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Amid Gaza’s worsening fuel crisis under the Israeli blockade, Palestinians are converting plastic into diesel to try and keep essential services running. The production process is dangerous to humans and vehicles alike.

Decree signed by General Assimi Goita days after rare protest suspends activities ‘until further notice’, citing ‘reasons of public order’.

Mali’s military government has suspended the activities of political parties “until further notice”, days after a rare pro-democracy rally.

The decree signed on Wednesday by the transitional president, General Assimi Goita, cited “reasons of public order” and covered all “associations of a political character”, according to state media.

It was issued a week after authorities announced the repeal of a law governing the operation of political parties – a decision interpreted by legal experts as a step towards their dissolution.

In response, a coalition of dozens of parties formed to “demand the effective end of the political-military transition no later than December 31” as well as a return to constitutional order.

On Saturday, the new coalition mobilised several hundred people to protest in the capital, Bamako, against the military government’s move. Another protest had been expected later this week.

Cheick Oumar Doumbia, one of the leaders of the weekend demonstration, said he was “not surprised” by the decree.

“I expected this because this is their way of preventing us from carrying out our activities, but we will continue to defend democracy in Mali,” he told The Associated Press news agency. “We are a people committed to democracy.”

Goita seized power after coups in 2020 and 2021. Last week, a national political conference said he should be installed as president for a renewable five-year term.

In 2024, the authorities had already suspended the activities of political parties for three months.

Donald Trump pushed out his National Security Advisor Mike Waltz because he was reportedly talking to Israeli PM Netanyahu about bombing Iran. Does this mean Trump is serious about diplomatic reconciliation with Iran? Soraya Lennie explains.

Several Asian airlines have announced they were re-routing or cancelling flights to and from India and Pakistan, as the two neighbouring countries are racked by the deadliest exchange of fire in the last two decades.

Navigational data indicates that the airspace over northern India and southern Pakistan has been completely cleared. Pakistan’s entire airspace was nearly free of civilian aircraft, barring a few flights.

Sanad, Al Jazeera’s verification agency, monitored Indian military aircraft flying over northern India and a Pakistani government aircraft in the south of the country via air navigation tracking sites. This occurred just hours before the airspace was entirely cleared, coinciding with several flights diverting their routes from Pakistan.

According to FlightRadar24, which monitors flights worldwide, 52 flights to and from Pakistan were cancelled as of Wednesday morning.

There were 57 international flights operating in Pakistan’s airspace when India struck, according to a Pakistan army spokesperson.

At Karachi’s airport, only two international flights were reported so far after an eight-hour suspension due to heightened tensions.

Other domestic flights in both countries were also disrupted.

Air India cancelled flights to and from Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh and Rajkot due to the closure of airports following the tensions with Pakistan.

India’s flagship carrier said flights would be suspended until at least May 10.

India has also shut down multiple airports in its northern region. Additionally, other airlines IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air cancelled flights to 10 cities in northern and northwestern India near the border with Pakistan.

The changing airline schedules are set to further complicate operations in the Middle East and South Asia for carriers, who are already grappling with a fallout from conflicts in the two regions.

International carriers affected

According to local Malaysian outlet The Star, Malaysia’s flagship carrier Malaysian Airlines has cancelled flights to Amritsar, India, and rerouted two long-haul flights after the closure of Pakistan’s airspace.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Batik Air said it had cancelled several flights to and from Lahore, Pakistan, and India’s Amritsar.

A spokesperson for Dutch airline KLM said it was not flying over Pakistan until further notice. Singapore Airlines also announced that it had stopped flying over Pakistani airspace since May 6.

Taiwan’s EVA Air said it would adjust its flights to and from Europe to avoid airspace affected by the fighting between India and Pakistan.

Korean Air said it had begun rerouting its Seoul Incheon-Dubai flights on Wednesday, opting for a southern route that passes over Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India, instead of the previous path through Pakistani airspace.

Thai Airways said flights to destinations in Europe and South Asia would be rerouted starting early on Wednesday morning, while Vietnam Airlines said tensions between India and Pakistan had affected its flight plans.

Taiwan’s China Airlines said flights to and from destinations including London, Frankfurt and Rome had been disrupted, with some cancelled and others having to make technical stops in Bangkok and Prague to refuel and change crews, before taking longer flight paths.

Some flights from India to Europe were also seen taking longer routes.

Lufthansa flights from Delhi to Frankfurt turned right towards the Arabian Sea near the western Indian city of Surat, taking a longer path compared with Tuesday, according to FlightRadar24.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Airlines said its flights were unaffected and there is no change to their four weekly flights to Pakistan’s Lahore and Karachi.

THE UK’S favourite vehicles have been revealed, as car manufacturers publish their sales figures for the year so far. 

Tesla is notably absent, despite their Model Y ranking as the fifth best-selling model of 2024, as UK drivers appear to distance themselves from its controversial CEO, Elon Musk.

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Ford Puma – 18,241 units

Although the Ford Puma was the best selling car last year, the iconic vehicle had a much slower start to 2025.

However, after selling consistently for three months, the Puma reclaimed its crown in February. 

This particular motor is beloved for its low price and strong fuel efficiency, meaning it’s a great car if you are on a budget. 

Kia Sportage – 16,380 units

Despite finishing in fourth in 2024, another great year of sales has seen the Kia Sportage rise to the number two spot on the charts. 

The vehicle entered its fifth generation in 2022, as part of a rebrand which gave it a bold new appearance and a broad engine range. 

Matt Saunders, the road test editor at Autocar said: “Not sure if it was aircraft tail fins or T-bone steaks that those air vents reminded me of, but I certainly kept coming back to look at them. 

