Governor Glenn Youngkin has deployed 100 National Guard members as human rights advocates decry border ‘militarisation’.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has announced that he will send soldiers to the United States border with Mexico, joining a growing list of Republican US state leaders to do so.

In a directive on Wednesday, Youngkin authorised the deployment of 100 members of the Virginia National Guard and 21 support personnel, contributing to a trend of border militarisation that has been decried by human rights groups.

“The ongoing border crisis facing our nation has turned every state into a border state,” Youngkin said in an accompanying press release. The governor explained that the move is a response to calls from Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott for states to send military personnel to the border.

The announcement comes as Republican lawmakers seek to crack down on immigration and draw attention to what they describe as the failed border policies of Democratic President Joe Biden.

While Biden has rolled back asylum access and kept some of the most restrictive immigration policies of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, Republicans have sought to portray the Democrat as overly lenient on immigration.

In early May, Biden sent 1,500 troops to the border to assist with administrative duties in anticipation of the end of Title 42, a policy enacted by the Trump administration that was used to restrict asylum access under the pretext of protecting public health.

Immigrant rights groups criticised that decision, saying that it was based on optics rather than substance. They also warned the deployment could make the border less safe for asylum seekers, who might have been fleeing warfare and violence.

The presence of armed forces “continues to perpetuate this idea that the border is an issue that can be resolved through enforcement, in this case the deployment of the military”, Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, told Al Jazeera at the time of Biden’s announcement.

Youngkin credited Wednesday’s decision to the need to combat drug smuggling and human trafficking at the border. Irregular border crossings declined in the immediate aftermath of Title 42’s expiration, though experts warn it is too early to know if this is a long-term trend.

Youngkin’s decision was applauded by Republican officials such as Congressman Bob Good, who praised the Virginia governor for his “leadership”.

Youngkin for President has officially jumped the shark – our VA National Guard troops shouldn’t be used to further presidential ambitions much less fight a MAGA culture war in Texas of all places – Never thought I would see my state so compromised pic.twitter.com/IyZnrqWH1e

— Senator Scott Surovell (@ssurovell) May 31, 2023

On Tuesday, Iowa’s Governor Kim Reynolds likewise approved the deployment of 100 National Guard troops to the border.

Neither Iowa nor Virginia is near the border with Mexico, and some have criticised those moves as politically motivated. Younkin is said to be mulling a run for the 2024 presidential election.

“Youngkin for President has officially jumped the shark,” Virginia State Senator Scott Surovell said on Twitter. Referencing an acronym for Trump’s slogan “Make American Great Again” (MAGA), Surovell decried what he considered a political manoeuvre on Youngkin’s part.

“Our VA National Guard troops shouldn’t be used to further presidential ambitions, much less fight a MAGA culture war in Texas of all places,” Surovell said.

Latest attack comes just hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praises Ukraine’s air defence units for saving lives.

Russia has launched a wave of air attacks on Kyiv just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the country’s air defence units for saving hundreds of lives by shooting down a barrage of Russian drones and missiles aimed at the capital and other locations.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, air defence systems in Kyiv were engaged in shooting down incoming targets, city officials said, as air raid sirens blared in several regions.

“A massive attack!” Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app. “Do not leave shelters.”

Klitschko said that a 27-year-old woman was taken to hospital after sustaining injuries in southwestern Holosiivskyi district. He later reported that one person had been killed in the latest Russian air attack.

Kyiv’s military administration officials said that air defence systems were engaging and destroying the incoming projectiles and falling debris had hit several districts of the capital, including the historic Podil and Pecherskyi neighbourhoods.

 

Residents of a high-rise apartment building were being evacuated early on Tuesday after falling debris sparked a fire, Klitschko said.

Calling it a “massive” attack launched in several waves, Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app that Russia conducted the assault using Iranian-made Shahed drones and that more than 20 had been shot down.

Tuesday’s attack – the third in 24 hours – marks Russia’s 17th aerial assault on the capital this month, following two attacks on Monday, which included a rare daytime strike that had forced people to seek shelter underground and sent schoolchildren fleeing Kyiv’s streets for safety.

