
US to revoke visas for Bob Vylan band over anti-Israel chant
The United States said Monday it was revoking visas for the British punk-rap group Bob Vylan which led a chant at the Glastonbury festival calling for death to the Israeli military.
The @StateDept has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants. Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country.
— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) June 30, 2025
'Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,' Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted on X.
The BBC has come under fire for allowing the performance during the Glastonbury Festival to be shown live on Saturday as a Bob Vylan member led the crowd in chanting 'death, death to the IDF,' a reference to the Israel Defense Forces, following chants of 'free, free Palestine.'
The BBC, which broadcasts the festival in southwest England, issued a warning on screen while the set was being streamed online, but said on Monday it should have gone further.
With agencies
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Al Arabiya
36 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Federal judge seeks clarity on whether birthright citizenship order means babies could be deported
A federal judge questioned when the Trump administration would try to enforce its birthright citizenship executive order. She also asked if the government would attempt to deport US-born children of people who are in the country illegally or temporarily before restrictions on birthright citizenship might take effect in late July. Justice Department attorney Brad Rosenberg told US District Judge Deborah Boardman that the administration doesn't intend to deport any children covered by President Donald Trump's executive order while the Supreme Court has suspended its enforcement for 30 days. He called it a 'hypothetical question.' The judge gave Rosenberg until Tuesday to submit a written summary of what the administration believes it can and can't do after last Friday's Supreme Court ruling. She asked if the government would be seeking to deport babies before July 26. The judge said her question referred to children who were born after February 19 and are covered by Trump's executive order but aren't plaintiffs in litigation challenging the order. 'No,' Rosenberg said. 'I just want to be clear. I am responding to the court's characterization of what it believes the United States might do after 30 days from the date of the Supreme Court's decision. But again I would note that (federal agencies) have all been tasked with developing guidelines for implementation of the executive order. So I view that as a hypothetical.' 'I take the government at its word that the United States does not intend to do that and it is not doing that,' Boardman said. Plaintiffs' attorney William Powell said their clients are experiencing 'incredible stress, anxiety and fear' after the Supreme Court's decision. 'They're not lawyers. It is confusing to them exactly what these things mean,' Powell told the judge. 'We can't really assure them, 'Oh no, the order is fully blocked,' because it's not.' Powell said deportation isn't the only irreparable harm that plaintiffs' attorneys are concerned about. 'We're obviously also concerned about other potential ways in which the (executive) order could be enforced to deprive newborns of potential rights,' he said. Boardman, who sits in Greenbelt, Maryland, isn't the only district court judge grappling with how to tailor their orders to comply with the Supreme Court decision written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Judges in Massachusetts and Washington state have issued separate orders on birthright citizenship, as has a judge in New Hampshire, though that order applied more narrowly and wasn't nationwide. New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, who along with other states and cities brought a case in Massachusetts federal court, said in a letter Monday he was seeking a hearing on whether a nationwide order blocking the president is warranted. Platkin said the nationwide injunction in New Jersey's case doesn't run afoul of the Supreme Court's recent opinion but added the high court offered alternative forms of relief while leaving debate over what those could be to lower courts. The high court's majority ruled that federal judges lack the authority to grant nationwide injunctions, but the decision left unclear whether Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship could soon take effect in parts of the country. Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the US an American citizen, including children born to mothers in the country illegally. The right was enshrined soon after the Civil War in the Constitution's 14th Amendment. The US is among about 30 countries where birthright citizenship is applied. Trump and his supporters have argued that there should be tougher standards for becoming an American citizen.


Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Palestine Action to challenge UK ban
LONDON: UK campaign group Palestine Action on Monday said it would challenge its planned proscription as a terrorist group, as the British government said it could be banned by the end of the government announced last week plans to designate the pro-Palestinian group as a 'terrorist' organization after its activists broke into a British air force base and vandalized two group, which has condemned the move as an attack on free speech, said an urgent hearing to challenge the proscription will be held at the High Court in London on challenge was backed by Amnesty International and other rights Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, said in a statement the proposed ban would have 'far-reaching implications' on 'fundamental freedoms of speech, expression and assembly in Britain.'After announcing the measure last week, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper launched the process to ban the group on Monday in ban is set to be debated in parliament on Wednesday and Thursday, and could take effect from holds a massive majority in the House of Commons, meaning the proposal should pass Action said it was seeking an injunction or interim relief from the courts 'because of the Home Secretary's decision to try to steamroll this through Parliament.'Earlier this month, two of its activists broke into the RAF Brize Norton base in southern England and sprayed two planes with red last week said the vandalism was 'the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage' committed by the group since it formed in government cites previous damage claimed by the group in actions at a Thales defense factory in Glasgow in 2022 and on Israeli defense tech firm Elbit Systems UK last year in Bristol, in the country's southwest.'Such acts do not represent legitimate acts of protest and the level of seriousness of Palestine Action's activity has met the test for proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000,' the government said in a Action says it is a 'direct action and civil disobedience protest movement' seeking 'to prevent serious violations of international law by Israel.''Spraying red paint on war planes is not terrorism. Causing disruption to the UK-based arms factories used by Israel's largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, is not terrorism,' co-founder Ammori said.'The terrorism and war crimes are being committed in Palestine by Israel, which is being armed by Britain, and benefitting from British military support.'

Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
US President Trump dismantles Syria sanctions program architecture
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to reverse decades-old American sanctions on Syria and 'give these guys a chance,' senior administration officials said. The order dismantles the existing US sanctions architecture on Syria and terminates the national emergency first declared in 2004. It also revokes five executive orders issued by previous administrations that formed the foundation of the sanctions program against Damascus. During a trip to Riyadh on May 14, Trump said that he would order the lifting of all sanctions on Syria at the request of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. A day later, Trump met with Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the first meeting between a US and Syrian head of state since 2000. The US president said al-Sharaa, previously designated as a terrorist by the US, had 'a real shot at holding it together' and is a 'young, attractive guy, with a very strong past.' Administration officials emphasized that the new order includes provisions to ensure accountability remains central to US policy toward Syria's deposed president, Bashar al-Assad, 'his cronies, and other regional destabilizing actors.' The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, known as the Caesar Act, was extended last year, after Assad's government collapsed and fled the country. The law includes secondary sanctions on foreign governments and entities that conduct business with the Syrian regime. A senior administration official told reporters Monday that the White House had ordered a suspension of Caesar Act sanctions, though they noted that Congress retains the authority to overturn the decision. In addition to lifting sanctions, the executive order directs waivers for certain export controls and financial dealings with Syrian government institutions, including the state-run telecommunications provider, the central bank, and other financial entities previously targeted by US sanctions. Although Syria has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism since 1979, a second senior administration official said that designation is now under review. 'It's all in the spirit of the President's directive to lift sanctions and to give the Syrian government, the Syrian people and Syria as a country, a new start,' the official said. Normalization with Israel and the Abraham Accords Tom Barrack, Trump's special envoy for Syria and the US ambassador to Turkey, cited 'an opportunity that has never existed before.' Barrack acknowledged the controversy surrounding the lifting of sanctions on al-Sharaa, a former US-designated terrorist. He compared the current situation in Syria to the founding of the United States. 'It was 12 years until we got a president [after the Declaration of Independence]… and the president was a general, who was George Washington,' Barrack said in a call with reporters, noting that al-Sharaa had only been in power for six months. He described al-Sharaa as the leader of a new country 'that needs everything,' and argued that sanctions against the former regime had created a 'subculture of survival.' Barrack added that sanctions were preventing the Syrian government from building its own mandate or political structure. While US officials, including Trump, have said normalization with Israel is a condition for lifting sanctions, Barrack rejected the idea that Washington was dictating Syria's path forward. 'One thing is clear, neither the president nor the secretary of state is nation-building; they're not dictating. They're not giving the framework of the democratic model that needs to be implemented to their architectural desire. They're saying we are going to give you an opportunity,' Barrack said. When asked whether lifting all sanctions risked giving up leverage to push Syria toward normalization with Israel—as some Israeli officials have argued—a third senior administration official pushed back. 'First of all, leverage is not what we're interested in doing,' the official said, noting that the earlier US list of eight conditions presented to Syria had proved unhelpful. 'We consistently say we're not nation-building, and every one of those toggles that we provide on any government is another string that only causes frustration,' the official said, insisting it was in Syria's interest to 'lean toward' Israel. The official also noted that Syria's interim president had expressed interest in initiating normalization talks with Israel. 'So, the way to entice [Syria] to get to the Abraham Accords is to make it fruitful for them on an economic basis, on a civilization basis, on a peace and prosperity basis. And that's all coming together,' the official added. Regional shifts following Iran-Israel war US officials said other countries in the region have begun engaging in talks to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. The third official said the recent war between Israel and Iran had created an unprecedented opening. Intelligence services from multiple countries, including those without formal ties to Israel, are now reportedly cooperating on security matters. 'In addition… [there are] bilateral talks going on between Lebanon and Israel, between Turkey and Israel, between Azerbaijan and Israel, between Armenia and Israel,' the official said.