Lightning war in Iran reveals 'Trump doctrine'
Ever since his first term, Trump has consistently maintained a sincere yet self-interested commitment to a reconfigured Middle East. His vision turns its back on religious and political quarrels and on endless wars, instead flourishing through trade, energy exploitation and real estate projects. This approach requires closing the bloodstained chapter of the cycles of violence following October 7 in the region, starting with Gaza. And while this approach pays little heed to history or the suffering of peoples, it at least demands a minimal consideration of the Palestinian question. It then requires a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. This is the keystone of everything, according to the US president, and in particular of his much-desired Nobel Peace Prize.
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France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Rubio hails end of USAID as Bush, Obama deplore cost in lives
Founded in 1961 as John F. Kennedy sought to leverage aid to win over the developing world in the Cold War, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has now been incorporated into the State Department -- after Secretary of State Marco Rubio slashed 85 percent of its programming. In a farewell to remaining staff on Monday, former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama -- as well as U2 frontman Bono -- saluted their work and said it was still needed. Bush pointed to PEPFAR, the massive US effort to fight HIV/AIDS that he considers one of the top achievements of his 2001-2009 Republican presidency. "This program shows a fundamental question facing our country -- is it in our nation's interest that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is," Bush said in a video message seen by AFP. Obama, who like Bush has been sparing in openly criticizing Trump, said that ending USAID was "inexplicable" and "will go down as a colossal mistake." "Gutting USAID is a travesty and it is a tragedy because it's some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world," the Democrat said. A study published in the medical journal The Lancet predicted that more than 14 million people would die, a third of them small children, by 2030 due to the foreign aid cuts. 'Little to show' Rubio painted a drastically different picture of USAID, which was an early target of a sweeping government cost-cutting drive led for Trump by billionaire Elon Musk. Rubio said that USAID's "charity-based model" fueled "addiction" by developing nations' leaders and that trade was more effective. "Beyond creating a globe-spanning NGO industrial complex at taxpayer expense, USAID has little to show since the end of the Cold War," Rubio wrote in an essay. He also complained that many recipients of US aid do not vote with the United States at the United Nations and that rival China often enjoys higher favorability among the public. A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that The Lancet study relied on "incorrect assumptions" and said the United States will continue aid but in a "more efficient" way. He said that PEPFAR will remain, with a priority on stopping HIV transmission from mothers to children. But he acknowledged the United States was no longer funding PrEP medication, which significantly reduces the rate of HIV transmission and has been encouraged by high-risk communities. "No one is saying that gay men in Africa shouldn't be on PrEP. That's wonderful. It doesn't mean that the United States has to pay for every single thing," the official said. He said the Trump administration was looking at "new and innovative solutions" and pointed to food deliveries in war-battered Gaza staffed by US military contractors and surrounded by Israeli troops. Witnesses, the United Nations and local Gaza officials have reported that Israeli troops have repeatedly opened fire and killed Palestinians waiting for aid -- although the US-backed initiative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, denies any deadly incidents. 'No line of defense' Bob Kitchen, the vice president for emergencies at the International Rescue Committee, said that the 14 million death prediction was consistent with what the humanitarian group was seeing. Among the group's programming that was funded through USAID, he said that nearly 400,000 refugees who fled the war in Sudan have now been deprived of acute aid and that more than 500,000 Afghans, mostly women and girls, have been cut off from education and healthcare. European Union nations and Britain, rather than filling the gap, have also stepped back as they ramp up defense spending with encouragement from Trump. Kitchen warned that cuts will not only worsen frontline emergencies but weaken more stable countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya, which will have no back-up if rains fail again. Kitchen said that, beyond moral considerations, the cuts will aggravate migration, a top consideration for Trump. © 2025 AFP
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
Belarus continues crackdown on political dissent, rights group says