Kyiv. Morning after sleepless night under fire. Anxiety once again…
Children running and screaming for shelter to the sounds of explosions. But it should not be like this – anywhere and never. Fear cannot be turned off – but we do not stop, we act. Ukraine continues to fight pic.twitter.com/wTKS3sv6qi

— Олена Зеленська (@ZelenskaUA) May 29, 2023

In his nightly address on Monday, Zelenskyy said that while some of the Russian aerial attacks, which he branded “evil”, had managed to get through Ukraine’s defences, most of the drones and missiles had been shot down.

“The world must see that terror is losing,” the Ukrainian leader said, calling for more help to further improve the country’s defences.

“There is no greater humiliation for a terrorist state than the success of our warriors,” he added on a day that saw 11 ballistic and cruise missiles fired by Russia at Kyiv shot down by Ukraine’s air defences, according to Ukraine’s commander-in-chief of armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, DC, said overnight on Sunday and Monday, and during the daytime attack on Monday, Russia had launched 11 Iskander ballistic missiles, 38 Shahed drones, and 40 cruise missiles.

The air attack campaign signals that Russia is attempting to weaken Ukraine’s ability to launch an anticipated offensive to reclaim territory lost to Russia, but the “prioritisation of targeting Kyiv is likely further limiting the campaign’s ability to meaningfully constrain potential Ukrainian counteroffensive actions,” the institute said.

Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s air force, suggested that US-provided Patriot anti-missile systems were behind the successful interception of incoming Iskander ballistic missiles and other weapons.

“I think you can guess,” Ihnat told Ukrainian television. “If Iskander-M missiles are intercepted, you can draw conclusions about the means that specifically targeted the objectives – ballistic targets.”

Zelenskyy also singled out the Patriot system in his Monday night message, saying that with such defences, “terror will be defeated”.

The world needs to see that terror is losing. When Patriots in the hands of Ukrainians ensure one hundred percent downing of any Russian missiles, terror is losing. When the world increases pressure on Russia, including sanctions, when the terrorist’s isolation grows, when its… pic.twitter.com/KyPmzoxsPF

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 29, 2023

Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo flared anew this weekend after Kosovo’s police raided Serb-dominated areas in the region’s north and seized local municipality buildings.

Violent clashes between Kosovo’s police and NATO-led peacekeepers on one side and local Serbs on the other have left several people injured on both sides.

The situation has again fueled fears of a renewal of the 1998-99 conflict in Kosovo that claimed more than 10,000 lives and left more than one million homeless.

Why are Serbia and Kosovo at odds?

Kosovo is a mainly ethnic Albanian-populated territory that was formerly a province of Serbia. It declared independence in 2008.

Serbia has refused to recognise Kosovo’s statehood and still considers it part of Serbia, even though it has no formal control there.

Kosovo’s independence has been recognised by about 100 countries, including the United States.

Russia, China and five European Union nations have sided with Serbia. The deadlock has kept tensions simmering and prevented full stabilisation of the Balkan region after the bloody wars in the 1990s.

What’s the latest flare-up about?

After Serbs boycotted last month’s local elections held in northern Kosovo, where Serbs represent a majority, newly elected ethnic Albanian mayors moved into their offices with the help of Kosovo’s riot police last Friday.

Serbs tried to prevent them from taking over the premises, but police fired tear gas to disperse them.

On Monday, Serbs staged a protest in front of the municipality buildings, triggering a tense standoff that resulted in fierce clashes between the Serbs and the Kosovo peacekeepers and local police.

How deep is the ethnic conflict in Kosovo?

The dispute over Kosovo is centuries old. Serbia cherishes the region as the heart of its statehood and religion.

Numerous medieval Serb Orthodox Christian monasteries are in Kosovo. Serb nationalists view a 1389 battle against Ottoman Turks there as a symbol of their national struggle.

Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians view Kosovo as their country and accuse Serbia of occupation and repression. Ethnic Albanian rebels launched a rebellion in 1998 to rid the country of Serbian rule.

Belgrade’s brutal response prompted a NATO intervention in 1999, which forced Serbia to pull out and cede control to international peacekeepers.

What is the situation locally?

There are constant tensions between the Kosovo government and the Serbs who live mainly in the north of the country and keep close ties with Belgrade.

Attempts by the central government to impose more control in the Serb-dominated north are usually met with resistance from Serbs.

