Light News (LN)

  Thousands have fled South Africa, fearing they will be attacked or killed, after an anti-immigrant movement set a “deadline” for them to leave the country.   South African  police said more than 900 people were arrested on Tuesday, when ​there were nationwide anti-migrant protests which were mostly ​peaceful but occasionally descended into violence and looting. Tebello ⁠Mosikili, a deputy national police commissioner, told ​a press conference that of the 120 marches ​that took place on Tuesday, 108 were peaceful while 12 needed law enforcement to intervene due to unrest. Some of those ​arrested were undocumented migrants detained for violating ​immigration rules, while others were arrested for public violence, harbouring ‌illegal immigrants and robbery. Mosikili said police reinforcements had been deployed to five of the country’s nine provinces overnight to respond to isolated incidents of looting and ​criminality. Soldiers were ​sent to ⁠ Johannesburg’s  Hillbrow...

  Not all collapsed buildings have had professional rescue teams on site, with relatives and neighbors working to remove debris to pull out survivors or bodies, according to residents from various areas. The response to  Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes last week  has not met the huge need created by  the disaster , according to a leading international humanitarian organization. The International Rescue Committee, also known as the IRC, said the chances of survival for the tens of thousands still missing were shrinking dramatically two days after the critical 72-hour survival window. After that period, survival chances drop sharply. “The scale of the response does not meet the scale of humanitarian need,” the group said in a statement on Tuesday. The government of acting President  Delcy Rodriguez  says at least 1,943 people have died and thousands have been injured. About 16,000 people were left homeless. A website promoted by the country’s politic...

  The emergency session follows warnings that 500,000 civilians around el-Obeid are at risk of large-scale atrocities. The United Nations Human Rights Council is due to hold an urgent meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to address the human rights situation in and around el-Obeid, North Kordofan, amid the ongoing conflict in Sudan, following warnings that about 500,000 civilians are at risk of large-scale atrocities. The urgent debate follows an official request submitted by a core group of countries comprising Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom. In their request, the countries warned of a potential escalation in violence, saying approximately 500,000 civilians are at risk of being targeted in large-scale atrocities. They also cited increasing drone strikes that have destroyed civilian infrastructure, resulting in severe fuel and water shortages, while siege-like conditions have left thousands of people trapped in el-Obeid and cut off from basic services. ...

  The vice president said it's a 'win-win outcome' whether or not high-stakes negotiations succeed The U.S. holds the upper hand in negotiations underway in the Middle East,  Vice President JD Vance  said in an exclusive interview Tuesday. He argued the Trump administration has already achieved its core objective in Iran, regardless of how the high-stakes talks in Doha unfold. "We have all the cards in the negotiation," Vance told " The Ingraham Angle ." "We obviously want it to be successful, but even if it's not successful, we've accomplished the core mission, which is to ensure that the Iranians  never have a nuclear weapon ," he said. "In other words, it's a win-win outcome for the American people." The vice president said successful negotiations would mean Iran is "permanently transformed" — without nuclear ambitions and no longer funding proxies that have wreaked havoc across the  broader Middle East . Unde...

  US President Donald Trump earned roughly $1.2 billion (€1.05bn) from his family's cryptocurrency ventures during his first year back in the White House, according to a federal financial disclosure released on Tuesday, even as ordinary investors in the same tokens nursed heavy losses. The White House submitted a 927-page financial disclosure to the US Office of Government Ethics on Tuesday, offering the fullest picture yet of how US President Donald Trump's fortune has grown since he returned to office in January 2025. Barely established when he was sworn in, Trump's crypto businesses now generate more revenue than large parts of the property empire he spent decades assembling with his family, earning the US president more than $1.2 billion (€1.05bn) last year. Two ventures account for the bulk of the crypto windfall. World Liberty Financial, the firm launched in 2024 by Trump's sons and business partners, brought in more than $500 million (€438mn) from selling new cry...

  In an unexpected move, Russia announced several railway border crossings with Finland, Estonia and Latvia to be “temporarily” shut down. Could this indicate an upcoming mobilisation in Russia as Moscow lacks troops for its ongoing all-out war against Ukraine? Russia has suspended traffic through several railway border crossings with Finland, Estonia and Latvia starting from Wednesday, Moscow said. The Kremlin's order released on Tuesday did not provide a reason for the closures. The statement mentions only a "temporary suspension" of the movement of people, vehicles, goods and cargo through selected railway crossings along sections of the Russian state border. Russia's Foreign Ministry was instructed to notify Finland, Estonia and Latvia of the decision. The largest number of closures will affect the Finnish border, including the Vyborg, Vartsilya, Lyuttya, Saint Petersburg-Finlandsky and Svetogorsk railway checkpoints. Rail traffic will also be halted at the Pechor...

  The US president has pledged to challenge the ruling, but experts say birthright citizenship is there to stay. The US Supreme Court has  struck down  President Donald Trump’s attempt to end the longstanding practice of granting citizenship to anyone born on United States soil, delivering a major blow to his attempts to overhaul immigration policy. In a 6-3 ruling on Tuesday, the court rejected an  executive order  signed by Trump shortly after taking office in January 2025, which barred those born in the US to parents on temporary legal statuses or without documentation from automatically receiving US citizenship. Ahead of the July 4 holiday marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, the court’s ruling reaffirmed what it means to be a US citizen, however – a principle grounded in the 14th Amendment of 1868 in the aftermath of the civil war, which ended the practice of slavery in the US. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, hailed ...

  Afghan defence ministry says it carried out ‘air strikes’ in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. Afghanistan’s Taliban says they have launched air strikes on Pakistani territory, as Islamabad said its forces had intercepted four rudimentary drones in the southern province of Balochistan. The latest escalation in the months of conflict between the neighbours came after the Taliban government vowed a response to deadly Pakistani air attacks on eastern Afghanistan earlier in the week. Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday that Afghan Taliban forces had “launched four rudimentary drones across the border in Balochistan … the hostile aerial platforms were immediately picked up by Pakistan’s robust air defence network”. “If the Afghan Taliban continue to provoke Pakistan, they would receive a befitting response which would cost them heavily,” it added. The Afghan defence ministry posted on X that it had carried out “air strikes” in Balochistan and northwest Khyber ...