“Sometimes characterful product design can be just that simple.”

The Kia Sportage has mild-hybrid, full-hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains which appeals to a wide range of buyers. 

Nissan Qashqai – 13,989 units

Nissan’s iconic Qashqai has slipped in the rankings in recent years, after topping the list in 2022.

It clinched the second place spot in 2023 before holding firm at the third place position since 2024. 

The car’s popularity is largely driven by its electrified powertrains, which allow it to be used in a wide variety of situations. 

It also has a practical interior which prioritises comfort, making every trip feel like a breeze. 

Vauxhall Corsa – 13,852 units

Like the Nissan Qashqai, the Vauxhall Corsa has fallen in the rankings over the past few years. 

Coming in at first in 2021, the car’s sales steadily fell until it left the top 10 completely in 2024. 

However, a fresh redesign gave the vehicle a second lease of life and sent it rocketing back up the charts. 

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Nissan Juke – 12,373 units

Nissan’s second car on the list is the Juke, which received a redesign in 2023.

The rebrand also meant the vehicle was fitted with hybrid power, broadening its appeal even further. 

However, the car retained its iconic look which has made it instantly recognisable on Britain’s roads. 

This iconic look has helped drive sales and kept the Juke in the sales charts.

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Volkswagen Golf – 12,348 units

The German-made Volkswagen Golf has been one of the most popular cars for some time, thanks to its dependability and efficiency. 

According to Autocar, its design is “handsomely understated” which gives it an effortless look. 

There are more options for drivers to customise their vehicle’s interior, though, and the new models often come with heated seats. 

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MG HS – 11,016 units

The MG HS comes available with a petrol engine or with a frugal plug-in hybrid, meaning it can appeal to a broad range of drivers.

The vehicle’s PHEV power train means that it can drive on an electric-only engine for over 75 miles, helping to reduce your motor’s emissions while also helping you to drive further. 

It also has a high-tech interior including a 10.1 touchscreen, which displays the 360 degree parking camera. 

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Volkswagen Tiguan – 10,664 units

Volkwagen’s Tiguan is another one of the brand’s vehicles which prioritise reliability over flashy gimmicks. 

The car comes with a wide range of powertrains, as well as gadgets including parking sensors, wireless smartphone mirroring and a reversing camera. 

It also has a spacious and comfortable cabin for passengers, alongside strong body control for drivers.

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Volvo XC40 – 10,612

The only Volvo car to make this list has been on the roads for eight years. 

The Volvo XC40 made a surprise comeback in April, thanks to its fancy interior. 

However, the car isn’t just a great motor on the surface. 

Autocar have described their car as having a “quiet” but “strong” performance which prioritises “frugality”.

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Hyundai Tucson – 8715 units

The final car in the top ten is the Hyundai Tuscon. 

The motor has floated up and down the list over the years, peaking at number six in 2023. 

Its 2024 makeover has helped keep sales up by giving it a flashy exterior and easy to use on-board technology. 

According to Autocar’s Deputy road test editor, Richard Lane, the vehicle’s lighting is one of its best features. 

He said: “As is the trend these days, a prominent light bar runs across the Tucson’s tailgate. 

“It looks smart, particularly with those new rear light clusters and their wing-like detailing.”

My sister was standing with a few other students under the dim glow of Harvard Yard’s old lampposts, casually smoking and chatting. “Oh, you’re Palestinian?” one of them asked as he leaned in to light his cigarette from hers. “My cousin is in the IDF [Israeli army].”

Then he placed the cigarette in his mouth backwards, the lit end burning between his teeth. “This is how my cousin smoked while shooting Palestinians at the border,” he said. “So those idiots couldn’t see the flame.”

That evening, shaken, my sister called our parents and later reported the incident to her resident tutor. She searched for a way to file a formal complaint but found none. Arabs weren’t considered a “protected class”. In the charged political climate of late 2001, hate speech like this wasn’t just tolerated – it was invisible.

More than two decades later, little has changed. A report released in April 2025 by the Harvard Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias described a “deep-seated sense of fear” among Muslim and Arab students, faculty and staff. The campus climate, the report noted, was marked by “uncertainty, abandonment, threat, and isolation”. Nearly half of Muslim students surveyed said they felt physically unsafe at Harvard while an overwhelming 92 percent of all Muslim students, faculty and staff revealed that they feared professional or academic consequences for expressing their personal or political views.

Harvard has fashioned itself as a free-speech warrior on the national stage for refusing to negotiate with the Trump administration on its sweeping demands for the university to drop its diversity, equity and inclusion measures and punish student protesters.

However, inside Harvard’s campus walls, we have seen President Alan Garber oversee a systematic erasure of teaching, research and scholarship about Palestine, at a time when more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed, and hundreds of thousands more have been forcefully displaced and are facing starvation under a relentless Israeli siege. Long before Harvard evaded a hostile takeover from our billionaire president, it capitulated to the demands of its billionaire donors in matters of student discipline, campus speech and academic freedom.

To please its right-wing donors, Harvard adopted a one-sided conceptualisation of campus safety, in which speaking up against Israeli state violence towards Palestinians is considered threatening. As a result, university administrators rush to address anti-Semitism on campus, as they should, but they also censor and eliminate speech and scholarship which is critical of Israel in the name of fighting antisemitism. Meanwhile, anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab racism, and Islamophobia are less than an afterthought. University administrators remain silent as students, faculty and staff experience doxxing, harassment and death threats for speaking up about Palestinian human rights. They have shared international students’ information with the Department of Homeland Security, as students on nearby campuses have been abducted by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, detained and deported for objecting to Israel’s international law violations.

