Foreign News
Canada announces five-fold increase in visas for Palestinians in Gaza
Canada has announced a five-fold increase in visas for Palestinians seeking to join their family members in the country.
Minister of Immigration Marc Miller said on Monday that Ottawa would raise to 5,000 the number of visas offered to residents in Gaza under a special programme announced in December.
“We remain deeply concerned about the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Gaza. Many people are worried about their loved ones and have expressed significant interest in the temporary special measures we introduced for their extended family in Gaza,” Miller said in a statement.
Miller said the government is working to assist Palestinians trying to leave Gaza, but that movement out of the territory is currently not possible due to factors outside Ottawa’s control.
Gaza residents who wish to join family Canada must obtain approval from Israeli authorities to leave the territory, before undergoing biometric screening in Egypt.
Israel’s military earlier this month seized control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt as part of its offensive in the southern city.
“While movement out of Gaza is not currently possible, the situation may change at any time. With this cap increase, we will be ready to help more people as the situation evolves. Our focus remains on keeping families together,” Miller said. “Canada continues to put forward the names of those who have passed preliminary screening to local authorities to secure their exit from Gaza. Israel and Egypt are both important partners in implementing these temporary, humanitarian measures and helping people reunite with their family in Canada.”
The announcement came as Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly joined a chorus of international condemnation following a deadly Israeli air strike on a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah. “This level of human suffering must come to an end. We demand an immediate ceasefire,” Joly said in a statement.
At least 45 people, including 23 women, children and elderly, were killed and 249 others wounded in the attack on the tent camp, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the civilian deaths were a “tragic mistake” and the incident is being investigated.
(Aljazeera)
Three Americans convicted for their role in a failed coup in Democratic Republic of Congo last year have had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment, the presidency has said.
They were among 37 people sentenced to death last September by a military court.
The three were accused of leading an attack on both the presidential palace and the home of an ally of President Félix Tshisekedi last May.
The overturning of the sentences comes ahead of a visit to DR Congo by the newly appointed US senior advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos.
Boulos, father-in-law to President Donald Trump’s daughter, Tiffany, is expected to arrive in Kinshasa on Thursday on a trip that will also take him to Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda.
The US has not declared the three Americans to be wrongfully jailed in DR Congo but the State Department said previously there have been talks between the countries over the matter.
The three were convicted of criminal conspiracy, terrorism and other charges, which they denied.
[BBC]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated a former Navy commander to head the country’s domestic security services, despite the courts having blocked his bid to fire the previous head of Shin Bet.
Netanyahu’s office announced on Monday that he had nominated Vice Admiral Eli Sharvit to lead the agency, which surveils attacks from abroad and at home, including by armed groups based in Palestine and Lebanon. However, a halt to the sacking of Ronen Bar as head of Shin Bet, ordered by the Supreme Court, remains in place.
[Aljazeera]
The Trump administration has deported 17 more alleged gang members to El Salvador, the US state department has said, despite legal battles over removing people to the Central American country’s supermax prison.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the group included members of the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs.
Salvadoran government officials told the BBC they included a mix of Venezuelans and Salvadorans.
Earlier this month a court ordered a halt to deportations carried out under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law previously used only in wartime. However, US media, citing administration sources, reported that the recent deportations were made under general immigration laws.
In a statement, Rubio said the group included “murderers and rapists”, but did not provide names or details of the alleged crimes or of any convictions.
In a post on X, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele shared a dramatically edited video showing shackled men being loaded off a plane and their heads being shaved before they were put into prison cells.
“All individuals are confirmed murderers and high-profile offenders, including six child rapists,” he wrote. “This operation is another step in the fight against terrorism and organized crime.”
President Trump reposted the message, blamed the administration of his predecessor Joe Biden for allowing the deportees into the US and thanked Bukele for “giving them such a wonderful place to live”.
El Salvador has agreed to take in deportees in exchange for $6m (£4.6m).
Family members of some of those who were previously sent to the maximum security prison have denied they have any gang ties.
After Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to remove more than 100 Venezuelans from the US earlier this month, groups including the American Civil Liberties Union filed a legal challenge alleging the administration had illegally denied the immigrants due process.
In a hearing on 15 March, James Boasberg, the top federal judge in Washington DC, imposed a temporary restraining order on the use of the law and ordered deportation flights that were in the air to be turned around.
But the deportations proceeded. The next hearing in the case will be held on Thursday.
[BBC]
Death sentence for three Americans over DR Congo coup attempt overturned
Food Policy and Security Committee recommends importation of rice to ensure an uninterrupted supply
Cabinet approves providing relief to the people of Myanmar
-
Sports4 days agoSri Lanka’s eternal search for the elusive all-rounder
-
News3 days agoBid to include genocide allegation against Sri Lanka in Canada’s school curriculum thwarted
-
News5 days agoGnanasara Thera urged to reveal masterminds behind Easter Sunday terror attacks
-
Business6 days agoAIA Higher Education Scholarships Programme celebrating 30-year journey
-
News4 days agoComBank crowned Global Finance Best SME Bank in Sri Lanka for 3rd successive year
-
Features4 days agoSanctions by The Unpunished
-
Latest News2 days agoIPL 2025: Rookies Ashwani and Rickelton lead Mumbai Indians to first win
-
Features4 days agoMore parliamentary giants I was privileged to know