UAE conducts 76th airdrop of aid over Gaza Strip
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
a few seconds ago
- Hindustan Times
Trump administration reviewing records of over 55 million foreigners with US visas for ‘revocation'
The State Department said Thursday that it's reviewing the records of more than 55 million foreigners who hold valid U.S. visas for potential revocation or deportable violations of immigration rules. Should such information be found, the visa will be revoked and, if the visa holder is in the United States, he or she would be subject to deportation.(Unsplash/Representative Image) In a written answer to a question posed by The Associated Press, the department said that all U.S. visa holders are subject to 'continuous vetting' with an eye toward any indication that they could be ineligible for the document. Should such information be found, the visa will be revoked and, if the visa holder is in the United States, he or she would be subject to deportation. The department said it was looking for indicators of ineligibility, including visa overstays, criminal activity, threats to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity, or providing support to a terrorist organization. 'We review all available information as part of our vetting, including law enforcement or immigration records or any other information that comes to light after visa issuance indicating a potential ineligibility,' the department said. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has thus far focused on deporting migrants illegally in the United States as well as holders of student and visitor exchange visas. The State Department's new language suggests that the re-vetting process, which officials acknowledge is time-consuming, is far more widespread. The administration has steadily imposed more and more restrictions and requirements on visa applicants, including requiring all visa seekers to submit to in-person interviews. But the review of all visa holders appears to be a significant expansion of what had initially been a re-vetting process focused mainly on students who have been involved in pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel activity. Officials say the reviews will include all the visa holders' social media accounts, law enforcement and immigration records in their home countries, along with any actionable violations of U.S. law committed while they were in the United States. 'As part of the Trump Administration's commitment to protect U.S. national security and public safety, since Inauguration Day the State Department has revoked more than twice as many visas, including nearly four times as many student visas, as during the same time period last year,' the department said. Earlier this week, the department said that since Trump returned to the White House, it has revoked more than 6,000 student visas for overstays and violations of local, state and federal law, the vast majority of which were assault, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and support for terrorism. It said that about 4,000 of those 6,000 were due to actual infractions of laws and that approximately 200–300 visas were revoked for terrorism-related issues, including providing support for designated terrorist organizations or state sponsors of terrorism.
New Indian Express
2 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Netanyahu says he'll 'push ahead' with Gaza City takeover, end war on 'terms acceptable to Israel'
Gaza City operation could begin in days During a visit to the military's Gaza command in southern Israel, Netanyahu said he would approve the army's plans to retake Gaza City, and had instructed officials "to begin immediate negotiations on the release of all our hostages and an end to the war on terms acceptable to Israel.' "These two things — defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages — go hand in hand," he said. It appeared to mark Israel's first public response to the latest ceasefire proposal drawn up by Egypt and Qatar, which Egyptian and Hamas officials say is almost identical to an earlier one that Israel accepted before the talks stalled last month. The proposal would include the release of some of the hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a pullback of Israeli forces and negotiations over a more lasting ceasefire. Israeli troops have meanwhile already begun more limited operations in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood and the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp, areas where they have carried out several previous large-scale raids over the course of the war, only to see militants later regroup. The military says it plans to operate in areas where ground troops have not yet entered and where it says Hamas still has military and governing capabilities. So far, there has been little sign of Palestinians fleeing en masse, as they did when Israel carried out an earlier offensive in Gaza City in the opening weeks of the war. The military says it controls around 75% of Gaza and residents say nowhere in the territory feels safe. Protests in Israel and Gaza Hundreds gathered for a rare protest in Gaza City on Thursday against the war and Israel's plans to support the mass relocation of Palestinians to other countries. Women and children held placards reading 'Save Gaza' and 'Stop the war, stop the savage attack, save us,' against a backdrop of destroyed buildings as Palestinian music played. Unlike in previous protests, there were no expressions of opposition to Hamas. 'We want the war on Gaza to stop. We don't want to migrate. Twenty-two months … it's enough. Enough death. Enough destruction,' said Bisan Ghazal, a woman displaced from Gaza City. In Israel, protesters marched Thursday night in Tel Aviv holding banners that read 'The people will bring back the hostages' and 'How much blood will be spilled?' Among the demonstrators was Dudu Dotan, who said Netanyahu is endangering the remaining hostages by moving forward with the planned Gaza City offensive. Of the 50 still being held in Gaza, Israel believes about 20 hostages are still alive. 'This way will not bring the hostages back,' Dotan said. "Every hostage he brought back, he brought back through deals. And every time he tried to bring them back with military force, he caused the hostages to be killed.' Plans for widening the offensive have also sparked international outrage, with many of Israel's closest Western allies — but not the United States — calling on it to end the war. 'I must reiterate that it is vital to reach immediately a ceasefire in Gaza, and the unconditional release of all hostages to avoid the massive death and destruction that a military operation against Gaza City would inevitably cause,' UN chief António Guterres said at a conference in Japan.