Mitrovica, the main town in the north, has been effectively divided into an ethnic Albanian part and a Serb-held part, and the two sides rarely mix. There are also smaller Serb-populated enclaves in the south of Kosovo, while tens of thousands of Kosovo Serbs live in central Serbia, where they fled together with the withdrawing Serb troops in 1999.

Have there been attempts to resolve the dispute?

There have been constant international efforts to find common ground, but there has been no final agreement so far.

EU officials have mediated negotiations designed to normalise relations between the two. Numerous agreements have been reached during the negotiations, but were rarely implemented on the ground. Some areas have seen results, like introducing freedom of movement within the country.

An idea has been floated for border changes and land swaps as the way forward, but this was rejected by many EU countries out of fears that it could cause a chain reaction in other ethnically mixed areas in the Balkans and trigger more trouble in the region after the wars of the 1990s.

Who are the main players?

Both Kosovo and Serbia are led by nationalist leaders who haven’t shown readiness for a compromise.

In Kosovo, Albin Kurti, a former student protest leader and political prisoner in Serbia, leads the government and is the main negotiator in EU-mediated talks. He was also known as a fierce supporter of Kosovo’s unification with Albania and is against any compromise with Serbia.

Serbia is led by populist President Aleksandar Vucic, who was information minister during the war in Kosovo. The former ultranationalist insists that any solution must be a compromise in order to last and says the country won’t settle unless it gains something.

What happens next?

International officials are hoping to speed up negotiations and reach a solution in the coming months.

Any Serbian military intervention in Kosovo would mean a clash with NATO peacekeepers stationed there. Belgrade controls Kosovo’s Serbs, and Kosovo can’t become a member of the United Nations and a functional state without resolving the dispute with Serbia.

Dozens of incidents involving groups of orcas and boats have been reported off the Spanish and Portuguese coasts so far this year.

Killer whales severely damaged a sailing boat off the coast of southern Spain, the local maritime rescue service has said, adding to dozens of attacks by orcas on vessels recorded so far this year off Spanish and Portuguese coasts.

The incident follows at least 20 interactions this month alone in the Strait of Gibraltar between small vessels and killer whales, according to the Atlantic Orca Working Group-GTOA, which tracks populations of the Iberian orca subspecies.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, a group of orcas broke the rudder and pierced the hull after ramming into the Mustique as it sailed to Gibraltar, prompting the sailing boat’s crew of four to contact Spanish authorities for help, a spokesman for the maritime rescue service said.

The rescue service deployed a rapid-response vessel and a helicopter carrying a bilge pump to assist the 20-metre (66 feet) vessel, which was sailing under the United Kingdom’s flag, the spokesman said.

The Mustique was towed to the port of Barbate, in the Spanish province of Cadiz, for repairs.

The incident follows at least 20 interactions this month alone in the Strait of Gibraltar between small vessels and the highly social apex predators. In 2022, there were 207 reported interactions, GTOA data showed.

Yesterday two ships interacted, one north of Tanger, towed, and the other south of Barbate. But at this moment a third ship is entering the area and seems to be having difficulties. Consult maps and traffic lights in the app (GT Orcas) and on the web https://t.co/GUq8icOtkX

— Orca Ibérica GTOA (@Orca_Iberica) May 24, 2023

Although known as killer whales, endangered orcas are part of the dolphin family. They can measure up to 8 metres (26 ft) and weigh up to six tonnes as adults.

Earlier this month, the sailing yacht Alboran Champagne suffered a similar impact from three orcas half a nautical mile (less than 1km) off Barbate. The ship could not be towed as it was completely flooded and was left adrift to sink.

A study published in 2021 on orca interactions with vessels in the Strait of Gibraltar said that several orcas began showing disruptive behaviour towards boats in 2020 – most were sailing vessels but also involved fishing boats and motorboats.

“The animals bumped, pushed and turned the boats,” the report stated, noting that 14 individual orcas, most of them juveniles, had been identified engaging in such behaviour.

“The behaviour of orcas when interacting with boats is not identified as aggressive,” the report states.

“We are not yet certain what the origin of these interactions is, but it is still suspected that it could be a curious and playful behaviour, which could be self-induced, or on the other hand it could be a behaviour induced by an aversive incident and therefore a precautionary behaviour,” the report states.

