Ethiopian crash victims were aid workers, doctors, academics

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Sarah Auffret from the UK was identified as a victim of the doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight which crashed shortly after take off from Addis Ababa on Sunday Morning. (AP)
Updated 11 March 2019
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Ethiopian crash victims were aid workers, doctors, academics

  • The victims included three Austrian physicians, the co-founder of an international aid organization, a career ambassador and the wife and children of a Slovak legislator

ADDIS ABABA: Three Austrian physicians. The co-founder of an international aid organization. A career ambassador. The wife and children of a Slovak legislator. A Nigerian-born Canadian college professor and satirist. They were among the 157 people from 35 countries who died Sunday morning when an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 jetliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi, Kenya. Here are some of their stories.
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Kenya: 32 victims
— Hussein Swaleh, the former secretary general of the Football Kenya Federation, was named as being among the dead by Sofapaka Football Club. He was returning home on the flight after working as the match commissioner in an African Champions League game in Egypt on Friday.
— Cedric Asiavugwa, who studied international business and economic law at Georgetown University in Washington, was on his way to Nairobi after the death of his fiancee's mother, the university said in a statement.
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Canada: 18 victims
— Pius Adesanmi, a Nigerian professor with Carleton University in Ottawa, was on his way to a meeting of the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council in Nairobi, Nigeria's representative to the panel, John O. Oba, told The Associated Press.




Pius Adesanmi


Adesanmi is the author of "Naija No Dey Carry Last," a collection of satirical essays.
"Pius was a towering figure in African and post-colonial scholarship and his sudden loss is a tragedy," said Benoit-Antoine Bacon, Carleton's president and vice chancellor.
Adesanmi was the winner of the inaugural Penguin Prize for African non-fiction writing in 2010.
—Mohamed Hassan Ali confirmed that he had lost his sister and niece.
Ali said his sister, Amina Ibrahim Odowaa, 33, and her 5-year-old daughter, Sofia Faisal Abdulkadir, were on board the jet. He said his sister lived in Edmonton and was travelling to Kenya to visit with relatives.
— Derick Lwugi, an accountant with the City of Calgary, was also among the victims, his wife, Gladys Kivia, said. He leaves behind three children, aged 17, 19 and 20. Lwugi had been headed to Kenya to visit both of their parents.
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Ethiopia: 9 victims
— Catholic Relief Services said four of its Ethiopian staff members died. The aid group in a statement says Sara Chalachew, Getnet Alemayehu, Sintayehu Aymeku, and Mulusew Alemu had been traveling to Nairobi for training.
The four had worked with the organization for as long as a decade. They worked in procurement, logistics and finance.
— The aid group Save the Children said an Ethiopian colleague died in the crash.
Tamirat Mulu Demessie was a technical adviser on child protection in emergencies and "worked tirelessly to ensure that vulnerable children are safe during humanitarian crises," the group said in a statement.
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China: 8 victims
— A statement from the Chinese Embassy in Addis Ababa said the Chinese victims included five men and three women, including one person from the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said two United Nations workers were among the eight Chinese killed. Four were working for a Chinese company and two had travelled to Ethiopia for "private matters."
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Italy: 8 victims
— Paolo Dieci, one of the founders of the International Committee for the Development of Peoples, was among the dead, the group said on its website.
"The world of international cooperation has lost one of its most brilliant advocates and Italian civil society has lost a precious point of reference," wrote the group, which partners with UNICEF in northern Africa. UNICEF Italia sent a tweet of condolences over Dieci's death, noting that the group was a partner in Kenya, Libya and Algeria.
— Sebastiano Tusa, the Sicilian regional assessor to the Italian Culture Ministry, was en route to Nairobi when the plane crashed, according to Sicilian regional President Nello Musemeci. Tusa was also a noted underwater archaeologist.
— The World Food Program confirmed that two of the Italian victims worked for the Rome-based U.N. agency. A WFP spokeswoman identified the victims as Virginia Chimenti and Maria Pilar Buzzetti.
— Three other Italians worked for the Bergamo-based humanitarian agency, Africa Tremila: Carlo Spini, his wife, Gabriella Viggiani and the treasurer, Matteo Ravasio.
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United States: 8 victims
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France: 7 victims
— A group representing members of the African diaspora in Europe is mourning the loss of its co-chairperson and "foremost brother," Karim Saafi. The 38-year-old French-Tunisian was on an official mission representing the African Diaspora Youth Forum in Europe, the group announced on its Facebook page.
"Karim's smile, his charming and generous personality, eternal positivity, and his noble contribution to Youth employment, diaspora engagement and Africa's socio-economic development will never be forgotten," the post read. Saafi left behind a fiancee.
— Sarah Auffret, a French-British national living in Tromsoe, northern Norway, was on the plane, the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators said. Auffret, a staffer, was on the way to Nairobi to talk about a Cleans Seas project in connection with the U.N. Environment Assembly this week, the company said in a statement.
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Britain: 7 victims
— Joanna Toole, a 36-year-old from Exmouth, Devon, was heading to Nairobi to attend the United Nations Environment Assembly. Her father, Adrian, described her as a "very soft and loving" woman whose "work was not a job — it was her vocation."


