Latest news with #Lebanese-American
France 24
a day ago
- Politics
- France 24
Rwanda, DR Congo to sign US-mediated peace agreement
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will sign an agreement in Washington on Friday to put an end to a conflict in the eastern DRC that has killed thousands, although broad questions loom on what it will mean. US President Donald Trump has trumpeted the diplomacy that led to the deal, and publicly complained that he hasn't received a Nobel Peace Prize. But the agreement has also come under scrutiny for its vagueness including on the economic component, with the Trump administration eager to compete with China and profit from abundant mineral wealth in the long-turbulent east of the vast DRC. The M23 rebel group in late 2021 launched a new offensive that it escalated sharply early this year, seizing broad swathes of territory including the key eastern DRC city of Goma. The Kinshasa government has long alleged that M23, consisting mostly of ethnic Tutsis, receives military support from Rwanda. These claims are backed by Washington. Rwanda has denied directly supporting the rebels but has demanded an end to another armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which was established by ethnic Hutus linked to the massacres of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The Rwandan and DRC foreign ministers will sign the agreement in Washington in the presence of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said. The White House also said Trump will meet the foreign ministers in the Oval Office. In a joint statement ahead of the signing, the three countries said the agreement would include "respect for territorial integrity and a prohibition of hostilities" as well as the disarmament of all "non-state armed groups". The agreement was mediated through Qatar, a frequent US partner, and Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman and father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany tapped by the president as a senior advisor on Africa. The statement also spoke of a "regional economic integration framework" and of a future summit in Washington bringing together Trump, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi. Controversy over economic ties Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end the DRC's epidemic of sexual violence in war, voiced alarm that the agreement was too opaque. He said that the talk of economic cooperation was an unjust reward for Rwanda. The deal "would amount to granting a reward for aggression, legitimising the plundering of Congolese natural resources, and forcing the victim to alienate their national heritage by sacrificing justice in order to ensure a precarious and fragile peace," he said in a statement. On the eve of the signing, news outlet Africa Intelligence reported that the deal asks Rwanda to withdraw its "defensive measures" and for the DRC to end all association with the FDLR. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe on X denied the account. "As a matter of facts, the words 'Rwanda Defense Force', 'Rwandan troops' or 'withdrawal' are nowhere to be seen in the document," he said. Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, on a visit to Washington in April to jumpstart negotiations on the deal, said that Rwanda should be obliged to withdraw from her country, which has been ravaged by decades of war. Both countries have sought favour with the United States. The DRC – whose enormous mineral reserves include lithium and cobalt, vital in electric vehicles – has pitched an agreement to seek US investment, loosely inspired by the Trump administration's minerals deal with Ukraine. Rwanda has been discussing taking in migrants deported from the United States, a major priority for Trump. Rwanda, one of the most stable countries in Africa, had reached a migration deal with Britain's former Conservative government but the arrangement was killed by the Labour government that took office last year.
eNCA
a day ago
- Politics
- eNCA
Rwanda, DRC to ink peace deal in US but questions remain
USA - Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo will sign an agreement in Washington on Friday to put an end to a conflict in the eastern DRC that has killed thousands, although broad questions loom on what it will mean. President Donald Trump has trumpeted the diplomacy that led to the deal, and publicly complained that he hasn't received a Nobel Peace Prize. But the agreement has also come under scrutiny for its vagueness including on the economic component, with the Trump administration eager to compete with China and profit from abundant mineral wealth in the long-turbulent east of the vast DRC. The M23 rebel group in late 2021 launched a new offensive that it escalated sharply early this year, seizing broad swathes of territory including the key eastern DRC city of Goma. The Kinshasa government has long alleged that M23, consisting mostly of ethnic Tutsis, receives military support from Rwanda. These claims are backed by Washington. Rwanda has denied directly supporting the rebels but has demanded an end to another armed group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), which was established by ethnic Hutus linked to the massacres of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The Rwandan and DRC foreign ministers will sign the agreement in Washington in the presence of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said. The White House also said Trump will meet the foreign ministers in the Oval Office. In a joint statement ahead of the signing, the three countries said the agreement would include "respect for territorial integrity and a prohibition of hostilities" as well as the disarmament of all "non-state armed groups." The agreement was mediated through Qatar, a frequent US partner, and Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman and father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany tapped by the president as a senior advisor on Africa. The statement also spoke of a "regional economic integration framework" and of a future summit in Washington bringing together Trump, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi. - Controversy over economic ties - Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end the DRC's epidemic of sexual violence in war, voiced alarm that the agreement was too opaque. He said that the talk of economic cooperation was an unjust reward for Rwanda. The deal "would amount to granting a reward for aggression, legitimizing the plundering of Congolese natural resources, and forcing the victim to alienate their national heritage by sacrificing justice in order to ensure a precarious and fragile peace," he said in a statement. On the eve of the signing, news outlet Africa Intelligence reported that the deal asks Rwanda to withdraw its "defensive measures" and for the DRC to end all association with the FDLR. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe on X denied the account. "As a matter of facts, the words 'Rwanda Defense Force', 'Rwandan troops' or 'withdrawal' are nowhere to be seen in the document," he said. Congolese Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, on a visit to Washington in April to jumpstart negotiations on the deal, said that Rwanda should be obliged to withdraw from her country, which has been ravaged by decades of war. Both countries have sought favor with the United States. The DRC - whose enormous mineral reserves include lithium and cobalt, vital in electric vehicles - has pitched an agreement to seek US investment, loosely inspired by the Trump administration's minerals deal with Ukraine. Rwanda has been discussing taking in migrants deported from the United States, a major priority for Trump. Rwanda, one of the most stable countries in Africa, had reached a migration deal with Britain's former Conservative government but the arrangement was killed by the Labour government that took office last year.
