WASHINGTON: Cheering Democrats returned Nancy Pelosi to the House speaker’s post Thursday as the 116th Congress took office and ushered in a historically diverse class of freshmen ready to confront President Donald Trump in a new era of divided government.
Trump congratulated Pelosi during a rare appearance in the White House briefing room.
The president, who has tangled with Pelosi and is sure to do so again, called her election by House colleagues “a tremendous, tremendous achievement.”
Pelosi, elected speaker 220-192, took the gavel saying US voters “demanded a new dawn” in the November election and are looking to “the beauty of our Constitution” to provide checks and balances on power. She invited scores of lawmakers’ kids to join her on the dais as she was sworn in, calling the House to order “on behalf of all of America’s children.” She faced 15 dissenting votes from fellow Democrats.
The new Congress is like none other. There are more women than ever before, and a new generation of Muslims, Latinos, Native Americans and African-Americans in the House is creating what academics call a reflective democracy, more aligned with the population of the United States. The Republican side in the House is still made up mostly of white men, and in the Senate Republicans bolstered their ranks in the majority.
In a nod to the moment, Pelosi, the first female speaker, was broadly pledging to make Congress work for all Americans — addressing kitchen table issues at a time of deep economic churn — even as her party is ready to challenge Trump with investigations and subpoena powers that threaten the White House agenda. It’s the first new Congress to convene amid a partial government shutdown, now in its 13th day over Trump’s demands for money for a wall along the U.S-Mexico border.
The House will be “for the people,” Pelosi said. She promised to “restore integrity to government” and outlined an agenda “to lower health costs and prescription drugs prices, and protect people with pre-existing medical conditions; to increase paychecks by rebuilding America with green and modern infrastructure from sea to shining sea.”
The day was unfolding as one of both celebration and impatience. Newly elected lawmakers arrived, often with friends and families in tow, to take the oath of office and pose for ceremonial photos. The Democrats promised quick passage of legislation to re-open the government, but without the funding Trump is demanding for his promised border wall.
Vice President Mike Pence swore in newly-elected senators, but Senate Republicans under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had no plans to consider the House bills to fund the government unless Trump agrees to sign them into law. That ensures the shutdown will continue, clouding the first days of the new session.
McConnell said that Republicans have shown the Senate is “fertile soil for big, bipartisan accomplishments,” but that the question is whether House Democrats will engage in “good governance or political performance art.”
It’s a time of stark national political division that some analysts say is on par with the Civil War era. Battle lines are drawn not just between Democrats and Republicans but within the parties themselves, splintered by their left and right flanks.
Pelosi defied history in returning to the speaker’s office after eight years in the minority, overcoming internal opposition from Democrats demanding a new generation of leaders. She will be the first to regain the gavel since legendary Sam Rayburn of Texas in 1955.
Putting Pelosi’s name forward for nomination, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the incoming Democratic caucus chair, recounted her previous accomplishments — passing the Affordable Care Act, helping the country out of the Great Recession — as preludes to her next ones. He called her leadership “unparalleled in modern American history.”
One Democrat, Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Michigan, cast her vote for Pelosi “on the shoulders of women who marched 100 years ago” for women’s suffrage. Newly elected Rep. Lucy McBath of Georgia, an anti-gun violence advocate, dedicated hers to her slain teenage son, Jordan Davis.
As speaker, Pelosi will face an early challenge from the party’s robust wing of liberal newcomers, including 29-year-old New Yorker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has risen to such prominence she is already known around the Capitol — and on her prolific social media accounts — by the nickname “AOC.” She said she’d cast a no vote on a new package of rules to govern the House.
Ocasio-Cortez and other liberals oppose the pay-as-you-go budget provisions in the rules package that would allow restrictive objections to any legislation that would add to federal deficits. They say such restraints would hamstring Democratic efforts to invest in health care, education and develop a Green New Deal of renewable energy infrastructure projects to fight climate change.
Republicans face their own internal battles beyond just the conservative House Freedom Caucus, but as they decide how closely to tie their political fortunes to Trump. GOP leader Kevin McCarthy’s name was put into nomination by his party’s caucus chair, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the daughter of the former vice president. He faced six “no” votes from his now-shrunken GOP minority.
McCarthy told the lawmakers that voters often wonder if Congress is “still capable” of solving problems, and as he passed the gavel to Pelosi he said this period of divided government is “no excuse for gridlock.”
