Thailand cancels visa on arrival for 18 countries, visa exemptions for 3 to limit virus spread
Nationals of these countries were able to use their passports or travel documents to apply for Visa on Arrival (VoA) at Thai immigration checkpoints
Updated 11 March 2020
Reuters
BANGKOK: Thailand on Wednesday canceled the grant of visa on arrival for 18 countries and visa exemption for three others to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the country’s interior minister said.
Previously, nationals of 18 countries or territories could use their passports or travel documents to apply for Visa on Arrival (VoA) at Thai immigration checkpoints.
The 18 places include Bulgaria, Bhutan, China (including Taiwan), Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Malta, Mexico, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Vanuatu.
Visa exemption will be canceled for South Korea, Italy and Hong Kong, the minister said.
Judge pauses much of Trump administration’s massive downsizing of federal agencies
Updated 5 sec ago
AP
SAN FRANCISCO: The Republican administration must halt much of its dramatic downsizing of the federal workforce, a California judge ordered Friday.
Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency order in a lawsuit filed by labor unions and cities last week, one of multiple legal challenges to Republican President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the size of a federal government he calls bloated and expensive.
The temporary restraining order directs numerous federal agencies to halt acting on the president’s workforce executive order signed in February and a subsequent memo issued by the Department of Government Efficiency and the Office of Personnel Management.
The order, which expires in 14 days, does not require departments to rehire people. Plaintiffs asked that the effective date of any agency action be postponed and that departments stop implementing or enforcing the executive order, including taking any further action.
They limited their request to departments where dismantlement is already underway or poised to be underway, including at the the US Department of Health and Human Services, which announced in March it will lay off 10,000 workers and centralize divisions.
Illston, who was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, said at a hearing Friday the president has authority to seek changes in the executive branch departments and agencies created by Congress.
“But he must do so in lawful ways,” she said. “He must do so with the cooperation of Congress, the Constitution is structured that way.”
Trump has repeatedly said voters gave him a mandate to remake the federal government, and he tapped billionaire Elon Musk to lead the charge through DOGE.
Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, left their jobs via deferred resignation programs or have been placed on leave as a result of Trump’s government-shrinking efforts. There is no official figure for the job cuts, but at least 75,000 federal employees took deferred resignation, and thousands of probationary workers have already been let go.
Lawyers for the government argued Friday that the executive order and memo calling for large-scale personnel reductions and reorganization plans provided only general principles that agencies should follow in exercising their own decision-making process.
“It expressly invites comments and proposals for legislative engagement as part of policies that those agencies wish to implement,” Eric Hamilton, a deputy assistant attorney general, said of the memo. “It is setting out guidance.”
But Danielle Leonard, an attorney for plaintiffs, said it was clear that the president, DOGE and OPM were making decisions outside of their authority and not inviting dialogue from agencies.
“They are not waiting for these planning documents” to go through long processes, she said. “They’re not asking for approval, and they’re not waiting for it.”
The temporary restraining order applies to departments including the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Labor, Interior, State, Treasury and Veteran Affairs.
It also applies to the National Science Foundation, Small Business Association, Social Security Administration and Environmental Protection Agency.
Some of the labor unions and nonprofit groups are also plaintiffs in another lawsuit before a San Francisco judge challenging the mass firings of probationary workers. In that case, Judge William Alsup ordered the government in March to reinstate those workers, but the US Supreme Court later blocked his order.
Plaintiffs include the cities of San Francisco, Chicago and Baltimore; labor group American Federation of Government Employees; and nonprofit groups Alliance for Retired Americans, Center for Taxpayer Rights and Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks.
Columbia suspends over 65 students following pro-Palestinian protest in library
Roughly 80 people were arrested in connection with the Wednesday evening demonstration at the university’s Butler Library
State Department reviewing visa status of library takeover participants for possible deportation, says Secretary Rubio
Updated 56 min 19 sec ago
AP
NEW YORK: Columbia University has suspended dozens of students and barred alums and others who participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration inside the school’s main library earlier this week, a school spokesperson said Friday.