Beyond turning a blind eye to intimidation and abuse, the university’s leaders also routinely take action to erase Palestinian speech, scholarship, advocacy and views.

Last year, the Harvard Corporation, the university’s unelected governing body, overruled the faculty and barred 13 seniors from graduating for protesting the genocide in Gaza, breaking with decades of disciplinary precedent. The university has banned the only undergraduate Palestine advocacy group twice, through inconsistent enforcement of the university’s ambiguous and “ever-evolving” event co-sponsorship policy, which, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) warned, “raise[s] the specter of viewpoint discrimination”. In a little-publicised Title VI settlement from January, the US Department of Education found that Harvard failed to meaningfully investigate or sufficiently respond to 125 cases of discrimination and harassment reported through its anonymous reporting hotline, particularly those “based on Palestinian, Arab, and/or Muslim shared ancestry”. Although President Garber has said Harvard should condemn “hateful speech” under the institutional voice policy, this did not apply to the gruesome “jokes” former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made about giving students exploding pagers for interrupting his speech at Harvard Business School in March 2025.

The handful of teaching and research programs where faculty study Palestine at Harvard have been censored, eliminated, or are under threat of elimination. In a matter of months, Harvard cancelled a panel featuring Palestinian children from Gaza at Harvard Medical School, ended its only partnership with a Palestinian university, and eliminated the Religion and Public Life program at the Harvard Divinity School, which addressed Israel/Palestine as a case study. Harvard also dismissed the leadership of the Center for Middle East Studies, as an “offering of sorts to its critics”, according to The New York Times.

The elimination of Harvard programmes about Palestine is especially chilling given that all of Gaza’s universities have been demolished, more than 80 percent of its schools have been destroyed or damaged, and professors, teachers and students in Gaza have been systematically attacked. The UN calls this “scholasticide” – the systemic obliteration of education through the destruction of educational infrastructure and arrest, detention, or killing of students, staff, and teachers.

The erasure and elimination of knowledge production by Palestinians and about Palestine at Harvard and other universities chills speech in defence of Palestinian human rights in the US, and thus materially affects the safety of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

At this time last year, campuses across the US experienced an unprecedented mobilisation in support of Palestinian freedom, which put a spotlight on the overwhelming public opposition to Israel’s assault on Gaza. Eventually, the opposition to Israel’s conduct against Palestinians became so vocal that then-President Joe Biden – an ardent supporter of Israel – threatened an arms embargo against Israel if the humanitarian situation in Gaza did not improve.

Today, after Harvard and other universities suppressed protests against Israel’s total war on Gaza, Palestinian suffering and death are met with growing silence in the US. As public and media attention drifts away from Gaza, the pressure on American leaders to intervene – or even acknowledge the scale of the crisis – has all but disappeared.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recently declared that “the humanitarian situation in Gaza is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities.” Jonathan Whittall, the local head of OCHA, stressed that what’s unfolding in Gaza no longer resembles conventional warfare. “People in Gaza are telling me they feel like it’s the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life in plain sight,” he said. Malnutrition is surging as Israel has sealed the borders to food, medicine, and all humanitarian aid for over two months. Meanwhile, scenes that should shock the world – children’s bodies thrown into the air by explosions, families burned alive – have become what Whittall called “everyday atrocities”.

Both the Trump administration and Harvard’s billionaire donors clearly understand the important role universities play in shaping US society and public opinion. As Harvard leaders proclaim their commitment to “viewpoint diversity”, we can rest assured that we will hear more from speakers like Jared Kushner, who spoke at the Harvard Kennedy School last year about his plan to “finish the job” and develop Gaza’s “valuable waterfront property”, instead of Palestinian child amputees whose plight might make us feel uncomfortable or complicit.

It is heartening that hundreds of university presidents signed a letter opposing President Trump’s attempted takeover of US higher education. But for decades, their institutions have eagerly bent to the will of billionaire donors. In just the past year and a half, these donors have shaped everything from campus speech to student discipline – even course syllabi. In this corrupt bargain, the concept of “campus safety” has been weaponised to suppress speech on what the UN and other human rights organisations have called genocide. The language of anti-discrimination has been twisted to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion programs – Harvard’s own DEI office now quietly renamed the “Office of Community and Campus Life”.

This moment cannot be separated from a broader history. It echoes the 1971 Lewis Powell memo, which outlined how corporations could infiltrate US institutions – especially universities – to align them with corporate interests. Today, the “Palestine exception” has become a key entry point for an ideological capture of higher education, decades in the making.

For Harvard and its peers to resist federal overreach while yielding to oligarchic donors is not resistance at all – it’s surrender. If we don’t fight both forces together, we may soon be unable to fight at all. If, as President Garber wrote, “the fearless and unfettered pursuit of truth liberates humanity,” then he – and all of us – must demand that liberation without exceptions, caveats, or fear. For every single one of us.

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

Tyrese Haliburton grabbed his own missed free throw and buried a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining, giving the visiting Indiana Pacers a 120-119 victory over the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, and taking a commanding lead in the series.

The Pacers scored the final eight points on Tuesday after Donovan Mitchell made two free throws to push Cleveland’s lead to 119-112 with 57 seconds left. Baskets by Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam made it a one-possession game, and Andrew Nembhard stole the subsequent inbounds pass from Max Strus.

Haliburton drew a foul with 12.4 seconds remaining, making his first free throw to make it 119-117, then grabbed his miss on the second. He dribbled beyond the arc before making the 3-pointer to complete Indiana’s comeback from 20 points down.

“Obviously, we got lucky,” said Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle. “Ty hit another amazing shot to win the game. You don’t see this very often, let alone twice in one week. Tyrese, he came through again. We’re very fortunate.”