NDTV
07-06-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
'Delete Your Nudes': What Travellers Must Know Before Visiting The US
International travelers to the US are being cautioned to cleanse their digital devices of sensitive content, including personal photos, as border agents ramp up electronic searches under President Trump's renewed 'enhanced vetting' policies, according to The Metro. These measures, reinstated through executive orders, permit Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers to inspect smartphones, laptops, and social media accounts without a warrant. As per the news report, although such searches affect only a small fraction of travellers, they have led to detentions and deportations based on digital content, including political views and personal images. Experts advise travellers to minimise stored data, use encrypted cloud services, and disable biometric logins to protect privacy. According to The Metro report, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have the legal authority to search electronic devices at the border: that's phones, laptops, and tablets. This includes reviewing text messages, social media activity, photos, emails, and even your browser history. In March, an unnamed French scientist was denied entry to the States after airport immigration officers searched his phone and found messages critical of the Trump administration. According to The Guardian, recently Amir Makled, a Lebanese-American lawyer representing one of the University of Michigan pro-Palestine campus protesters, was recently stopped at Detroit Metro Airport and interrogated by a tactical terrorism response team agent. Makled has said the agents knew exactly who he was; his phone was searched, and they asked about his contacts. Eventually, he was allowed to go home. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has imposed a ban on citizens from 12 countries, along with entry restrictions on nationals from seven other nations, citing national security and immigration enforcement concerns. The US President signed the executive order on June 4, nearly five months after taking office for the second term, and it will come into effect on June 9. The travel ban has been divided into two categories: a complete ban and a partial ban. Trump has imposed a full entry ban on 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, the Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Eritrea, and Somalia. The complete travel ban means the citizens of the aforementioned countries cannot enter the US at all, irrespective of the reason and purpose. He said that these countries don't respect US immigration rules. Most countries on the list denied taking their citizens back, and most of the people from here overstayed their visas, he said. Partial restrictions apply to seven countries: Burundi, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, Cuba, and Venezuela.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NH lawmaker responds to accusations of suspected terrorist connections
New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen's office responded late Wednesday to allegations her husband traveled multiple times in 2023 with a 'known or suspected terrorist' and received special treatment from TSA after she called to ask why he was subject to enhanced screening. On Wednesday morning, the Department of Homeland Security issued a news release, alleging Shaheen's husband, William Shaheen, had flown on at least three occasions in 2023 with a 'known or suspected terrorist.' DHS did not identify the other traveler, but said Mr. Shaheen was subject to enhanced security screening on each occasion. DHS says when Sen. Shaheen contacted TSA about the screenings, he was placed on a Secure Flight Exclusion List, meaning he was no longer subject to additional screening methods. DHS says Mr. Shaheen was on the list for 18 months until current TSA leadership removed him this spring. Boston 25 reached out directly to Sen. Shaheen's office and received the following statement from a spokesperson: 'Senator Shaheen contacted the Transportation Security Administration after her husband was subjected to several extensive, invasive, and degrading searches at airport checkpoints. Senator Shaheen sought to understand the nature and cause of these searches. Any suggestion that the Senator's husband was supposedly included on a Quiet Skies list is news to her and had never been raised before yesterday. Nor was she aware of any action taken following her call to remove him from such a list.' Senator Shaheen's husband is a prominent Lebanese-American attorney and is active in the Arab-American community. Shaheen's office would not identify who her husband traveled with, except to say they are an Arab-American attorney, and the events outlined by DHS took place in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, after which the US heightened security. A spokesperson for the senator said the individual was also removed from the DHS Known or Suspected Terrorist list later that same year. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Int'l Business Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Trump Froze Nobel Prize Winning Lebanese-American Scientist's Grant. Then China Offered Him Funding at Any School
A Nobel Prize winning Lebanese-American who left his war-torn country for America in 1986 now has the opportunity to take his research to China after the Trump administration froze his federal grant. After earning his doctorate, Ardem Patapoutian became a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. In 2000, he joined the Scripps Research Institute as an assistant professor, and since 2015, he has also served as an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 2021, the renowned molecular biologist and neuroscientist was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch. Dr. Patapoutian joined a growing number of American academics speaking out after President Donald Trump's administration cut more than $1.5 billion from the National Institutes of Health's budget in February, leaving institutions like Scripps Research with a $38 million shortfall. After warning his Bluesky followers that the cuts would undermine biomedical research and push talent out of the U.S., Dr. Patapoutian told The New York Times that within hours, he received an email from China offering to relocate his lab to "any city, any university I want," with guaranteed funding for 20 years. Although Dr. Patapoutian ultimately declined, citing his love for his adopted countries, he warned that emerging scientists may have no choice but to leave, placing future U.S. scientific breakthroughs and research at risk. Originally published on Latin Times