Authorities in Belarus are continuing their crackdown on political dissent even as they release some prisoners, the country's leading rights group told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Last month, the Belarusian government pardoned and released 14 prisoners, but at least 60 more people were arrested on politically motivated charges, said Pavel Sapelka, a rights advocate with the Viasna human rights centre. In May, the centre counted more than 100 politically driven arrests, Sapelka said. "The steamroller of repressions doesn't stop and the authorities continue to stifle any dissent in Belarus, opening new high-profile cases," Sapelka said. "No one, absolutely no one can feel safe in Belarus." Mass arrests and convictions of government critics in Belarus have continued since 2020, when Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was handed a sixth term in office in an election that the opposition and the West denounced as rigged. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in protest, in the biggest demonstrations that the country's ever seen. Authorities unleashed a violent crackdown in response, detaining and beating thousands and driving many more into exile abroad. The crackdown drew international condemnation, and the European Union and the United States imposed sanctions on Minsk. Viasna has recorded 1,174 people behind bars as political prisoners. The number includes 38 journalists and the group's founder, Ales Bialiatski, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. At least eight political prisoners have died in prison. Lukashenko, who in January secured another term in office in another election the opposition denounced as a sham, has recently been pardoning some of the political prisoners, seeking to improve ties with the West. In total, he has pardoned and freed more than 300 prisoners since July 2024, including some US citizens and other foreigners. Last month, Belarusian authorities released prominent opposition figure Siarhei Tsikanouski and 13 others and brought them to Lithuania. Their release came just hours after Belarusian authorities announced that Lukashenko met with US President Donald Trump's envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, in the capital Minsk. But rights advocates argue that the situation in Belarus hasn't changed and authorities have recently opened several new high-profile cases, which indicates their intention to continue the crackdown. At least 20 people have been arrested in the case against Belaruski Hajun, a Belarusian activist group that monitors troops movements in Belarus, Sapelka said. On Monday, Viasna also reported the arrest of popular Belarusian signer Aleh Hamenka, who is accused of taking part in anti-government protests. Another case involves sociologists from the Wardomacki sociological research laboratory, according to Sapelka. Nils Muižnieks, the UN's special rapporteur for human rights in Belarus, recently said that "there is no sign of improvement in the human rights situation in Belarus and the authorities are disregarding offers of cooperation."
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Trump hails new 'Alligator Alcatraz' migrant detention center
Critics of Trump's harsh immigration crackdown have called the site in the Everglades swamp inhumane, but the Republican embraced the controversy as he attended its official opening. "A lot of cops in the form of alligators -- you don't have to pay them so much," Trump told reporters in Ochopee, Florida. "I wouldn't want to run through the Everglades for long. It will keep people where they're supposed to be." The Florida detention center is part of the Trump administration's tough optics for its crackdown on undocumented migrants since the 78-year-old returned to power in January. The site on an abandoned airfield in the Everglades conservation area will cost an estimated $450 million and house 1,000 people, Florida authorities say. Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who greeted Trump on the tarmac, said "we want to cut through bureaucracy... to get the removal of these illegals done." 'Run away' Trump, who has cracked down on undocumented migrants since returning to power, riffed on the idea of people running away from Florida wildlife as he left the White House earlier. "I guess that's the concept," Trump told reporters when asked if the idea behind the detention center was that people who escaped from it would get eaten by alligators or snakes. "This is not a nice business. Snakes are fast, but alligators... we're going to teach them how to run away from an alligator, okay? "If they escape prison, how to run away. Don't run in a straight line. Run like this. And you know what? Your chances go up about one percent." But Trump later embarked on one of his dark diatribes about immigration in a news conference at the site, describing an influx of undocumented migrants under Democratic predecessor Joe Biden as "disgusting" and falsely conflating most migrants with "sadistic" criminal gangs. The name "Alligator Alcatraz" is a reference to Alcatraz Island, the former prison in San Franciso that Trump recently said he wanted to reopen. That plan has apparently stalled after officials said it would cost too much and be too impractical to reopen the prison surrounded by shark-infested waters. As it seeks to look tough on migration, the Trump administration is also sending some undocumented migrants to the former "War on Terror" prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. 'Bite incidents' Protesters against Trump's immigration policies have demonstrated outside the new Florida facility in recent days. Environmentalists have also criticized the creation of the camp in a conservation area. The Everglades National Park is particularly known as a major habitat for alligators, with an estimated population of around 200,000. They can reach up to 15 feet in length when fully grown. Attacks by alligators on humans are relatively rare in Florida. Across the entire state there were 453 "unprovoked bite incidents" between 1948 and 2022, 26 of which resulted in human fatalities, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. But authorities have played up the risk. Trump's "Alligator Alcatraz" visit comes as he tries to push a huge tax and spending bill through Congress this week. The "One Big Beautiful Bill" contains funding for Trump's immigration crackdown including an increase in places in detention centers. The deportation drive is part of a broader campaign of harsh optics on migration, including raids in Los Angeles that sparked protests against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. © 2025 AFP