“I’m at peace with my game,” said Haliburton. “I understand that I’m trusted in these moments … It’s a special feeling. I get paid a lot of money to play a kids’ game and I’m having a lot of fun doing it.”

Mitchell amassed 48 points, nine assists, five rebounds and four steals for the top-seeded Cavaliers, who were without three key players: NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley (left ankle sprain), All-Star point guard Darius Garland (left big toe sprain) and key reserve De’Andre Hunter (right thumb sprain).

Cleveland lost the first two games of a series at home for the first time since 1996, when it was swept by the Knicks in a best-of-three matchup.

“We outplayed them for most of the game, but we ran out of gas,” said Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson. “We couldn’t separate ourselves. Every possession, they just upped their physicality.”

“It’s hard to put all this in words,” said Carlisle. “Cleveland hit us with a hellacious punch early in the game. In the fourth, we just hung on. We maintained enough energy to get it done. Give the guys credit, they somehow found a way.”

Nesmith and Myles Turner each scored 23 points and Haliburton had 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. Bennedict Mathurin added 19 points and Nembhard collected 13 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds, along with eight turnovers, for fourth-seeded Indiana.

Mitchell, a six-time All-Star, scored 12 points in the first, 15 in the third and 12 in the fourth in an electrifying performance. He made 15 of 30 field goal attempts and was 17 of 21 on free throws, setting career highs in free throws made and attempted.

“Mitchell had a heroic game,” said Carlisle. “But right now, we’re deeper than them. I think we wore them down.”

“Everybody was tired, but they were tired,” said Haliburton. “The wear-down effect had a lot to do with it.”

Strus had 23 points and Jarrett Allen posted 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who led 81-61 midway through the third. Sam Merrill scored 14 off the bench.

“We outplayed them for the majority of the game, then we had our mental lapses,” said Allen. “Now it’s, ‘Will we be able to replicate it?’ They capitalised on every mistake we made at the end.”

Power forward Mobley and Hunter were both injured Sunday in Game 1 on consecutive fourth-quarter possessions that were not deemed fouls. Garland has not played since April 23 against the Heat.

Mobley landed on Turner’s foot as the latter slid under him on a shot, while Hunter dislocated his thumb as he fell after his dunk was blocked by Mathurin.

Atkinson, named NBA Coach of the Year earlier this week, expressed his displeasure in three-minute responses on Monday after practice and before the game, eliciting a response from Carlisle.

“Nobody wants to see players get hurt,” Carlisle said. “That disturbs the hell out of us.”

Game 3 in the best-of-seven series moves to Indianapolis on Friday.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Washington does not wish to decouple from China but wants ‘fair trade’.

The United States and China will hold trade talks in Switzerland this week, officials have said, as the world’s two largest economies seek to de-escalate tensions that have led to a de facto mutual trade embargo.

The talks would be the first official engagement between Washington and Beijing on trade since US President Donald Trump slapped a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods, prompting a retaliatory 125 percent duty from China.

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will attend the talks for the US side, their offices said in a statement on Tuesday.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will represent Beijing, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Businesses and investors have been anxiously waiting for signs of a thaw in US-China tensions amid fears a prolonged trade war could cause serious damage to the global economy.

The International Monetary Fund last month lowered its global growth forecast for 2025 from 3.3 percent to 2.8 percent amid Trump’s trade salvoes.

Economists have increasingly warned of the possibility of the US economy tipping into a recession this year, with JP Morgan Research putting the likelihood at 60 percent.

The US economy shrank 0.3 percent in the first quarter – a period before most of Trump’s tariffs came into effect – the first decline since early 2022.

In an interview with Fox News after the talks were announced, Bessent said the two sides had a “shared interest” in talks as the current levels of tariffs were unsustainable.

“We don’t want to decouple. What we want is fair trade,” Bessent told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

Bessent said he expected the initial talks to focus on “de-escalation,” rather than a “big trade deal”.

“We’ve got to de-escalate before we can move forward,” he said.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday that the talks should proceed on the “basis of mutual respect, equality, consultation, and mutual benefit”.

“As a Chinese saying goes, ‘Listen to their words and observe their actions,’” a ministry spokesperson said.

“If the US wishes to resolve issues through negotiation, it must acknowledge the severe negative impacts its unilateral tariff measures have had on itself and the world, respect international economic and trade rules and the voices of fairness and reason from various sectors, demonstrate sincerity in negotiations, correct its wrongful actions, and work with China to address concerns through equal consultations.”

Since Sunday, Port Sudan has been the target of drone attacks that the army has blamed on the Rapid Support Forces.

Explosions have been heard at the Port of Sudan, a critical lifeline and entry point for aid, as attacks on the city continued for a fourth day in the latest confrontation between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country’s brutal two-year civil war.

The attacks have been blamed on the RSF by Sudan’s army and by residents.

On Wednesday morning, an army source told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity that the explosion was due to a drone attack that was met with “anti-aircraft missiles”.

The Port of Sudan on the Red Sea coast had been a haven city hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced people since the war began and serves as an interim seat for Sudan’s military-allied government, which has been at war with the RSF since 2023.

The attacks on Port Sudan have increased fears of disruptions to desperately needed aid deliveries in the country suffering one of the world’s most dire humanitarian crises, and where famine has been declared in some areas.

Nearly all aid into Sudan flows through Port Sudan, which the United Nations called on Tuesday “a lifeline for humanitarian operations”, warning of more “human suffering in what is already the world’s largest humanitarian crisis”.

