BAKU: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on a visit to Baku Monday that Moscow was still committed to its historic role of mediating peace negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, despite its Ukraine campaign.
Putin was in Azerbaijan on a two-day visit — his first to the oil-rich country since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, and since Baku retook the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in a September 2023 offensive.
Russia has for decades been a traditional mediator between the Caucasus foes but has in the last two years been bogged down by its Ukraine campaign, with Western powers playing an increasing role in arbitrating the conflict.
“It is widely known that Russia is also facing crises, first of all on the Ukrainian track,” Putin said in Baku in joint remarks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“However, Russia’s historical involvement in the events in the South Caucasus, even during the recent years, makes it necessary for us to participate where needed by the sides, without a doubt.”
Baku’s campaign ended three decades of Armenian separatist rule and soured relations between Yerevan and its traditional ally Moscow, with Armenia accusing Russia of inaction and strengthening its ties with Western countries since.
“If we can do something to sign a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia... we will be very happy to,” Putin said.
The Russian leader said that after his Baku visit he will contact Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to “tell him about the results of our negotiations.”
Aliyev said the security of the region largely depended on the close cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia.
“The new situation (since September last year) opens up new opportunities for establishing a lasting peace in the South Caucasus,” he said.
When Baku recaptured Karabakh in a swift offensive last September, it led to the exodus of the mountainous enclave’s entire ethnic Armenian population — more than 100,000 people.
Putin in Baku offers to mediate Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal
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Putin in Baku offers to mediate Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal
- Russia has for decades been a traditional mediator between the Caucasus foes but has in the last two years been bogged down by its Ukraine campaign
Nationwide protests against immigration raids escalate, leading to arrests and curfews
An anti ICE protesters is detained by Texas state troopers near the Alamo in downtown San Antonio on June 11, 2025. (AP Photo)
People gather in protest against ICE, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raids at the San Antonio City Hall on June 11, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. (Getty Images via AFP)
People march against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at San Antonio City Hall on June 11, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. (Getty Images via AFP)
AUSTIN, Texas: Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids are flaring up around the country, as officials in cities from coast to coast get ready for major demonstrations against President Donald Trump over the weekend.
While many demonstrations against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency have been peaceful, with marchers chanting slogans and carrying signs, others have led to clashes with police who have sometimes used chemical irritants to disperse crowds. Hundreds have been arrested.
Volatile protests prompted city officials to enforce curfews in Los Angeles and Spokane. And Republican governors in Texas and Missouri mobilized National Guard troops to be ready to help law enforcement manages demonstrations in those states.
Activists are planning “No Kings” events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump’s planned military parade in Washington, D.C. While those were already scheduled, they will happen amid the rising tensions of the week.
The Trump administration said immigration raids and deportations will continue regardless.
A look at some recent protests and reactions across the country:
Las Vegas
Police said 94 people were arrested on “various criminal and traffic” charges, and four officers were injured in a Wednesday night protest. Some in the estimated crowd of about 800 threw bottles and rocks at law enforcement, police said.
A large crowd gathered on Las Vegas Boulevard near the city’s federal courthouse and blocked several streets before police deemed the gathering an unlawful assembly. Police announced in English and Spanish that protesters must leave the area. Local media reported that tear gas, flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets were used to disperse the crowds.
Chicago
Hundreds of demonstrators packed a park plaza near Lake Michigan on Thursday. Veronica Castro, an organizer with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, urged people to learn how to protect themselves and elected officials to speak out.
Demonstrators chanted “No hate, no fear.”
The group later marched along the city’s iconic Michigan Avenue, flanked by their own security marshals and Chicago police officers on bicycles and in slow-moving patrol cars.
The crowd, including parents with strollers, students and longtime organizers chanted, “Power to the people, no one is illegal.”
Seattle
Hundreds of protesters marched through downtown Seattle Wednesday evening to a federal building where immigration cases are heard. Some of them dragged a dumpster nearby and set it on fire. The building was covered in graffiti, with “Abolish ICE Now” written in large letters across its front window. They moved electric bikes and cones to block its entrance.
Dozens of officers squared off with protesters near the federal building, with some shooting pepper spray. Police worked to move the crowd away and some protesters threw fireworks and rocks at officers, according to the Seattle Police Department.
Spokane, Washington
Mayor Lisa Brown imposed an overnight curfew in downtown Spokane after a protest Wednesday afternoon outside an ICE office that ended with more than 30 arrests and police firing pepper balls at the crowd.
Brown said the curfew would “protect public safety,” and that the majority of protesters were peaceful.
“We respect their right to peacefully protest and to be upset about federal policies,” she said. “I have been that person who has protested federal policies and that is a right we have.”
San Antonio
Several hundred protesters marched through downtown San Antonio and near the historic Alamo mission. Although Texas National Guard troops were seen in the area, the demonstration was mostly peaceful with no significant clashes with law enforcement.
The Alamo building and plaza, among the most popular tourist attractions in the state, was closed to the public early and police guarded the property as the crowd gathered and marched nearby.
Tuscon, Arizona
A protest Wednesday outside an ICE office in Tuscon, Arizona, turned into a clash between masked security officers and demonstrators who blocked a roadway, threw balloons filled with paint and spray painted anti-ICE graffiti on the gates and walls of the facility.
Video clips showed a security officer who was hit with a water bottle. Masked protesters held makeshift shields as they inched toward the security team, and a member of the security team set off what appeared to be a flash-bang device.
At one point, a security officer sprayed a chemical irritant at protesters and a protester responded by firing irritant back at the officers. It was unclear if the officers were private security or federal agents. The Associated Press left messages with the Tucson Police Department and ICE’s operation in Arizona.
‘No Kings’
This week’s protests are leading into the scheduled “No Kings” demonstrations that organizers say are planned in nearly 2,000 locations around the country, from city blocks to small towns, courthouse steps to community parks, according to the movement’s website.
Organizers plan a flagship march and rally in Philadelphia, but no protests are scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., where the military parade will be held.
In Florida, state Attorney General James Uthmeier warned that any “No Kings” protesters who become violent will be dealt with harshly.
“If you want to light things on fire and put people in danger, you are going to do time. We do not tolerate rioting,” said Uthmeier said Thursday.
Federal prosecutors are watching as well.
In a message sent Thursday, a Justice Department official told US attorneys across the country to prioritize cases against protesters who engage in violence and destruction. The email cites several potential federal charges, including assault, civil disorder and damage of government property.
Governors and the Guard
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe mobilized National Guard troops in their states ahead of the weekend demonstrations.
Abbott said more than 5,000 guard troops and more than 2,000 state police would be ready to assist local law enforcement if needed.
Several “No Kings” rallies are planned in Texas, including in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and Austin. There were brief clashes between protesters and police who used chemical irritants during demonstrations in Austin and Dallas earlier in the week. Police in Austin made about a dozen arrests.
Mayors in San Antonio and Austin have said they didn’t ask for help from the National Guard.
Kehoe’s announcement called his decision a “precautionary measure” and did not provide specific troop levels or duties. His order authorized guard leadership to call up as many members as necessary.
Abbott and Kehoe stand in sharp contrast to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has publicly sparred with Trump over the president’s decision to send National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles, where volatile demonstrations have mostly been contained to a five-block section of downtown.
All 22 other Democratic governors signed a statement backing Newsom, calling the Guard deployment and threats to send in Marines “an alarming abuse of power.”
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Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington; Curt Anderson in Tampa, Florida; Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix; David Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri; Rio Yamat in Las Vegas; and Lisa Baumann and Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed.
Trump administration hit with second lawsuit over restrictions on asylum access
- CIvil lawsuit was filed in a Southern California federal court by four civil rights advocates
- Lawsuit focuses on people who are not on US soil and are seeking asylum at ports of entry
MCALLEN, Texas: Immigration advocates filed a class-action lawsuit Wednesday over the Trump administration’s use of a proclamation that effectively put an end to being able to seek asylum at ports of entry to the United States.
The civil lawsuit was filed in a Southern California federal court by the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, the American Immigration Council, Democracy Forward and the Center for Constitutional Rights.
The lawsuit is asking the court to find the proclamation unlawful, set aside the policy ending asylum at ports of entry and restore access to the asylum process at ports of entry, including for those who had appointments that were canceled when President Donald Trump took office.
Unlike a similar lawsuit filed in February in a Washington, D.C., federal court representing people who had already reached US soil and sought asylum after crossing between ports of entry, Wednesday’s lawsuit focuses on people who are not on US soil and are seeking asylum at ports of entry.
US Customs and Border Protection did not respond to a request for comment, but the agency does not typically comment on litigation. The Department of Homeland Security, another agency among the listed defendants, did not respond to a request for comment either.
Trump’s sweeping proclamation issued on his first day in office changed asylum policies, effectively ending asylum at the border. The proclamation said the screening process created by Congress under the Immigration and Nationality Act “can be wholly ineffective in the border environment” and was “leading to the unauthorized entry of innumerable illegal aliens into the United States.”
Immigrant advocates said that under the proclamation noncitizens seeking asylum at a port of entry are asked to present medical and criminal histories, a requirement for the visa process but not for migrants who are often fleeing from immediate danger.
