Trump makes power play by denying Palestinian visas ahead of crucial UN meeting in NYC
Donald Trump is blocking Palestinian leaders from coming to the U.S. for the United Nations General Assembly meeting next month.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying visas for members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the gathering in New York City.
It underscores the administration's backing of Israel in its war with Hamas terrorists acting as the de facto government in Palestinian stronghold of Gaza.
Rubio said Friday: 'The Trump Administration has been clear: it is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace.'
The former Florida senator, who holds three other administrative positions while also running the State Department, said that PLO and PA cannot be 'considered partners for peace' because they refuse to denounce Hamas' terrorist activity.
Specifically, he mentioned the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack, which was the largest single-day slaughter of Jewish people since the Holocaust.
'Before the PLO and PA can be considered partners for peace, they must consistently repudiate terrorism — including the October 7 massacre — and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by U.S. law and as promised by the PLO,' Rubio wrote in a statement on the action.
Pulling visas from these members will deny their ability to push their interests amid the ongoing war with Israel.
Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller backed up the decision, claiming it was a move to prevent abuse of the U.S. visa system by terrorists.
President Donald Trump directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) to revoke and deny the visas of members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority
It comes ahead of the United Nations General Assembly meeting next month at New York City UN Headquarters
'We've been very clear when it comes to our visa system that we are going to take all necessary steps to prevent our visa system from being used by individuals who may support or espouse terrorism or terrorist activity,' he told reporters at the White House on Friday.
The 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly will convene at UN headquarters in New York City next month.
Meetings between world leaders will run from September 23 through 27.
Trump will travel to New York from the White House on September 22 and speak to the assembly the following day, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
From Kyiv to the Suwałki Gap, bogs return as Europe’s defensive shield
Restoring the EU’s drained bogs would stop Russian tanks
In February 2022, as Russia marched on Kyiv, Oleksandr Dmitriev realized he knew how to stop Moscow’s men: Blow a hole in the dam that strangled the Irpin River northeast of the capital and restore the long-lost boggy floodplain.
A defense consultant who organized offroad races in the area before the war, Dmitriev was familiar with the terrain. He knew exactly what reflooding the river basin — a vast expanse of bogs and marshes that was drained in Soviet times — would do to Russia’s war machinery.
“It turns into an impassable turd, as the jeep guys say,” he said. He told the commander in charge of Kyiv’s defense as much, and was given the go-ahead to blow up the dam.
Dmitriev’s idea worked. “In principle, it stopped the Russian attack from the north,” he said. The images of Moscow’s tanks mired in mud went around the world.
Three years later, this act of desperation is inspiring countries along NATO’s eastern flank to look into restoring their own bogs.
Finland and Poland told POLITICO they were actively exploring bog restoration as a measure to defend their borders.
On NATO’s eastern flank, restoring bogs would be a relatively cheap and straightforward measure to achieve EU defense goals.
“It’s definitely doable,” said Aveliina Helm, professor of restoration ecology at the University of Tartu.
NATO’s bog belt
As it happens, most of the EU’s peatlands are concentrated on NATO’s border with Russia and Kremlin-allied Belarus — stretching from the Finnish Arctic through the Baltic states, past Lithuania’s hard-to-defend Suwałki Gap and into eastern Poland.
When waterlogged, this terrain represents a dangerous trap for military trucks and tanks. In a tragic example earlier this year, four U.S. soldiers stationed in Lithuania died when they drove their 63-ton M88 Hercules armored vehicle into a bog.
And when armies can’t cross soggy open land, they are forced into areas that are more easily defended, as Russia found out when Dmitriev and his soldiers blew up the dam north of Kyiv in February 2022.
Destroyed Russia Tank
“The Russians there in armored personnel carriers got stuck at the entrance, then they were killed with a Javelin [anti-tank missile], then when the Russians tried to build pontoons … ours shot them with artillery,” Dmitriev recounted.
Bog-based defense isn’t a new idea. Waterlogged terrain has stopped troops throughout European history — from Germanic tribes inflicting defeat on Roman legions by trapping them beside a bog in A.D. 9, to Finland’s borderlands ensnaring the Soviets in the 1940s. The treacherous marshes north of Kyiv posed a formidable challenge to armies in both world wars.
Strategically rewetting drained peatlands to prepare for an enemy attack, however, would be a novelty. But it’s an idea that’s starting to catch on — among environmentalists, defense strategists and politicians.