Drone attacks

Attacks on Port Sudan began on Sunday after drone strikes were blamed on the RSF. The latest attacks come after the RSF targeted the airport, the port and the hotel in the city on Tuesday, a military official said. The paramilitary group has not commented on the attacks on Port Sudan.

Sudan’s Information Minister Khalid Aleiser visited the southern part of the port on Tuesday and slammed the United Arab Emirates, whom he accused of arming the RSF. “We will continue our legitimate battle,” he said.

Defence Minister Yassin Ibrahim announced that the government was severing diplomatic ties with the UAE, including withdrawing its ambassador and shutting its embassy in the Gulf country.

“The entire world has witnessed, for more than two years, the crime of aggression against Sudan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and the safety of its citizens by the UAE, acting through its local proxy, the terrorist RSF militia,” Ibrahim said. The UAE has long rejected claims of its support for the RSF and condemned the attack.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed a case on Monday brought by Sudan accusing the UAE of breaching the UN Genocide Convention by arming and funding the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan’s deadly civil war.

The top United Nations court said it “manifestly lacked” the authority to continue the proceedings and threw out the case.

Washington, DC – Jewish students involved in protests at Columbia University say their pro-Palestinian activism is driven by their faith – not in spite of it.

On Tuesday, a group of Jewish student activists met with members of the United States Congress in Washington, DC, to tell their stories, which they say have been left out of mainstream narratives about anti-Semitism on college campuses.

As student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza swept the country last year, Columbia University in New York became a flashpoint.

The university saw one of the first student encampments in the country, erected to demand an end to investments in companies complicit in human rights abuses. Shortly after the tents started popping up, the campus also witnessed some of the first mass arrests of student protesters in the Palestinian solidarity movement.

That visibility has made Columbia a focal point for President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on what he called “illegal protests” and campus anti-Semitism.

Earlier this year, Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil became the first student activist to be detained by the Trump administration and targeted for deportation.

Tuesday’s delegation of Jewish students came to Congress to push the case that Khalil and others like him should never have been detained in their name. They met with at least 17 Democratic legislators from both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Al Jazeera spoke to several students who participated in the lobbying day, which was organised by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action, an advocacy organisation. Here are some of their stories:

Tali Beckwith-Cohen

Raised in upstate New York, history major Tali Beckwith-Cohen said she grew up in a community where Zionism was the norm. She remembers being told “myths” about Palestine as “a land without a people for a people without a land”: a slogan used to justify the establishment of Israel.

But as she began to learn Palestinian history and meet Palestinians, Beckwith-Cohen said her beliefs were challenged.

Eventually, after the war in Gaza began in October 2023, she became involved in Palestinian rights activism.

Human rights groups and United Nations experts have found evidence that Israel’s tactics in Gaza are “consistent with genocide”. More than 52,615 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict so far.

“For a long time, I had this kind of feeling of discomfort, this feeling of wrestling, this feeling of maybe cognitive dissonance, and how can I reckon these values I hold dear with Zionism?” Beckwith-Cohen told Al Jazeera.

“We are seeing the bombing, the disregard for human life, for children, for hospitals, for schools. It forced me to make a choice.”

She stressed that the protests were spaces of solidarity, where students of all backgrounds were committed to the idea that their safety is intertwined.

“There’s so much in the media narrative about what’s happening on Columbia campus that is just disingenuous and just so untrue to what we’ve experienced,”  Beckwith-Cohen said.

“So we’re here today to tell our Congress people that what we’re seeing on campus is clearly an authoritarian, fascist crackdown on all dissent, not only students peacefully advocating for an end to genocide.”

Carly Shaffer

When Carly Shaffer voiced concern about the Israeli escalation in Gaza on a university WhatsApp chat, some of her fellow students questioned her Judaism.

Out of the hundreds of people on the chat, she remembers that Khalil – the activist arrested for deportation – was the only person who contacted her directly to reject the comments she was subjected to.

As she got to know Khalil, she came to view him as the “embodiment” of someone who cared about the safety of all students on campus.

Shaffer told Al Jazeera that she felt “sick” and “horrified” when Khalil was arrested. Her discomfort was then compounded when she saw that the Trump White House celebrated his detention on social media with the phrase “Shalom, Mahmoud” – a Jewish greeting repurposed as a taunt.

Shaffer, who is pursuing a master’s degree in human rights and social policy, grew up in California and was raised by a single mother in a low-income household.

She said speaking out against injustice – including in Palestine – is a practice rooted in her Jewish faith.

“The Columbia protest movement, it’s a movement of love. It’s a movement of solidarity,” Shaffer said. “And Jewish students are also integral and crucial to this movement.”

She said that, when Jewish student protesters held religious events on campus, their peers from the encampment joined them and inquired about their traditions.

“These are the same students who are being portrayed as anti-Semites, who are going out of their way to go and learn about Passover and celebrate a Jewish holiday with their Jewish friends,” Shaffer told Al Jazeera.

She decried the “weaponisation of anti-Semitism”, saying that the issue is being used to shut down conversations about Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

“Jewish students are being used as pawns in Trump’s political agenda,” she said. “And the weaponisation of anti-Semitism to dismantle this movement is not just a threat to Jewish students; it’s a threat to all of us. That’s why it is so important for us as Jewish students to directly correct this false narrative.”

Sarah Borus

Barnard College student Sarah Borus, who was arrested during the crackdown on the Columbia encampment, said she grew up in an anti-Zionist family in a “very Zionist community”.

She felt it was important for Jewish students like herself to convey their experiences directly to the people in power in Washington, DC.

“We’re talking to members of Congress to tell them our stories that are left out of mainstream news,” Borus told Al Jazeera.

