Foreign
Israel will strike back if hit first, Netanyahu warns Iran
By Francesca Hangeior.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran on Friday that Israel will strike if it is hit first and warned that his country can reach any part of the cleric-run state as he vowed to fight on in Gaza.
“I have a message for the tyrants of Tehran. If you strike us, we will strike you,” Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly.
“There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that’s true of the entire Middle East.”
Delegates, including from Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, exited the room as Netanyahu took the rostrum for his address amid a mix of cheers and angry yells.
“After I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight,” Netanyahu said at the start of his speech.
Ahead of his speech, protesters gathered outside Netanyahu’s hotel in New York to demand an end to the violence in Gaza and Lebanon.
On Wednesday, the United States, France and other allies unveiled a 21-day truce proposal, after President Joe Biden and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The White House has said that the call for a ceasefire had been “coordinated” with Israel, but Netanyahu’s office on Thursday said that the prime minister has not responded to the proposal.
“It is an American-French proposal, which the prime minister has not even responded to,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s office, adding that he had ordered the army “to continue the fighting with full force.”
Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in a deadly exchange of cross-border fire since the Iran-backed group’s Palestinian ally, Hamas, attacked Israel on October 7.
Netanyahu vowed Friday that “Hamas has got to go” and would have no role in the reconstruction of Gaza as he vowed to fight until “total victory.”
Since Monday, Israel has shifted its focus from Gaza to its northern front with Lebanon where heavy bombing has killed 700 people and sparked an exodus of around 118,000 people.
Netanyahu said Israel would continue Lebanon strikes “until we meet our objectives.”
The UN said Friday that a “catastrophic” intensification of Israeli attacks targeting Hezbollah militants had left Lebanon facing its “deadliest period… in a generation.”
The Israeli strikes have brought the overall death toll in Lebanon to more than 1,500 people killed in nearly a year of clashes, according to Lebanese authorities.
That toll surpasses the 1,200 mostly civilians killed during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, which also killed around 160 people in Israel, most of them soldiers.
By Francesca Hangeior
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a new rule requiring all foreign nationals who stay in the country for more than 30 days to register with the federal government.
The directive, introduced this week, is one of the strictest immigration measures in recent years.
In a post titled “Message to Illegal Aliens” and tagged to President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the agency stated,
“Foreign nationals present in the U.S. longer than 30 days must register with the federal government. Failure to comply is a crime punishable by fines and imprisonment. @POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem have a clear message to Illegal aliens: LEAVE NOW and self-deport.”
Foreign nationals present in the U.S. longer than 30 days must register with the federal government. Failure to comply is a crime punishable by fines and imprisonment. @POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem have a clear message to Illegal aliens: LEAVE NOW and self-deport. pic.twitter.com/FrsAQtUA7H
Non-compliance could lead to daily fines of $998, heavier penalties for those who promise to leave but don’t, imprisonment, and permanent bans from re-entry.
DHS warned that delaying registration will increase penalties and reduce the chances of returning legally.
“The longer you wait, the higher the penalty, and the slimmer your chances of returning,” the department said.
The agency also introduced a “safe exit” provision for undocumented individuals who choose to leave voluntarily.
Those who self-deport may be allowed to select their departure flight, keep their earnings if they haven’t committed any crimes, apply for subsidized travel if they can’t afford it, and stay eligible for future immigration pathways.
While the rule doesn’t currently apply to individuals on valid visas like H-1B or F-1, DHS emphasized that once a visa becomes invalid—due to expiration, job loss, or program termination—the individual is considered “unlawfully present” and subject to the same penalties.
Maintaining legal status, the agency noted, is more critical than ever.
By Francesca Hangeior
A Swiss citizen has been kidnapped in Niger, Switzerland’s foreign ministry told AFP, confirming information published by a Nigerien media outlet.
The foreign ministry said it had been “informed of the kidnapping of a Swiss citizen in Niger.
“The Swiss diplomatic mission in Niamey is in contact with the local authorities. Clarifications are under way.”
The governor of the Nigerien state of Agadez, General Ibra Boulama Issa, said the abduction happened in Agadez city, where an Austrian woman was kidnapped three months ago.
The general said “a foreign woman… of Swiss nationality” had been taken from her home there late Sunday.
In a statement, he also referenced the January 11 kidnapping of the Austrian.
By Francesca Hangeior
The United States President Donald Trump has said a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy that killed at least 34 people was “a horrible thing.”
“I think it was terrible. And I was told they made a mistake. But I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One while headed back to Washington.
Asked to clarify what he meant by a “mistake,” Trump said that “they made a mistake… you’re gonna ask them” — without specifying who or what he meant.
The American leader’s National Security Council (NSC) had earlier Sunday called the Russian strike “a clear and stark reminder of why President Donald Trump’s efforts to try and end this terrible war comes at a crucial time.”
Neither Trump nor the White House named Moscow as the perpetrator of the attack, though Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier offered condolences to the “victims of today’s horrifying Russian missile attack on Sumy.”
The Sumy strike came two days after US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin and push Trump’s efforts to end the war.
Zelensky on Sunday urged the US president to visit his country to better understand the devastation wrought by Russia’s invasion.
“Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” the Ukrainian leader said in an interview broadcast on US network CBS.
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