One office remains disputed as the House refused to seat Republican Mark Harris of North Carolina amid an investigation by state election officials of irregularities in absentee ballots from the November election.
Many GOP senators are up for re-election in 2020 in states, including Colorado and Maine, where voters have mixed views of Trump’s performance in the White House.
Trump, whose own bid for 2020 already is underway, faces potential challenges from the ranks of Senate Democrats under Chuck Schumer. Trump had little to say early Thursday as the new Congress was convening, but he did tweet an attack on one of his likely presidential challengers, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, mocking her claim to Native American ancestry.
The halls of the Capitol were bustling with arrivals, children in the arms of many new lawmakers. Visitor galleries included crooner Tony Bennett and rock legend Mickey Hart, both guests of Pelosi. Incoming White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, a former congressman, sat with Republican leaders.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Missouri, opened the House prayer asking at “a time fraught with tribalism at home and turbulence abroad” that lawmakers “become the architects of a kindlier nation.”
Overnight, Democratic Rep-elect Ilhan Omar of Minnesota tweeted a picture with her family at the airport. The House rules were being changed to allow her to wear a head scarf on the chamber floor. She wrote, “23 years ago, from a refugee camp in Kenya, my father and I arrived at an airport in Washington DC. Today, we return to that same airport on the eve of my swearing in as the first Somali-American in Congress.”
Pelosi sees ‘new dawn’ as diverse 116th Congress begins
Pelosi sees ‘new dawn’ as diverse 116th Congress begins
- Pelosi, elected speaker 220-192, took the gavel saying US voters “demanded a new dawn”
South Korea sets snap presidential election for June 3, drawing out contenders
- President Yoon ousted last week after December martial law
- Multiple candidates emerge amid political turmoil
SEOUL: Leading contenders began to throw their hats in the ring on Tuesday as South Korea officially set June 3 for a snap presidential election triggered by last week’s removal from office of impeached leader Yoon Suk Yeol.
The power vacuum at the top of government has impeded Seoul’s efforts to negotiate with the administration of US President Donald Trump at a time of spiralling US tariffs and slowing growth in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Yoon was removed on Friday over his short-lived declaration of martial law in December that plunged the key US ally into crisis, triggering a new election that could reshape its foreign and domestic policy.
“The government intends to designate June 3 as the 21st presidential election day,” Acting President Han Duck-soo told a cabinet meeting, citing factors such as the time political parties need to prepare for the event.
Yoon’s labor minister Kim Moon-soo is among a handful of hopefuls who have signalled their intention to run, resigning his post on Tuesday and saying he would launch his campaign.
While not officially a member of Yoon’s People Power Party at the moment, Kim has been polling better than other conservative contenders.
“I tendered my resignation and decided to run because the people want it, people I know want it, and I feel a sense of responsibility to solve national difficulties,” Kim told reporters.
Economic conditions during a “severe national crisis” are hurting people’s livelihoods, he said.
“I thought that all politicians and people should unite to overcome the crisis and work together to help the country develop further,” Kim said.
Ahn Cheol-soo, a PPP lawmaker who was its first to vote for Yoon’s impeachment, also declared his intention to run on Tuesday, saying he was a “cleaner candidate than anyone else.”
He also vowed to secure new economic growth engines including artificial intelligence, to counter Trump’s trade policies.
Ahn fought the last three presidential elections, winning more than 21 percent of the popular vote in 2017, but dropping out and endorsing other candidates in the other two. He is not polling high enough to be included in most recent surveys.
Kim and Ahn will join a wide open field of conservative candidates trying to overcome their party’s second impeachment in as many presidencies.
Conservative Park Geun-hye was impeached, removed from office, and imprisoned in 2017 over a corruption scandal.
Lee Jae-myung, the populist leader of the liberal Democratic Party who lost to Yoon by a razor-thin margin in 2022, is a clear front-runner, but faces legal challenges of his own.
These include multiple trials for charges such as violating the election law and bribery.
Nevertheless, he is expected to step down as DP leader and declare his candidacy as soon as this week.
A Gallup poll published on Friday showed 34 percent of respondents supported Lee as the next leader, while 9 percent backed Kim, 5 percent opted for former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon, 4 percent chose Daegu mayor Hong Joon-pyo, and 2 percent plumped for Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon.
Yoon was removed by the Constitutional Court for violating his official duty by issuing a martial law decree on December 3 and mobilizing troops in a bid to halt parliamentary proceedings.
The law requires a new presidential election to be held within 60 days if the position becomes vacant.
Yoon still faces criminal insurrection charges, with arguments in his trial to begin on April 14.
South Korea has faced months of political turmoil since Yoon stunned the country by declaring martial law, triggering his impeachment by parliament and the impeachment of acting leader Han.
Han’s impeachment was later overturned by the Constitutional Court and he will stay in the role of acting president until the election.
US aid cuts a ‘death sentence’ for millions: UN
- The Trump administration has largely gutted USAID, the main US humanitarian assistance organization
UNITED NATIONS, United States: The United States has ended emergency food aid for 14 countries, endangering the lives of millions of hungry or starving people, a United Nations agency said Monday.
The World Food Program (WFP), which was already grappling with a 40 percent drop in funding for this year, said it had been advised of the new American aid halt to 14 countries.
In comments on X, the agency did not name these countries.
“If implemented, this could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation,” the agency said.
The WFP is not the only UN body hit by US funding cuts, as the United States under President Donald Trump turns sharply inward and stops trying to help other countries around the world as part of an isolationist agenda.
The Trump administration told the UN Population Fund, an agency dedicated to promoting sexual and reproductive health, that it was ending two programs, the organization told AFP Monday.
One of programs was for Afghanistan, while the other involved Syria.
Other countries besides the United States have also announced funding cuts in recent months, causing alarm among NGOs and international organizations.
The Trump administration has largely gutted USAID, the main US humanitarian assistance organization. It previously had a yearly budget of $42.8 billion, which was 42 percent of all aid money disbursed around the world.
How the ban on girls’ education will hamper Afghanistan’s development
- The Taliban’s refusal to educate girls is considered among the biggest barriers to Afghanistan’s recovery and growth
- Experts say denying girls an education only entrenches gender inequality and limits workforce productivity
LONDON: With the Taliban’s ban on secondary education for teenage girls now in its fourth year, the dreams of millions across Afghanistan remain on hold. If the policy continues, experts say it could have serious implications for women’s health and the nation’s development.
The ban, reimposed in September 2021, has already deprived 2.2 million Afghan girls of secondary education as of 2025, according to the UN children’s fund, UNICEF. If the ban persists until 2030, this number could rise to more than 4 million.
“The consequences for these girls — and for Afghanistan — are catastrophic,” Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s executive director, warned in a statement, adding that the ban “negatively impacts the health system, the economy, and the future of the nation.”
The ban is among the harshest measures imposed by the Taliban since its return to power in August 2021. It bars girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade and from universities. Afghanistan is the only country in the world to enforce such a ban.
The Taliban claims its policy aligns with its interpretation of Islamic law, mirroring similar measures during its initial rule from 1996 to 2001.
The ramifications of the ban extend far beyond the immediate exclusion of girls from schooling. Its effects are likely to reverberate through Afghan society for decades unless the policy is reversed.
Salma Niazi, editor in chief of the Afghan Times, told Arab News the ban “will have devastating, multi-generational effects,” risking “a profound brain drain, economic stagnation, and increased poverty.”
Economically, Afghanistan loses an estimated 2.5 percent of its annual gross domestic product due to the exclusion of girls from secondary education, according to a 2022 UNICEF report.
Niazi said educated women are vital to a nation’s progress, contributing to healthcare, governance, and community resilience.
“Denying them education entrenches gender inequality, limits workforce productivity, and exacerbates cycles of vulnerability, including child marriage and maternal mortality,” she said. “The societal and economic costs will be felt for decades.”
IN NUMBERS
- 2.2m Afghan girls currently out of school
- 4m Projected to lose out if ban persists to 2030
Dr. Ayesha Ahmad, a global health humanities scholar at St. George’s University of London, echoed these concerns. “Even if boys and men can access education, there is no foundation for a country’s flourishment without equality in education,” she told Arab News.
“Most significantly, for the forthcoming multiple age groups affected by the education ban, there is a generational impact that will take designated efforts to heal the collective traumas that are being enforced and imposed onto the lives of Afghan girls and women.”
The Taliban’s December 2024 closure of medical education programs for women has intensified these risks. UNICEF’s Russell warned that fewer female doctors and midwives will leave women without critical care, estimating “an additional 1,600 maternal deaths and over 3,500 infant deaths.”
