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Trump Formally Orders Lifting Of Syria Sanctions

US Treasury says it removed 518 Syrian individuals and entities from its list of sanctions after president’s decree. Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to dismantle a web of sanctions against Syria, a move that will likely unlock investments in the country more than six months after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. Trump’s decree on Monday offers sanction relief to “entities critical to Syria’s development, the operation of its government, and the rebuilding of the country’s social fabric”, the US Treasury said in a statement. The Syrian government has been under heavy US financial penalties that predate the outbreak of the civil war in the country in 2011. The sprawling sanction programme, which included provisions related to the former government’s human rights abuses, has derailed reconstruction efforts in the country. It has also contributed to driving the Syrian economy under al-Assad to the verge of collapse. Trump promised sanctions relief for Syria during his visit to the Middle East in May. “The United States is committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbours,” the US president said in a statement on Monday. “A united Syria that does not offer a safe haven for terrorist organisations and ensures the security of its religious and ethnic minorities will support regional security and prosperity.” The US administration said Syria-related sanctions against al-Assad and his associates, ISIL (ISIS) and Iran and its allies will remain in place. While the US Treasury said it already removed 518 Syrian individuals and entities from its list of sanctions, some Syria penalties may not be revoked immediately. For example, Trump directs US agencies to determine whether the conditions are met to remove sanctions imposed under the Caesar Act, which enabled heavy penalties against the Syrian economy for alleged war crimes against civilians. Democratic US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar had partnered with Republican lawmaker Anna Paulina Luna to introduce earlier this week a bill that would legislatively lift sanctions on Syria to offer long-term relief. Real relief for the Syrian people requires repealing certain laws. My bill with @RepLuna permanently repeals the sanctions and gives the post-Assad Syria a fighting chance. https://t.co/gExbLiKS7z — Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 30, 2025 As part of Trump’s order, the US president ordered Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review the designation of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist”. Moreover, the US president ordered a review of the status of al-Sharaa’s group, al-Nusra Front – now Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – as a designated “foreign terrorist” organisation. Al-Nusra was al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, but al-Sharaa severed ties with the group in 2016. Al-Nusra later became known as Jabhat Fath al-Sham before merging with other rebel groups as HTS. Al-Sharaa was the de facto leader of a rebel enclave in Idlib in northwest Syria for years before leading the offensive that overthrew al-Assad in December 2024. Trump met with al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May and praised the Syrian president as “attractive” and “tough”. The interim Syrian president – who was previously known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani – has promised inclusive governance to allay concerns about his past ties to al-Qaeda. But violence and kidnappings against members of al-Assad’s Alawite sect by former rebel fighters over the past months have raised concerns among some rights advocates. Al-Sharaa has also pledged that Syria would not pose a threat to its neighbours, including Israel, which has been advancing in Syrian territory beyond the occupied Golan Heights and regularly bombing the country. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Mamdanis New York Victory Sparks Islamophobic Backlash In US

Advocates say attacks targeting mayoral candidate’s Muslim identity show Islamophobia remains tolerated in US politics. For years, Muslim New Yorkers have gathered at Washington Square Park on the Eid holidays for prayer services, putting the city’s religious and ethnic diversity on display. But this year, right-wing influencers have been sharing footage of the gatherings, presenting them as a nefarious “invasion” tied to Muslim American New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. “The fear-mongering is insane,” said Asad Dandia, a local historian and Muslim American activist who supports Mamdani’s campaign. “I think the community and our leadership know that we’re on the radar now.” Muslim Americans in New York and across the United States said the country is seeing a spike in Islamophobic rhetoric in response to Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primaries. Advocates said the wave of hateful comments shows that Islamophobia remains a tolerated form of bigotry in the US despite appearing to have receded in recent years. “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” Dandia said. It is not just anonymous internet users and online anti-Muslim figures attacking Mamdani and his identity. A flood of politicians, including some in the orbit of President Donald Trump, have joined in. Congressman Randy Fine went as far as to suggest without evidence that Mamdani will install a “caliphate” in New York City if elected while Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene posted a cartoon of the Statue of Liberty in a burqa on X. Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn attacked the mayoral candidate, arguing that Islam is a political ideology and “not a religion”. Others, like conservative activist Charlie Kirk invoked the 9/11 attacks and called Mamdani a “Muslim Maoist” while right-wing commentator Angie Wong told CNN that people in New York are “concerned about their safety, living here with a Muslim mayor”. Far-right activist Laura Loomer, a Trump confidant, referred to the mayoral candidate as a “jihadist Muslim”, baselessly alleging that he has ties to both Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. And Republican Representative Andy Ogles sent a letter to the Department of Justice, calling for Mamdani’s citizenship to be revoked and for him to be deported. On Sunday, Congressman Brandon Gill posted a video of Mamdani eating biryani with his hand and called on him “to go back to the Third World”, saying that “civilized people” in the US “don’t eat like this”. “I’m getting flashbacks from after 9/11,” New York City Council member Shahana Hanif said. “I was a kid then, and still the bigotry and Islamophobia were horrifying as a child.” Hanif, who represents a district in Brooklyn, comfortably won re-election last week in a race that focused on her advocacy for Palestinian rights and calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. She told Al Jazeera that the anti-Muslim rhetoric in response to Mamdani’s win aims to distract and derail the progressive energy that defeated the establishment to secure the Democratic nomination for him. Hanif said Islamophobic comments should be condemned across the political spectrum, stressing that there is “so much more work to do” to undo racism in the US. While several Democrats have denounced the campaign against Mamdani, leading figures in the party – including many in New York – have not released formal statements on the issue. “We should all be disgusted by the flood of anti-Muslim remarks spewed in the aftermath of Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the NYC mayoral primary – some blatant, others latent,” US Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a statement. “Shame on the members of Congress who have engaged in such bigotry and anyone who doesn’t challenge it.” Our joint statement on the vile, anti-Muslim, racist attacks on Zohran Mamdani: pic.twitter.com/QRGOvh0jdG — Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) June 27, 2025 At the same time, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who represents New York, has been accused of fuelling bigotry against Mamdani. Last week, she falsely accused Mamdani of making “references to global jihad”. Her office later told US media outlets that she “misspoke” and was raising concerns over Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase “globalise the intifada”, a call for activism using the Arabic word for uprising. Critics of the chant claimed that it makes Jews feel unsafe because it invokes the Palestinian uprisings of the late 1980s and early 2000s, which saw both peaceful opposition and armed struggle against the Israeli occupation. While Mamdani, who is of South Asian descent, focused his campaign on making New York affordable, his support for Palestinian rights took centre stage in the criticism against him. Since the election, the attacks – particularly on the right – appear to have shifted to his Muslim identity. That backlash comes after Trump and his allies courted Muslim voters during his bid for the presidency last year. In fact, the US president has nominated two Muslim mayors from Michigan as ambassadors to Tunisia and Kuwait. In the lead-up to the elections, Trump called Muslim Americans “smart” and “good people”. The Republican Party seemed to tone down the anti-Muslim language as it sought the socially conservative community’s votes. But Corey Saylor, research and advocacy director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Islamophobia goes in cycles. “Islamophobia is sort of baked into American society,” Saylor told Al Jazeera. “It wasn’t front and centre, but all it required was something to flip the switch right back on, and I would say, we’re seeing that once again.” Negative portrayals of Arabs and Muslims in the US media, pop culture and political discourse have persisted for decades. That trend intensified after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 by al-Qaeda. In subsequent years, right-wing activists started to warn about what they said were plans to implement Islamic religious law in the West. Muslims were also the subjects of conspiracy theories warning against the “Islamisation” of the US through immigration. The early 2000s saw the rise of provocateurs, “counterterrorism experts” and think tanks dedicated to bashing Islam and drumming up fear against the religion in a loosely connected network that community advocates have described as an “industry”. That atmosphere regularly seeped into mainstream political conversations. For example, then-candidate Trump called in 2015 for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”. Even in liberal New York, where the 9/11 attacks killed more than 2,600 people at the World Trade Center in 2001, the Muslim community endured a backlash. After the attacks, the New York Police Department established a network of undercover informants to surveil the Muslim community’s mosques, businesses and student associations. The programme was disbanded in 2014, and a few years later, the city reached a legal settlement with the Muslim community, agreeing to implement stronger oversight on police investigations to prevent abuse. In 2010, the city’s Muslim community burst into the national spotlight again after plans for a Muslim community centre in lower Manhattan faced intense opposition due to its proximity to the destroyed World