former US Special Forces commander, Colonel Seth Krummrich of international security firm Global Guardian told Al Jazeera, “Gaza is just going to soak up people, and that’s before you even think about guarding northern Israel, confronting Iran or guarding the Israeli street,” he said, warning of the potential shortfall in reservists.

“It’s also competing with a tide of growing [domestic] toxicity. When soldiers don’t return home, or don’t go, that’s going to tear at the fabric of Israeli society. It plays out at every dinner table.”

Staying at home 

Israeli media reports suggest that part of that toxicity is playing out in the number of reservists simply not showing up for duty.

The majority of those refusing service are thought to be “grey refusers”. That is, reservists with no ideological objection to the mass killings in Gaza, but rather ones exhausted by repeated tours, away from their families and jobs to support a war with no clear end.

Official numbers of reservists refusing duty are unknown. However, in mid-March, the Israeli national broadcaster, Kan, ran a report disputing official numbers, which claimed that more than 80 percent of those called up for duty had attended, suggesting that the actual figure was closer to 60 percent.

“There has been a steady increase in refusal among reservists,” a spokesperson for the organisation New Profile, which supports people refusing enlistment, said. “However, we often see sharp spikes in response to specific shifts in Israeli government policy, such as the violation of the most recent ceasefire or public statements by officials indicating that the primary objective of the military campaign is no longer the return of hostages and ‘destruction of Hamas’, as initially claimed, but rather the occupation of Gaza, and its ethnic cleansing.”

Also unaddressed is growing public discontent over the ultra-religious Haredi community, whose eight-decade exemption from military service was deemed illegal by the Supreme Court in June of last year.

Despite the shortfall in reservists reporting for duty and others having experienced repeated deployments, in April, the Supreme Court requested an explanation from Netanyahu – who relies upon Haredi support to maintain his coalition – as to why its ruling had not been fully implemented or enforced.

Throughout the war, Netanyahu’s escalations, while often resisted by the captives’ families and their allies, have been cheered on and encouraged by his allies among the far-right, many of whom claim a biblical right to the homes and land of Palestinians.

The apparent conflict between the welfare of the captives and the “total victory” promised by Netanyahu has run almost as long as the conflict itself, with each moment of division seemingly strengthening the prime minister’s position through the critical support of the ultranationalist elements of his cabinet.

Netanyahu’s position has led to conflict with politicians, including his own former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. While Gallant wasn’t opposed to the war in principle – his active support for Netanyahu eventually led to him joining Netanyahu in facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for war crimes – his prioritisation of the captives put him at odds with the prime minister.

The divide over priorities has meant that civility between the government and the captives’ families has increasingly gone out the window, with Netanyahu generally avoiding meeting families with loved ones still captive in Gaza, and far-right politicians engaging in shouting matches with them during meetings in parliament.

Division within Israeli society was not new, Professor Yossi Mekelberg of Chatham House told Al Jazeera, “but wars and conflicts deepen them”.

“Now we have a situation where some people have served anywhere up to 400 days in the army [as reservists], while others are refusing to serve at all and exploiting their political power within the coalition to do so,” Mekelberg added.

“Elsewhere, there are ministers on the extreme right talking about ‘sacrificing’ the hostages for military gain,” something Mekelberg said many regarded as running counter to much of the founding principles of the country and the Jewish faith.

“There’s such toxicity in public discourse,” Mekelberg continued, “We see toxicity against anyone who criticises the war or the prime minister, division between the secular and the religious, and then even divisions within the religious movements.”

May 9 (UPI) — Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts University doctoral student grabbed by ICE in Massachusetts and imprisoned in Louisiana, was granted bail from ICE detention Friday.

U.S. District Judge William Sessions said at the end of the hearing that Ozturk raised “very substantial” and “very significant” claims of First Amendment and due process rights violations in her case.

He said her detention cannot stand.

Sessions said, “Ozturk is free to return to her home in Massachusetts. She’s also free to travel to Massachusetts and Vermont as she sees fit, and I am not going to put a travel restriction on her, because, frankly, I don’t find that she poses any risk of flight.”

The judge ordered the government to immediately release her.

Ozturk began coughing at one point during the hearing and she rushed out of the room to get her inhaler. She attended the hearing virtually.

A defense lawyer had urged the judge to grant immediate bail, telling him Ozturk faces “significant health risks” if she stays in ICE custody.

The 2nd Circuit’s U.S. Court of Appeals had ordered Wednesday that she be transferred back to Vermont.

Her student visa was revoked immediately and she was taken into custody by armed masked agents without warning March 25 in Somerset, Mass., after she co-wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper.

She was imprisoned in a Louisiana detention center afterward. Tufts University demanded her release “without delay.”

Ozturk is a Turkish national and was legally studying in the United States until the Trump administration’s State Department abruptly revoked her visa without prior notification.

Ozturk attorney Mahsa Khanbani said she was targeted for her pro-Palestinian views expressed in the student newspaper op-ed.

Trump administration prosecutors charge without evidence that Ozturk supported Hamas.

Before Ozturk’s release was ordered, her defense lawyers said she has not been charged with any crime and maintained that her detention violated constitutional free speech and due process rights.

President Donald Trump said May 4 during an NBC News interview he was not sure immigrants are entitled to due process rights.

Asked to respond to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio‘s comment that every person in the United States is entitled to due process, Trump replied, “I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.”

The new head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the United States has warned his staff that he will not tolerate any resistance to President Donald Trump’s agenda for the organisation.

Friday was the first full day of David Richardson’s leadership at FEMA, after the agency saw a shake-up at its helm earlier this week. But he began his tenure as head with a stark warning for the agency.

“I — and I alone in FEMA — speak for FEMA. I’m here to carry out the president’s intent for FEMA,” he reportedly told staff in an agency-wide call.

He predicted that 20 percent of the staff would oppose Trump’s vision for the FEMA, which he has pledged to dismantle.

“Obfuscation, delay, undermining. If you’re one of those 20 percent of people and you think those tactics and techniques are going to help you, they will not, because I will run right over you,” Richardson said.

“Don’t get in my way,” he added. “I know all the tricks.”

FEMA is the agency charged with coordinating and carrying out the federal government’s response to natural disasters and other emergencies, ranging from hurricanes and flooding to domestic attacks.

But it has long been criticised for lagging response times, inadequate resources and disorganisation, particularly during major disasters like 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, which displaced tens of thousands of residents in Louisiana and killed more than 1,300 people.

Trump has responded to such criticisms by pledging to do away with FEMA altogether and redistributing its functions to individual states.

“ When there’s a problem with the state, I think that that problem should be taken care of by the state,” Trump said in January. “That’s what we have states for. They take care of problems. And a governor can handle something very quickly, you know?”

During his campaign for re-election in 2024, he also spread falsehoods about the agency, including that it had refused to offer relief to Republican residents in North Carolina, which had recently suffered widespread flooding from Hurricane Helene.

Since taking office in January, Trump has followed through with his plans to restructure the federal government, reducing the funding and staff to independent entities like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Trump and his allies have framed the cuts as necessary to combat “fraud” and “waste” across the government, though he has not offered definitive proof of wrongdoing.

At FEMA, an estimated 2,000 employees were terminated or accepted buyout offers to resign. A 2023 Government Accountability Office report indicated that FEMA only had 5,000 full-time staff members, as well as a group of reservists and emergency-response workers who could be called up to address a crisis.

To become the administrator of FEMA requires undergoing a Senate confirmation hearing and a vote.

But while those Senate hearings continue for high-level government positions, Trump has named interim leaders to govern the organisation in the meantime.

Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, served in that role since Trump started his second term.

He had been a prominent critic of FEMA during the administration of former President Joe Biden. But his time as FEMA chief came to an abrupt halt earlier this week, in the wake of an appearance before an appropriations subcommittee in the House of Representatives.

At Wednesday’s hearing, a Democratic Representative, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, asked Hamilton about the idea that FEMA could be shuttered.

Hamilton responded with measured opposition. “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” he said.

He added that it was ultimately not his decision to make and criticised FEMA as part of an “overextended federal bureaucracy”.

“I’m not in a position to make decisions and impact outcomes on whether or not a determination such as consequential as that should be made. That is a conversation that should be had between the president of the United States and this governing body,” Hamilton told the committee.

But the very next day, Hamilton was removed from his role as FEMA’s interim head and replaced by Richardson, a Marine veteran.

On Friday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Hamilton’s removal was related to his testimony at the subcommittee hearing.

“My understanding is that this individual testified saying something that was contrary to what the President believes and the goals of this administration in regards to FEMA policy,” Leavitt said. “And so, of course, we want to make sure that people in every position are advancing the administration’s goals.”

Critics, including Representative DeLauro, blasted the switch-up as indicative of a White House that will not tolerate dissent, even when necessary.

“The Trump administration must explain why [Hamilton] has been removed from this position,” DeLauro said in a statement. “Integrity and morality should not cost you your job.”

Richardson, meanwhile, has proceeded to set a stricter tone for his tenure, with his fiery Friday phone call. He warned FEMA staff that any actions not “within our missions” would be considered a waste of taxpayer funds.

“We’re going to find out how to do things better. We’re going to find out how to push things down to the states that should be done at state level. Also we’re going to find out how we can do more cost-sharing with the states,” he said.

Trump has been criticised for denying requests for assistance, including from Republican-led states like Arkansas, which suffered tornadoes during the week of March 14, destroying neighbourhoods. Multiple deaths were reported.

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders — who worked as Trump’s press secretary during his first term — has written to the president to appeal his denial of aid.

“Since 2023, Arkansas has experienced an unprecedented frequency of disasters, with four federally declared disasters and ten state-declared disasters. These overlapping events have severely strained the capacity of state and local agencies to respond and recover effectively,” Huckabee Sanders wrote.

“Many Arkansans are still living in temporary conditions or repairing damages from previous events, only to be displaced or impacted once again. The state and its citizens are in dire need of assistance to recover, rebuild, and mitigate further loss.”