She said in her March statement: “These are not just numbers; they represent lives lost and families shattered.”
Afghanistan already has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, with at least 600 deaths per 100,000 live births — nearly triple the global average.
The Taliban’s requirement for male guardians to accompany women seeking healthcare further endangers those in labor. UN Women projects that by 2026, the education ban could increase early childbearing rates by 45 percent and maternal mortality risks by 50 percent.
Ahmad accused the Taliban of “weaponizing discrimination into genocide” through barring women from medical training. “Girls and women simply will die,” she said.
With nearly 28 percent of Afghan girls married before they are 18, UNICEF warns the education ban will only heighten the risk of child marriage, threatening girls’ health and agency.
“With fewer girls receiving an education, girls face a higher risk of child marriage with negative repercussions on their well-being and health,” Russell said.
It is through such policies that the Taliban systematically erases women’s autonomy, said Ahmad, “deliberately shrinking spaces that girls and women can occupy through their growth, individuality, wishes, and agency.”
Beyond physical harm, the mental health toll is severe. Ahmad said the ban fosters “hopelessness, despair, depression, and suicidality” among Afghan girls and women.
She called for greater awareness of what she described as “a gender apartheid,” urging action against the Taliban policies that erase women’s autonomy.
The policy also threatens Afghanistan’s global standing.
Hasina Safi, Afghanistan’s former minister for women’s affairs, said the ban on girls’ education “will further isolate Afghanistan and Afghan women” while deepening “inequality and instability at all levels — from grassroots communities to policy making.”
She told Arab News: “When you educate a man, you educate an individual; when you educate a woman, you educate an entire family. The first school of a child is a mother.
“The first word of the Qur’an revealed was ‘Iqra,’ which means read — which clearly reflects the importance of education even in Islam.”
Despite these challenges, families are seeking alternatives to ensure their daughters receive an education. Some are turning to illegal underground schools, the former minister said.
Ahmad explained that although underground schools provide some relief for Afghan girls desperately seeking an education, they remain informal and poorly resourced. “Unfortunately, these are not of an adequate standard,” she said. “They operate in silence.”
Online programs offer another avenue but come with obstacles such as high overseas fees and limited internet access. Afghan students also struggle with power outages and technological barriers while trying to meet academic expectations.
Even if Afghan women complete their education through such means, employment opportunities remain scarce under Taliban restrictions.
“One student I know from Afghanistan had to write her dissertation whilst managing electricity power cuts and not being able to charge or use her laptop to work or access student systems such as lectures,” said Ahmad.
“And to what end? There is no employment for women to develop a career from their education.”
Niazi of the Afghan Times said that in addition to underground schools, Afghan civil society, educators, and international organizations “have shown remarkable resilience,” discretely operating digital learning platforms and community-based initiatives.
“Some NGOs are providing scholarships for Afghan girls to study abroad, while advocacy groups continue to pressure the Taliban through local and global campaigns,” she said. “However, these efforts are often fragmented and operate under severe constraints.”
Highlighting efforts by her independent news outlet, Niazi added: “At the Afghan Times, we’ve launched an Open Mic Podcast where young women share how they’ve clung to hope through online education.
“Their stories — of studying secretly via Zoom, accessing smuggled e-books, or teaching younger sisters at home — reveal both resilience and desperation.”
The three women urged the international community to play a greater role in pressuring the Taliban to lift the ban, which remains a stark violation of fundamental rights and continues to draw widespread condemnation from international organizations and activists alike.
Safi noted that while the international community has responded to the issue, including “condemnations and advocacy,” these actions have “yielded no results.”
She added: “The international community can play a pivotal role at multiple levels of engagement with the Taliban by implementing short, mid, and long-term programs to restore access to education through conditional funding and other proven strategies.”
The international community has strongly condemned the Taliban’s actions. Organizations like UNICEF, UNESCO, and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan have repeatedly called for the immediate lifting of the ban, emphasizing its catastrophic impact on Afghanistan’s future.
Countries like the UK have taken a firm stance against the restrictions, and Islamic nations have sought to pressure the Taliban into reversing the policy.
While the Taliban remains resistant to outside pressure, Safi said sustained international efforts could still create pathways for Afghan girls to access education — even under restrictive conditions.