He told the DevonLive website Toole used to keep homing pigeons and pet rats and traveled to the remote Faroe Islands to prevent whaling.
— Joseph Waithaka, 55, lived in Hull, England for a decade before moving back to his native Kenya, also died in the crash, his son told the Hull Daily Mail. Ben Kuria said his father had worked for the Probation Service, adding: "He helped so many people in Hull who had found themselves on the wrong side of the law."
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Egypt: 6 victims
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Germany: 5 victims
— The U.N. migration agency said that one of its staffers, German citizen Anne-Katrin Feigl, was en route to a training course in Nairobi.
— Rev. Norman Tendis was a long-time pastor in the protestant congregation of St. Ruprecht in Villach, Austria. The World Council of Churches said Monday that he was traveling to a U.N. environment summit in Nairobi. The 51-year-old is survived by his wife and three children.

 




Reverend Norman Tendis. (AP)


— The German development aid organization GIZ said one of its staff was also on the plane. GIZ spokeswoman Tanja Stumpff said the woman was on a business trip. She declined to provide further details, citing privacy reasons.
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India: 4 victims
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Slovakia: 4 victims
— A lawmaker of the Slovak Parliament said his wife, daughter and son were killed in the crash. Anton Hrnko, a legislator for the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party, said he was "in deep grief" over the deaths of his wife, Blanka; son, Martin; and daughter, Michala. Their ages weren't immediately available.
Martin Hrnko worked for the Bubo travel agency and was traveling on vacation to Kenya, the agency said.
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Sweden: 4 victims
— Hospitality company Tamarind Group announced "with immense shock and grief" that its chief executive Jonathan Seex was among the fatalities.
— The Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders, an international human rights group, said employee Josefin Ekermann, 30, was on board the plane. Ekermann, who worked to support human rights defenders, was on her way to meet Kenyan partner organizations. The group's executive director, Anders L. Pettersson, says "Josefin was a highly appreciated and respected colleague."
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Austria: 3 victims
—Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Peter Guschelbauer confirmed that three Austrian doctors in their early 30s were on board the flight. The men were on their way to Zanzibar, he said, but he could not confirm the purpose of their trip.
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Russia: 3 victims
—The Russian Embassy in Ethiopia said airline authorities had identified its deceased citizens as Yekaterina Polyakova, Alexander Polyakov and Sergei Vyalikov.
Russian news reports identified Polyakova and Polyakov as a married couple. State news agency RIA-Novosibirsk said the three were visiting Africa as tourists.
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Israel: 2 victims
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Morocco: 2 victims
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Poland: 2 victims
— Poland's Foreign Ministry says two victims were men and not related to each other. The ministry does not plan to say more about them, citing the need to respect privacy and the interest of the men's families.
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Spain: 2 victims
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Belgium: 1 victim
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Djibouti: 1 victim
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Indonesia: 1 victim
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Ireland: 1 victim
— Irishman Michael Ryan was among seven people from the United Nations' World Food Program who were killed.

The Rome-based aid worker and engineer known as Mick was thought to be married with two children. His work projects included creating safe conditions for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and assessing the damage to rural roads in Nepal that were blocked by landslides.
His mother, Christine Ryan, told broadcaster RTE "he never wanted a 9 to 5 job. He put everything into his work."
Irish premier Leo Varadkar said: "Michael was doing life-changing work in Africa with the World Food Program."
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Mozambique: 1 victim
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Nepal: 1 victim
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Nigeria: 1 victim
—The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it received the news of retired Ambassador Abiodun Oluremi Bashu's death "with great shock."
Bashu was born in Ibadan in 1951 and joined the Nigerian Foreign Service in 1976. He had served in different capacities both at headquarters and abroad, including in Austria, Ivory Coast and Tehran, Iran. He also served as secretary to the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
At the time of his death, Bashu was on contract with the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa.
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Norway: 1 victim
—The Red Cross of Norway confirmed that Karoline Aadland, a finance officer, was on the flight. Aadland, 28, was originally from Bergen, Norway. The Red Cross said she was traveling to Nairobi for a meeting.
Aadland's Linkedin page says she had done humanitarian and environmental work. It says her work and studies had taken her to France, Kenya, South Africa and Malawi.




