Connect with us

World

Palestinian local elections give some Gazans a chance to vote for the first time in years

Published

on

Palestinians were voting in local elections on Saturday that include Gaza for the first time in two decades and will ​gauge the political mood at a time when Israel’s government is seeking to destroy any future for a Palestinian state.

The West Bank-based ‌Palestinian Authority hopes the symbolic inclusion of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah will help reinforce its claim to authority over the war-torn territory, from where it was ousted by Hamas in 2007, Reuters reported.

Gazans, who are still struggling to meet their basic needs in the devastated enclave, welcomed the opportunity to vote.

“I’ve been hearing about elections since I was born,” said Adham ​Al-Bardini, sitting next to the family’s cooking pots outside their tent home in the city. “We are eager to take part … so we can change ​the reality imposed on us.”

ISRAEL HAS EXTENDED CONTROL OVER GAZA AND WEST BANK

Since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas ⁠and Israel took effect in October, intermittent talks led by the United States have made little progress towards a settlement that envisages international supervision of Gaza.

European ​and Arab governments broadly support an eventual return of Palestinian Authority governance in Gaza, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state comprising Gaza, East Jerusalem and ​the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule under Israeli occupation.

Western diplomats say local elections could pave the way for the first national elections in nearly two decades and help advance reforms to increase transparency and accountability that the Palestinian Authority says are already well under way.

They are the first Palestinian elections to be held since the Gaza war ​started more than two years ago with the cross-border Hamas assault on southern Israeli communities. Municipal elections were last held in the West Bank four years ​ago.

The Palestinian Authority has struggled to pay wages as Israel withholds tax revenues it collects on its behalf, raising fears of economic collapse. Israel justifies withholding the funds in ‌protest at ⁠welfare payments to prisoners and families of those killed by its forces, which it argues incentivise attacks.

The Israeli government has also taken steps to help settlers acquire West Bank land and ultranationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said, “We will continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state.”

In Deir al-Balah, which has suffered less damage from Israel’s assault since 2023 than other Gazan cities, banners bearing candidate lists hang from buildings. Some voting will take place in tents and the process will end ​two hours early due to electricity constraints.

The ​Palestinian election committee cited widespread destruction ⁠among the reasons voting could not be held across the rest of Gaza, more than half of which is controlled by Israel with the rest under Hamas rule.

HAMAS BOYCOTTS VOTE BUT SOME CANDIDATES ARE ALIGNED

Some Palestinian factions are boycotting the ​elections in protest at the Palestinian Authority’s request that candidates back its agreements, which include recognition of the state ​of Israel.

Hamas, which has ⁠ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, has not formally nominated any candidates but one list in the Deir al-Balah election is widely viewed by residents and analysts as aligned with it.

Analysts say the performance of candidates linked to the militant group could gauge its popularity. Most candidates, including in the West Bank, are running under Fatah, ⁠the main ​political movement behind the Palestinian Authority, or as independents.

Hamas has said it would respect the results, ​and Palestinian sources told Reuters ahead of the vote that the group’s civil policemen would be deployed to safeguard polling stations in Gaza.

The Palestinian Central Elections Committee said more than one million Palestinians, ​including 70,000 in Gaza, are eligible to vote, with results expected late on Saturday or on Sunday.

World

Supreme Court lets Trump resume deporting migrants to countries not their own

More than 25,000 migrants have been deported ⁠to 29 countries under the policy implemented last year, according to a tally by human rights groups, with the vast majority going to Mexico.

Published

on

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday let President Donald Trump’s administration resume deporting ​migrants to countries other than their own without offering them the chance to show the harms they may face, bolstering a tool his administration has used for rapid ‌expulsions as part of his immigration crackdown, Reuters reported.

The court granted the Justice Department’s emergency request to put on hold Boston-based US District Judge Brian Murphy’s ruling that the Department of Homeland Security’s policy to remove migrants to so-called third countries is unlawful. The court also agreed to hear arguments in the dispute in December, with a formal ruling on the policy to follow.

The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Its three liberal justices dissented from the decision to let the ​deportations immediately resume pending the final outcome of the litigation.

Murphy’s ruling came in a class-action lawsuit filed by immigrant rights groups on behalf of migrants seeking to prevent the US ​government from sending them to third countries without notice and a chance to assert the harms they could face.

More than 25,000 migrants have been deported ⁠to 29 countries under the policy implemented last year, according to a tally by human rights groups, with the vast majority going to Mexico.

The policy is one of a number of measures the administration ​has taken in its pursuit of Trump’s goal of mass deportation. The Republican president has enforced a sweeping crackdown on immigration — among his top priorities — since returning to office last year.

The administration has carried ​out third-country deportations to politically unstable South Sudan, which the US State Department urges Americans to avoid due to the risks of crime, kidnapping and armed conflict, as well as Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, the Central African Republic, and other nations.

Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival welcomed the court’s decision.

“A bad day for criminal illegals and open-borders activists alike,” Percival wrote on social media.

Trina Realmuto, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, said the court has “allowed ​the administration to resume sending people to third countries where they face persecution or torture. That is a devastating result for people who may be put on a plane before they ever have ​notice or an opportunity to raise a fear claim.”

In February, Murphy ruled that the policy violates immigration law procedures and due process protections under the US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment. Due process generally requires the government to provide notice ‌and an ⁠opportunity for a hearing before taking certain adverse actions.

The Supreme Court, which has allowed a number of Trump’s hardline immigration policies, previously sided with the administration in the legal challenge, suspending a preliminary order that Murphy issued earlier in the case halting the removals. In another win for the administration, the Supreme Court subsequently lifted limits the judge had imposed to protect a group of men from being sent to South Sudan, read the report.