Pauli Aalto-Setälä, a lawmaker with Finland’s governing National Coalition Party, last year filed a parliamentary motion calling on the Finnish government to restore peatlands to secure its borders.
“In Finland, we have used our nature from a defense angle in history,” said Aalto-Setälä, who holds the rank of major and trained as a tank officer during his national service. “I realized that at the eastern border especially, there are a lot of excellent areas to restore — to make it as difficult to go through as possible.”
Poland’s peaty politics
Discussions on defensive nature restoration are advancing fastest in Poland.
Climate activists and scientists started campaigning for nature-based defense a few years ago when they realized that Poland’s politicians were far more likely to spend financial and political capital on environmental efforts when they were linked to national security.
“Once you talk about security, everyone listens right now in Poland,” said Wiktoria Jędroszkowiak, a Polish activist. “And our peatlands and ancient forests, they are the places that are going to be very important for our defense once the war gets to Poland as well.”
After years of campaigning, the issue has now reached government level in Warsaw, with discussions underway between scientists and Poland’s defense and environment ministries.
Wiktor Kotowski, an ecologist and member of the Polish government’s advisory council for nature conservation, said initial talks with the defense ministry have been promising.
“There were a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions but in general we found there are only synergies,” he said.
Russian vehicle bogged down in the mud
“What the ministry of defense wants is to get back as many wetlands as possible along the eastern border,” Kotowski added.
Cezary Tomczyk, a state secretary at Poland’s defense ministry, agreed. “Our objectives align,” he said. “For us, nature is an ally, and we want to use it.”
Lithuania’s environment ministry said that defense-linked wetland restoration “is currently under discussion.”
Estonia’s defense ministry and Latvia’s armed forces said that new Baltic Defence Line plans to fortify the three countries’ borders would make use of natural obstacles including bogs.
Scientists see plenty of potential, given that peatlands cover 10 percent of the Baltics. And in many cases, the work would be straightforward, said Helm, the Estonian ecologist.
“We have a lot of wetlands that are drained but still there. If we now restore the water regime — we close the ditches that constantly drain them — then they are relatively easy to return to a more natural state,” she said.
Ending drainage instantly renders the terrain impassable.
“Restoration for water retention, for difficulty to cross — so for defensive purposes — it’s pretty straightforward and fast.”
Russian tank seized by Ukraine
The bogs-for-defense argument doesn’t work for all countries. In Germany the Bundeswehr sounded reluctant when asked about the idea.
“The rewetting of wetlands can be both advantageous and disadvantageous for [NATO’s] own operations,” depending on the individual country, a spokesperson for the Bundeswehr’s infrastructure and environment office said.
NATO troops would need to move through Germany in the event of a Russian attack in the east, and bogs restrict military movements. Still, “the idea of increasing the obstacle value of terrain by causing flooding and swamping … has been used in warfare for a very long time and is still a viable option today,” the spokesperson said.
Ukrainian soldiers sitting on a captured Russian tank
In Ukraine, the flooding of the Irpin basin: “Yes, it stopped the invasion of Kyiv, and this was badly needed, so no criticism here."
Dramatic riots have erupted in a Swiss city after a migrant teen was killed in a scooter crash while fleeing the police.
Riot cops clashed with protesters who hurled Molotov cocktails in Lausanne as officials desperately tried to put a lid on escalating violence.
Marvin M, a 17-year-old Swiss resident of Lausanne, was fleeing police on a stolen scooter, when he hit a garage wall and died at around 3.45am Sunday, despite resuscitation attempts by emergency services.
The public prosecutor of the canton of Vaud has launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the accident.
It was the third death in less than three months in Lausanne during a police intervention. There have been seven such deaths in the city and the wider Vaud region since 2016. Five involved men of African origin.
On Sunday night, 'around 100 young people, wearing balaclavas' gathered in the Prélaz neighborhood from 9.30pm, throwing fireworks at police, burning trash cans and damaging a bus belonging to the Lausanne transport company.
The following night, 150 to 200 people set up roadblocks using trash containers, setting them on fire, police said. Some 140 cops clashed with the rioters, who torched buses and pelted them with stones. Police also responded to the riots using tear gas and rubber bullets.