She will arrive in Sao Paulo and visit Brazil between June 5 and June 15. Crown Princess Kiko (L-R), Princess Mako and Princess Kako attend the new year greeting at the East Plaza, Imperial Palace in Tokyo in January 2020. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

May 9 (UPI) — Japanese Princess Kako will visit Brazil in June for the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Brazil.

She will arrive in Sao Paulo and visit Brazil between June 5 and June 15. It’s her fourth oversees visit.

Events during her visit include an appearance in the capital of Brasília for a ceremony and luncheon marking the diplomatic anniversary.

On June 10, Kako will attend the 130th anniversary celebration hosted by Brazil’s Congress.

While in Brazil, Kako will meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. She will visit other Brazilian cities during the trip, including Rio de Janeiro.

The Brazilian government invited the princess to visit the country in February. Lula met with Princess Kako in March when he visited Japan.

Kako returns to Japan June 17.

Kako is the second daughter of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko.

Pope Leo XIV, the first US pontiff, called his surprise election a “cross” and a blessing as he celebrated his first Mass as pope in the Sistine Chapel. The Chicago-born missionary vowed to be a “faithful administrator” and said the Church must shine through “the dark nights of this world.”

May 9 (UPI) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at a crossing in Texas seized 113 grams of fentanyl earlier this week. Officials said the drugs allegedly were hidden in the vagina of a 40-year-old U.S. citizen.

Border patrol officials said the pedestrian border crosser was detained on Wednesday at the international crossing in El Paso.

“This is an exceptionally dangerous practice and could be lethal if the packaging were to fail during transport,” said CBP El Paso Port Director Ray Provencio. “It is best to not engage in smuggling activity, but especially this form. It is risky on many levels.”

According to federal officials, border agents selected the woman for a secondary exam just before 3 a.m. During the inspection, officials said, the woman told officers she had a foreign object concealed inside her.

Agents took the woman to a medical facility, where an exam confirmed the presence of a concealed object inside the woman, officials said, adding that the alleged package of drugs was removed from the woman’s vagina.

According to officials, the woman then was returned to the port of entry, where she was arrested and turned over to Homeland Security. She faces federal charges associated with the alleged smuggling act, officials said.

May 9 (UPI) — The Trump administration is “actively looking at” suspending the writ of habeas corpus, which is the right to challenge the legality of a person’s detention by the government, White House senior adviser Stephen Miller said Friday.

Outside the White House, the deputy chief of staff for policy was asked by a reporter whether President Donald Trump was considering suspending the writ of habeas corpus to deal with illegal immigration in the United States.

“Well, the Constitution is clear — and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land — that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion,” Miller said.

“So, it’s an option we’re actively looking at. Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”

Miller said judges should stop blocking the deportation of undocumented immigrants in cases in which those people are exercising habeas writs.

One Democratic aide told The Hill that “Stephen Miller is not a lawyer but he plays an (expletive) one on TV. No one in their right mind would take his advice seriously, but sanity is in short supply in this administration.”

The U.S. Constitution, in Article 1, section 9, reads: “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”

The writ of habeas corpus has been suspended only four times, according to the National Constitution Center. They were during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865, when parts of South Carolina was overrun by the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction in 1871-1872, when two provinces in the Philippines were under unrest in 1905 and in Hawaii after the bombing at Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett and attorney Neal Katyal in 2017 wrote the Constitution “does not specify which branch of government has the authority to suspend the privilege of the writ. But most agree that only Congress can do it.”

On April 7, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, allowed deportations of alleged members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador based on the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. But the justices ruled that the government must give deportees “reasonable time” to challenge their removal in court before being deported.

The 1798 Alien Enemies Act has been used three times during wars.

Administration officials didn’t adhere to an oral order from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in March to turn around or halt flights of Venezuelan migrants headed to the Salvadoran prison.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts said deporting a group of migrants overseas, possibly to Libya and Saudi Arabia, would violate court orders prohibiting the government from shipping deportees to a third country. Murphy was appointed by President Joe Biden.

Also, students, including Rumeysa Ozturk at Tufts and Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia, have challenged their detention. Ozturk on Friday was granted bail by District Judge William Sessions in Vermont, appointed by President Barack Obama.

Miller told reporters the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965 takes away jurisdiction by the Judicial Branch over immigration cases.

“The courts aren’t just at war with the executive branch, the courts are at war — these radical, rogue judges — with the legislative branch, as well. So all of that will inform the choices the president ultimately makes,” Miller said.

Some men deported said they’re not members of gangs.

“If Donald Trump can sweep non-citizens off the street and fly them to a torturer’s prison in El Salvador with no due process, he can do it to citizens, too,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said last week. “Because if there is no due process, no fair hearing, you have no opportunity to object.”

May 9 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed three executive orders — establishing a national center for homeless veterans, reducing criminal prosecutions for violations of the Code of Federal Regulations and increasing efficiency of the Federal Register.

Trump directed the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins to establish the National Center for Warrior Independence on the West Los Angeles VA campus. Plans are to house as many as 6,000 veterans by 2028.

“Previous administrations have failed veterans by allowing the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center — hundreds of acres in Los Angeles given to the Federal Government more than a century ago to help veterans — to fall apart,” the White House said in a fact sheet. “Parts of the property are leased to a private school, private companies, and the baseball team of the University of California, Los Angeles — sometimes at rock-bottom prices.”