The Taliban stance is further complicated by its lack of recognition from the international community, primarily due to its systematic oppression of women and girls. No country has granted formal diplomatic recognition to the Islamic Emirate since its 2021 takeover, with ongoing human rights violations cited as the central obstacle.
Niazi called for consistent diplomatic and economic pressure on the Taliban, advocating for increased funding to alternative education programs, including online learning and cross-border initiatives.
The Afghan Times editor also stressed that “global media, like Arab News, play a crucial role in keeping this issue visible,” while “neighboring countries and Islamic leaders could leverage their influence to advocate for change, framing education as a religious and moral imperative.”
Ahmad criticized what she believes to be the international community’s selective engagement. “When there is a perceived threat to ‘Western’ populations, it is justified to intervene, even if that intervention destroys generations of lives and hope,” she said.
“Yet when there is a structurally violent threat to girls through the institution of education, there is global silence. This is another form of violence.”
She urged nations to prioritize a unified response to ensure educational equality, warning that the continued ban on girls’ education could mean Afghanistan’s “destruction.”
Indeed, she added: “Nothing can be created without education.”
Microsoft workers say they’ve been fired after 50th anniversary protest over Israel contract
- Among the participants at the 50th anniversary of Microsoft’s founding were co-founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer
- AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI had been used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon
Microsoft has fired two employees who interrupted the company’s 50th anniversary celebration to protest its work supplying artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military, according to a group representing the workers.
Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
The protests began Friday when Microsoft software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad walked up to a stage where an executive was announcing new product features and a long-term vision for Microsoft’s AI ambitions.
“You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military,” Aboussad shouted at Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. “Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region.”
The protest forced Suleyman to pause his talk, which was livestreamed from Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington. Among the participants at the 50th anniversary of Microsoft’s founding were co-founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer.
“Thank you for your protest, I hear you,” Suleyman said. Aboussad continued, shouting that Suleyman and “all of Microsoft” had blood on their hands. She also threw onto the stage a keffiyeh scarf, which has become a symbol of support for Palestinian people, before being escorted out of the event.
A second protester, Microsoft employee Vaniya Agrawal, interrupted a later part of the event.
Aboussad was invited on Monday to a video call with a human resources representative at which she was told she was being terminated immediately. Agrawal was notified over email, according to the advocacy group No Azure for Apartheid, which has protested the sale of Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to Israel.
An investigation by The Associated Press revealed earlier this year that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI had been used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon. The story also contained details of an errant Israeli airstrike in 2023 that struck a vehicle carrying members of a Lebanese family, killing three young girls and their grandmother.
In February, five Microsoft employees were ejected from a meeting with CEO Satya Nadella for protesting the contracts.
“We provide many avenues for all voices to be heard,” said a statement from the company Friday. “Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption. If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards.”
Microsoft had declined to say Friday whether it was taking further action. Aboussad told the AP she lost access to her work accounts shortly after the protest and had not been able to log back in.
Dozens of Google workers were fired last year after internal protests surrounding a contract that the technology company has with the Israeli government. Employee sit-ins at Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California were targeting a $1.2 billion deal known as Project Nimbus providing AI technology to the Israeli government.
The Google workers later filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in an attempt to get their jobs back.
Tajikistan to jail people for illegal electricity use
- Electricity consumption in Tajikistan is limited for about six months per year, as its outdated energy infrastructure struggles to keep up with rising demand
DUSHANBE: Tajikistan has introduced 10-year prison sentences for the illegal use of electricity, as a decades-long energy crisis caused by water shortages worsens in the poor Central Asian country.
Electricity consumption in Tajikistan is limited for about six months per year, as its outdated energy infrastructure struggles to keep up with rising demand.
The country’s Energy and Water Resources Ministry on Saturday announced measures to introduce “criminal liability for violations of regulations on the use of electricity.”
In a sign of how tightly the country controls the press and flow of information, it was only reported by independent media outlets on Monday.
Under the new rules, anybody found trying to disconnect or bypass an electricity meter will face up to 10 years in prison.
Ex-Soviet Tajikistan is ruled by President Emomali Rakhmon, a former state farm boss who has held power since 1992.
Justice Minister Rustam Shoemurod said earlier in April that those who alter meter readings or bypass them to avoid payments are “seriously damaging the country’s economic interests.”
A shortage of water needed to fuel hydroelectric plants, which generate about 95 percent of electricity output in Tajikistan, has led to years of regular power outages.