Karoline Aadland


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Rwanda: 1 victim
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Saudi Arabia: 1 victim
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Serbia: 1 victim
Serbia's Foreign Ministry confirmed that a citizen of Serbia was on the plane and gave no details. Serbian media identified him as Djordje Vdovic, 54. The Vecernje Novosti newspaper reported Vdovic worked for the U.N. World Food Program.
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Somalia: 1 victim
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Sudan: 1 victim
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Togo: 1 victim
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Uganda: 1 victim
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Yemen: 1 victim
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U.N. passport: 1 victim
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The US government has a new policy for terminating international students’ legal status

Updated 16 sec ago
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The US government has a new policy for terminating international students’ legal status

  • On Friday, after mounting court challenges, federal officials said the government was restoring international students’ legal status while it developed a framework to guide future terminations

WASHINGTON: The US government has begun shedding new light on a crackdown on international students, spelling out how it targeted thousands of people and laying out the grounds for terminating their legal status.
The new details emerged in lawsuits filed by some of the students who suddenly had their status canceled in recent weeks with little explanation.
In the past month, foreign students around the US have been rattled to learn their records had been removed from a student database maintained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some went into hiding for fear of being picked up by immigration authorities or abandoned their studies to return home.
On Friday, after mounting court challenges, federal officials said the government was restoring international students’ legal status while it developed a framework to guide future terminations. In a court filing Monday, it shared the new policy: a document issued over the weekend with guidance on a range of reasons students’ status can be canceled, including the revocation of the visas they used to enter the US
Brad Banias, an immigration attorney representing a student whose status was terminated, said the new guidelines vastly expand ICE’s authority beyond previous policy, which did not count visa revocation as grounds for losing legal status.
“This just gave them carte blanche to have the State Department revoke a visa and then deport those students even if they’ve done nothing wrong,” Banias said.
Many of the students who had visas revoked or lost their legal status said they had only minor infractions on their record, including driving infractions. Some did not know why they were targeted at all.
Lawyers for the government provided some explanation at a hearing Tuesday in the case of Banias’ client Akshar Patel, an international student studying information systems in Texas. Patel’s status was terminated — and then reinstated — this month, and he is seeking a preliminary court ruling to keep him from being deported.
In court filings and in the hearing, Department of Homeland Security officials said they ran the names of student visa holders through the National Crime Information Center, an FBI-run database that contains reams of information related to crimes. It includes the names of suspects, missing persons and people who have been arrested, even if they have never been charged with a crime or had charges dropped.
In total, about 6,400 students were identified in the database search, US District Judge Ana Reyes said in the hearing Tuesday. One of the students was Patel, who had been pulled over and charged with reckless driving in 2018. The charge was ultimately dropped — information that is also in NCIC.
Patel appears in a spreadsheet with 734 students whose names had come up in NCIC. That spreadsheet was forwarded to a Homeland Security official, who, within 24 hours of receiving it, replied: “Please terminate all in SEVIS.” That’s a different database listing foreigners who have legal status as students in the US
Reyes said the short time frame suggested that no one had reviewed the records individually to find out why the students’ names came up in NCIC.
“All of this could have been avoided if someone had taken a beat,” said Reyes, who was appointed by President Joe Biden. She said the government had demonstrated “an utter lack of concern for individuals who have come into this country.”
When colleges discovered the students no longer had legal status, it prompted chaos and confusion. In the past, college officials say, legal statuses typically were updated after colleges told the government the students were no longer studying at the school. In some cases, colleges told students to stop working or taking classes and warned them they could be deported.
Still, government attorneys said the change in the database did not mean the students actually lost legal status, even though some of the students were labeled “failure to maintain status.” Instead, lawyers said, it was intended to be an “investigative red flag.”
“Mr. Patel is lawfully present in the US,” Andre Watson of the Department of Homeland Security said. “He is not subject to immediate detention or removal.”
Reyes declined to issue a preliminary injunction and urged lawyers from both sides to come to a settlement to ensure Patel could stay in the US
 

 


Trump eases auto tariffs burden as Lutnick touts first foreign trade deal

Updated 30 April 2025
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Trump eases auto tariffs burden as Lutnick touts first foreign trade deal