“Trump’s mission is not about protecting Jewish students. It is about using fears of anti-Semitism – because of the way that the Gaza solidarity encampment was portrayed last year – in order to target non-citizen student activists, in order to target academic freedom, free speech, and really put many, many people in danger.”

When asked how she feels about the potential backlash to her activism, Borus acknowledged that the current political climate left her fearful.

“I’m scared, but in the grand scheme of things, I’m proud of the choices I have made,” she said. “I would not make any different ones, and I am willing to take on the risks, if that’s what must be done.”

Shay Orentlicher

Shay Orentlicher has no regrets about participating in Columbia University’s encampments, despite the administrative and political crackdowns.

Orentlicher said Christian nationalists are trying to erase the perspective of pro-Palestine Jewish students and define Judaism in a way that fits their political purposes.

But protesting against the killing of Palestinians, Orentlicher said, is an expression of both Jewish and humanist values. And Orentlicher believes that Columbia’s demonstrations have helped raise awareness nationwide.

“Despite the oppression we have faced, despite the suffering, and despite the despair of worrying that we have not done enough to stop the genocide, to stand up for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, I think we have shifted the public discourse in a really important way,” Orentlicher said.

“And we also have built a really beautiful community. And I don’t regret what I did at all. I wouldn’t change anything.”

Raphie

Raphie, who chose to identify by his first name only, said he grew up “very Zionist”. But as he learned more about the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, he felt he had been deceived.

“The Jewish elementary school I went to, for instance, had a map of Israel, and it was like a diamond – no West Bank or Gaza on it,” he said.

“When I saw the actual map with the occupied territories, I was like, ‘Wait, I was lied to.’ And that kind of made me go on this whole journey of exploring what Zionism is, what occupation is, what settler colonialism is.”

Raphie, who is studying maths, said the war on Gaza, the campus protests and the backlash the student protesters faced all made him feel a “personal responsibility to fight for what is right”.

In his experience, the demonstrations were welcoming, not anti-Semitic. What was anti-Semitic, he said, was the fact that the university targeted Jewish student protesters for their political views.

Several students, including Raphie, said Columbia refused to grant students associated with Jewish Voice for Peace the permission necessary to hold religious celebrations in public spaces. They described that rejection as a form of discrimination.

The university did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Raphie also drew a distinction between feeling uncomfortable about ideas that challenge one’s worldview and actually being unsafe.

“It’s normal in college to encounter new viewpoints, new perspectives. That’s how I became more pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist,” he said. “I initially felt uncomfortable when I encountered anti-Zionist views, but then I grew to understand them. That’s normal.”

Raphie stressed that the real suffering is happening in Gaza.

“The students who are not safe right now, of course, are the students in Gaza. Every university in Gaza has been destroyed. They haven’t had food for 60 days.”

The United States Supreme Court has allowed a ban on transgender military members to take effect while legal challenges over the restriction continue.

On Tuesday, the court’s conservative majority issued an unsigned order lifting a lower court’s injunction that had blocked the ban from taking effect.

The order also indicated that the Supreme Court’s three left-leaning judges – Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson – sought to deny the emergency request to lift the injunction.

Since taking office for a second term on January 20, President Donald Trump has sought to curtail the rights and visibility of transgender people in the US, including through restrictions on military service.

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order declaring that his administration would only “recognise two sexes, male and female”. That same day, he rescinded an order from his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, that allowed transgender troops to serve in the military.

Then, on January 27, he unveiled a new directive, called “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness”. It compared being transgender with adopting a “‘false’ gender identity”.

Such an identity, the order added, was not compatible with the “rigorous standards necessary for military service”.

“Adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life,” the executive order said.

“A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.”

That executive order sparked a slew of legal challenges, including the one at the centre of Tuesday’s Supreme Court order.

In that case, seven active-duty service members – as well as a civil rights organisation and another person hoping to enlist – argued that a ban on their transgender identity was discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Advocates for the group point out that the seven have together earned more than 70 medals for their service. The lead plaintiff, Commander Emily Shilling, had spent nearly two decades in the Navy, flying 60 missions as a combat pilot. Her lawyers estimate that nearly $20m has been invested in her training during that time.

But the Trump administration has argued that the presence of transgender troops is a liability for the military.

“Another MASSIVE victory in the Supreme Court!” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on social media following Tuesday’s order.

“President Trump and [Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth] are restoring a military that is focused on readiness and lethality.”

Hegseth also posted a short message, using an acronym for the Department of Defence: “No More Trans @ DoD.”

This is not the first time Trump has attempted to exclude transgender people from the armed forces. In July 2017, shortly after taking office for his first term, Trump announced a similar policy on the social media platform Twitter, now known as X.

“After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military,” Trump wrote in consecutive posts, divided by ellipses.

Similarly, in 2019, the Supreme Court allowed that ban to take effect. Then, in 2021, Biden’s executive order nullified it.

The Trump administration pointed to its past success at the Supreme Court in its emergency appeal to lift the lower court’s injunction blocking its latest ban on transgender troops.

That temporary injunction was the decision of a US district court judge in Tacoma, Washington: Benjamin Settle. Himself a former army captain, Settle was named to his position under former President George W Bush, a Republican.

In March, Settle blocked the ban on transgender troops, saying that – while the government made reference to “military judgement” in its filings – its arguments showed an “absence of any evidence” that the restriction had to do with military matters.

“The government’s arguments are not persuasive, and it is not an especially close question on this record,” he wrote.

Other judges have likewise issued injunctions, including District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, DC. She ruled in a case where 14 transgender service members sued against Trump’s ban, citing the right to equal protection under the law, enshrined in the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.

“The cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed – some risking their lives – to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the military ban seeks to deny them,” Reyes wrote in her decision, issued shortly before Settle’s in March.