Los Angeles, with approximately 3,000 homeless veterans, the most in the nation, accounts for about 10% of all homeless veterans in America, according to the White House.

“President Trump strongly believes that every veteran deserves our gratitude, and that the federal government should treat veterans like the heroes they are,” the White House said.

Veterans from around the nation can receive care, benefits and services at the center.

“The new National Center for Warrior Independence will help them and other veterans like them rebuild their lives,” the White House said in a fact sheet. “The Center will promote self-sufficiency through housing, substance abuse treatment and support for productive work for the veterans housed there.”

The funds had been previously spent on housing or other services for undocumented immigrants.

“Our Nation’s security, prosperity, and freedom would not be possible without our veterans,” the order reads. “Many service members paid the ultimate sacrifice. Many others bear visible and invisible wounds from their service. Too many veterans are homeless in America. Each veteran deserves our gratitude.

“Yet the Federal Government has not always treated veterans like the heroes they are. During the previous administration, unaccountable bureaucrats treated them shamefully, failing veterans when they needed help most and betraying the taxpayers who rightfully expect better.

Also, homeless veterans will be able to use vouchers from the Housing and Urban Development.

In addition, he ordered a feasibility study at the Manchester VA Medical Center in New Hampshire to expand services to support a full-service medical center.

Code of Federal Regulations

Trump also signed an order “to ease the regulatory burden on everyday Americans and ensure no American is transformed into a criminal for violating a regulation they have no reason to know exists.”

It discourages criminal enforcement of regulatory offenses, saying “this status quo is absurd and unjust.”

“The United States is drastically overregulated,” the order reads. “The Code of Federal Regulations contains over 48,000 sections, stretching over 175,000 pages — far more than any citizen can possibly read, let alone fully understand. Worse, many carry potential criminal penalties for violations. The situation has become so dire that no one — likely including those charged with enforcing our criminal laws at the Department of Justice — knows how many separate criminal offenses are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations, with at least one source estimating hundreds of thousands of such crimes.”

The order said “many regulatory crimes are ‘strict liability’ offenses,’ meaning that citizens need not have a guilty mental state to be convicted of a crime.”

Within 365 days, Trump wants the head of each agency to list all criminal regulatory offenses enforceable by the agency or the Department of Justice and the range of criminal penalties.”

Federal Register

Another executive order will speed publishing new regulatory action.

“The Office of the Federal Register frequently takes days or, in some cases, even weeks to publish new regulatory actions,” according to the executive order. “Such delay is unwarranted. The Office of the Federal Register receives final documents that are fully executed by the relevant decision-makers — all that remains is publication. Yet despite those delays, executive departments and agencies are charged $151-$174 per column of text to publish each rule in the Federal Register. These inefficiencies inhibit my Administration’s deregulatory agenda and waste taxpayer money.”

Trump directed the U.S. archivist, acting through the Office of the Federal Register, to work with the Director of the Government Publishing Office to reduce publication delays, including by modernizing computer systems and “eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy.”

Within 45 days, the archivist shall review the fee schedules for publication in the Federal Register and “take steps to ensure that fees are based on the actual costs of publication and account for increased efficiencies achieved as a result of this order.”

US attorney says Baraka ‘committed trespass’ during protest of facility, which he argues opened without proper permits.

Rights groups and Democratic officials have decried the arrest of the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, during a protest at an immigration detention centre.

Mayor Ras Baraka had joined several lawmakers at the detention centre, called Delaney Hall, for a demonstration on Friday.

For weeks, he has been among those protesting the recently opened 1,000-bed centre, which critics see as a key link in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.

Those in attendance said Baraka sought to enter the facility along with members of the United States Congress on Friday, but he was denied entry.

A video reviewed by The Associated Press showed a federal official in a jacket with the logo for the Homeland Security Investigations unit telling Baraka he could not tour the facility because “you are not a congress member”.

Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the centre’s gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit. The man said, “They’re talking about coming back to arrest you.”

“I’m not on their property. They can’t come out on the street and arrest me,” Baraka replied.

Moments later, several Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded the mayor and others on the public side of the gate. Baraka was dragged back through the security gate in handcuffs, while protesters yelled, “Shame!”

In a subsequent post on the social media platform X, Alina Habba, Trump’s former personal lawyer and acting US attorney for New Jersey, said Baraka had “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings” to leave.

“He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state,” Habba wrote. “He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.”

US Representative LaMonica McIver was also at the centre on Friday, along with Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman and Robert Menendez Jr, to conduct what they called an “oversight inspection”.

In a post on X, McIver said Baraka “did nothing wrong” and had already left the facility at the time of his arrest.

“This is unacceptable,” McIver said in the video.

For its part, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security accused the lawmakers of “storming” the facility in a “bizarre political stunt”.

Baraka has said the detention centre — located in Newark, not far from New York City — opened despite not having the proper local permits and approvals. He has launched a lawsuit to halt its operations.

The GEO group, which runs the centre in coordination with ICE, has denied his claims. It entered into an agreement with the federal government in February to run the Delaney Hall facility, under a 15-year contract valued at $1bn.