A person sets a traffic cone on fire as burning containers block the street during the third night of riots in Lausanne, Switzerland
Burning containers block the street during the third night of riots in Lausanne, Switzerland
Lausanne authorities sought to head off a third night of violence in the Swiss city
Marvin M, (pictured) a 17-year-old Swiss resident of Lausanne, was fleeing police on a stolen scooter when he hit a garage wall and died, despite resuscitation attempts by emergency services
Police used 54 tear gas grenades and made seven arrests.
'Pyrotechnic devices were used against the police; it's scandalous,' Lausanne city's security councillor Pierre-Antoine Hildbrand told the Keystone-ATS news agency.
'We are facing a movement that has nothing to do with the death of this youth, but which is using it as an excuse to attack law enforcement. It's disgraceful.'
Lausanne authorities sought Tuesday to head off a third night of violence in the Swiss city.
Police have acknowledged that a car was following the teenager who died early Sunday. But the Vaud public prosecutors' office issued a statement 'with the aim of clarifying and calming the situation'.
It said two motorists approached the teenager before police arrived at the crash site. This tended to confirm there was a 'significant distance' between the scooter and the pursuing police vehicle and 'no contact' between them, the statement added.
Officers confirmed police had been following Marvin before the crash but claimed he lost control at high speed in a 18mph zone.
Thibault Schaller, a local councillor for the Conservative anti-immigration Swiss People's Party (SVP), confirmed the account having been at the scene.
Claiming he was attacked, he said on X that a group of about 10 to 15 people surrounded him on all sides and struck him.
'Buses and trash cans set on fire in Prélaz (Lausanne) in reaction to the death of the 17-year-old youth who died Sunday morning while fleeing the police on a stolen scooter,' he tweeted.
'Unaware of what it's about, I head to the scene. Some antifa recognise me, three surround me, back against the wall, and they order me to leave.'
'I refuse and ask what's happening. One pushes me, I push him back then step back, someone shouts something, and ten, fifteen people come running at me from everywhere,' he continued.
A young person walks past fires in a street, in Lausanne, during a second night of rioting following the death of a teenager who tried to escape local police while driving a stolen scooter
Police officers intervene during the second night of riots following the fatal accident involving a minor on a scooter in Lausanne, Switzerland
Containers burn during the second night of riots following the fatal accident involving a minor on a scooter in Lausanne, Switzerland
Fireworks explode near police officers in riot gear in Lausanne
'I run away, take hits, they block my path, I fall, protect myself, I pick up while one or two people tell me to leave. I get up, run, get surrounded again against a wall, blows, then I manage to get away by running,' he said.
Lausanne - run by a left-wing coalition of Socialists and Greens - has become the latest flashpoint following the death of the teen.
For years, the city's authorities have championed progressive policies, embracing diversity drives and refugee settlement schemes.
But critics say the reality on the ground tells a very different story.
Over the past decade, Switzerland has taken in more than 200,000 refugees - many from Eritrea, Somalia, Syria and Afghanistan, alongside arrivals from other African and Muslim-majority countries.
What was once hailed as a model of compassion has instead fuelled mounting tensions, with simmering unease now spilling onto the streets.
Police officers intervene during the second night of riots following the fatal accident involving a minor on a scooter in Lausanne, Switzerland
A 17-year-old Swiss resident of Lausanne fleeing police on a scooter reported stolen on Saturday, hit a wall and died early Sunday, despite resuscitation attempts by emergency services
It was the third death in less than three months in Lausanne during a police intervention
On Sunday night, 'around 100 young people, wearing balaclavas' set fire to several containers and damaged a bus, police said
Critics argue the focus on policing is little more than a distraction – a way to dodge questions over Switzerland's failing immigration policies.
For decades, Switzerland quietly watched as France, Britain and Germany wrestled with unrest linked to immigration and integration.
Now, the same scenes of anger and division are playing out on Swiss streets too.
It comes almost a year after Switzerland announced plans to cap its population to ten million as part of an immigration crackdown under plans put forward by the hard-right People's Party.
The Swiss People's Party (SVP) - which is the largest in the ruling coalition of four parties - launched the anti-immigration initiative in 2023, which was signed by more than 115,000 residents and could be on the ballot as soon as 2026.
The initiative demands that the population of those permanently living in Switzerland doesn't exceed ten million before 2050 after the country first recorded nearly 9 million residents in 2023.