Guidelines issued by the Spanish Transport Ministry stipulate that whenever ships observe any alteration in the behaviour of orcas – such as sudden changes of direction or speed – they should leave the area as soon as possible and avoid further disturbance to the animals during the manoeuvres.

Every interaction between a ship and an orca must be reported to authorities, the ministry added.

 

Maryland’s governor has signed a new law aimed at responding to a Supreme Court ruling that has transformed the gun control battle in the United States.

The raft of bills signed by Governor Wes Moore on Tuesday includes a measure to prevent someone from carrying a concealed handgun in designated areas, like schools and hospitals.

But it removes language that said a person must show “good and substantial reason” to carry a concealed firearm outside of the home — language that could be challenged under a recent Supreme Court ruling.

The Maryland state law is the latest response to last June’s Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen, a case that directly challenged a New York state law requiring gun owners to prove they had a special need to carry a firearm in public.

The court ultimately deemed New York’s law unconstitutional, saying the right to carry a gun extends beyond the home. The ruling has since been used to curtail other gun control measures around the US.

“Gun violence is tearing apart the fabric of our communities, not just through mass shootings but through shootings that are happening in each of our communities far too often,” Moore, a Democrat, said at Tuesday’s bill-signing ceremony.

“I am grateful to Governor Wes Moore for understanding the importance of this bill and ensuring we use every resource and option available to ensure the safety of our fellow Marylanders.” #HB824 #gunsafety pic.twitter.com/4Riy8v4zOx

— Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office (@BaltimoreSAO) May 16, 2023

“In Maryland, we refuse to say these problems are too big or too tough,” Moore added. “We will act, and that’s exactly what today represents.”

Much like legislation passed by the state of New York in the wake of the Bruen ruling, Maryland’s law seeks to carve out “sensitive places” where gun carry can still be banned.

One of the bills signed by the governor prohibits most people from wearing, carrying or transporting a concealed gun in an “area for children or vulnerable adults,” like a school or health care facility.

It also limits people from carrying a firearm in a “government or public infrastructure area” or a “special purpose area”, which is defined as a stadium, museum, racetrack, casino or place licensed to sell alcohol or cannabis.

The new law, which takes effect October 1, includes certain exceptions for military members, law enforcement and security guards.

Like in New York state, pro-gun groups have promised to challenge the Maryland measure, with Mark Pennak, president of the pro-gun Maryland Shall Issue group, saying on Tuesday that a lawsuit is drafted and “ready to go”.

Ongoing effects of Bruen

Maryland is the latest instance of how the Bruen ruling has left states with stricter gun control measures racing to determine how to limit the concealed carry of weapons in public.

But the Bruen ruling has had wider implications over gun control in general, leading to an explosion of court cases seeking to strike down decades-old gun control laws.

In his majority opinion, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas said that gun carry can be banned in some “sensitive places” if they can be proven analogous with locations considered sensitive in US history.

However, he also said that a government must justify any restrictions on the Second Amendment’s constitutional right to bear arms “by demonstrating that it is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation”.

“Historical tradition”, Thomas explained, must be rooted in measures that were in place when the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791 or even when the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868. That amendment decrees that state laws cannot override federal ones.

The Bruen ruling has been used as recently as last week to strike down federal laws that blocked handgun sales to adults between the ages of 18 and 21. In his decision, federal judge Robert Payne of Virginia declared that the age restriction was “not consistent with our nation’s history and tradition”.

Legal observers have said the Bruen ruling has led to widespread confusion among judges, with several federal courts issuing conflicting rulings on the same issue. Prior to the Virginia ruling, a federal judge in Louisiana had upheld the same federal age restriction.

Another ruling by a federal district judge in February struck down a federal restriction that banned people under a domestic abuse protective order from owning a gun. That, in turn, contradicted several other rulings on the matter in federal courts.

The US Justice Department has petitioned the Supreme Court to take on that case.

Rohingya refugees, who have spent nearly six years in overcrowded and squalid camps in Bangladesh, wary and sceptical of the scheme.

A Rohingya refugee delegation has arrived in Myanmar to tour new facilities built for the revival of a long-stalled plan to return the persecuted minority to their homeland.

Bangladesh officials said on Friday that 20 Rohingya and seven officials, including a border guard officer, were visiting two model villages erected for the pilot return project.

