World
Israeli female soldier released in Gaza as part of ceasefire deal
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BREAKINGBREAKING,
In return, Israel is due to release 110 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons later today.
An Israeli female soldier held in Gaza has been released in the third phase of a ceasefire and captive exchange deal between Israel and Hamas.
The release of Agam Berger took place on Thursday as she emerged from under the rubble at the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza that has repeatedly been targeted by Israeli forces since it launched its war on Gaza in October 2023.
Berger was the first of eight captives due to be released today, including five Thai nationals.
The release of captives on Thursday will be taking place at locations across Gaza, including outside what used to be the house of former Hamas political chief Yahya Sinwar in the southern city of Khan Younis.
For all the latest on the release and what’s happening in Gaza, you can follow our live coverage here.
In return, Israel is due to release 110 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons later today.
Last Saturday, Hamas released four female Israeli soldiers held in Gaza and 200 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails as part of the agreement that halted more than 15 months of war.
More to come …
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World
US declares drug cartels, criminal gangs global terrorist organisations
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The United States has designated eight Latin American criminal and drug-trafficking groups as “global terrorist organisations” amid escalating rhetoric from President Donald Trump.
In a Federal Register notice filed on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, without offering details, that the groups have committed or pose a risk of committing “acts of terrorism that threaten the security of United States nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States”.
Some experts say the open-ended language could be used by Trump to justify expansive presidential powers and policies previously seen as out of bounds, such as military strikes on Mexican territory or stripping migrants of their right to due process.
The eight groups named in Wednesday’s notice are the Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (also known as MS-13), Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Carteles Unidos, Cartel de Noreste, Cartel del Golfo and La Nueva Familia Michoacana.
While those groups commit acts of violence and exploitation, experts say cartels are motivated by business interests instead of the political or ideological motives typically attributed to terrorist groups.
“The US already takes a lot of actions against these groups. They surveil them, sanction them, and prosecute their members in court. So this decision will not change much in terms of the tools they have at their disposal,” said Stephanie Brewer, the director of the Mexico programme at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a US-based research group.
“I think it’s of concern that this is coming in the context of rhetoric out of the White House that conflates migration with crime, drugs and, now, terrorism.”
Crackdown on immigration
Many immigrants passing through Mexico and other countries in Latin America are forced to pay fees and “taxes” to criminal groups, which extort migrants and smugglers alike.
Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, says that fact could be used by the administration to argue that immigrants are providing material and financial support to terrorist organisations.
“You could accuse anyone – from a migrant who pays a smuggler to a Mexican business that is forced to pay a ‘protection fee’ – of offering material or financial support to a terrorist organisation,” he said.
He also notes that one of the most powerful criminal groups in the Americas, Brazil’s First Capital Command, does not appear on the list.
“I do wonder if the throughline here is that a lot of the named groups are involved in immigration routes,” he said.
The White House has frequently used depictions of irregular migration as an “invasion” to promote a hardline approach to immigration.
The Trump administration has previously threatened to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 – a law that allows presidents to immediately deport citizens of an “enemy nation” during times of war – to carry out mass deportations in the US.
Earlier this month, Trump also said that the imposition of steep tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China – another promise from his presidential campaign – was necessary to address a “national emergency” of “gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illegal drugs and narcotics of all kinds” coming into the US.
Strikes on Mexico
The terrorist designations have also renewed concerns that the US could carry out military operations on Mexican territory.
“Trump has previously stated that the Mexican government has an ‘intolerable alliance’ with the cartels. Does this mean that the US now believes that the Mexican government is collaborating with terrorism?” asked Brewer.
Following the announcement of the order, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and an ally of Trump who has embraced his nativist vision, said in a social media post that the order meant the groups were now “eligible for drone strikes”.
But Brewer and Freeman both say that, while combating criminal groups that cause violence and strife across the Americas is a worthwhile goal, doing so requires more than tough talk and military firepower.
“To go after these groups, you have to go after their finances, their weapons supplies, their corrupt partnerships with government authorities,” said Freeman. “And if you’re picking fights with governments all across Latin America, that would seem to cut against those efforts.”
World
Israelis Gird for Release of Bodies of Captives From Gaza
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Israelis waited anxiously on Wednesday for the expected release of the bodies of four hostages by Hamas the following day as part of the cease-fire deal in Gaza.
Israelis and Palestinians have been gripped by emotional homecomings during the truce, which began in late January. As part of the deal’s first phase, Hamas committed to returning 25 Israelis held hostage in Gaza and the remains of eight others in exchange for 1,500 Palestinian prisoners jailed by Israel.
For the past few weeks, Israelis have watched tearful parents and siblings embrace their freed loved ones, many of whom had scarcely been heard from since they were kidnapped by Hamas and its allies during the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel.
Palestinians have greeted released prisoners, some of whom spent decades in Israeli jails for militant attacks. Many others, including women and minors, were detained indefinitely without charges.
The scenes anticipated on Thursday in Israel are likely to be much more somber.
The bodies of the Israeli hostages will be ferried by the International Committee of the Red Cross to Israeli forces. They will then be brought back to Israel for forensic testing to verify their identity and, if possible, establish the cause of death, which could take time.
Hamas has yet to formally announce the names of all the captives whose bodies will be returned. But Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader, said on Tuesday that they would include members of the Bibas family, whose abduction shocked and horrified Israelis and others around the world.
Shiri Bibas, 32, was kidnapped alongside her two redheaded children, one of whom was not yet nine months old. In November 2023, Hamas said all three had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. Israeli officials have expressed concern for their fate but have not confirmed their deaths.
Ms. Bibas’s husband, Yarden, was abducted separately and taken, wounded, to the Gaza Strip. He was finally freed as part of the cease-fire in early February in a highly choreographed Hamas release ceremony.
Under the terms of the agreement, in exchange for the four bodies, Israel will release Gazan women and minors in Israeli detention facilities, except for those accused of participating in the Oct. 7 attacks.
World
Brazil’s prosecutor-general files charges against ex-President Bolsonaro over alleged coup plan
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Brazil’s prosecutor-general on Tuesday filed charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro for attempting a coup to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet alleges that Bolsonaro and 33 others participated in plan to remain in power despite losing to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
BRAZIL’S FORMER PRESIDENT BOLSONARO AND AIDES INDICTED FOR ALLEGED 2022 COUP ATTEMPT
Last November, Federal Police filed a 884-page report with Gonet detailing the scheme. They allege it involved systematically sowing distrust of the electoral system among the populace, drafting a decree to give the plot a veneer of legality, pressuring top military brass to go along with the plan, and inciting a riot in the capital.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro arrives for a luncheon with senators from his support base, at the National Congress building in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
The Supreme Court will analyze the charges and, if accepted, Bolsonaro will stand trial.
The far-right leader denies wrongdoing. “I have no concerns about the accusations, zero,” Bolsonaro told journalists earlier on Tuesday during a visit to the Senate in Brasilia.
“Have you seen the coup decree, by any chance? You haven’t. Neither have I,” he added.
A lawyer for Bolsonaro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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