The Ivy League institution in Manhattan placed more than 65 students on interim suspension and barred 33 others, including those from affiliated institutions such as Barnard College, from setting foot on campus.
Interim suspension generally means that a student cannot come to campus, attend classes or participate in other university activities, according to Columbia’s website. The university declined to say how long the disciplinary measures would be in place, saying only that the decisions are pending further investigation.
An undisclosed number of alums who also participated in the protest are also now prevented from entering school grounds, according to Columbia.
Roughly 80 people were arrested in connection with the Wednesday evening demonstration at the university’s Butler Library. Most face trespassing charges, though some may also face disorderly conduct, police have said.
The mask-clad protesters pushed their way past campus security officers, raced into the building and hung Palestinian flags and other banners on bookshelves. Some protesters also scrawled phrases on library furniture and picture frames, including “Columbia will burn.”
New York City police in helmets and other protection broke up the demonstration at the request of university officials, who denounced the protests as an “outrageous” disruption for students studying and preparing for final exams.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said his office will be reviewing the visa status of those who participated in the library takeover for possible deportation.
The Trump administration has already pulled federal funding and detained international students at Columbia and other prestigious American universities over their handling of student protests against the war in Gaza.
Turkish Tufts University student released from Louisiana immigration detention center
The Ph.D. student claimed she was illegally detained over an op-ed she co-wrote last year against Israel’s war in Gaza
Judge said the government had offered no evidence about why Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested other than the op-ed
Updated 10 May 2025
AP
A Tufts University student from Turkiye was released from a Louisiana immigration detention center Friday, more than six weeks after she was arrested walking on the street of a Boston suburb.
US District Judge William Sessions in Burlington ordered the release of Rumeysa Ozturk pending a final decision on her claim that she’s been illegally detained following an op-ed she co-wrote last year that criticized the school’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza. A photo provided by her legal team showed her outside, smiling with her attorneys in Louisiana, where the immigration proceedings will continue.
“Despite an 11th hour attempt to delay her freedom by trying to force her to wear an ankle monitor, Rumeysa is now free and is excited to return home, free of monitoring or restriction,” attorney Mahsa Khanbabai said.
Even before her release, Ozturk’s supporters cheered the decision, punctuating an earlier news conference held by her attorneys with chants of “She is free!”
“What we heard from the court today is what we have been saying for weeks, and what courts have continued to repeat up and down through the litigation of this case thus far,” Jessie Rossman, legal director at the ACLU of Massachusetts, told reporters. “There’s absolutely no evidence that justifies detaining Ozturk for a single day, let alone the six and a half weeks that she has been detained, because she wrote a single op-ed in her student newspaper exercising her First Amendment right to express an opinion.”
People rally in support of Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk (in photo) and Columbia University student activist Mohsen Mahdawi in Foley Square on May 6, 2025 in New York City. (AFP)
Appearing by video for her bail hearing, Ozturk, 30, detailed her growing asthma attacks in detention and her desire to finish her doctorate degree focusing on children and social media while appearing remotely at her bail hearing from the Louisiana center. She and her lawyer hugged after hearing the judge’s decision.
“Completing my Ph.D. is very important to me,” she testified. She had been on track to finish her work in December when she was arrested.
Ozturk was to be released on her own recognizance with no travel restrictions, Sessions said. He said she is not a danger to the community or a flight risk, but that he might amend his release order to consider any specific conditions by ICE in consultation with her lawyers.
Sessions said the government had offered no evidence about why Ozturk was arrested other than the op-ed.
“This is a woman who is just totally committed to her academic career,” Sessions said. “This is someone who probably doesn’t have a whole lot of other things going on other than reaching out to other members of the community in a caring and compassionate way.”
A message seeking comment was emailed Friday afternoon to the US Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.