‘Unjust arrest’

Local elected officials swiftly condemned the federal agents’ actions, with the state’s governor, Phil Murphy, writing on X that he was “outraged by the unjust arrest” of Baraka.

Murphy called the mayor an “exemplary public servant who has always stood up for our most vulnerable mayors” and appealed for his release.

The governor noted that New Jersey had previously passed a law banning private immigration detention centres in the state, a Democratic stronghold, although it was partially struck down by a federal court in 2023. An appeal is ongoing.

Baraka, who is running in next month’s Democratic primary for governor, has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

He struck a defiant tone against the Trump administration in January, after ICE raided businesses in the city he leads.

“Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorised,” he said at the time.

May 9 (UPI) — A judge on Friday set Erik and Lyle Menendez’s resentencing hearing for next week after an evaluation considering the potential danger of their release showed a “moderate risk” of committing violence.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic set the hearing for Tuesday and Wednesday in Van Nuys, Calif.

Jesic is weighing whether they should receive less prison time than life in prison without parole on July 2, 1996. They have already been 35 years behind bars.

Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, could be eligible for parole immediately after being convicted on March 26, 1996, of their parents’ deaths. Jose and Kitty Menendez, were killed on Aug. 20, 1989, and their children were arrested seven months later in 1990. There was mistrial on Jan. 13, 1994, because a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous decision.

The brothers said they killed their parents in self-defense after Lyle Menendez confronted their father about sexually abusing his younger brother.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman gave the results of “comprehensive risk assessments.”

Psychologists conducted the assessments, which rank inmate risk levels as low, moderate or high.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the assessments earlier this year.

Psychologists found that Lyle minimizes rule-breaking, and displays narcissistic and antisocial characteristics, Hochman said in court. Erik is still vulnerable to the influence of others and is not willing or able to self-monitor, Hochman said.

As part of the assessment, Hochman noted that Erik was found with a smuggled cellphone in January, and Lyle was found with a smuggled device in November. Also according to the assessment, Erik allegedly bought and traded drugs and allegedly helped inmates commit tax fraud.

These violations occurred after Hochman’s predecessor, George Gascon, said they were exceptional inmates and they should get a new sentence. Gascon noted they were furthering their education and programs to help other inmates.

But Hochman, who was elected in November, doesn’t want a new sentencing, saying there are 16 “unacknowledged lies” the brothers have told about the killings. That includes they did it in self-defense.

The judge denied the recommendation for no new trial.

“If someone is willing to risk a rule violation while involved in resentencing, what does that say about conforming to standards of law outside a structured environment?” Hochman told reporters.

Mark Geragos, the brothers’ lawyer, said the cellphone violations do not constitute a “super strike” – a serious felony crime. He said that should not “undercut what is 35 years of remarkable work by both brothers” in prison.

Geragos said he will have seven witnesses, including two experts, at the hearing.

More than 20 family members also want the brothers to be freed.

Gascon recommended last year that the Menendez brothers be resentenced to 50 years to life.

May 9 (UPI) — The U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors announced Friday that former Waste Management CEO David Steiner and a board member of FedEx as the 76th postmaster general.

Steiner, 67, will succeed former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who resigned in March, and acting Postmaster General Doug Tulino. DeJoy was appointed by Donald Trump during his first term in 2021.

The independent federal agency has been in operation for 250 years since its creation July 26, 1775, at the beginning of the American Revolution.

“It is an incredible honor to be asked to lead the world’s greatest postal organization, with a history that stretches back before the founding of the United States,” Steiner said in a news release. “I deeply admire the public service and business mission of this amazing institution, and I believe strongly in maintaining its role as an independent establishment of the executive branch.

He was Waste Management’s CEO from 2004 through late 2016.

“Dave is the right person to lead the Postal Service at this time to ensure this magnificent and historic organization thrives into the future,” USPS Board of Governors Chair Amber McReynolds said in a statement. “Dave is a highly regarded leader and executive with tremendous vision, experience and skill that can be.”

Steiner earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Louisiana State University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

FexEx has been shipping competitor with USPS but provides “last-mile” service for some addresses for the private company. Steiner plans to resign his board position.

Frederick Smith, who is FedEx’s founder and executive chairman, said Steiner can help USPS become more efficient.

Smith said his “sharp business acumen will be key to addressing the significant challenges facing the United States Postal Service which has lost more than $108 billion since 2007 despite receiving billions in taxpayer relief” in a statement to CNBC.

USPS lost $3.3 billion in the second quarter of the 2025 fiscal year compared with $1.5 million last year, the agency announced Friday. Total revenue was $19.7 billion, about the same as last year.

“As we mark 250 years of service to the nation, our organization continues to face economic headwinds. We are working diligently to control costs, increase revenues, and transform and modernize our infrastructure,” Tulino, the acting postmaster, said. “At the same time, we are seeing strong market acceptance of shipping products like USPS Ground Advantage and adopting an increasingly competitive posture across our product portfolio. We are also encouraged that the increasing efficiencies of our processing, logistics and delivery network are showing steady progress in reducing our relative cost as we serve the nation and American commerce.”