“We departed from Teknaf jetty with 20 Rohingya members, including three women,” Bangladesh’s deputy refugee commissioner Mohammed Khalid Hossain told the AFP news agency.

“They will see the various facilities created for the purpose of repatriation to Myanmar,” he said as their boat left the river port for neighbouring Maungdaw township in Rakhine state, Myanmar.

Bangladesh is home to about a million Rohingya, most of whom fled a 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar that is now subject to a UN genocide investigation.

Both countries signed an agreement to return the refugees later that year, but little progress has been made since, and the UN has repeatedly warned conditions were not right for their repatriation.

Bangladesh refugee commissioner Mizanur Rahman told AFP the new facilities include a market, hospital and reception centre for returning refugees. Officials have told AFP they expect repatriations to begin later this month, before the annual monsoon season.

Rohingya concerns

Rohingya refugees, who have spent nearly six years living in overcrowded and squalid camps in Bangladesh, have been consistently wary and sceptical of the scheme since it became public knowledge in March.

Many worry that none of their concerns about security or recognition of their right to citizenship in the Southeast Asian nation has been answered.

“Why will we be sent to Myanmar without citizenship?” a refugee, who said they were also part of Friday’s delegation, told AFP earlier this week, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Rohingya are widely viewed in Myanmar as interlopers from Bangladesh, despite roots in the country stretching back centuries.

The repatriation plan agreed to in 2017 failed to make any significant headway in the years since, partly over concerns the Rohingya would not be safe if they returned.

Myanmar’s military had until recently shown little inclination to take back any Rohingya, who have for years been denied citizenship and subjected to abuse.

Military chief and ruler Min Aung Hlaing has dismissed the Rohingya identity as “imaginary”, and was also the head of the armed forces during the 2017 crackdown.

‘Must be voluntary’

The UN refugee agency said it was aware of the trip, which was taking place “under a bilateral arrangement between Bangladesh and Myanmar”.

“UNHCR is not involved in arranging this visit. However, we reiterate that every refugee has an inalienable right to return to their home country,” agency spokesperson Regina De La Portilla told AFP.

“Refugee returns must be voluntary, in safety and dignity,” she added. “No refugee should be forced to do so.”

The International Court of Justice is probing allegations of rape, murder and arson against entire Rohingya villages by Myanmar’s security forces during the 2017 violence.

In a 2018 report, the UN called for army chief Hlaing and other generals to face genocide charges.

Colombia’s government and the left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group have begun their latest round of peace talks, with both sides saying they hope to reach a ceasefire agreement.

Tuesday’s talks in Havana, Cuba, mark the start of the third round of negotiations and the most recent attempt to end decades of violence in Colombia.

Speaking on Tuesday from Madrid, Spain, Colombian President Gustavo Petro — a left-wing politician who entered office saying he would seek “total peace” in the country — outlined a proposal for a gradual ceasefire.

“You can start with regional ceasefires and, as time goes by and trust is built, we can move on to extending them throughout the national territory,” he said.

A day earlier, the head of the ELN delegation, Pablo Beltran, said a successful ceasefire is necessary to win over the confidence of the Colombian public.

“We want … the Colombian people to see a ceasefire is possible, and that we have agreed to comply,” Beltran said. “This [would be] a preliminary ceasefire, not an end to the conflict, so we are interested in it working 100 percent. That is, zero errors.”

The statement came after an ELN attack in late March killed nine Colombian soldiers and threatened to derail the negotiations just weeks after a second round had been completed in Mexico City. An initial round of talks took place in Caracas, Venezuela, late last year.

While both sides had hailed progress at the end of those talks, Colombia’s government has said March’s ELN attack damaged confidence in the group’s commitment to peace.

On Monday, Beltran said that the attack was defensive, brought on by an “offensive campaign” from Colombia’s military. He added that ELN fighters had also been killed since the latest round of talks.

“For now, there is no ceasefire. And operations on both sides continue,” Beltran said.

Nevertheless, he said it “is possible to move forward” with dialogue under Petro, the country’s first left-wing leader and a former M-19 rebel himself.

“We feel like partners of the government,” Beltran said.

In a tweet, Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said that Havana looked forward to hosting the talks, which are being overseen by Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, Norway and Brazil.