WASHINGTON/DETROIT: US President Donald Trump signed a pair of orders to soften the blow of his auto tariffs on Tuesday with a mix of credits and relief from other levies on materials, and his trade team touted its first deal with a foreign trading partner.
The developments helped eased some investor worries about the erratic trade policies of Trump as the president visited Michigan, a cradle of the US auto industry, just days before a fresh set of 25 percent import taxes was set to kick in on automotive components.
The trip, on the eve of his 100th day in office, came as Americans take an increasingly dim view of Trump’s economic stewardship, with indications his tariffs will weigh on growth and could drive up inflation and unemployment.
In his latest partial reversal of tariff policies, the Republican president agreed to give carmakers two years to boost the percentage of domestic components in vehicles assembled domestically.
It will allow them to offset tariffs for imported auto parts used in US-assembled vehicles equal to 3.75 percent of the total value of the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of vehicles they build in the US through April 2026, and 2.5 percent of US production through April 30, 2027.
Auto industry leaders had lobbied the administration furiously during the weeks since Trump first unveiled his 25 percent tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts. The levies, aimed at forcing automakers to reshore manufacturing domestically, had threatened to scramble a North American automotive production network integrated across the US, Canada and Mexico.
It offers the industry a “little relief” as companies invest in more US production, Trump said as he left Washington for Michigan. “We just wanted to help them ... if they can’t get parts, we didn’t want to penalize them.”
The White House said the change will not affect the 25 percent tariffs imposed last month on the 8 million vehicles the United States imports annually.
Autos Drive America, a group representing Toyota Motor, Volkswagen, Hyundai and nine other foreign automakers, said Trump’s order provided some relief “but more must be done in order to turbocharge the US auto industry.”

MORE TARIFF UNCERTAINTY

Candace Laing, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said the tariff fix fell short of what companies in the deeply integrated North American industry needed.
“Only an end to tariffs provides real relief. Ongoing ups and downs perpetuate uncertainty, and uncertainty drives away business for both Canada and the U.S,” she said in a statement.
The uncertainty unleashed across the auto sector by Trump’s tariffs remained on full display Tuesday when GM pulled its annual forecast even as it reported strong quarterly sales and profit. In an unusual move, the carmaker also opted to delay a scheduled conference call with analysts until later in the week, after the details of tariff changes were known.
Meanwhile, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC he had reached a deal with one foreign power that should permanently ease the “reciprocal” tariffs Trump plans to impose. Lutnick declined to identify the country, saying the deal was pending local approvals.
“I have a deal done ... but I need to wait for their prime minister and their parliament to give its approval,” he said.
White House officials had no further comment on the country in question, but Trump struck an upbeat tone about a deal with India, telling reporters: “India is coming along great. I think we’ll have a deal with India.”
Lutnick’s comments helped further lift stock prices that had been battered by Trump’s moves to reshape global trade and force goods makers to shift production to the US. The benchmark S&P 500 Index closed 0.6 percent higher for a sixth day of gains, its longest streak of gains since November.

WRONG ON EVERY PREDICTION

Trump and his team aim to strike 90 trade deals during a 90-day pause on his reciprocal tariffs announced earlier in April. His administration has repeatedly said it was negotiating bilateral trade deals with dozens of countries.
A chief Trump goal is to bring down a massive US goods trade deficit, which shot to a record in March on a surge of imports aimed at front-running the levies.
Trump’s aggressive trade stance has cascaded through the global economy since his return to office in January, and the 90-day pause was unveiled after fears of recession and inflation sent financial markets into a tailspin.
Easing the impact of auto levies is Trump’s latest move to show flexibility on tariffs which have sown turmoil in financial markets, created uncertainty for businesses and sparked fears of a sharp economic slowdown. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published Tuesday showed just 36 percent of respondents approve of his economic stewardship, the lowest level in his current term or in his 2017-2021 presidency.
Meanwhile, the US will release the first quarterly report on US gross domestic product during Trump’s term on Wednesday. It is expected to reflect a large drag from his tariffs, mostly from a record surge in imports as companies and consumers front-loaded purchases of foreign goods to try to beat the new levies. The economy is expected to have expanded at a 0.3 percent annualized rate from January through March, according to a Reuters poll of economists, down from 2.4 percent in the final three months of 2024.
American and global companies are increasingly sounding the alarm about the tariffs’ effects on their ability to plan.
UPS on Tuesday said it would cut 20,000 jobs to lower costs, while US ketchup maker Kraft Heinz and Swedish appliances maker Electrolux were among companies citing tariff headwinds.
About 40 companies worldwide have pulled or lowered their forward guidance in the first two weeks of first-quarter earnings season, a Reuters analysis showed.
“Every single prediction has been proved to be wrong,” Yannick Fierling, Electrolux CEO, told Reuters. “I’m surprised if people are claiming they have a view where tariffs are going.” 


