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Trump Considering Deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia To Uganda

Published

21 hours ago

August 24, 2025

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The Trump administration is weighing the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda in the coming days, according to a notice from the Department of Homeland Security sent to his lawyers on Friday.

The notice, disclosed in a court filing in Abrego Garcia’s human smuggling case in Tennessee, came shortly after his release from criminal custody pending trial on federal charges. His lawyers accused the government of attempting to use the deportation threat as a tactic to “coerce” him into a plea deal.

“Let this email serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now (absent weekends),” the notice stated.

Officials had previously suggested that Abrego Garcia, who was unlawfully deported to El Salvador earlier this year before being returned to the US in June, could face deportation to a third country.

However, it was unclear until Friday whether the administration would allow his trial to conclude before initiating removal proceedings.

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, described the move as “retaliation” by the government.

“The government’s decision to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda makes it painfully clear that they are using the immigration system to punish him for exercising his constitutional rights,” he told CNN.

Under an order issued last month by US District Judge Paula Xinis, officials must provide Abrego Garcia and his legal team with at least 72 business hours’ notice before any deportation to a third country, giving him time to raise potential claims of torture or persecution.

Court filings submitted on Saturday revealed that earlier in the week, the government had proposed a deal under which Abrego Garcia would plead guilty to two federal charges and be deported to Costa Rica after serving his sentence.

Costa Rica had confirmed willingness to receive him as a refugee or grant him legal status, according to a letter from its government to the US embassy.

His attorneys said the offer was renewed Friday evening, giving him until Monday morning to accept or lose the option permanently.

His defence team argued that the deportation threats and plea offers highlight a pattern of “vindictive and selective prosecution” against Abrego Garcia, who previously challenged his deportation to El Salvador. They urged Judge Waverly Crenshaw to dismiss the case.

“There can be only one interpretation of these events: the DOJ, DHS, and ICE are using their collective powers to force Mr. Abrego to choose between a guilty plea followed by relative safety, or rendition to Uganda, where his safety and liberty would be under threat,” his lawyers wrote.

“It is difficult to imagine a path the government could have taken that would have better emphasized its vindictiveness,” they added. “This case should be dismissed.”

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Headline

42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

11 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

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Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

11 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

Headline

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

11 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP