Expelled by the US: Ex-Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool on Trump, Musk, and African dignity
Former South African Ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool, speaks to Riz Khan about being expelled and declared persona non grata by the US over private comments about Donald Trump. Rasool reflects on returning to South Africa as a moment of regained dignity, critiques the decline of civility in Western politics, and contrasts it with the African philosophy of Ubuntu. He also weighs in on the escalating feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, warning it could end in mutual destruction and questions the future of diplomacy with the US.
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Asharq Al-Awsat
42 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Trump Can Keep National Guard Deployed to Los Angeles for Now, Appeals Court Rules
A US appeals court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump to maintain his deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles amid protests over stepped-up immigration enforcement, temporarily pausing a lower court ruling that blocked the mobilization. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals' decision does not mean that the court will ultimately agree with Trump, but it does leave command of the Guard with the president for now. Earlier on Thursday, San Francisco-based US District Judge Charles Breyer found that Trump's deployment of the Guard was unlawful. Breyer had ordered the National Guard to return to the control of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who had brought the case. It was a brief victory for Newsom, as Breyer's order was paused a short time later. The three-judge panel that paused the ruling consisted of two judges appointed by Trump in his first term and one judge who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden. The panel said it would hold a hearing on Tuesday to consider the merits of Breyer's order. The appeals court decision stands to leave in place the dynamic of weeklong street demonstrations that have been concentrated in downtown Los Angeles, largely at a federal detention center where National Guard troops have stood watch. The Guard had also accompanied Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on operations. In his ruling, Breyer wrote that the presence of the troops in the city was itself inflaming tensions with protesters - a contention made by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, among others -and depriving the state of the ability to use the Guard for other purposes. That ruling came hours after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged to "liberate" Los Angeles at a press conference that was dramatically interrupted when federal agents dragged Democratic US Senator Alex Padilla out of the room, forced him to the ground and handcuffed him. The court battle and press conference scuffle underscored the political polarization generated by Trump's hardline approach to immigration enforcement and expansive use of presidential power. Trump is carrying out a campaign promise to deport immigrants, employing forceful tactics consistent with the norm-breaking political style that got him elected twice. Between the rulings, Newsom said the National Guard would be redeployed to its previous tasks, including border security, preparing for wildfires and countering drug smuggling. But the Trump administration immediately appealed the judge's order, calling Breyer's ruling "an extraordinary intrusion on the President's constitutional authority as Commander in Chief." Trump justified the deployment of troops by characterizing the protests in Los Angeles as a "rebellion," but Breyer said in a temporary restraining order that the protests fell far short of that legal standard. "The Court is troubled by the implication inherent in Defendants' argument that protest against the federal government, a core civil liberty protected by the First Amendment, can justify a finding of rebellion," Breyer wrote. Trump has said if he had not ordered in the National Guard the city would be in flames. The protests so far have been mostly peaceful, punctuated by incidents of violence and restricted to a few city blocks. Trump summoned the National Guard on Saturday, then the US Marines on Monday, to help federal police forces guard federal buildings from protesters and to protect federal immigration agents as they picked up suspected violators.
Asharq Al-Awsat
42 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran's Nuclear Program: The Key Sites
Before Israeli strikes on Friday, Washington and Tehran had held several rounds of talks on Iran's nuclear program, as concerns mounted about its rapid expansion. Iran has significantly ramped up its nuclear program in recent years, after a landmark deal with world powers curbing its nuclear activities in exchange for sanction relief began to unravel in 2018 when the United States unilaterally withdrew, said AFP. As of mid-May, Iran's total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated at 9,247.6 kilograms -- or more than 45 times the limit set out in the 2015 deal -- according to the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Among its stockpiles, Iran has an estimated 408.6 kilograms enriched to up to 60 percent -- just a short step from the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. The country now theoretically has enough near-weapons-grade material, if further refined, for about 10 nuclear bombs, according to the definition by the Vienna-based IAEA. But Iran has always denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons. Below is a list of Iran's key nuclear sites, which are subject to regular inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog: Uranium enrichment plants Natanz About 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of Tehran, Natanz is Iran's heavily bunkered main uranium enrichment site, whose existence was first revealed in 2002. Natanz operates nearly 70 cascades of centrifuges at its two enrichment plants, one of which is underground. A cascade is a series of centrifuges -- machines used in the process of enriching uranium. In April 2021, the site was damaged in an attack that Iran said was an act of sabotage by Israel. On Friday, Israel's operation struck at the "heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment program", targeting the atomic facility in Natanz and nuclear scientists, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. IAEA head Rafael Grossi confirmed the Natanz site was "among targets". Fordo Secretly built in violation of United Nations resolutions under a mountain near the holy central city of Qom, Fordo was first publicly revealed in 2009. Initially described as an "emergency" facility built underground to protect it from potential air attacks, Iran later indicated it was an enrichment plant capable of housing about 3,000 centrifuges. In 2023, uranium particles enriched up to 83.7 percent were discovered at the Fordo plant, which Iran claimed were the product of "unintended fluctuations" during the enrichment process. Uranium conversion and research reactors Isfahan At the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan in central Iran, raw mined uranium is processed into uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) and then into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a feed gas for centrifuges. The plant was industrially tested in 2004 upon its completion. The Isfahan center also harbors a nuclear fuel fabrication facility, which was inaugurated in 2009 and produces low-enriched fuel for use in power plants. In July 2022, Iran announced plans to construct a new research reactor there. Arak Work on the Arak heavy-water research reactor on the outskirts of the village of Khondab began in the 2000s, but was halted under the terms of the 2015 deal. Iran has meanwhile informed the IAEA about its plans to commission the reactor by 2026. The research reactor was officially intended to produce plutonium for medical research and the site includes a production plant for heavy water. Tehran The Tehran nuclear research center houses a reactor that was supplied by the United States in 1967 for the production of medical radioisotopes. Nuclear power plant Bushehr Iran's only nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr was built by Russia and began operating at a lower capacity in 2011 before being plugged into the national power grid in 2012. Russia continues to deliver nuclear fuel for the plant, which remains under IAEA control. A German company began construction on the plant with a 1,000-megawatt nominal capacity until the project was halted in the wake of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Moscow later completed it. Darkhovin and Sirik Iran began construction in late 2022 on a 300-megawatt power plant in Darkhovin, in the country's southwest. In early 2024, it also began work in Sirik, in the Strait of Hormuz, on a new complex of four individual plants with a combined capacity of 5,000 megawatts.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Mexican citizen dies in US immigration detention center
MEXICO CITY: A Mexican citizen died in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center from undetermined circumstances, Mexico's foreign ministry has said. The death comes amid ongoing demonstrations in several US states, most prominently in California, against immigration enforcement raids launched by US President Donald Trump's administration. The man died on June 7 at an ICE facility in the southern state of Georgia, where he was being held after he was transferred from a state prison, the foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday. US authorities notified the Mexican consulate in Georgia's capital Atlanta of the death. 'Consular staff has established communication with local and ICE authorities, as well as with the individual's family members, to clarify the facts, confirm the official cause of death, and provide legal advice and support to the family,' the ministry said. Mexico's foreign ministry said consular staff had not been notified to interview the detainee while he was in custody, despite regular visits to the facility to assist Mexican nationals. 'The consulate has requested an explanation from the (detention) center's authorities,' the ministry said. It also said it was examining legal options and maintaining communication with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the state's independent investigative body.
