U.S. stops processing Afghan immigration requests after shooting near White House
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Wednesday it has halted all immigration processing related to Afghan nationals indefinitely, after two U.S. National Guard soldiers were shot and critically wounded near the White House earlier in the day.
The move came as U.S. President Donald Trump described the attack as "an act of terror," saying the suspect came from Afghanistan in 2021.
Trump said on social media that the government must "re-examine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan" during former President Joe Biden's administration and take measures to remove anyone "who does not belong here or add benefit to our country."
Israeli forces detain 119, injure 25 in West Bank raid: Palestinian officials
At least 25 Palestinians were injured and 119 others detained in the northern West Bank city of Tubas as an Israeli military operation entered its second day, Palestinian officials said on Thursday.
Nidal Odeh, head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in the area, said medics treated 25 people wounded since the operation began at dawn on Wednesday. He said some of the injured were young men who had been detained, interrogated and beaten by Israeli forces before being released. Their injuries were moderate, he added.
Kamal Bani Odeh, director of the Prisoners' Club in Tubas, said Israeli forces had detained 119 Palestinians, including a former female prisoner and her mother. About 50 of them were later released after field interrogations, he said.
Israeli jets hit Lebanon on anniversary of ceasefire, highlighting truce's failure
Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Thursday, continuing their frequent attacks in the country exactly one year after a U.S.-backed ceasefire was supposed to end the conflict.
The strikes hit the Al-Mahmoudieh and Al-Jarmaq areas near Jezzine, according to the state-run National News Agency. A Lebanese intelligence official said Israeli aircraft fired 18 air-to-ground missiles at former Hezbollah positions, causing forest fires and shaking the wider Nabatieh region.
Earlier in the day, Israeli forces also fired machine guns toward farmers near Al-Wazzani, though no injuries were reported.
Russia launches Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft with 3 cosmonauts into orbit
A Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, sending the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft with two Russian cosmonauts and one U.S. astronaut into near-Earth orbit.
The spacecraft lifted off at 12:28 p.m. Moscow time (0928 GMT). It is expected to complete two orbits of the Earth and dock with the International Space Station (ISS) in approximately 3 hours and 10 minutes.
It is expected that in a few hours, the spacecraft's crew will open the hatches and board the ISS.
Horta Inta-A sworn in as transitional president of Guinea-Bissau
Senior military officer Horta Inta-A was sworn in on Thursday as Guinea-Bissau's transitional president for a one-year term, a day after the armed forces announced they had fully taken control of state power.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony broadcast live on national radio, Inta-A said the military had assumed power to "prevent the disintegration of the state" and vowed to "fight corruption and drug trafficking," long-standing challenges that have seriously affected national stability.
He called on "all citizens and political parties of Guinea-Bissau to cooperate" to ensure a smooth transition.
Peru's ex-president Pedro Castillo sentenced to over 11 years in prison
Former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was sentenced Thursday to 11 years, five months and 15 days in prison on charges of rebellion and conspiracy stemming from his failed attempt to dissolve the Congress in December 2022.
The ruling, issued by the Special Criminal Chamber of the country's Supreme Court of Justice, also applies to former Prime Minister Betssy Chavez, who is currently under asylum at the Mexican embassy in Lima, and former Interior Minister Willy Huerta.
Castillo, 56, has been held at the Barbadillo prison in Lima, where several other former Peruvian presidents are also serving sentences.■