“We firmly believe that the Colombian people deserve peace and that they can achieve it,” he said.

The ELN, founded by Catholic priests in 1964, is the country’s largest remaining rebel organisation.

It is believed to have about 2,500 remaining fighters and has been accused of financing itself through drug trafficking, illegal mining and kidnappings.

Negotiations with the group had faltered under previous administrations, usually due to dissent flaring within the group’s ranks. Leaders have said all its fighters are on board with the most recent talks.

In 2019, conservative former President Ivan Duque called off peace talks after an ELN car bomb attack killed 22 people at a police academy in Bogota.

Petro, who won the election in June, has said he plans to fully implement a peace accord signed in 2016 with the now-disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) group, which was once the country’s largest armed group.

At the beginning of the year, Petro’s government was forced to backtrack claims that a temporary truce had been achieved with the ELN and other groups. The ELN denied that such an agreement had been reached.

More than 450,000 people have been killed in nearly 60 years of armed conflict in Colombia.

The Canadian public broadcaster CBC has said it is effectively quitting Twitter, becoming the latest news organisation to challenge new labels assigned on the site under the ownership of billionaire Elon Musk.

In a statement on Monday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and its French-language version Radio-Canada said Twitter had added a “government-funded media” label to its account.

As a result, the broadcaster explained it was “pausing” its activities on the platform. It denounced the label as “untrue and deceptive”.

“Twitter can be a powerful tool for our journalists to communicate with Canadians, but it undermines the accuracy and professionalism of the work they do to allow our independence to be falsely described in this way,” the CBC said.

As a “Crown corporation”, the CBC does receive funding through parliamentary votes. But a spokesperson for the news agency noted that its editorial independence was protected under Canadian broadcasting law.

Twitter has defined “government-funded media” as “outlets where the government provides some or all of the outlet’s funding and may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content”.

Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on @Twitter. | Notre journalisme est impartial et indépendant. Prétendre le contraire est faux. C’est pourquoi nous suspendons nos activités sur @Twitter.

— CBC/Radio-Canada (@CBCRadioCanada) April 17, 2023

The CBC’s response follows a similar outcry from Radio New Zealand (RNZ), also a public broadcaster, which threatened to leave the site on Monday.

“Not only is our editorial independence protected by the law, we guard it vigorously,” its head of content Megan Whelan said in a statement on Twitter.

In the United States, National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) also announced last week they were stepping away from Twitter after they were subject to labels they felt misrepresented their editorial independence and funding models.

Several state public broadcasters have followed suit in recent days.

NPR is stepping away from Twitter, and this includes this NPR Politics feed. Please read the thread to find other ways to find our work, including:

NPR Politics Instagram: https://t.co/UJ2HzXYsR0
NPR Politics newsletter: https://t.co/mrWXwUrXrn https://t.co/5kmu5kGogV

— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) April 12, 2023

In Canada, Twitter’s decision to affix the “government-funded” label to the CBC was met with support from some conservative politicians.

Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada’s Conservative Party, applauded the move on his Twitter account, calling the CBC “propaganda” for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, “not news”.

The conservative leader had previously said he personally wrote to Musk to call for the CBC to receive the “government-funded” label. Poilievre has also called for the news organisation to be defunded.

In response, Trudeau on Monday accused Poilievre of “attacking this Canadian institution, attacking the culture and local content that is so important to so many Canadians”.

Musk took control of Twitter in a $44bn deal in October. Describing himself as a “free speech absolutist”, he had long bristled at Twitter’s content moderation policies, which he has since relaxed.

But since Musk’s takeover, critics have accused the billionaire of showing a disregard for press freedom on the platform.

Musk briefly suspended certain journalists’ accounts after they shared publicly available information about the location of his jet. And last month, Musk announced that any press inquiries to Twitter would receive an automatic reply in the form of a poo emoji.

As of Monday, Twitter listed three categories to describe news organisation affiliations: “state-affiliated”, “government-funded” and “publicly funded”.

NPR was initially listed as “state-affiliated”, which Twitter defines as “outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution”.

Twitter later switched NPR label to “government-funded” amid criticism that its initial tag put the outlet in the same category as propaganda for Russia and China.