The case began in 2025 after the Department of Homeland Security moved to step up deportations of migrants who cannot be returned to any country listed on their deportation orders.

The policy provided that migrants ​could be swiftly removed without notice to third ​countries that have provided credible diplomatic assurance ⁠that they will not persecute or torture the individuals. For countries that have not provided such assurance, deportees would be notified of their destination and US authorities would assess the likelihood of persecution or torture only if the individual raises such fear on their own.

In its emergency filing to the Supreme Court, ​the Justice Department said third-country deportations are “an essential tool to remove certain aliens, including some of the worst criminal aliens.”

But both Murphy and critics ​of the administration said ⁠the policy is also targeting migrants who had been granted legal protection from being sent back to their home countries.

The policy has resulted in deportees being unlawfully transferred by third countries back to their home countries from which the US had already granted them protection, while others have been beaten, sexually assaulted, detained or have disappeared, the plaintiffs said in a court filing.

The administration is ignoring “the significant harm resulting from deporting thousands of ⁠longtime US ​residents, many with no criminal history, to third countries without regard to the persecution or torture they face there,” the plaintiffs ​said.

The Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld most of the judge’s ruling on September 18.

The case has been hotly contested since it began, and included findings by Murphy that the administration “repeatedly violated, or attempted to violate” his orders. Murphy ​in 2025 found that the administration had violated another order he issued requiring additional steps before attempting to send a group of migrants to South Sudan.

Continue Reading

World

Trump says men arrested at UK air base used by US planned ‘big damage’

WATCH: Trump praises UK authorities for arrests Sunday near RAF airbase used by US forces in England.

Published

on

British police have arrested five men on suspicion of explosives offences and preparing a terrorist act near RAF Fairford, a UK air base used by the United States military, authorities said.

The arrests were made early Sunday after police received a report of three suspicious vans travelling towards the airfield in Gloucestershire, western England.

US President Donald Trump said the suspects had been under investigation by British and US authorities and were looking to cause “big damage” to the base.

“The arrest in the UK was fantastic,” Trump told reporters, praising cooperation between US and British authorities.

Counter Terrorism Policing said five men remained in custody and that officers were working with partner agencies to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Police placed a 400-metre cordon around the area while bomb disposal experts examined the vehicles. About 85 homes in a nearby village were evacuated, while armed officers patrolled the area.

RAF Fairford has been used by US forces for military operations against Iran. Security was also increased at other UK bases used by the US, including RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall.

A source familiar with the investigation told Reuters an Iranian-linked motive was considered the most likely, while possible Russian involvement or an Islamist plot were also being examined.

No motive has been publicly confirmed by police.

The arrests come amid heightened security concerns in Britain following Iranian warnings over the use of UK bases by US forces. Russia has also been accused by Western governments of supporting sabotage operations in Europe, allegations Moscow has denied.

Continue Reading

World

Serbia’s President Vucic resigns ahead of October parliamentary elections

He had said in late June that he planned to resign and that Serbia would hold early parliamentary ​and presidential elections.

Published

on

Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic ‌announced his resignation on Sunday, ending his second and final five-year term and paving the way for early presidential elections, Reuters reported.

Vucic’s resignation, seven months before his term ends, comes amid campaigning for Serbia’s October 25 snap parliamentary vote and allows him to be appointed prime minister if his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) ​forms the new government.

He had said in late June that he planned to resign and that Serbia would hold early parliamentary ​and presidential elections.

Rights groups have accused Vucic and his allies of increasingly authoritarian rule, with anti-government ⁠protesters saying they have been beaten by police and unfairly detained. Authorities have denied those allegations.

On Sunday, hundreds of Vucic’s supporters ​cheered him in front of the Presidency building in Belgrade’s city centre.

“This is the last evening for me in this building,” he told ​the flag-waving crowd minutes before resigning.

“I have faithfully served you and my fatherland, Serbia, … I am proud of what we have done together,” he said.

Under Serbia’s constitution, outgoing Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic will serve as interim president until a new one is elected. The presidential election must be completed within 90 ​days, with the campaign lasting between 30 and 60 days.

“By the end of December … we will have the first round of ​presidential elections,” Vucic said.

Next month’s snap parliamentary election will pit Vucic’s SNS and its allies against Students Win, a student-led anti-corruption movement, ‌and ⁠European Serbia, an alliance of pro-Western opposition parties.

Students Win, European Serbia and other parties have yet to nominate their presidential candidates.

Vucic, 56, has dominated Serbian politics for more than a decade, read the report.

He was a hardline nationalist and information minister during the era of the late Slobodan Milosevic and the wars of the 1990s, and later served as deputy prime minister from 2012-14 and prime minister from 2014-17.

He moved to the largely ceremonial ​position of president in 2017, but ​kept tight control over his ⁠party and the government.

In foreign policy, Vucic has pursued a balancing act that seeks closer ties with China, a major investor, and Russia, Serbia’s principal supplier of natural gas, while maintaining a long-term goal of joining the ​EU. He also has sought to bolster ties with the United States and Israel.

Vucic’s term in office ​suffered a major blow ⁠in November 2024 when an awning of a newly reconstructed railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people.

The disaster sparked nationwide protests by students and the opposition, who demanded accountability for those responsible, transparency in public procurement, an end to systemic ⁠corruption, and an ​early parliamentary vote.

The government repeatedly denied accusations by the protesters, although several ​officials, including two ministers, were arrested or resigned after the incident.

On Sunday, Vucic said he has granted amnesty and a pardon to 49 people, including 12 activists and 11 of ​his own supporters, who were arrested or tried in connection with the protests.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending

Copyright © 2026 Ariana News. All rights reserved!