“Nothing in the INA or any other source of law permits Defendants’ actions,” the immigrant advocates wrote in their complaint.
Thousands of people who sought asylum through the CBP One app, a system developed under President Joe Biden, had their appointments at ports of entry canceled on Trump’s first day in office as part of the proclamation that declared an invasion at the border.
“The Trump administration has taken drastic steps to block access to the asylum process, in flagrant violation of US law,” the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies stated in a press release Wednesday.
After feud with Trump, role of Musk’s SpaceX in Golden Dome missile shield in question
- Trump in May said the defense shield should be operational by the end of his presidency, January 2029
- The White House had considered a plan for SpaceX to play a key role in Trump's “Golden Dome" program
WASHINGTON: The role of Elon Musk’s SpaceX in an ambitious new US missile defense system is in question following the dramatic feud last week between the billionaire entrepreneur and President Donald Trump, according to three people familiar with the project.
The White House until recently had considered a plan for SpaceX, Musk’s rocket and satellite venture, to partner with software maker Palantir and drone builder Anduril to construct crucial elements of the project, dubbed “Golden Dome.” The administration had instructed the Pentagon to prioritize a network of satellites for the purpose, these people said.
But a new framework for the system, which would seek to track and prevent possible missile attacks against the United States, is now being considered that could reduce the role of SpaceX. One possibility, the three people said, could initially forego SpaceX’s satellite capabilities and focus on the expansion of existing ground systems for missile defense instead.
In a statement, a White House spokesman said “the Trump Administration is committed to a rigorous review process for all bids and contracts.” A senior Defense Department official said the Pentagon “has no announcements regarding future contracts associated with the Golden Dome effort.”
SpaceX, Anduril and Palantir didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A reduced role for SpaceX would represent the first known setback to Musk’s huge volume of business with the US government since his break with Trump last week. The shift in plans, especially for a project that Trump has touted as paramount for US defense strategy, also underscores the highly personalized nature of the president’s leadership, aerospace and defense experts said.
“That people guiding the program or building it are approved based on their political affiliation signals a real concern that the project itself is very politicized and not being conducted on the technical merits,” said Laura Grego, a missile defense expert and research director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a non-profit based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In its statement to Reuters, the White House said any decision would be made “prioritizing the best deal for America and leveraging the most advanced and innovative technology.”
Trump in May said the defense shield should be operational by the end of his presidency, January 2029. But industry experts have said that timeframe, and a projected cost of some $175 billion, could be too optimistic.
The change in the proposed “architecture” of the system, the three people said, could have the political advantage of allowing the current administration to deliver at least a portion of it. It isn’t clear how soon a final decision on the project could come or whether the ultimate role of any company, including SpaceX, has been determined.
Trump’s efforts to roll out the project fast have led to uncertainty about the project’s details and a scramble by contractors to be involved, industry experts and some of those involved in its development told Reuters. “To this day, no one knows what the requirements are,” said one of the people familiar with the process. “There isn’t a coordinated effort with a true vision. All of these companies are just grabbing at this pot of money.”
SpaceX, Anduril and Palantir were all founded by entrepreneurs who have been major political supporters of Trump. The three companies had previously met with top administration officials and decisionmakers from the Defense Department to discuss Golden Dome, according to people familiar with those discussions.
Before his high-profile falling out with the president, Musk served as a key Trump adviser and donated more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect him. But the recent dispute, which included Musk calling for Trump’s impeachment and accusing the president of improper involvement with disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, triggered the change in direction, the three people told Reuters.
“Because of the blowup, the Pentagon has been given the space to look at other alternatives,” one of the people said.
In recent days, Musk has sought to temper the dispute, saying he regretted some of his comments and taking down some of his social media criticism of Trump, including the call for impeachment. Earlier this week, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump appreciated Musk’s apology and that she was unaware of any administration efforts to review Musk contracts because of the dispute.
Reuters couldn’t determine whether Musk’s conciliatory overtures might improve SpaceX’s chances of winning Golden Dome contracts or securing further new business with the US government.
SpaceX had pitched for a part of the Golden Dome initiative called the “custody layer,” a constellation of between 400 and 1,000 satellites that would detect missiles, track their trajectory, and determine if they are heading toward the US, Reuters reported in April. In a January 27 executive order, Trump mandated the selection of a proposed “architecture” for Golden Dome and an implementation plan by the end of March.
The order called a missile attack “the most catastrophic threat facing the United States.”
United Nations overwhelmingly demands immediate Gaza ceasefire over US, Israel opposition
- Resolution drafted by Spain ‘strongly condemns any use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare’
- Experts and human rights workers say hunger is widespread in Gaza
NEW YORK CITY: The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza and aid access, after the United States vetoed a similar effort in the Security Council last week.
The 193-member General Assembly adopted a resolution that also demands the release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, the return of Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The text garnered 149 votes in favor, while 19 countries abstained and the US, Israel and 10 others voted against.
The resolution “strongly condemns the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and the unlawful denial of humanitarian access and depriving civilians ... of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supply and access.”
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the General Assembly this was “blood libel.” He had urged countries not to take part in what he said was a “farce” that undermines hostage negotiations and fails to condemn Hamas.
“It must be acknowledged that by failing to condition a ceasefire on the release of the hostages, you told every terrorist organization that abducting civilians works,” he said.
General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry weight as a reflection of the global view on the war. Previous demands by the body for an end to the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas have been ignored. Unlike the UN Security Council, no country has a veto in the General Assembly.
TWO-STATE CONFERENCE
Libya’s UN Ambassador Taher El-Sonni told the General Assembly before the vote that for “those pressing the red button today to vote against this resolution (it) will become a blood stain on their fingers.”
The US last week vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that also demanded an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” and unhindered aid access in Gaza, arguing it would undermine US-led efforts to broker a ceasefire.
The other 14 member states voted in favor of the draft as a humanitarian crisis grips the enclave of more than 2 million people, where the UN warns famine looms and aid has only trickled in since Israel lifted an 11-week blockade last month.
Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea told the General Assembly before the vote that the resolution “does nothing to free the hostages, improve the lives of civilians in Gaza, or bring us closer to a ceasefire, and is yet another performative action that erodes the credibility of this body.”
The vote came ahead of a UN conference next week that aims to reinvigorate an international push for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. The US has urged countries not to attend.
In October 2023, the General Assembly called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza with 120 votes in favor. In December 2023, 153 countries voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Then in December 2024, it demanded — with 158 votes in favor — an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire.
The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in an October 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies. Many of those killed or captured were civilians.
Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. They say civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks and that thousands more bodies have been lost under rubble.
Sweden accuses Israel of war crimes over Gaza aid blockade
- Lifesaving humanitarian help must never be politicized or militarized, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard says
STOCKHOLM: Israel’s refusal to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and its targeting of aid distribution points is causing civilians to starve, which constitutes a war crime, Sweden’s foreign minister said on Thursday.
In early June, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said deadly attacks on civilians around aid distribution sites in the Gaza Strip constituted “a war crime,” while several rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused Israel of genocide.
Israel has vehemently rejected that term.
“To use starvation of civilians as a method of war is a war crime. Lifesaving humanitarian help must never be politicized or militarized,” Maria Malmer Stenergard said at a press conference.
“There are strong indications right now that Israel is not living up to its commitments under international humanitarian law,” she said.
“It is crucial that food, water, and medicine swiftly reach the civilian population, many of whom are women and children living under wholly inhumane conditions,” she said.
Sweden announced in December 2024 that it was halting funding to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, after Israel banned the organization, accusing it of providing cover for Hamas militants.
Swedish International Development Minister Benjamin Dousa told Thursday’s press conference that Stockholm was now channeling aid through other UN organizations, and was “the fifth-biggest donor in the world ... (and) the second-largest donor in the EU to the humanitarian aid response in Gaza.”
The country’s humanitarian aid to Gaza since the start of the war in October 2023 currently amounts to more than 1 billion kronor ($105 million), while funding earmarked for Gaza for 2025 totals 800 million kronor, he said.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority said Internet and fixed-line communication services were down in Gaza following an attack on the territory’s last fiber optic cable.
“All Internet and fixed-line communication services in the Gaza Strip have been cut following the targeting of the last remaining main fiber optic line in Gaza,” the PA’s Telecommunications Ministry said in a statement, accusing Israel of attempting to cut Gaza off from the world.
“The southern and central Gaza Strip have now joined Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip in experiencing complete isolation for the second consecutive day,” the ministry said in a statement.
It added that its maintenance and repair teams had been unable to safely access the sites where the fiber optic cable was damaged.
“The Israeli occupation continues to prevent technical teams from repairing the cables that were cut yesterday,” it said, adding that Israeli authorities had prevented repairs to other telecommunication lines in Gaza “for weeks and months.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the communication lines were “directly targeted by occupation forces.”
It said the Internet outage was hindering its emergency services by impeding communication with first responder teams in the field.
“The emergency operations room is also struggling to coordinate with other organizations to respond to humanitarian cases.”
Maysa Monayer, spokeswoman for the Palestinian Communication Ministry, said that “mobile calls are still available with very limited capacity” in Gaza for the time being.
Now in its 21st month, the war in Gaza has caused massive damage to infrastructure across the Palestinian territory, including water mains, power lines and roads.