Trump celebrates 100 days in office with campaign-style rally

Updated 30 April 2025
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Trump celebrates 100 days in office with campaign-style rally

  • Joe Biden is “sleepy,” the media is “fake,” judges who oppose him are “communist,” Democratic opponents are “radical left,” and friendly countries have “abused us more so than foe on trade,” Trump said, listing targets of his ire
  • Unlike most presidents, Trump has focused more on energizing his base than broadening his appeal — and many supporters are still with him

WARREN, United States: Donald Trump promised Tuesday that he is just getting started as he marked the radical and vengeful beginning of a presidency that has shaken the world and destabilized the United States.
Basking in the adulation of cheering supporters in Michigan, the 78-year-old touted the “most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country,” even as polls show Americans becoming disenchanted with the economic and political tumult.
Trump said he missed the campaign trail, and launched with visible relish into a speech that often sounded more like that of a candidate than a head of state.
Joe Biden is “sleepy,” the media is “fake,” judges who oppose him are “communist,” Democratic opponents are “radical left,” and friendly countries have “abused us more so than foe on trade,” Trump said, listing targets of his ire.
The president promised to conclude deals on trade, but provided little in the way of details.
And — to chants of “USA! USA!” — he showed a video of migrants in handcuffs and shackles being taken from a plane, transported by bus and filmed on their knees as their heads were shaved, illustrating his controversial deportation policy.

Trump has shaken up the United States like few presidents before him.
His billionaire backer Elon Musk has led dramatic cutbacks of the federal workforce, and the president himself has reshaped relations with the world by unveiling sweeping tariffs, berating allies and eliminating much foreign aid.
Polls show that the honeymoon period that Americans historically accord presidents at the start of their terms has evaporated for Trump, who has angrily dismissed the results, but has tacitly acknowledged that he must moderate some policies as stock market turmoil takes a toll.
Wall Street, down more than six percent since Trump took office, ticked up Tuesday on news he would soften some of the sweeping tariffs impacting automakers.
He also recently backtracked on threats to fire Jerome Powell — who has warned that Trump’s tariffs would likely reignite inflation — but still criticized the Federal Reserve chairman Tuesday as “not really doing a good job.”
After a 2017-2021 term in which some aides sought to rein him in, Trump has surrounded himself this time with unabashed loyalists — and told reporters he was on track to accomplish all of his second-term goals.
“I think either we’ve done everything, or it’s in the process of being done,” Trump said before heading to his rally.
In the grand entrance hallway of the White House, Trump has removed a portrait of Barack Obama, the United States’ first Black president, to make way for a painting of himself surviving an assassination attempt.
He has used threats of cutting off government access and contracts to pressure law firms whose partners once were involved in cases against him, and he has frozen billions of dollars in funding for universities — hotbeds of criticism against the administration.

Unlike most presidents, Trump has focused more on energizing his base than broadening his appeal — and many supporters are still with him.
“He’s amazing. Everybody’s worried about tariffs. We don’t care — look at everything else that’s coming together too,” said Donna Fitzsimons, a 65-year-old merchandise seller at the Michigan rally venue ahead of Trump’s appearance.
“People don’t realize it takes time to get where you need to go.”
The rival Democratic Party has seized on economic anxieties although it has also struggled in polling.
“Trump is to blame for the fact that life is more expensive, it’s harder to retire, and a ‘Trump recession’ is at our doorstep,” the Democratic National Committee said, calling the 100 days a “colossal failure.”
Even with Congress narrowly in Republican hands, Trump has tested the limits of presidential power by signing more than 140 executive orders, many of which have faced court scrutiny.
He has sought to end birthright citizenship — which is guaranteed by the US Constitution — and Musk has summarily axed billions of dollars appropriated by Congress.
Trump has shown signs of impatience. He promised on the campaign trail to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours, but Russia has rebuffed a broad ceasefire offer.
The former reality TV star has claimed the pledge was made “in jest,” although CNN reported that he made it more than 50 times before taking office, and was even at pains to point out that he was being serious.
 