Sessions told Acting US Attorney Michael Drescher he wants to know immediately when she is released.
Sessions said Ozturk raised serious concerns about her First Amendment and due process rights, as well as her health. She testified Friday that she has had 12 asthma attacks since her detention, starting with a severe one at the Atlanta airport.
“I was afraid, and I was crying,” she said.
Immigration officials surrounded Ozturk in Massachusetts on March 25 and drove her to New Hampshire and Vermont before putting her on a plane to a detention center in Basile, Louisiana. Her student visa had been revoked several days earlier, but she was not informed of that, her lawyers said.
Ozturk’s lawyers first filed a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, but they did not know where she was and were unable to speak to her until more than 24 hours after she was detained. A Massachusetts judge later transferred the case to Vermont.
Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, last year criticizing the university’s response to student activists demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Ozturk said Friday that if she is released, Tufts would offer her housing and her lawyers and friends would drive her to future court hearings. She is expected to return to New England on Saturday at the earliest.
“I will follow all the rules,” she said.
A State Department memo said Ozturk’s visa was revoked following an assessment that her actions ”‘may undermine US foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization’ including co-authoring an op-ed that found common cause with an organization that was later temporarily banned from campus.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in March, without providing evidence, that investigations found that Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group.
“When did speaking up against oppression become a crime? When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?” Khanbabai asked. “I am thankful that the courts have been ruling in favor of detained political prisoners, like Rumeysa.”
Trump says he’s OK with taxing the rich but warns of political fallout
Trump suggests higher taxes on the wealthy
Taxing the rich gets boost from leading hard-line Republican
Updated 10 May 2025
Reuters
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday he was “OK” with raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, as his fellow Republicans consider scaling back the scope of the ambitious tax-cut package they aim to pass this year.
“Republicans should probably not do it, but I’m OK if they do!!!” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform.
Speaking to reporters later at the White House, Trump gave a stronger endorsement.
“I would love to do it, frankly,” he said in the Oval Office. “What you’re doing is you’re giving up something up top in order to make people in the middle income and the lower income brackets save more. So it’s really a redistribution, and I’m willing to do it if they want.”
Trump, a wealthy businessman with properties all over the world, indicated he would be willing to pay more in taxes himself. “I would love to be able to give people in a lower bracket a big break by giving up some of what I have.”
The Senate’s top Republican, John Thune, said he was not enthusiastic about the idea. “We don’t want to raise taxes on anybody. I mean, we’re about lowering taxes on Americans,” he said on Fox News.
Trump’s message comes as US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson weighs whether to reduce the total tax package.
Johnson told some House Republicans on Thursday that he is now looking at $4 trillion in tax cuts, rather than an initial $4.5 trillion, according to a Republican aide.
Republicans are also fighting over spending cuts needed to pay for Trump’s “one big beautiful bill,” jeopardizing the goal of making all of the expiring provisions of his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent.
Trump privately urged Johnson this week to raise the tax rate and close the carried-interest loophole for Wall Street investors, sources told Reuters on Thursday.
The Republican president suggested an increase to 39.6 percent from 37 percent for individuals earning $2.5 million or higher and joint filers earning at least $5 million, with carve-outs for small businesses, one source said.
“I don’t think they’re going to be doing it, but I actually think it’s good politics to do it,” Trump said.
Spending cuts to Medicaid and other programs are likely to fall short of a $2 trillion goal over a decade.
Johnson and other top Republicans have resisted the idea of raising taxes on the wealthy.
But Representative Andy Harris, who chairs the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, said a higher top tax bracket would help pay for the Trump agenda.
“Personally, I’ve always believed that if we can’t find spending reductions elsewhere, we should look at restoring the pre TCJA tax bracket on million dollar income,” the Maryland Republican wrote on X.
Trump views higher taxes on the rich as a way to help pay for massive middle and working-class tax cuts, and to protect Medicaid, the health care program for lower-income Americans.