NDTV
2 minutes ago
- NDTV
Israel Approves Extended Offensive, Hammers Gaza City Overnight
Israel hammered Gaza City and its outskirts overnight, residents said Thursday, after the defence ministry approved an expanded offensive to target the remaining Hamas strongholds in the strip. The newly approved plan authorises the call-up of roughly 60,000 reservists, deepening fears that the campaign will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory. "We are not waiting. We have begun the preliminary actions, and already now, IDF (army) troops are holding the outskirts of Gaza City," the Israeli military said in a statement. Israel's plans to expand the fighting and take control of Gaza City have sparked international outcry as well as domestic opposition. Ahead of the offensive, the Israeli military said the call-up of the reservists would begin in early September. Gaza City residents described relentless bombardments overnight. "The house shakes with us all night long -- the sound of explosions, artillery, warplanes, ambulances, and cries for help is killing us," one of them, Ahmad al-Shanti, told AFP. "The sound is getting closer, but where would we go?". Another resident, Amal Abdel-Aal, said she watched the heavy strikes on the area, a week after being displaced from her home in Gaza City's Al-Sabra neighbourhood. "No one in Gaza has slept -- not last night, not for a week. The artillery and air strikes in the east never stop. The sky flashes all night long," she added. Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said air strikes and artillery fire overnight targeted areas to the northwest and southeast of Gaza City. Late Thursday, the Israeli military detailed a range of operations across the Gaza Strip in recent weeks. It said the manoeuvres and strikes "created the conditions" for the military to intensify pressure on Hamas and lay the groundwork for the next stages of the campaign. As Israel tightened its grip on the outskirts of Gaza City, meditators continued to wait for an official Israeli reaction to their latest ceasefire proposal that Hamas accepted earlier this week. 'Ball' in Israel's court Israel and Hamas have held a string of indirect negotiations throughout the nearly two-year conflict, paving the way for a pair of short ceasefires during which Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Of the 251 captives kidnapped during Hamas's October 2023 onslaught on southern Israel that triggered the war, 49 are still in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Sources from Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad told AFP this week that the latest ceasefire proposal calls for the release of 10 hostages and 18 bodies from Gaza. The remaining hostages would be released in a second phase alongside talks for a wider settlement. Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have overseen several rounds of shuttle diplomacy. Qatar said the latest proposal was "almost identical" to an earlier version approved by Israel, while Cairo said Monday that "the ball is now in its (Israel's) court". Late Wednesday, Hamas lambasted the Israeli defence ministry's approval of plans to take control of Gaza City, saying it showed its "blatant disregard" for efforts to broker a ceasefire and hostage release deal. "Today's announcement by the terrorist occupation army of the start of an operation against Gaza City and its nearly one million residents and displaced persons... demonstrates... a blatant disregard for the efforts made by the mediators," it said in a statement. Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed at least 62,122 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.