President Donald Trump has proposed merging the Commerce Department and the Postal Service. USPS employee unions protested this proposal.

“Well, we want to have a post office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money, and we’re thinking about doing that, and it will be a form of a merger,” Trump said at Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s swearing-in ceremony in February. “It’ll remain the Postal Service, and I think it’ll operate a lot better than it has been over the years.”

Earlier this month, Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency called USPS a prime candidate for privatization.

DeJoy confirmed 10,000 USPS jobs would be cut through the agency’s voluntary early retirement program.

“I look forward to engaging with its employees, who provide such an important service to all our communities,” Steiner said. “As the entity with the largest union membership in the United States, I look forward to engaging with the unions and management associations to ensure that together we create a world-class employment experience. I also look forward to working with industry associations, customers, and policymakers, as we chart a positive path forward.”

The National Association of Letter Carriers’ president criticized Steiner’s selection.

“His selection isn’t just a conflict of interest — it’s an aggressive step toward handing America’s mail system over to corporate interests,” Brian L. Renfroe said in a statement obtained by Politico. “Private shippers have been waiting to get USPS out of parcel delivery for years. Steiner’s selection is an open invitation to do just that.”

Since 1982, the agency has received little tax dollars and has raised prices.

The cost of a 1-ounce letter will increase 2 cents to 78 cents in July 2025. Ten years ago it was 49 cents and 20 years ago 39 cents. In 1971, it was 8 cents.

“I am excited by the challenges ahead and by the many opportunities to shape a vibrant, durable and increasingly competitive future for the Postal Service,” Steiner said.

USPS delivers an average of 318 million pieces of mail each day to 169 million addresses. There have been proposals to cut home delivery from six to fix days a week.

“If you have love and if you are rooted in your beliefs, no fear can shake you.” Palestinian peace activist Mohsen Mahdawi recounted his arrest and imprisonment to Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey, explaining how he is able to keep up his work.

Russia marked the 80th anniversary of its victory over Nazi Germany with a grand parade in Moscow’s Red Square, attended by over 20 foreign leaders. The Victory Day spectacle, celebrated on May 9, is Russia’s most important secular holiday.

May 9 (UPI) — Radar screens at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport shut off Friday for the second time in a week.

ABC News reported that air traffic controllers were heard telling FedEx aircraft employees that their screens went blank and for the pilots to ask their company to use its influence to get the screen issue fixed.

In a separate situation, a controller told a private jet on arrival to stay at or above 3,000 feet because of the radar outage in case the controllers couldn’t make contact as the plane prepared to land.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported Friday that “there was a telecommunications outage that impacted communications and radar display at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace,” and that “the outage occurred around 3:55 a.m. on Friday, May 9, and lasted approximately 90 seconds.”

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy posted to social media Friday, saying, “We should not be relying on air traffic control technology that came out during the glory days of Elvis [and] Duran Duran.” He added: “That’s why we’ve unveiled a plan to build a brand new system and train the best and brightest air traffic controllers.”

Duffy had outlined a plan Thursday to revamp the nation’s entire air traffic control system, parts of which rely on components over 50 years old. He also said some towers will need to come down and be fully rebuilt, but the main focus will be on the replacement of outdated radar and communication systems.

An outage at Newark last week left ATC computer screens dark for between a minute and 90 seconds, which prevented controllers from being able to even speak with pilots of incoming and outgoing flights and resulted in a brief hold on departures.

The first incident caused several controllers to go on medical leave, as they considered it a traumatic event. Controllers can take at least 45 days away from their jobs and must be medically evaluated before they can return.

United CEO Scott Kirby said in a press release Wednesday that “all the flights in and out of [Newark Airport] are absolutely safe.”

He added, though, that while Newark Liberty International is a crown jewel of the region and an international gateway for the United States, and that nearly 50 million people flew through there last year, “the truth is there are more flights scheduled there than the FAA can handle.”

It’s the biggest military escalation between India and Pakistan in decades. Missile strikes, drone attacks, and deadly shelling have struck on both sides of the border in the disputed region of Kashmir. With dozens of civilians dead and both countries trading blame, can the two nuclear powers contain the dispute?

May 9 (UPI) — Panasonic revealed during an online press conference Friday that it plans to cut 10,000 jobs from fiscal 2025 to fiscal 2026. Half will be cut in Japan and half overseas.

Panasonic Holdings President Yuki Kusumi cited “extremely high” costs relative to similar companies and said the big job cuts are necessary for company profit growth.

The company took an $895 million restructuring charge and forecasts a 15.3% profits decline in the year ending next March.

The job cuts will be made to transform and streamline unprofitable operations.

Kusumi said he would also return roughly 40% of his personal compensation amid the job cuts.

“Responsibility for management lies with me,” he said. “I feel very ashamed.”

“The Company will thoroughly review operational efficiency at each Group company, mainly in sales and indirect departments, and reevaluate the numbers of organizations and personnel actually needed,” Panasonic said in a statement.

Unprofitable operations will be terminated along with “the integration and closing of sites.”

