Headline

Trump Slaps Sanctions On Colombia For Defying Deportation Push

Published

8 months ago

January 26, 2025

US President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered sweeping tariffs and sanctions against Colombia in retaliation for its refusal to accept deportation flights, doubling down on his immigration crackdown as he sought to silence a chorus of defiance in Latin America.

Trump, back into the office for less than a week, said he would impose tariffs of 25 per cent on Colombian products that would rise to 50 per cent in a week.

His authority to do so was unclear as Colombia, historically one of Washington’s closest allies in Latin America, enjoys a free-trade agreement with the United States.

Trump also said he would immediately revoke visas for Colombian government officials and “supporters” of President Gustavo Petro — and subject Colombians to greater scrutiny at airports.

“These measures are just the beginning. We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the criminals they forced into the United States!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump took office with promises to round up and swiftly deport foreigners unlawfully in the United States but has faced resistance from Petro, elected in 2022 as the first left-wing leader of Latin America’s fourth-largest economy.

“The United States cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals. I forbid entry to our territory to US planes carrying Colombian migrants,” Petro wrote on X.

In a later post, he said he had “turned back US military planes.” Trump said two US planes were not allowed to land.

The Colombian government said it was instead ready to send its presidential plane to the United States to transport “with dignity” the migrants whose flights were blocked by Bogota.

Petro also said he was ready to allow civilian US flights carrying deported migrants to land, as long as those on board were not treated “like criminals.”

The Colombian leader later said more than 15,600 undocumented Americans were living in his country and urged them to “regularize their situation,” while ruling out raids to arrest and deport them.

The trip comes days before Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to visit Latin America — but not Colombia — on his first trip as top US diplomat as he seeks support for Trump’s policies.

He is also not scheduled to visit Mexico, which has been critical of the use of military planes for deportations.

– ‘Tied hands and feet’ –

Trump’s threats to deport millions of migrants has put him on a potential collision course with governments in Latin America, the original home of most of the estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States.

Brazil, which is also led by a left-wing president, voiced outrage over the treatment by the Trump administration of dozens of Brazilian migrants deported back to their country on Friday.

The migrants, who were deported under a bilateral agreement predating Trump’s return to the White House, were handcuffed on the flight, in what Brazil called “flagrant disregard” for their basic rights.

Edgar Da Silva Moura, a 31-year-old computer technician who was among the 88 deported migrants, told AFP: “On the plane they didn’t give us water, we were tied hands and feet, they wouldn’t even let us go to the bathroom.”

“It was very hot, some people fainted.”

TV footage showed some passengers descending from the civilian plane with their hands handcuffed and their ankles shackled.

Several deportation flights since Trump’s return to office have garnered public and media attention, although such actions were also common under previous administrations.

In a break with prior practice, however, the Trump administration has begun using military aircraft for some repatriation flights, with at least one landing in Guatemala this week.

Several Latin American countries have vowed to welcome back citizens, many of whom have been living and working in the United States for years, with open arms.

The Mexican government said it planned to open nine shelters for its citizens and three more for deported foreigners, under a scheme called “Mexico embraces you.”

President Claudia Sheinbaum said the government would also provide humanitarian assistance to deported migrants from other countries before repatriating them.

Honduras, a central American country that is also a large source of migrants to the United States, said it was launching a program for returnees entitled “Brother, come home,” which would include a “solidarity” payment, food and access to employment opportunities.

AFP

Headline

US Lifts Restrictions On Visa Validity For Ghanaians, Leaves Nigeria’s Unchanged

Published

19 hours ago

September 27, 2025

Editor

The United States has restored the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaian nationals following Ghana’s agreement to accept West African deportees, but similar restrictions for Nigerians remain in place.

The B1/B2 visitor visa is now valid for up to five years, with multiple entries allowed, while the F1 student visa’s maximum validity has been restored to four years, with multiple entries permitted.

“The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaians have been restored to their previous lengths. The maximum validity allowed for the B1/B2 visitor visa is again five years, multiple entry. The maximum validity for the F1 student visa is again four years, multiple entry,” the U.S. Embassy announced in a tweet on Saturday.”

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, also announced in a tweet that the new policy now allows citizens to apply for five-year multiple-entry visas.

Ablakwa also stated that the reversal of the restriction comes with other enhanced consular privileges, adding that the development was the result of months of diplomatic engagement.

“The U.S. visa restriction imposed on Ghana has been reversed. Ghanaians can now be eligible for five-year multiple-entry visas and other enhanced consular privileges,” Ablakwa stated.

“This good news was directly communicated to me by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, at a bilateral meeting earlier today, in the margins of the UN General Assembly. I am really pleased that months of high-level diplomatic negotiations have led to a successful outcome.”

These changes reverse earlier restrictions imposed under the Trump administration, which had limited most visas to single-entry and a three-month validity period.

The restrictions affected several African countries, including Ghana and Nigeria, and were based on concerns over visa reciprocity and the acceptance of deported migrants.

In July, the U.S. Consulate in Nigeria announced updates to its reciprocal nonimmigrant visa policy, stating: “The United States Department of State has announced updates to its reciprocal non-immigrant visa policy, impacting several countries, including Nigeria. Effective immediately, most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of Nigeria will be single-entry visas with a three-month validity period.

“Those U.S. non-immigrant visas issued prior to July 8, 2025, will retain their status and validity. We wish to underscore that, as is standard globally, visa reciprocity is a continuous process and is subject to review and change at any time, such as increasing or decreasing permitted entries and duration of validity. You can view the latest information on visa reciprocity schedules for all countries at travel.state.gov.”

Reports indicate that the U.S. pressured some African nations to accept deported migrants, including Venezuelan detainees from U.S. prisons.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar rejected these pressures, stating that Nigeria would not serve as a “dumping ground” for deportees.

“It would be difficult for countries like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria,” Tuggar said during a televised interview.

“We have enough problems of our own; we cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria. We already have 230 million people.”

Meanwhile, Ghanaian President John Mahama confirmed that Ghana had begun accepting deported West African nationals after U.S. requests.

“We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the U.S., and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable,” Mahama said.

“All our fellow West African nationals don’t need visas to come to our country.”

Headline

UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.

In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.

Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.

Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.

“You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.

“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.

Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.

Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.

“These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.

“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.

“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”

The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.

She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.

Headline

Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Published

2 days ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP