Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order that would revoke the visas of foreign students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests, as part of an effort to combat anti-Semitism.
An advance fact sheet seen by The National said the Justice Department would take “immediate action” to prosecute “terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews”.
The document said the order would authorise federal resources to combat an “explosion of anti-Semitism on our campuses and streets", after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the 15-month war on Gaza.
“To all the resident aliens who joined in the … protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you and we will deport you,” Mr Trump wrote in the fact sheet. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathisers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians and reduced much of coastal territory to rubble, started widespread protests on US college campuses.
Student groups set up tent camps and staged sit-ins and protests as they demanded a ceasefire, a US arms embargo on Israel, and called on their universities to severe ties with Israel and Israeli institutions.
Universities, including prestigious facilities such as Columbia and NYU, moved to crack down on pro-Palestinian student activism, saying many of the slogans and intentions were anti-Semitic, and their acts were disrupting classes.
Civil rights groups and law-enforcement agencies have documented a rise in anti-Semitism as well as rising anti-Arab, Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian incidents across the country.
The order requires federal authorities and agency leaders to provide the White House with recommendations within 60 days on ways for authorities to combat anti-Semitism and “quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.”
Most pro-Palestinian student protesters – many of whom have been progressive Jews – deny that they support Hamas or are being anti-Semitic. They say they are exercising their right to protest against Israel's war on Gaza, and the US government's continued support for it.
Jewish Voice for Peace, a progressive advocacy group at the forefront of Jewish student activism, denounced the order as "a vile attempt to sow fear and crush political dissent to the US-backed Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza".
"We stand with the student protesters who so bravely put their bodies and academic careers on the line to save lives and demand an end to the Israeli military’s destruction of Gaza," Stefanie Fox, JVP's executive director, said in a statement on Wednesday.
"As Jews, we refuse to be pawns in the far-right’s authoritarian takeover. Trump and his cronies do not care about Jewish safety – in fact, they and the White Nationalists who support them are themselves the greatest threat to American Jews."
The Bio
Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
if you go
The flights
Fly to Rome with Etihad (www.etihad.ae) or Emirates (www.emirates.com) from Dh2,480 return including taxes. The flight takes six hours. Fly from Rome to Trapani with Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) from Dh420 return including taxes. The flight takes one hour 10 minutes.
The hotels
The author recommends the following hotels for this itinerary. In Trapani, Ai Lumi (www.ailumi.it); in Marsala, Viacolvento (www.viacolventomarsala.it); and in Marsala Del Vallo, the Meliaresort Dimore Storiche (www.meliaresort.it).
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