 


Pakistan’s minister Tarar warns of possible Indian military strike within 24-36 hours

Pakistan's information minister Attaullah Tarar appears in a video taken from X. (@TararAttaullah)
Updated 30 April 2025
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Pakistan’s minister Tarar warns of possible Indian military strike within 24-36 hours

  • “Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours using the Pahalgam incident as a false pretext,” Tarar said in a post on social media platform X

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that the country has credible intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours.
This comes as tensions rise between the two nuclear-armed nations rise as India has said there were Pakistani elements to the attack that killed 26 men at a tourist spot in Indian Kashmir last week.
Islamabad has denied any role and called for a neutral investigation.
Since the attack, the nuclear-armed nations have unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with India putting the critical Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and Pakistan closing its airspace to Indian airlines.
“Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours using the Pahalgam incident as a false pretext,” Tarar said in a post on social media platform X.
“Any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response. India will be fully responsible for any serious consequences in the region,” he added.
India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to pursue and punish the attackers.
Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan. Each controls only part of it and have fought wars over the Himalayan region.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters that a military incursion by India was imminent.
Pakistan was on high alert but would only use its nuclear weapons if “there is a direct threat to our existence,” Asif said in an interview at his office in Islamabad.

 


US threatens to quit Russia-Ukraine effort unless ‘concrete proposals’

Updated 30 April 2025
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US threatens to quit Russia-Ukraine effort unless ‘concrete proposals’

  • It remains unclear if Rubio is actually ready to turn the page or is seeking to pressure the two countries — especially Russia

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that the United States would end mediation unless Russia and Ukraine put forward “concrete proposals,” as US patience wanes on an early priority for Donald Trump.
The US president had vowed to end the war in his first 24 hours back in the White House but, as Trump celebrates 100 days in office, Rubio has suggested the administration could soon turn attention to other issues.
“We are now at a time where concrete proposals need to be delivered by the two parties on how to end this conflict,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters, in what she said was a message from Rubio.
“If there is not progress, we will step back as mediators in this process.”
She said it would ultimately be up to Trump to decide whether to move ahead on diplomacy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently proposed a three-day ceasefire around Moscow’s commemorations next week for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
But Putin has rebuffed a Ukrainian-backed US call for a 30-day ceasefire.
The United States wants “not a three-day moment so you can celebrate something else — a complete, durable ceasefire and an end to the conflict,” Bruce said.
It remains unclear if Rubio is actually ready to turn the page or is seeking to pressure the two countries — especially Russia, which believes it has an upper hand on the battlefield and in diplomacy since Trump’s outreach.
US diplomat James Kelley, addressing a UN Security Council session, said both sides would benefit from working off the “framework proposal” outlined by Washington.
Condemning Russian strikes on Ukraine, he said: “Right now, Russia has a great opportunity to achieve a durable peace.”
Trump, criticizing his predecessor Joe Biden’s support for Ukraine, reached out to Putin after taking office, easing him from the international isolation he has been in since he ordered the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Putin again last week met with Trump’s business friend Steve Witkoff, who has taken on the role of a globe-trotting envoy.
Trump in turn berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a February 28 White House meeting, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance accusing the wartime leader of ingratitude for US weapons.
Ukraine quickly tried to make amends by backing US diplomatic efforts and pursuing a deal in which the United States would control much of the country’s mineral wealth.
But Zelensky has held firm against one part of the US framework — formal international recognition of Russia’s 2014 takeover of Crimea.
Trump has insisted that Ukraine has lost Crimea and Zelensky should give it up.
Speaking by videoconference to an event in Poland on Tuesday, Zelensky said: “We all want this war to end in a fair way — with no rewards for Putin, especially no land.”
US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Tuesday that recognizing “Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea would invite additional aggression from Moscow and Beijing.”
“I have endeavored to give President Trump the space to negotiate a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, which is a goal we both share,” she said.
“However, President Trump and his team have fatally mismanaged these negotiations — offering concession after concession to Russia, throwing away our leverage and fracturing the united front with our allies that is critical to ending this war,” she said.
Ukraine on Tuesday ordered the evacuation of seven villages in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region which used to be remote from the frontlines but are now under threat as Russian forces close in.
Russia has been trying to break into the region from the neighboring Donetsk but has not succeeded, even after more than three years of grinding battles.
Last week a ballistic missile ripped into a residential area of Kyiv in one of the deadliest attacks on the capital since the invasion.
Trump, who has boasted of his rapport with Putin, wrote, “Vladimir, STOP,” on social media after the attack.