Israel reports several bus explosions; no injuries reported
Israeli police on Thursday reported a series of explosions on buses in central Israel in what they said appeared to be a militant attack. No injuries were reported. Police forces rushed to the scene in Bat Yam, a Tel Aviv suburb, as they searched for suspects. Police said bomb disposal units were searching for additional bombs.
Police spokesman Asi Aharoni told Channel 13 TV that explosives were found on two other buses. He called on the public to be alert and report any suspicious objects to authorities.
Police said the Shin Bet internal security agency was taking over the investigation.
The explosions took place just hours after Hamas released the bodies of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza — the first of eight hostages that Israel believes are dead and to be returned during the current phase of the ceasefire.
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Voice of America
13-03-2025
- Voice of America
Judge extends ban on Columbia student's deportation from US
A U.S. judge on Wednesday extended his order blocking federal authorities from deporting a detained Columbia University student, in a case that has become a flashpoint of the Trump administration's pledge to deport some pro-Palestinian college activists. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman had temporarily blocked Mahmoud Khalil's deportation earlier this week and extended the prohibition on Wednesday in a written order following a hearing in Manhattan federal court to allow himself more time to consider whether the arrest was unconstitutional. The Department of Homeland Security says Khalil, 30, is subject to deportation under a legal provision holding that migrants whose presence in the country are deemed by the U.S. Secretary of State to be incompatible with foreign policy may be removed, according to a document seen by Reuters. "The Secretary of State has determined that your presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States," read the DHS document, dated March 9, ordering Khalil to appear before an immigration judge on March 27. The document did not provide additional detail. The DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Khalil's lawyers say his arrest on Saturday by DHS agents outside his university residence in Manhattan was in retaliation for his outspoken advocacy against Israel's military assault on Gaza following the October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, a U.S.- designated terrorist group, and thus violated Khalil's right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. "Mr. Khalil was identified, targeted, detained and is being processed for deportation on account of his advocacy for Palestinian rights," Khalil's lawyer, Ramzi Kassem, said in court. In her first media interview, Noora Abdalla, Khalil's wife, told Reuters after the hearing she hoped her husband would be free and back in New York in time for the birth of their first child, who is due next month. "It's been so hard not having him here," she said. "There's a lot of emotions and pain. He's been there for me truly every step of the way." Outside the courthouse on Wednesday, Kassem told reporters that the legal provision DHS referred to was rarely used and was not meant to silence dissent. Khalil was born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and came to the U.S. on a student visa in 2022, becoming a permanent resident last year. He was a prominent member of Columbia's protest movement against Israel's military assault on Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump has said on social media that Khalil supported Hamas, but his administration has not charged him with a crime and has not provided evidence to show Khalil's alleged support for Hamas. The Trump administration says pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, including Columbia, have included support for Hamas and antisemitic harassment of Jewish students. Student protest organizers say criticism of Israel is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism. "This is not about free speech," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters earlier on Wednesday during a trip to Ireland. "Being a supporter of Hamas and coming into our universities and turning them upside down ... If you told us that's what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have never let you in." Refusing to stay silent' The case could ultimately test where immigration courts draw the line between protected free speech and alleged support for groups the United States calls terrorists. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan, holding signs reading "Release Mahmoud Khalil" and chanting "Down, down with deportation, up, up with liberation." At the hearing, Brandon Waterman, a lawyer for the government, said Khalil's challenge to his arrest should be moved to New Jersey, where he was held when his lawyers first sought his release, or Louisiana, where he is currently being held. Furman also ordered that Khalil be allowed two hourlong private phone calls with his lawyers, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday, after Kassem said Khalil's sole phone call with a member of his legal team from detention in Louisiana so far was cut off prematurely and was on a line recorded and monitored by the government. Even before Furman blocked it, there was no indication Khalil's deportation was imminent. Khalil has the right to plead his case to avoid deportation before a separate judge in immigration court, a potentially lengthy process.