The 10,000 job cuts are being carried out to optimize personnel on a global scale, according to Panasonic’s statement.

Panasonic said profit is expected to improve by $1.07 billion dollars as a result of the job cuts and restructuring.

“This measure targets 10,000 employees (5,000 in Japan and 5,000 overseas) at consolidated companies, and it will be implemented mainly in FY3/26, in accordance with the labor laws, rules, and regulations of each country and region,” Panasonic’s statement said.

May 9 (UPI) — Ukraine said Friday two alleged members of a Hungarian spy network have been detained.

The spies sought military information about the Zakarpattia region, according to the Security Service of Ukraine.

“As a result of the operation in Zakarpattia, the SSU detained two agents of the Hungarian network. The investigation found that both assets were supervised by an officer of Hungarian military intelligence, whose identity has already been established,” the SSU said in a statement.

“This is the first case in the modern history of the country when espionage activities of a foreign intelligence service from an EU country to the detriment of Ukrainian security have been officially recorded.”

Speaking on the ATV television channel, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said “anti-Hungarian propaganda is often employed in Ukraine… which often turns out to have no basis in fact.”

But the SSU said Ukraine has the evidence and has neutralized the Hungarian spy network. SSU Counterintelligence documented the alleged spies’ moves and seized phones and other material evidence during searches at their homes.

The SSU said one of the detained alleged spies was a 40-year-old former military serviceman from Berehove recruited by Hungary and put on standby in 2021.

The second detainee is a former servicewoman for the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine who left her unit this year.

The spy network’s goal, according to the SSU, “was to collect information on how well Zakarpattia region is protected military-wise, to look for vulnerabilities in the region’s ground and air defense, as well as to study the socio-political views of local population, including scenarios of their behavior if Hungarian troops enter the region.”

The man was accused of personally spying on Ukraine defense forces locations and the coordinates of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems. The SSU said the spy traveled to Hungary to report to a Hungarian intelligence officer and was paid cash by his handler.

According to the SSU, he was given a mobile phone with an encrypted channel to transmit Ukrainian military data to Hungary.

He was tasked with identifying cars of the Ukrainian security and defense forces and giving Hungary data on Ukraine’s war losses and developments on the front line.

The SSU said the woman accused of spying was assigned tasks including “informing the Hungarian special service on the presence of aircraft and helicopters in Zakarpattia region, as well as on the defense systems of the military unit where she had served.”

Ukraine’s security service posted a YouTube video that included statements in Hungarian from the two spy suspects. Their faces were obscured as they spoke.

Both spy suspects were detained for suspicion of high treason and face life imprisonment if convicted under martial law.

Russia and Ukraine have accused one another of violating a three-day ceasefire as Moscow marked Victory Day by welcoming allies to a grand military parade.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin marked the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany on Friday alongside China’s Xi Jinping, in an event clearly intended to bolster support for his three-year offensive against Ukraine, which he had unilaterally paused for 72 hours to mark the occasion.

“Russia has been and will remain an indestructible barrier against Nazism, Russophobia and anti-Semitism,” said Putin, seeking to draw parallels between World War II – or the Great Patriotic War as it is named in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union – and the Ukraine war.

Russia maintains that its February 2022 invasion of its neighbour is a battle against a “Nazi” regime in Kyiv. Ukraine has dismissed that claim as “incomprehensible”.

More than 20 foreign dignitaries, including Xi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, watched the 11,000-strong parade on Red Square.

The show of force was billed by Moscow as proof that the country has not been isolated by the war.

Throughout his quarter-century in power, Putin has tapped into the nation’s trauma over Soviet losses during the Great Patriotic War, which Russia dates as running from 1941-45.

With the two-year period of 1939-41, during which the Soviets maintained a non-aggression pact, with the Nazis sidelined, Victory Day has been elevated to become the country’s most important public holiday and a prime lever used to whip up patriotism.

Putin appeared to seek to transfer that mood to his war in Ukraine.

“The whole country, society and people support the participants of the special military operation,” he said in his address to the parade, which reportedly included 1,500 soldiers who had fought in Ukraine.

Kyiv argued the parade has “nothing to do with the victory over Nazism” and that those marching on Red Square in a “parade of cynicism” were “quite likely” implicit in crimes against Ukrainians.

Political theatrics

Amid the pomp and circumstance, security in Moscow has been tight, with authorities jamming mobile internet connections, citing the threat of Ukrainian attacks.

However, Putin’s unilaterally declared May 8-10 ceasefire teetered on the brink of collapse even as the parade opened on Friday morning, with both Kyiv and Moscow accusing one another of attacks.

Ukraine had dismissed Putin’s three-day pause as political theatrics, designed to avert the impatience of the United States – which has been trying to broker a ceasefire – and refused to commit to it, and had spent Tuesday and Wednesday using drones to target Moscow, shutting down its airports for significant periods.

Authorities in Russia’s western Belgorod border region said a Ukrainian drone attack hit the city council building on Friday, adding that no one was injured.

The Russian Ministry of Defence said Ukrainian troops had made attempts to breach the border in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, and claimed Ukraine had violated the ceasefire 5,026 times.