Trade Center. While many Republicans whipped up conspiracy theories against the community centre, several Democrats as well as the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent pro-Israel group, joined them in opposing the project, which was eventually scrapped. Now New York Muslims find themselves once again in the eye of an Islamophobia storm. This time, however, advocates said their communities are more resilient than ever. “We feel more confident in our community’s voice and our institutional power and in the support that we will have from allies,” Dandia said. “Yes, we’re dealing with this Islamophobic backlash, but I don’t want to make it seem like we’re just victims because we are able to now fight back. The fact that this was the largest Muslim voter mobilisation in American history is a testament to that.” Hanif echoed his comments. “Over the last 25 years, we’ve built a strong coalition that includes our Jewish communities, that includes Asian, Latino, Black communities, to be able to say like we are above this and we will care for one another,” she told Al Jazeera. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Kareena Kapoor Khan Breaks Silence On Saifs Stabbing: Still Struggling To Feel Safe

In a rare and emotionally raw interview, Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan opened up for the first time about the terrifying stabbing incident involving her husband, Saif Ali Khan. The shocking home intruder incident took place in February 2025, leaving Saif badly injured and the entire family traumatized. In a conversation with journalist Barkha Dutt on Mojo Story, Kareena discussed the trauma, the guts needed to beat it, and the learnings the family has gained in the wake of the incident. What was meant to be a typical evening was turned into a nightmare when the Ali Khan house was burgled by an intruder. The man tried to steal things of value, but Saif caught him, and there was a brutal fight that left the actor seriously hurt. The incident, which happened at home in Mumbai, shocked not only the fraternity but the whole nation. Kareena remembered the terrifying experience, particularly the emotional cost of realizing that the intruder went into the children’s room. “I am still kind of struggling with what it does to see someone there in your child’s room,” she confessed, explaining the inner conflict she is still waging. “In Mumbai, you never really hear about such incidents. We’ve always seen this kind of news in the US, but not here. It shook our sense of safety.” The days and weeks that came after the accident were distressingly disturbing for Kareena. She shared how hard it was to return to any sense of normalcy. “For the first couple of months, it was difficult to sleep. It was difficult to pretend everything was okay. I was very anxious, and I hadn’t come to terms with what had happened,” she said. Kareena compared the emotional aftermath to grief. “It’s like losing someone. That memory never really leaves you; it just fades over time. You don’t really get over it; you just learn to live with it.” Despite the personal trauma, Kareena emphasized that her priority was shielding her sons, Taimur and Jeh, from the lingering fear. “As a mother, I can’t let my anxiety transfer to my children. That’s not fair to them. It’s a tough balance being a strong wife and a protective mother at the same time.” Though Saif suffered physically, Kareena says his mental strength was unwavering. She described him as the “Iron Man” of their family, a pillar of calm and resilience through a truly frightening ordeal. “Saif never let us spiral into fear. He kept telling us, ‘We will move forward.’ That gave me strength,” Kareena shared. She revealed that their younger son, Jeh, now thinks of his father as a real-life superhero “like Batman or Iron Man.” She said this incident, although traumatic, also served as a powerful life lesson for their children. “It shattered the protective bubble they were living in, but maybe that’s not entirely a bad thing. Life isn’t ever a fairy tale, and I believe that this has provided them with a more realistic view of the world.” As she handled the trauma within her home, Kareena also experienced a storm of online criticism. Social media users questioned her absence during the incident, making unfair assumptions about her priorities. Speaking about the criticism, Kareena expressed her disappointment rather than anger. “It didn’t make me furious; it made me sad,” she said. “What bothered me most was that people focused on negativity instead of what really mattered. It made me question the kind of content we choose to engage with as a society.” She added that she has grown more conscious of how public narratives are shaped, especially in moments of crisis. “There’s no manual on how to deal with something like this, and yet, people are quick to judge,” she said. Even with the gloom that February introduced into their lives, Kareena highlighted that the incident united the family. She revealed that her sons have grown closer to their father, respecting his bravery and calm. And for Kareena, seeing Saif recover and lead with resilience was the light of hope. “2025 has been a tough year for us,” she acknowledged. “But we’re still standing, and we’re still together. That’s something to be grateful for.” Professionally, Kareena Kapoor Khan continues to break new ground. Her recent release, The Buckingham Murders, a psychological thriller, reveals a new facet of her as a performer. But on the personal front, this year has been one about resilience, healing, and finding out what really counts. As Kareena pointed out in her last few words during the interview, “I just thank God that we are safe. We’re learning to breathe again, slowly but surely.”