Meanwhile, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) was initially listed as “government-funded” but has since been given the “publicly funded” tag, which Twitter defines as “media organizations that receive funding from license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing”.

In an interview with the BBC last week, Musk said of the labelling decision: “I thought it was a way to be as truthful and accurate as possible”.

Writing for the Brookings Institution research group, Courtney Radsch, a fellow at the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law and Policy, argued that the labelling is misleading because it overlooks other forms of government support that an array of media outlets receive across the world.

“The terms state-controlled and government-funded raise questions about the utility of employing such blunt terms and not including information about how other news media are funded and operate,” she wrote.

“The selective application of labels to some news media and not others also raise concerns about perception and consistency”.

US document says UN secretary general accommodated Russia during Black Sea grain deal negotiations, according to a news report.

Leaked Pentagon files indicate the United States was monitoring UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres because it believed he was too soft on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

The documents appear to reveal private communications between Guterres and his deputy that focused on a Black Sea grain export deal, which, according to the leaked papers, the UN chief was eager to preserve and willing to accommodate Russian interests to make happen.

“Guterres emphasised his efforts to improve Russia’s ability to export, even if that meant working with sanctioned Russian entities or individuals,” the leaked US document said, according to a report by the BBC.

Ukraine and Russia signed the export deal in July. They committed to allowing the export of grain, fertiliser and other farm goods across the Black Sea while they are at war. Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mediated the talks, which they said would help ease a global food crisis.

During discussions in February, Guterres was “undermining broader efforts to hold Moscow accountable for its actions in Ukraine”, the leaked document charged.

Another US document from mid-February said Guterres expressed “dismay” after a call with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, in which she said the European Union intended to increase its production of weapons and ammunition for Ukraine.

‘Mitigate the impact’

The United Nations declined to comment on the documents, but a senior UN official told the BBC its primary concern was “to mitigate the impact of the [Ukraine] war on the world’s poorest”.

“That means doing what we can to drive down the price of food and to ensure that fertiliser is accessible to those countries that need it the most,” the official was quoted as saying.

The grain deal must be periodically renewed, and on Wednesday, Russia warned that the prospects for extending the grain deal beyond May 18 was not promising because of obstacles that Moscow faces over its own exports.

Pentagon leaks

The Pentagon leaks have been the subject of a media and political furore in recent days and have sparked a national security investigation in the US.

The information provided in the leaks, which have not yet been verified, reveals highly sensitive information regarding the war in Ukraine and indicates the US has been spying on its allies.

US officials have warned at least some of the documents appear to be doctored.

The person who leaked the classified documents is a gun enthusiast in his 20s who worked on a military base, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing his fellow members in an online chat group.

Hundreds of pages of material had been posted there by a man who said he worked on a US military base and brought the documents home with him, two members of the group on the online social platform Discord told the Post.

In the wake of the latest mass shooting in the United States — this time at a primary school in Nashville, Tennessee — protesters have taken to the state capital to demand gun control action from legislators.

The outrage on display during the demonstrations on Thursday has become part of a familiar pattern in the aftermath of US school shootings. Protests erupt, calling for greater gun control, but those efforts often face stiff opposition from Republicans concerned about curtailing firearm access.

“Do your job!” protesters said as they marched to the Tennessee State Capitol, where they filed into the building’s rotunda ahead of a regular meeting of the state legislature.

Videos showed that they sang the protest anthem “Power to the People” as legislators passed through the crowd, later breaking into chants of “shame, shame”.

pic.twitter.com/LEkC8yNOcy

— Rep. Gloria Johnson (@VoteGloriaJ) March 30, 2023

Several protesters held signs that called for an assault weapons ban and the creation of so-called red flag laws, which allow authorities to temporarily remove guns from people deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.

The measures are among the changes that gun control advocates have demanded for years at both the state and federal levels, in order to address the high rate of gun violence and the regular occurrence of mass shootings in the US.

Meanwhile, on the floor of the state legislature, a confrontation between Democrats and Republicans prompted a rebuke from Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, who called for restraint “regardless of how high frustration, disappointment, anger, is”.

Protesters have filed up most of the second floor of Tennessee’s Capitol. The state House and Senate are planning to hold their regularly scheduled floor sessions this morning. pic.twitter.com/KYHlRFqQJF

— Adam Friedman (@friedmanadam5) March 30, 2023

Thursday’s demonstrations formed shortly before authorities released chilling 911 calls from the Monday morning attack at The Covenant School, a private Presbyterian school in Nashville.

