imposed

Military government orders two-week closure for schools and universities as blockade on fuel imports declared by JNIM causes further disruptions.

Mali’s military government has announced schools and universities nationwide will be closed for two weeks, as the landlocked country continues to suffer from the effects of a crippling blockade on fuel imports imposed by an armed group in September.

Education Minister Amadou Sy Savane said on Sunday the suspension until November 9 was “due to disruptions in fuel supplies that are affecting the movement of school staff”.

He added authorities were “doing everything possible” to restore normal fuel supplies before schools resume classes on November 10.

In a separate statement, the Interministerial Committee for Crisis and Disaster Management said restrictions will be placed on fuel supplies until “further notice”, with priority given at dedicated stations to “emergency, assistance, and public transport vehicles”.

It comes nearly two months after the Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) armed group, one of the several operating in the Sahel, declared a blockade on fuel imported from neighbouring countries.

Since then, the al-Qaeda affiliate has been targeting fuel tankers coming mainly from Senegal and the Ivory Coast, through which most imported goods transit.

JNIM initially said the blockade was a retaliatory measure against the Malian authorities’ ban on selling fuel outside stations in rural areas, where fuel is transported in jerry cans to be sold later. Malian authorities said the measure was intended to cut off JNIM’s supply lines.

Endless queues

The blockade has squeezed Mali’s fragile economy, affecting the price of commodities and transport in a country that relies on fuel imports for domestic needs.

Its effects have also spread to the capital, Bamako, where endless queues have stretched in front of gas stations.

Mali, along with neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled armed groups, including some linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), as well as local rebels.

Following military coups in all three countries in recent years, the new ruling authorities have expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance, which is seen as having made little difference.

Analysts say the blockade is a significant setback for Mali’s military government, which defended its forceful takeover of power in 2020 as a necessary step to end long-running security crises.

With a large-scale ICE operation now underway in the Chicago area, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has enacted a uniquely massive 15-mile radius prohibition against drone flights. The FAA told us the temporary flight restriction (TFR) for drones in this area was requested by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The no-fly zone lasts through Oct. 12.

Under this restriction, only drones operated in support of national defense, homeland security, law enforcement, search and rescue and other emergency response efforts, or commercially used drones with a valid statement of work are allowed to fly. In addition, media organizations can apply for an approved special governmental interest airspace waiver. Any drones violating this restriction can be seized or destroyed, the TFR explains. It also extends about 15 miles into Lake Michigan, without any explanation.

There have been no reports that drones have created major problems for federal agents. However, having uncrewed aerial vehicles flying during an ongoing operation like the one taking place in the Chicago area clearly raises concerns about operational security as well as the safety of helicopters and other aviation assets flying in support of it. Meanwhile, despite the possibility of waivers for commercial and journalistic purposes, the restriction is also drawing the ire of commercial drone operators and sparking worries about civil liberties violations.

The move comes as the Trump administration has followed through on its vow to bring federal forces into the nation’s third-largest city. Hundreds of federal agents have poured into the region. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump suggested responding to protests in Chicago and elsewhere would be a good way to prepare troops for combat.

“…we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military – National Guard – but military, because we’re going into Chicago very soon,” Trump told a room full of admirals and generals gathered at Marine Base Quantico.

In response to these actions, hundreds of people have taken to the streets in downtown Chicago. They are protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration arrests and Trump’s promised federal troop deployment. One hundred National Guard troops are being deployed to Illinois to protect federal facilities.

Early on Tuesday, about 300 agents from various federal organizations, “using drones, helicopters, trucks and dozens of vehicles, conducted a middle-of-the-night raid on a rundown apartment building on the South Side of Chicago, leaving the building mostly empty of residents by morning and neighbors stunned,” The New York Times reported. Sources said the raid targeted the Tren de Aragua cartel, which the Trump administration has declared a narco terrorist organization.

Federal officials say they have made nearly 1,000 arrests for immigration violations in what has been dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, according to the DHS.

In addition, many of the protests have been aimed at a federal facility in suburban Broadview, located about 10 miles west of Chicago. The facility is being used to detain hundreds of people arrested on immigration violations. At least five people have been arrested amid clashes between protesters and agents in which chemical agents have been deployed to disperse crowds.

Issuing TFRs for emerging security concerns is not uncommon. However, the area this one covers is unusually large. TFRs are more commonly much more focused geographically.