As soon as population numbers reach nine and a half million, the initiative demands that 'temporarily admitted persons [foreigners] shall not receive a residence or settlement permit, Swiss citizenship or any other right of residence.'
After 2050, the initiative demands that the Federal Council sets a new immigration limit based on the excess of births.
In 2023, about 180,000 people immigrated into Switzerland.
More than every fourth resident in Switzerland was a foreigner, which is one of the highest rates in Europe.
The Swiss city of Lausanne was rocked this week by youth race riots after a migrant from Gambia died while fleeing from police on a motorbike.
The fourth-largest city in Switzerland saw youths rampage and riot, setting fires, throwing molotov cocktails, vandalising buses, building garbage barricades on the streets, while attacking police officers with stones and fireworks.
Police deployed tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons to combat the hundreds of youth rioters. Police were also forced to protect firefighters as they attempted to stamp out fires set by the mob in the French-speaking city.
The 'burqa ban' allows fines of 900 pounds for wearing a burqa.
Stone Age 'Atlantis' lost to the sea 8,500 years ago offers new glimpse into prehistoric life
Archaeologists have discovered an underwater city in Denmark's Bay of Aarhus, which is being hailed as the Stone Age Atlantis.
The team uncovered animal bones, stone tools, arrowheads, a seal tooth and a small piece of worked wood, likely a simple tool, which they believe indicates a human presence with structured activities.
The researchers have excavated an area of about 430 square feet at the small settlement.
Sea levels rose rapidly, sometimes by several meters per century, flooding Stone Age settlements and forcing hunter-gatherer communities further inland.
Rising global sea levels dramatically reshaped coastlines, according to underwater archaeologist Peter Moe Astrup, who is leading the excavations.
'It is like a time capsule. When the sea level rose, everything was preserved in an oxygen-free environment … time just stops,' he said.
'We actually have an old coastline. We have a settlement that was positioned directly at the coastline.'
Archaeologists have discovered a lost city below the sea, hailed as the Stone Age Atlantis
Underwater archaeologist Peter Moe Astrup inspects a tiny animal bone, unearthed at an 8,500-year-old Stone Age coastal settlement found in the Bay of Aarhus in Aarhus, Denmark
This summer, divers carefully descended about 26 feet below the waves near Aarhus, Denmark's second-largest city, using specialized underwater vacuums to collect delicate artifacts without damaging them.
The team combed the site foot by foot, documenting each find in detail, allowing researchers to reconstruct the layout and daily life of a settlement frozen in time.
The discovery is part of a $15.5million six-year international project to map parts of the seabed in the Baltic and North Seas.
Its goal is to explore sunken Northern European landscapes and uncover lost Mesolithic settlements as offshore wind farms and other sea infrastructure expand.
Most evidence of such settlements has previously been found inland from the Stone Age coast, but the recent discovery is among the first to be uncovered below the sea.
Moe Astrup said he and his team hope further excavations will find harpoons, fish hooks or traces of fishing structures.
The site offers a rare glimpse into how Mesolithic people interacted with their environment.
Living directly on the coastline, the inhabitants would have relied heavily on fishing, hunting seals and gathering plants from nearby forests.
The team found submerged trees on the seabed, allowing them to date the settlement to around 8,500 years old
The preservation of organic materials such as wood and nuts allows researchers to understand not just what people made and ate, but also how they adapted tools and techniques to survive in a changing landscape.
Excavations in the relatively calm and shallow Bay of Aarhus and dives off the coast of Germany will be followed by later work at two locations in the more inhospitable North Sea.
To track how quickly the waters rose, Danish researchers are using dendrochronology, the study of tree rings.
Submerged tree stumps preserved in mud and sediment can be dated precisely, revealing when rising tides drowned coastal forests.
The team uncovered animal bones, stone tools, arrowheads, a seal tooth and a small piece of worked wood, likely a simple tool (pictured)
'We can say very precisely when these trees died at the coastlines,' Moesgaard Museum dendrochronologist Jonas Ogdal Jensen said as he peered at a section of Stone Age tree trunk through a microscope.
'That tells us something about how the sea level changed through time.'
The researchers hope to shed light on how Stone Age societies adapted to shifting coastlines more than eight millennia ago.
'It´s hard to answer exactly what it meant to people,' Moe Astrup said. 'But it clearly had a huge impact in the long run because it completely changed the landscape.'