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Israel Bombs Gaza Cafe, School And Aid Hubs, Killing 95 Palestinians

Israeli navy struck a seaside cafe in Gaza City killing at least 39 people, including journalist Ismail Abu Hatab. Israeli forces have bombed a cafe, a school and food distribution sites in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 95 Palestinians, and attacked a hospital, wounding several more people. At least 62 of the victims of Monday’s attacks were in Gaza City and the north of the territory. The figure includes 39 people who were killed in an Israeli strike on a seaside cafe, Al-Baqa cafeteria, in northern Gaza City. Dozens more were wounded. Among the dead was Journalist Ismail Abu Hatab, as well as women and children who had gathered at the cafe. One witness said Israeli fighter jets carried out the strike. “We found people torn apart,” said Yahya Sharif. “This place wasn’t affliated with anyone, no politics and not military association whatsoever. It was packed with people including children for a birthday party.” The bombing flattened the cafe and left a huge crater in the ground. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said the attack on the cafe occurred “without any warning”. “This area serves as a refuge for many traumatised and displaced people, offering some relief from the oppressive heat of the tents. The bloodstains are still everywhere given the intensity of the explosion. Some of the bodies and pieces of flesh were collected from the flood of this place,” he added. Also on Monday, Israeli forces bombed the Yafa school in Gaza City that was sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians. Hamada Abu Jaradeh, who fled ahead of the attack, said displaced Palestinians received a five minute warning to evacuate. “We don’t know what to do and where to go. We have been let down by the entire world for more than 630 days. Death is with us and around us every day,” Abu Jaradeh said. In central Gaza, Israeli forces also attacked the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, where thousands of families had sought shelter. Videos circulating online and verified by Al Jazeera showed chaos at the hospital, with people fleeing for safety as tents sheltering displaced families appeared damaged by the attack. Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from the scene of the hospital attack, said the army did not issue “any warnings” before the “huge explosion”. “The site of the attack is about 10 metres [33ft] from our broadcast point. This is not the first time the hospital’s courtyard has been attacked. At least 10 times, this facility has been squarely targeted by Israeli forces,” Abu Azzoum said. “It’s a staggering concentration of attacks on medical facilities, adding further burden on barely functioning hospitals.” In a statement, Gaza’s Government Media Office decried the attack by Israel, calling it a “systematic crime” against the Palestinian enclave’s health system. “Its warplanes bombed a tent for the displaced inside the walls of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, resulting in injuries at the site of the bombing, material damage, and directly threatening the lives of dozens of patients,” it said. Israel has repeatedly targeted dozens of hospitals during its 22-month war on Gaza. Human rights groups and United Nations-backed experts have accused Israel of systematically destroying the enclave’s healthcare system. In southern Gaza, an Israel air attack killed least 15 Palestinians waving for food at aid distribution hubs run by the controversial United States- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Khan Younis, according to sources at Nasser Medical Complex. Fifty people were also wounded in the attack. They are the latest victims in a wave of daily carnage at these sites that have killed nearly 600 Palestinians since GHF took over limited aid deliveries in Gaza in late May amid a crippling Israeli blockade. The Israeli military acknowledged on Monday that Palestinian civilians were harmed at the aid distribution centres, saying that instructions had been issued to forces following “lessons learned” and firing incidents were under review. This follows the Israeli news outlet, Haaretz, reporting that soldiers operating near the aid sites in Gaza have been deliberately firing upon Palestinians. According to the Haaretz report, which quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers, troops were told to fire at the crowds of Palestinians and use unnecessary lethal force against people who appeared to pose no threat. Israeli forces are also carrying out home demolitions in Khan Younis, raising fears of a new ground invasion. The Israeli military, meanwhile, has issued more forced evacuation threats to Palestinians in large districts in the northern Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces had operated before and left behind wide-scale destruction, forcing a new wave of displacement. “Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes,” said Salah, 60, a father of five children, from Gaza City. “In the news, we hear a ceasefire is near. On the ground, we see death and we hear explosions.” Israeli tanks pushed into the eastern areas of Zeitoun suburb in Gaza City and shelled several areas in the north, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said. Gaza’s health authorities said at least 10 people were killed in attacks on Zeitoun and at least 13 were killed southwest of Gaza City. More than 80 percent of Gaza is now an Israeli-militarised zone or under forced displacement orders, according to the United Nations. The attacks come as Israeli officials, including Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, were due in Washington, DC for a new ceasefire push by the administration of US President Donald Trump. Key mediator Qatar has confirmed that there are serious US intentions to push for a return to negotiations, but there are complications, according to a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman. The spokesman said that it has become difficult to accept the continued human losses in the Gaza Strip, warning that the continued link between the humanitarian and military aspects in Gaza cannot be accepted. The talks in the White House are also expected to cover Iran, and possible wider regional diplomatic deals. In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was expected to convene to discuss the next steps in Gaza. On Friday, Israel’s military chief said the present ground operation was close to having achieved its goals, and on Sunday, Netanyahu claimed new opportunities had opened up for recovering the captives, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive. Palestinian and Egyptian sources with knowledge of the latest ceasefire efforts also said that mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up their contacts with the two sides, but that no date has been set yet for a new round of truce talks. Meanwhile, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said in a statement on Monday that there has been no news from Israel regarding a ceasefire for four weeks. “We are determined to seek a ceasefire that will save our people, and we are working with mediators to open the crossings,” Hamdan said. Follow Al Jazeera English:...