For instance, a previous TFR was imposed over the Broadview facility. There is also one that is active over the federal facility in Portland, Oregon, which is a hotpoint for protests, that is one mile in radius.

Last year, for example, dozens of drone no-fly zones were created in the New Jersey area following thousands of reported mystery drone sightings, most of which proved to be unfounded. However, unlike the Chicago-area TFR, those were imposed on a localized level, mostly over power infrastructure sites. The vast majority only covered a one-mile radius of airspace. The TFR imposed over the Picatinny Arsenal was an outlier with a three-mile radius, a fraction of the area covered by the Chicago restrictions.

Not surprisingly, the local drone industry, which relies on flying the skies of Chicago to conduct business, is not happy with the restriction.

“The airspace closure affects Chicago’s substantial commercial drone industry, including real estate photographers, construction inspectors, and infrastructure surveyors who rely on drones for daily operations,” wrote Haye Kesteloo, Editor in Chief of two drone tech publications: DroneXL.co and EVXL.co. “Part 107 commercial pilots cannot work in the restricted airspace, while recreational pilots face the same grounding through mid-October.”

The restriction “represents one of the most expansive non-emergency TFRs affecting civilian drone operations in a major U.S. city, comparable to airspace closures during major events like the Super Bowl but lasting significantly longer,” he added.

“There’s zero legitimate security reason for this TFR,” Charles Black, a Chicago resident who writes software, complained on X.

Nasscom says the one-day deadline could have ‘ripple effects’ on the US innovation ecosystem, and global job markets.

India’s leading trade body says the one-day timeline for implementing a new $100,000 annual fee on H-1B worker visas in the United States was a matter of “concern”.

Nasscom, representing India’s $283bn IT and business process outsourcing industry, on Saturday said the policy’s abrupt rollout would affect Indian nationals and disrupt continuity of ongoing onshore projects for the country’s technology services firms.

“A one-day deadline creates considerable uncertainty for businesses, professionals, and students across the world,” Nasscom said in a statement, a day after US President Donald Trump announced the fee, which comes into force from Sunday.

H-1B visas allow companies to sponsor foreign workers with specialised skills – such as scientists, engineers, and computer programmers – to work in the US, initially for three years, but extendable to six years.

India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71 percent of approved beneficiaries.

.@RNamb @sangeetagupta29 @doshikavita @shivendra_1969 @nasscomgtd pic.twitter.com/bSfCjDutjs

— nasscom (@nasscom) September 20, 2025

The new H-1B measure, which will likely face legal challenges, was announced alongside the introduction of a $1m “gold card” US residency programme.

Nasscom said the new policy could have “ripple effects” on the US innovation ecosystem and global job markets, pointing out that for companies, “additional cost will require adjustments”.

Nasscom added that policy changes of this scale were best “introduced with adequate transition periods, allowing organisations and individuals to plan effectively and minimize disruption”.

US officials on Friday said the change to the H-1B programme would ensure that companies would only sponsor workers with the most rarefied skill sets. However, such a prohibitive fee will likely vastly transform the H-1B system, which was created in 1990 and awards 85,000 visas per year on a lottery system.

Supporters of the H-1B programme say it brings the best and brightest to work in the US, creating an edge against foreign competitors. Critics have long charged that companies have abused the programme, using it to pay lower wages and to impose fewer labour protections.

Tech entrepreneurs – including Trump’s former ally Elon Musk – have warned against targeting H-1B visas, saying that the US does not have enough homegrown talent to fill important tech sector job vacancies.

However, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said: “All the big companies are on board.”

Geographically, California has the highest number of H-1B workers, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Some analysts suggested the fee may force companies to move some high-value work overseas, hampering the US’s position in the high-stakes artificial intelligence race with China, which at 11.7 percent of total H-1B visas ranks a distant second, according to government data.

Following the White House’s announcement, major US tech firms Microsoft, JPMorgan and Amazon advised employees holding H-1B visas to remain in the US, according to internal emails reviewed by the Reuters news agency.

The new fee marks the Trump administration’s most high-profile attempt to overhaul the country’s temporary employment visa system. Since taking office in January, he has launched a broad crackdown on immigration, including efforts to limit certain forms of undocumented immigration.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s foreign ministry on Saturday said its officials would “comprehensively assess the impact of these measures on the advancement of [South Korean] companies and professional talents into the US market and engage in necessary communication with the US”.

Hundreds of South Koreans were detained during a US immigration raid on a Hyundai-LG battery factory site in the state of Georgia this month.