Panama Releases Dozens of Detained Deportees from US into Limbo Following Human Rights Criticism – Newsmax

  1. Panama Releases Dozens of Detained Deportees from US into Limbo Following Human Rights Criticism  Newsmax
  2. Panama offers temporary reprieve for 112 migrants deported by US  CNN
  3. Panama Will Release Migrants From Detention Camp, Challenging Trump’s Deportation Efforts  The New York Times
  4. 'You have 30 days to leave': Panama releases dozens of detained US deportees from jungle camp  The Times of India
  5. Panama says it will release 112 migrants deported from the U.S. and held in a remote camp  PBS NewsHour
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Ukraine reports 264 Russian drone attacks in 48 hours amid Trump aid freeze – ABC News

  1. Ukraine reports 264 Russian drone attacks in 48 hours amid Trump aid freeze  ABC News
  2. Ukraine war: Zelenskyy says Russia has carried out ‘hundreds of attacks’ against Ukraine this week – as it happened  The Guardian
  3. Russia Hits Ukrainian Power and Gas Facilities in Widespread Attack  The New York Times
  4. Russia Steps Up Attacks, Battlefield Gains Ahead Of Crucial US-Ukraine Talks  Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
  5. Russian strikes continue in Ukraine as US suspends military aid  TODAY
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Internet shutdowns at record high in Africa as access ‘weaponised’

More governments seeking to keep millions of people offline amid conflicts, protests and political instability

Digital blackouts reached a record high in 2024 in Africa as more governments sought to keep millions of citizens off the internet than in any other period over the last decade.

A report released by the internet rights group Access Now and #KeepItOn, a coalition of hundreds of civil society organisations worldwide, found there were 21 shutdowns in 15 African countries, surpassing the existing record of 19 shutdowns in 2020 and 2021.

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How Trump is driving US towards Russia – a timeline of the president’s moves

Since becoming president, Trump has upended the US approach to Ukraine and treated Moscow more as an ally

In just seven weeks since returning to the White House for a second term, Donald Trump has upended the US approach to the invasion of Ukraine and treated Russia increasingly not as an adversary, but an ally.

After tossing aside decades of alignment with Europe against Russian aggression, the US president suspended military assistance and intelligence to Kyiv and said on Friday he finds it “easier” to work with Russia than Ukraine.

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More than 1,000 people killed in two days of clashes in Syria, war monitor says

About 745 civilians among those killed in fighting in Latakia province between security forces and fighters loyal to former president Assad

More than 1,000 people, including 745 civilians, were killed in the two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and fighters loyal to the former Assad regime and ensuing revenge killings, a war monitor has said, one of the highest death tolls in Syria since 2011.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor, said 745 civilians were killed mostly execution-style, while 125 Syrian security forces and 148 Assad loyalists were killed. Death tolls from the two days of fighting have varied wildly, with some estimates putting the final death toll even higher.

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‘Military Keynesianism’? Reeves faces British defence dilemma after EU spending surge

Even Berlin and Brussels are bending fiscal rules in the face of Russia’s threat. Will the chancellor still stick to hers?

As the Nobel laureate Robert Lucas quipped during the 2008 financial crisis: “I guess everyone is a Keynesian in a foxhole.” Donald Trump’s upending of the postwar security consensus has underlined the enduring wisdom of Lucas’s observation. But now, instead of bank bailouts and emergency bond buying, European firepower is being directed at bombs, tanks and drones in the desperate fight to secure the continent’s border with Russia.

Berlin and Brussels – typically capitals of financial orthodoxy – have been convinced that this approach is required once again. Under the plan put forward by Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, Berlin is on the brink of relaxing its “debt brake” rule to pave the way for spending on defence and infrastructure worth an additional €1tn (£840bn) over the coming decade.

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‘They brought it on themselves’: a new low in US-Ukraine relations

Diplomats gasp as Keith Kellogg claims Zelenskyy to blame for soured relations with America

“There was an audible gasp in the room at the Council on Foreign Relations as Keith Kellogg, the White House’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, characterised the US decision to cut off intelligence sharing and military aid to Kyiv as like beating a farm animal with a piece of wood.

“Very candidly, they brought it on themselves, the Ukrainians,” Kellogg said as the veteran diplomats, academics, and journalists in the room recoiled in surprise. Several held their hands in their faces. “I think the best way I can describe it is sort of like hitting a mule with a two-by-four across the nose,” he continued. “You got their attention, and it’s very significant, obviously, because of the support that we give.”

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‘The sewage scandal ends now’: UK water company fines to be used to clean up rivers

After fears £11m would be diverted to Treasury, money will be spent on restoring polluted areas where penalties issued

Millions of pounds of fines imposed on water firms will fund environmental schemes to protect the country’s waterways after fears the money would be diverted to the Treasury.

The water restoration fund was set up by the Conservative government to ensure that polluting water firms paid for the damage they caused. The fund received £11m in fines and penalties from April 2022 to October 2023.

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