One caller told an emergency dispatcher she could hear gunshots as she hid in a closet in the school’s art room around 10:13am local time (15:15 GMT).

“I’m hearing more shots,” the caller said, with children’s voices heard in the background, “Please hurry.”

Police have identified the suspect as Audrey Hale, who they say entered the school with two “assault-style” weapons and a pistol, fatally shooting three children and three adults.

All three of the student victims — Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney — were 9 years old. The head of the school, 60-year-old Katherine Koonce, was also killed, along with substitute teacher 61-year-old Cynthia Peak and the school’s custodian, 61-year-old Mike Hill.

‘Children are dying’

The attack was the 131st mass shooting in the US so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as any incidents where four or more victims were injured or killed by a firearm, not including the shooter.

Monday’s killings in Nashville prompted US President Joe Biden to renew calls to tighten federal gun controls, with the White House tweeting on Thursday: “It’s time for Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines”.

But speaking in the wake of the shooting, Biden acknowledged: “I can’t do anything except plead with the Congress to act reasonably.”

Meanwhile, tempers have flared on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, where US legislators have drawn familiar battle lines on the issue of gun reform.

Any reforms would face an uphill battle, with the US House of Representatives currently controlled by Republicans, who hold 222 seats in the 435-seat chamber. Meanwhile, Democrats maintain a narrow majority in the US Senate with 51 seats — not enough to overcome a filibuster, which requires 60 votes.

Watch the moment US Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman confronts Republican Thomas Massie in a heated exchange about gun laws, two days after an attack at a school in Nashville, Tennessee

: https://t.co/B75ksd5Pwl pic.twitter.com/028IpN2j6X

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 30, 2023

In one heated exchange on Wednesday that has since gone viral, Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman and Republican Representative Thomas Massie faced off in the halls of the Capitol.

Bowman, a former middle school principal, accused Republicans of being “gutless” and “cowards” for their opposition to federal gun controls.

Massie interjected, speaking in favour of arming teachers. As the exchange continued, he urged Bowman to calm down.

“Calm down?” replied Bowman. “Children are dying!”

Top Republicans have increasingly framed the high rates of violence as an issue of school safety and mental health, with Representative Steve Scalise, the second-highest ranking Republican in the House, telling reporters on Tuesday: “Let’s work to see if there’s something that we can do to help secure schools.”

Of Democrats, he said: “All they want to do is take guns away from law-abiding citizens before they even know the facts.” Many conservatives cite the Second Amendment of the US Constitution as justification for broad access to firearms.

After dodging questions the day after the Nashville attack, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke out on Wednesday, calling on legislators to wait to “see all the facts” before taking action on gun reform.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator John Cornyn, who was instrumental in negotiating a bipartisan, if modest, gun control package in 2022, told CNN: “We’ve gone about as far as we can go [on gun control], unless somebody identifies some area that we didn’t address.”

That previous gun reform package offered incentives to states to pass red flag laws and included provisions to make it more difficult for domestic violence offenders to obtain firearms.

But advocates have said that last year’s legislation fell short of wider-ranging reforms, including an assault weapons ban, universal background checks for all gun buyers and raising the minimum age to purchase guns.

‘Stop hiding’

For their part, Democrats have this year already introduced bills to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and to require universal background checks.

On Wednesday, they launched their latest legislative attempt to address the issue.

The bill introduced by Senator Edward J Markey and Representative Elissa Slotkin would direct $50m a year for five years to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study gun violence.

The agency had for years frozen research on gun violence for fear of running afoul of a 1996 law that prevents the use of federal funds “to advocate or promote gun control”.

Restrictions on such studies were lifted in 2019.

At a news conference on Thursday, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries called on the chamber’s Republican leadership to allow debate on pending gun reform bills.

“Extreme MAGA Republicans should bring the bipartisan universal criminal background check legislation to the floor, and should also bring to the floor an assault weapons ban so we can have a debate out in [the] open, in front of the American people, as to whether weapons of war have any place in a civilised society,” Jeffries said.

“We’re confident in our position,” he said. “Stop hiding your position.”