But the president warned on Friday that Democrats would seize on “even a ‘TINY’ tax increase for the ‘RICH,’” citing former Republican President George H.W. Bush, who lost his 1992 re-election bid after breaking his promise not to hike taxes.
Trump and Republican lawmakers have cited the potential extension of the 2017 tax cuts as relief for Americans and an economic boost amid Trump’s tariffs on imported goods.
They have vowed to enact the extension as part of a larger budget bill that would also fund border security, the deportation of undocumented immigrants, energy deregulation and a plus-up in military spending.
Rare bone-eroding disease ruining lives in Kenya’s poorest county
Updated 10 May 2025
AFP
Joyce Lokonyi sits on an upturned bucket, fingers weaving palm fronds as the wind pulls her dress to expose the stump of her amputated foot, lost to a little-known disease ravaging Kenya’s poorest county.
Mycetoma is a fungal or bacterial infection that enters the body through any open wound, often as tiny as a thorn prick.
Starting as tiny bumps under the skin, it gradually leads to the erosion of tissue, muscles and bone.
The fungal variety is endemic across the so-called “mycetoma belt” — including Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and northern Kenya — with funding and research desperately lacking.
Once the disease has reached the bone the only option is amputation.
“I was able to slightly walk, although the disease had eaten all my toes,” Lokonyi, 28, told AFP.
She was shunned by the local community, she said.
“They used to say that when you go to someone’s home, you will leave traces of the disease where you stand.”
She was unable to afford medication despite her husband selling off his goats, and amputation became the only option.
“I accepted because I saw that it was going to kill me,” she said, a pair of battered crutches lying on the sand beside her two-year-old daughter.
But she has struggled with the aftermath.
“I have become a good-for-nothing, I can’t work, I can’t burn charcoal, I can’t do anything,” she said.
In Kenya’s poorest county, Turkana, around 70 percent of the population lives beneath the poverty line, with health care limited and hard to reach.
Mycetoma disproportionately affects rural communities of farmers and herders, according to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative , a global NGO.
It was only recognized as a neglected disease by the World Health Organization in 2016. Ignorance and misdiagnosis remain widespread.
“Doctors are not aware of the disease,” Borna Nyaoke-Anoke, DNDi’s head of mycetoma research, told AFP.
“If you’re used to donkeys, you don’t start seeing zebras everywhere.”
The scale of the problem is difficult to estimate, but Ekiru Kidalio, director of Lodwar Hospital in Turkana, said they “rarely go a week without finding a case.”
He added that the local population, 80 percent of which is illiterate, often turns to traditional medicine.
By the time they come to hospital “the condition is already advanced such that it’s not easy to reverse.”
Medication is also expensive — treatment takes up to a year and costs as much as $2,000 — and comes with dizzying side effects.
Diagnosis and treatment are not free under Kenya’s overwhelmed health system, leaving patients at the mercy of foreign donors or seeking sums that are unimaginable for subsistence farmers.
In Lodwar Hospital, lab technician John Ekai bends over his microscope and examines a suspected mycetoma sample.
“Mycetoma is a very neglected disease, no-one is giving it attention,” he told AFP.
He has become the go-to man for suspected patients, handling his charges with a mischievous sense of humor that puts them at ease.
Ekai has treated more than 100 mycetoma patients in the past year, but has seen only five recoveries, with many simply vanishing back into Turkana’s arid plains.
He worries for those who have disappeared: “The mycetoma will grow and grow and maybe... lead to amputation.”
During AFP’s visit, he examined young mother Jennifer Ekal, 19, who had lived with the disease since she was 11.
“I was in school but I decided to leave because of my foot,” she said, showing her swollen and painful extremity, hidden beneath a red-and-white dishcloth.
Four doses of medication a day appeared to be helping, she said.
But as she gathered up her daughter, three-year-old Bianca, she admitted she was worried about the future.
“I do not want to think about the worst.”