Of the more than 2.1 million troops serving in the US military, less than 1 percent are estimated to be transgender.

One senior official estimated last year that there are only about 4,200 transgender service members on active duty, though advocates say that number could be an undercount, given the risk of violence and discrimination associated with being openly transgender.

The human rights groups Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation have been among those supporting transgender service members in their fight against Trump’s ban. The two organisations issued a joint statement on Tuesday denouncing the high court’s decision.

“By allowing this discriminatory ban to take effect while our challenge continues, the court has temporarily sanctioned a policy that has nothing to do with military readiness and everything to do with prejudice,” they wrote.

“We remain steadfast in our belief that this ban violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and will ultimately be struck down.”

Inter Milan take their Champions League semifinal in record-equalling 7-6 aggregate score against Barcelona at San Siro.

Inter Milan substitute Davide Frattesi struck an extra-time winner to send his side into the Champions League final following a barnstorming 4-3 victory over Barcelona after Francesco Acerbi had rescued them from the brink of elimination with a stunning equaliser deep in added time.

Frattesi’s goal and a string of stunning saves by goalkeeper Yann Sommer secured Inter a rip-roaring and record-equalling 7-6 aggregate victory in a semifinal for the ages, which finished with the Italian side reaching the Munich final.  They will later this month face either Paris St Germain or Arsenal, who meet on Wednesday.

It was a tale of two halves as Inter dominated the first 45 minutes and opened a two-goal lead thanks to a Lautaro Martinez goal on the counter in the 21st minute, before Hakan Calhanoglu extended the lead with a penalty right before the break.

However, Barca woke up in the second half with Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo netting within six minutes to level the scoring and, even though Sommer worked his magic to help keep the hosts alive, the Catalans thought they had scored the winner through Raphinha who struck from close range in the 87th minute.

But as Inter made a desperate run for an equaliser, Denzel Dumfries found 37-year-old Acerbi inside the box, who fired a first-time effort into the net to score his first European goal in his 20th season and take the game to extra time.

In the 99th minute, Marcus Thuram made a brilliant run from the right and played the ball into the area for Frattesi, who set himself up before neatly guiding a curling shot into the bottom corner to send the delighted home fans into raptures.

Sommer made two world-class saves from teenager Lamine Yamal to secure the hard-fought win for Inter, who will bid to claim their fourth Champions League title and their first in 15 years after losing to Manchester City in the final two years ago.

“I’m lucky to have finished the game. I screamed so much that I saw everything black,” Frattesi told Sky Sport.

“I have to thank the physiotherapists because, in recent days, I was not well, I dedicate the victory to them. It’s incredible, I don’t know what to say. Tonight, the incredible happened.”

Barcelona, who were chasing a treble after winning the Copa del Rey by beating Real Madrid in extra-time, will now have to focus on LaLiga, where on Sunday, they host their old rivals who are in second place and trail them by four points.

“Football has been very cruel to us,” Barca defender Eric Garcia told Movistar Plus. “We were down 2-0 again, and the character this team showed was remarkable.

“We are a team full of young players and this has been a great year. We still have the [Spanish] league to play for.”

The previous standalone record score for a semifinal was Liverpool’s 7-6 aggregate win against Roma during the 2017-2018 season.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

India has launched missiles at several locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-administred Kashmir, the government said, and Pakistan promised to respond to the attacks.

Several explosions were heard in the city of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday.

“A little while ago, the Indian armed forces launched ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed,” the Indian government said in a statement.

“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” it said.

A Pakistani military spokesman told broadcaster Geo that Pakistan’s response was under way, without providing details. The spokesman said five places were hit including two mosques.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s military said two people have been killed and 12 others injured.

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said among the targets that were hit were the cities of Muzaffarabad and Kotli.

Pakistan has said that if it is attacked, that it will “respond in force”, Hyder said, adding that the situation remains “quite fluid”.

The development comes amid heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours in the aftermath of an attack on Hindu tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir last month.

India blamed Pakistan for the violence in which 26 men were killed and vowed to respond. Pakistan denied that it had anything to do with the killings.

After India’s strikes, the Indian army said in a post on X early on Wednesday: “Justice is served.”

Nitasha Kaul, the director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, said the strikes are “very concerning”.

“Once again, the worst affected are going to be the people in the region, the Kashmiris, who are caught between the competing and proprietorial and rival postures and attitudes of India and Pakistan,” Kaul told Al Jazeera.

Still, she said, the escalation is “not that surprising, because within India … there has been a domestic pressure building up for a more militarist response, given the fact that there is a particularly hyper-nationalist government in power.

“In that sense, sadly, this was a countdown to a greater escalation, and hopefully it won’t proceed much further beyond what has already happened with these strikes,” Kaul added.

More to come…

New data show both imports and exports with US fall as Canada expands trading relationships with other countries.

Canada’s trade with the United States has tumbled in March, but a surge in exports to other countries have helped make up the downward shift.

Exports to the US dropped by 6.6 percent during the month while imports from the US fell by 2.9 percent amid growing public discontent towards Canada’s longstanding ally and top trading partner, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Tuesday.

Total exports fell by 0.2 percent in March mainly on lower prices whereas imports tumbled by 1.5 percent.

Canada’s trade deficit shrank from 1 billion Canadian dollars (US$1.4bn) in February to 367 million Canadian dollars (US$506m) in March. Its trade surplus with the US fell to 6.1 billion Canadian dollars (US$8.4bn) .

“This decline was almost entirely offset by a significant rise in exports to countries other than the United States,” the agency said, highlighting a 24.8 percent surge in overseas shipments. Canada increased exports of gold to the United Kingdom, crude oil to the Netherlands and various goods to Germany.

