Welcome back to Global Briefing, where we focus on the rise of xenophobia South Africaindirect United States-Iran conversation in Qatarand big Ukrainian the bomb Russia.
‘They must go’
Many anti-immigrant rallies it started across South Africa on Tuesday, with thousands of protesters calling for all illegal immigrants to leave the country immediately. “For the next six months, we ask that our national resources be used to remove illegal immigrants from abroad,” said Jacinta Ngobese, the leader of March and March, who organized the event. “From construction to building, they must go.”
Welcome back to Global Briefing, where we focus on the rise of xenophobia South Africaindirect United States-Iran conversation in Qatarand big Ukrainian the bomb Russia.
‘They must go’
Many anti-immigrant rallies it started across South Africa on Tuesday, with thousands of protesters calling for all illegal immigrants to leave the country immediately. “For the next six months, we ask that our national resources be used to remove illegal immigrants from abroad,” said Jacinta Ngobese, the leader of March and March, who organized the event. “From construction to building, they must go.”
Anti-immigrant groups gave migrants a June 30 “deadline” to withdraw themselves or face arrest and deportation, with Ngobese vowing on Tuesday to hold weekly protests until the group’s goals are met. Although South African President Cyril Ramaphosa warned the protesters to remain calm and not engage in surveillance, fear of violence it has caused thousands of people—both undocumented immigrants and foreign nationals in South Africa legally—to flee the country.
The protesters have done just that the suspect foreign nationals, most of them from other African countries, to commit crimes and take jobs and resources from South African citizens. In just a few weeks, their movement gained traction across the country—and soon turned violent and, in some cases, even deadly. Last month, protesters put on fire to more than 50 huts in the port town of Mossel Bay, killing several foreign nationals. The organizers of the protest have denied involvement in any violence. “Unfortunately, we cannot be in every single community telling them … how to live,” Ngobese he told it Reuters earlier this month.
The rowdy crowd prompted Ramaphosa to announce plans to do so to send delegates across the continent to deal with xenophobic attacks. Yet such sentiments are likely to worsen ahead of municipal elections in November, as some politicians choose to join the protests to boost their popularity in local races.
Embassies and foreign missions have is reported to be overrun to the number of people trying to leave the country. Some undocumented immigrants have resorted to sleeping outside government offices for protection, fearing they will be raided in their homes. And locals have accused landlords in the cities of Johannesburg and Durban of illegally evicting foreign tenants to prevent their buildings from being destroyed.
Pretoria “will not tolerate any attempts to destabilize the country and anyone, whether protesting or otherwise,” Ramaphosa said before Tuesday’s protest.” Although he has acknowledged public concern about illegal immigration, he stressed Monday that the right to protest “does not allow people to threaten or intimidate others, or to engage in acts of vandalism or violence.”
Ramaphosa deployed thousands of police officers on Tuesday to maintain order during the rallies, and put the army on standby. Many businesses chose to close their doors to prevent looting and vandalism.
Only about 3 million people in South Africa (or about 4 percent of the country’s population) are foreign nationals. Yet seven out of 10 South Africans look at immigrants’ economic impact as negative, with many accusing foreigners of exacerbating the country’s high unemployment rate.
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What we’re after
Negotiations in Doha. US Ambassador Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived in Doha Tuesday to discuss important regional issues, including the Iran-Lebanon war. According to Qatar’s foreign ministry, no high-level US talks are planned with the Iranian delegation, although an Iranian official will also be in Doha this week to discuss the possible release of Iran’s stored assets.
Control of the Strait of Hormuz is also likely to be a discussion topic in these meetings. Iran maintains that it has sole authority over the strategic waterway, despite US objections. On Tuesday, an Iranian official and four diplomats confirmed that Iran and Oman jointly continue plans to charge service-related fees for ships crossing the sea. While the countries insist that these will not be tolls, which are illegal under international law, charging for the service would be a major change from the pre-war status of Hormuz and give Tehran greater influence over the route.
Stress management is not the only thing holding action with ongoing peace talks, though. Tehran insists that the agreement with Washington must be linked to the end of the war between Israel and Lebanon, even if the Israeli military continues to attack areas allegedly belonging to Hezbollah. At the end of the week, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon to be killed at least one person just one day after Israel and Lebanon signed a US-brokered peace treaty; Hezbollah was not part of these negotiations and has rejected the terms of the agreement.
Long distance strikes. Ukrainian forces destroyed one of Russia’s largest satellite communications centers on Tuesday during a massive nighttime airstrike in Moscow. The Dubna site “is a specialized satellite communications center used, among other things, for gathering intelligence and coordinating the activities of the Russian forces occupying Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. he wrote on X. The Kremlin has not confirmed the attack on the facility, but Moscow region Governor Andrey Vorobyov admitted that a Ukrainian drone had hit an “administrative building” in the area.
Beating Dubna emphasizes the Ukraine ability to grow targeting targets inside Russian territory. Dubna is about 310 miles from the Ukrainian border, and Tuesday’s attack was second such strike at the station this month.
“Step by step, we are implementing our long-range sanctions plan and making it as difficult as possible for the aggressor state to carry out its offensive operations against Ukraine and occupy our territories,” Zelensky added. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that interrupted About 419 Ukrainian drones in about 16 regions, including Moscow and Russian-occupied Crimea, in attacks early Tuesday.
SCOTUS Ruling. US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected The White House’s efforts to block birthright citizenship in the United States, dealing a blow to Trump’s immigration agenda.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court be considered lower court decision to block Trump executive ordersigned on his first day in office, directing US agencies not to recognize the citizenship of children born in the US if neither parent was a US citizen or legal permanent resident. “(T)here is little evidence for this revisionist view,” Chief Justice John Roberts said he wrote to the court, stating that the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution extends citizenship to “every person born free in this land.”
Trump, however, seemed to ignore the court’s loss, reprint a headline on Tuesday claimed that “Trump’s effort to repeal birthright citizenship could succeed with or without SCOTUS.” He later called on Congress to begin drafting legislation to end birthright citizenship, to write“Long-term and difficult constitutional amendments are needed.”
Odds and Ends
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña he announced Tuesday will be a national holiday to celebrate the stunning World Cup victory over Germany. The South American team (ranked 33rd in the world) entered Monday’s match with little hope, and indeed, Germany (ranked 12th). ruled empire during the match. However, with the score still tied at 1-1 after extra time, the match went to penalty kicks, which Paraguay won 4-3. It was one of the biggest upsets of this year’s World Cup so far.
Paraguay is the second South American country to make the defeat of the German team a national celebration. Last week, Ecuador also declared a national holiday after grabbing a 2-1 victory to advance to the knockout stage.