Voice of America
12-03-2025
- Voice of America
US sanctions Sweden-based gang with links to Iran
The United States on Wednesday announced sanctions against the Foxtrot Network, a Sweden-based gang accused of carrying out attacks against Israeli interests in Europe on behalf of Iran. Describing Foxtrot as one of Sweden's "most notorious criminal gangs," the U.S. Treasury and State Departments also placed sanctions on its leader Rawa Majid, with both agencies saying in statements that he had "specifically cooperated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security." "Iran's brazen use of transnational criminal organizations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime's attempts to achieve its aims through any means, with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The sanctions, which usually include asset freezes and U.S. entry bans, were issued in line with President Donald Trump's reinstated "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, the agencies said. Sweden's Sapo intelligence service announced last May that it believed Iran had recruited Swedish criminal gang members as proxies to commit "acts of violence" against Israeli and other interests in Sweden. That announcement came weeks after nighttime gunfire was reported outside Israel's embassy in Stockholm, and three months after police found a live grenade lying on the grounds of the Israeli compound. At the time, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported that both Majid's Foxtrot and arch-rival gang Rumba had been recruited by the Iranian regime, citing documents from Israel's intelligence agency Mossad. DN said the Mossad documents showed Majid — a Swedish-Turkish dual national nicknamed the "Kurdish Fox" — had been arrested in Iran and ordered to cooperate with the Iranian regime or go to jail. Later, in October, the embassy was hit by gunfire, while the day after two explosions occurred near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen. Swedish nationals have been arrested over the suspected grenade attack, according to Danish police. The attacks in Europe last year occurred as tensions soared between Iran and Israel over the devastating war in Gaza. But Sweden has struggled to contain surging gang violence in recent years, with shootings and bombings frequently occurring across the country.
Voice of America
12-03-2025
- Voice of America
White House defends Trump's push to deport pro-Palestinian activist
The White House on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump's deportation policy after the weekend arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and U.S. legal permanent resident, who played a prominent role in last year's university protests over the Gaza war. White House officials echoed Trump's vow on Monday to "find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again." Trump doubled down on his language on Tuesday. "We ought to get them all out of the country," he said. "They're troublemakers. They're agitators. They don't love our country. We ought to get them the hell out." Khalil, who remained in detention Tuesday, has not been charged with any criminal offense. It is not a criminal offense to disagree, even openly, with the U.S. government's policy or actions, and the Bill of Rights protects free speech and the right to assemble. "This is an individual who organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda fliers with the logo of Hamas," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. "That is the behavior and activity that this individual engaged in." According to the U.S. government database that tracks immigration arrests, a man by the name of Mahmoud Khalil, who is listed as being born in Syria, is being held in an ICE facility in rural Louisiana. Khalil was a student at Columbia University in New York City and a prominent figure during last year's protests at the university. Trump also promised, in his Monday social media post, that more arrests would come. When asked how many more, Leavitt did not provide a number. "But I do know that DHS is actively working on it," she replied. "And I also know that Columbia University has been given the names of other individuals who have engaged in pro-Hamas activity, and they are refusing to help DHS identify those individuals on campus, and as the president said very strongly in his statement yesterday, he is not going to tolerate that, and we expect, expect all America's colleges and universities to comply with this administration's policy." Last week, the U.S. government announced the immediate cancellation of about $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University, due, they said, "to the school's continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students." 'Step in the right direction' In a statement, the Heritage Foundation, whose Project 2025 document has effectively become a policy playbook for the Trump administration, praised both the move to defund and Khalil's arrest, saying, in a headline, "Heritage Praises Trump Administration's Decision to Defund Columbia University, Arrest Pro-Hamas Student Leader." "This is a great step in the right direction," said the foundation's Jason Bedrick, a researcher on education policy. "For far too long, universities like Columbia have allowed radicals to engage in targeted harassment of Jewish students, incite violence, openly support terrorist organizations, and break campus policies with impunity." 'Straight from the authoritarian playbook' On Capitol Hill, Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin said the arrest was a violation of Khalil's First Amendment rights. Raskin said he was "closely monitoring" the situation. While Leavitt said Tuesday that the secretary of state has the authority to revoke a person's Permanent Resident Card, also known as a green card, over issues of national security, critics question the legality of such a move. "The detention of Mahmoud Khalil is ripped straight from the authoritarian playbook," said Raskin, a constitutional law professor, in a statement. "His arrest sets an extremely dangerous and chilling precedent from an administration that is hellbent on wielding fear and intimidation as weapons to crush political dissent. All Americans, including those who strongly disagree with Khalil's speech, should be outraged by this brazen attack on our fundamental freedoms." The Council on American-Islamic Relations told VOA via email that they are comforted by a judge's decision to block Khalil's deportation. "What ultimately happens to Mahmoud may set a precedent for countless other lawful permanent residents and possibly even American citizens targeted in this anti-American war on free speech and peaceful activism," said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR national deputy director. "Free speech for everyone in our nation, including lawful permanent residents, is a cornerstone of American democracy." The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee told VOA via email that this case prompts many questions. "They are constantly moving the goalposts on what is antisemitism and what isn't," National Executive Director Abed Ayoub told VOA. "There is no proof Mahmoud committed a crime. What is the statutory authority they are using? What about the [First Amendment]? How far is the administration going with this? Will they be targeting naturalized U.S. citizens? These seem like obvious questions, but they haven't been asked." U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman on Monday ordered that Khalil not be deported for now and set his next hearing for Wednesday.