Exports of motor vehicles and parts also increased amid US tariffs targeting the auto sector. Exports of pharmaceuticals and uranium to the US as well as pork to Asian markets declined. Natural gas exports also fell.

Steel exports dropped while aluminium exports rose for a fourth straight month. Imports of steel declined, but imports of aluminium grew as both products face 25 percent US tariffs.

Analysts have warned that the full effects of the tariffs have yet to be seen. Canada should “brace for increasing headwinds to trade as the worst of the trade conflict is expected to take place over the coming quarters”, TD Economics analyst Marc Ercolao said in a research note.

Carney and Trump meet 

The trade data was released the day Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, to discuss strained trade and security ties.

Carney won last week’s elections on a pledge to stand up to Trump and his America First agenda. He said the strained relationship between the two countries can never be the same again.

The US imposed broad tariffs on Canadian goods at the beginning of March before announcing several reductions and exemptions even as tariffs on cars, aluminium, steel and potash stayed in place. Canada has hit back with countermeasures.

“Canada and the United States are strongest when we work together – and that work starts now,” Carney said on the social media platform X as he arrived in Washington, DC, on Monday night.

Joseph Giarraputo, Founder and Editorial Director of Global Finance, talks to Melvyn Low, Group Managing Director and Head of Global Transaction Banking at OCBC, about the importance of democratizing digital solutions for cash management and the innovative tools the Singapore-based bank has developed to support its customers’ 24/7 banking needs. 

OCBC, one of the largest financial services groups in Southeast Asia by assets, has helped transform its cash management and payments systems through the use of Application Programming Interface (API) integrations, tokenization, QR codes and other digital technology. A combination of many different APls called microservicessupplies the critical infrastructure behind OCBC’s Velocity e-banking system, enabling seamless integration across different financial ecosystems.

Tokenization plays a critical role in the bank’s digital processes. Using the Velocity platform, the bank’s accounts are tokenized and embedded into QR codes, enabling customers to make instant payments via mobile phones. Business accounts have also evolved, with customers able to generate tokenized account numbers that add precision to transaction reconciliations. 

OCBC is the first bank in the market to create virtual accounts that can handle both collections and payments, providing customers with additional account management controls. 

The bank’s OneCollect platform allows businesses to facilitate instant settlements with dynamic QR codes with embedded payment details. QR codes are also powering domestic point-of-sale systems for a range of retail businesses and food and beverage vendors, generating physical and digital invoices, and implementing cross-border payment solutions.

Low explains how OCBC has used these advanced financial tools to help dramatically reduce transaction costs for its customers, improve liquidity management, and enhance working capital efficiency.

“In the old world, all of these technologies were only available to the largest multinationals because they had the most expensive and comprehensive ERP platforms that could connect,” says Low. “Today, even a simple blockchain could connect to a large system through APIs in a very efficient and cost-effective way.”

Israeli army claims ‘fully disabling’ the civilian facility, saying it also hit a concrete factory and power stations.

Israel has hit the main international airport of Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa, “fully disabling” the civilian facility, according to the Israeli army.

Tuesday’s attacks that also targeted a concrete factory and several power stations in and around Sanaa came in response to Sunday’s ballistic missile strike near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, the Israeli military statement said.

The army claimed that “the airport served as a central hub for the Houthi terrorist regime to transfer weapons and operatives”.

“The operation was approved by the Commander of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff,” it said. The military added that it would “continue to act and strike with force” any group that poses a threat to Israel.

Reporting from Sanaa, Al Jazeera’s Mohammed al-Attab said the results of the attacks were not yet clear.

“So far, we don’t know the impacts of this aerial bombardment on Sanaa International Airport or on the power station. We haven’t yet received any reports about casualties or impacts on the infrastructure,” he said.

‘Pure vandalism’

Sultan Barakat, a professor in public policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, says Sanaa International Airport is “not a big strategic target” and that Israeli claims it is being used to receive supplies from Iran are “simply not true”.

“I think it’s pure vandalism, to be honest. The airport in Sanaa is not a normal airport. It’s under a huge restriction from the United Nations, from the Saudis, from the coalition – it’s under sanctions,” Barakat told Al Jazeera.

He added that attacking the airport will only hinder the operations of the United Nations and humanitarian agencies in one of the poorest countries in the world.

Footage of the aftermath of the airport attack, verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking unit, shows large clouds of dark smoke rising into the air over the capital.

Earlier, the Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV confirmed that among the sites targeted is a cement factory to the north of the capital and a power station in the Bani al-Harith area.

The attacks come less than 24 hours after Israel bombed the country’s key Hodeidah port, killing at least one person and wounding 35 others.

The Houthi media office said at least six strikes hit the crucial Hodeidah port. Others hit a cement factory in the district of Bajil, 55km (34 miles) northeast of Hodeidah, the group added.

The Israeli military said the strikes sought to undercut the Houthi military industry, claiming the factory is an “economic resource” for the Houthis and “used to build tunnels and military infrastructure”.

Since November 2023, the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, have launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks targeting vessels they said are linked to Israel in the Red Sea. The group says that it acts in support of the Palestinians in Gaza and that its attacks will stop only when there is a permanent ceasefire in the enclave.

Although the Houthis paused attacks during a fragile ceasefire in Gaza this year, they resumed their operations after Israel cut off humanitarian aid to Gaza and resumed its offensive in March.

The United States military under US President Donald Trump has launched an intensified campaign of air strikes on war-torn Yemen since March 15.

Israel has repeatedly struck Yemen, killing dozens of people, including women and children.