Ukraine claimed that just hours after the truce entered into effect, Russia had already broken it, with Moscow’s forces launching guided bombs against the northern Sumy region.

Kyiv reported further attacks on Friday in the southern city of Kherson and the central Dnipropetrovsk region, with two people wounded.

‘Concerted approach’

In a symbolic show of support for Kyiv to coincide with Friday’s parade, Ukraine’s Western allies backed a special tribunal to prosecute Putin and other senior Russian officials for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Foreign ministers from almost 20 European nations met in Ukraine’s western city of Lviv to sign the “Lviv statement”, a document paving the way for the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, which could start operating next year.

“We stand for a just and lasting peace, for a secure Europe, and for accountability and justice,” said United Kingdom Foreign Minister David Lammy in a statement.

The same day, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said a group of 10 northern European nations and the UK had agreed to support a US proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

That tallies with Ukraine’s response to Putin’s Victory Day ceasefire, which was to question why it would only run for three days and to call for a full 30-day truce.

The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) coalition – which comprises Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK – met in Oslo on Friday.

Store said the group had contact the night before with US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the proposal and that a “concerted approach” was now being taken.

Diplomatic reset

Trump, who has presented himself as the main mediator in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, had initially appeared to tilt towards Moscow after entering office in January, offering support to Russia’s demands.

However, as Moscow has dragged its feet on agreeing to a ceasefire, the US president has demonstrated growing impatience with Putin, telling him last month to “stop shooting” and sign a peace deal.

On Thursday, Trump reiterated his call for a “30-day unconditional ceasefire,” saying on his Truth Social network that if the truce was not respected, “the US and its partners will impose further sanctions.”

A minerals deal between Kyiv and Washington, ratified by Ukraine’s parliament unanimously on Wednesday, appears to have helped improve relations.

Trump has approved military shipments to the country once more, while the rhetoric from US officials towards Moscow has shown signs of growing frustration.

Still, in the background, Washington has continued to work on a diplomatic reset with Moscow.

On Friday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by Interfax as saying Russia and the US planned another round of talks aimed at getting their respective diplomatic missions fully operational.

May 9 (UPI) — Britain hit Russia’s shadow fleet Friday with what Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the largest ever sanction package.

Up to 100 oil tankers that carried more than $24 billion in cargo since the beginning of 2024 were targeted by the sanctions.

“Every step we take to increase pressure on Russia and achieve a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine is another step towards security and prosperity in the U.K.,” Starmer said in a statement.

Starmer said the sanctions targeting the fleet Russia used to transport oil will add more pressure to Russia’s economy.

He said, thanks to Western sanctions, oil and gas revenues for Russia have fallen each year since 2022.

“Sanctions and the cost of his barbaric war are causing the Russian economy to stall — with the wealth fund hollowed out, inflation rising and government spend on defense and security spiraling,” Starmer said.

Starmer said Britain will do all it can to disrupt the Russian shadow fleet and the people behind it, because it’s a security threat for Britain.

“The threat from Russia to our national security cannot be underestimated, that is why we will do everything in our power to destroy his shadow fleet operation, starve his war machine of oil revenues and protect the subsea infrastructure that we rely on for our everyday lives,” Starmer’s said.

Russia’s shadow fleet, Starmer said, isn’t just bringing in money for Russia. It’s being used to damage critical national infrastructure “through reckless seafaring in Europe.”

The sanctioned shadow fleet vessels will be banned from British ports and could be seized if they enter British waters.

Hungary, whose government maintains support of Russian narratives over war in Ukraine, is accused of seeking defence data.

Ukraine has detained two people who it accuses of spying for Hungarian military intelligence.

The SBU security service claimed in a statement on Friday that the former members of the Ukrainian military were recruited by Hungary to conduct “espionage activities to the detriment of our state”. Relations between Kyiv and Budapest have long been strained, but the antipathy has grown amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian intelligence agency said that the pair had been recruited by a handler in Hungarian military intelligence to gather information about defence systems in the country’s west, host to a significant Hungarian diaspora.

There was no immediate response from the Hungarian government.

The SBU said the two suspects, a 40-year-old man and a woman, had been placed in custody and given notice that they were under suspicion of committing treason. They both now face up to life in prison, it added.

The pair was allegedly given cash and special equipment for secret communication and tasked with passing on details about air defence batteries and other military capabilities in the western Zakarpattia region bordering Hungary.

The SBU alleged the man had tried to recruit at least two people as informants.

It added that this was the first time in the history of Ukraine that a Hungarian spy network had been found to be working against Kyiv’s interests.

Throughout the Ukraine war, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has delayed Western military aid to Kyiv and maintained warm relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, at odds with his European Union peers.

Orban has used staunch nationalism to build his political base at home, in particular stressing grievances over the territories lost to neighbouring states – including Ukraine – under the Versailles Treaty that ended World War I.

Budapest has berated Kyiv for years, claiming discriminatory actions against the  150,000 or so ethnic Hungarians, most of whom live in the Zakarpattia region.

The SBU noted that the suspected agents had also been tasked with studying “the socio-political views of local residents, in particular, scenarios of their behaviour if Hungarian troops entered the region”.