The Biden administration is imposing sanctions on two entities accused of fundraising for extremist Israeli-occupied West Bank settlers who have harassed and attacked Palestinians. Also sanctioned was the founder of an organization whose members regularly assault Palestinians. The announcement from the U.S. Treasury Department comes as the West Bank has seen some of its worst violence perpetrated by extremist settlers against Palestinians since the war in nearby Gaza began.
The Biden administration says it has sent about 50 Haitians back to their country, marking its first deportation flight in months to the Caribbean nation struggling under surging gang violence. Authorities didn’t offer details of Thursday's flight beyond how many deported Haitians were aboard. The Homeland Security Department said it will continue to enforce U.S. laws and immigration policy throughout the Caribbean, as well as at the southern border. Haitians were arrested crossing the border from Mexico 286 times in the first three months of the year. That's just a tiny fraction of the more than 400,000 arrests among all nationalities.
The Justice Department is ramping up its efforts to reduce violent crime in the U.S., launching a specialized gun intelligence center in Chicago and expanding task forces to curb carjackings. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco tells The Associated Press there's “absolutely much more to do” to make communities safer, even as many places have experienced a downward trend in crime after a coronavirus pandemic-era spike. President Joe Biden's administration has put an emphasis on fighting violent crime. The Democratic president has featured the issue in his reelection campaign to reach young voters concerned about gun violence. Republicans have seized on violence in some American cities to try to paint Democrats as weak on crime.
Authorities have confirmed the deaths of two Kansas women who went missing on a trip to pick up children for a birthday party. Two bodies were recovered in rural Oklahoma, a day after four people were charged with murder and kidnapping. Authorities say 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley, of Hugoton, Kansas, were driving through the Oklahoma panhandle to pick up Butler’s children for a March 30 birthday party in Kansas. They never showed up. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation on Monday described an intense effort to find them, protect the children and arrest suspects without violence.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government are increasingly wielding strong-arm tactics to subdue political opponents and critics of the ruling Hindu-nationalist party. A decade into power, and on the cusp of securing five more years, the Modi government is reversing India’s decadeslong commitment to multiparty democracy and secularism. His Bharatiya Janata Party has brought corruption charges against many officials from its main rival, the Congress Party, but few convictions. Violence is on the rise against the Muslim minority. And the country’s judiciary increasingly aligns with the executive branch.
Indian journalist Siddique Kappan poses for a photograph near his home in Kerala, India, April 1, 2024. He was charged in 2020 on allegations of inciting violence while trying to report on a government clampdown in the northern Uttar Pradesh state ruled by the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The time it takes to defend himself has made it difficult to work to support his family. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
Indian journalist Siddique Kappan at his home in Kerala, India, shows notes from the diary he kept in prison, April 1, 2024. He was charged in 2020 on allegations of inciting violence while trying to report on a government clampdown in the northern Uttar Pradesh state ruled by the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The time it takes to defend himself has made it difficult to work to support his family. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
Thirty years ago, women’s rights advocates working to pass the 1994 Violence Against Women Act found domestic violence was still something of a hushed topic. Then Nicole Brown Simpson’s death forced it into the spotlight. Americans riveted to the murder investigation of superstar ex-husband O.J. Simpson heard startling and painful details of the abuse she said she suffered at his hands. Simpson died Wednesday at 76. Advocates say the case became a watershed moment in American society as callers flooded hotlines and television airwaves to discuss the issue. Three months later, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act.
FILE -- This Polaroid photograph of Nicole Brown Simpson, taken from pool video became the subject of controversy as the prosecution attempted to enter it in evidence in the O.J. Simpson murder trial in Los Angeles Monday Feb. 6 1995. Judge Lance Ito disallowed submission of the photo. Thirty years ago, as women’s rights advocates worked to pass the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, domestic violence was still something of a hushed topic. Then Nicole Brown Simpson’s death forced it into the spotlight. Americans riveted by the murder investigation of superstar ex-husband O.J. Simpson, who died Wednesday at 76, heard startling and painful details of the abuse she said she suffered at his hands. (Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - This Jan. 31, 1995, file photo shows the projected image of a Jan. 1, 1989 Los Angeles Police Department photo, introduced as evidence in the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial in Los Angeles. Thirty years ago, as women’s rights advocates worked to pass the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, domestic violence was still something of a hushed topic. Then Nicole Brown Simpson’s death forced it into the spotlight. Americans riveted by the murder investigation of superstar ex-husband O.J. Simpson, who died Wednesday, April 11, 2024 at 76, heard startling and painful details of the abuse she said she suffered at his hands. (AP Photo/David Sprague, Pool, File)
