International
Definitive green light in the EU to extend the suspension of tariffs on Ukraine for one more year
The European Union gave the definitive green light on Monday to extend for one more year, from next June 6 to June 5, 2025, the suspension of tariffs and quotas on imports of Ukrainian products as a measure to support Kiev in the face of Russian aggression.
This measure, approved by the Council of the EU (the countries), is a “vital” support of the Union for the Ukrainian economy in the face of the “devastation caused by Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression,” said the executive vice president of the European Commission and head of Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, in a statement.
The suspension of tariffs for one more year, to which the plenary of the European Parliament had given its approval on April 23, will guarantee “that we keep Ukrainian products in circulation, taking into account at the same time the concerns of the EU agri-food sector,” Dombrovskis said.
The new extension includes safeguard measures to protect certain European products, essentially agricultural, in the event that Ukrainian imports not subject to tariffs generate problems in their local markets, something that some States had complained about in recent months.
“Thanks to the income generated by Ukrainian exports to and through the EU, Ukraine will have more financial means to win this war and will be in a stronger position to recover from it,” said the Community executive vice president.
The suspension of tariffs and exports of Ukrainian cereals by the so-called European solidarity lines have made it possible that, despite the war, trade in Ukrainian products has remained relatively stable, the European Commission stressed in a statement.
EU imports from Ukraine amounted to 22.8 billion euros in 2023, compared to 24 billion euros in 2021, just before the war that broke out in 2022.
According to what was approved in the EU, the Commission can act quickly and impose any measure it deems necessary if there is a significant disturbance in the Union market as a whole or in the markets of one or more Member States of the Community club as a result of Ukrainian imports.
As part of the reinforced safeguard measures to protect the farmers of the Twenty-seven, the Commission can activate “an emergency brake” for particularly sensitive agricultural products such as poultry, eggs, sugar, oats, grains, corn and honey.
If imports of these products exceed the average volume of imports recorded in the second half of 2021 and all of 2022 and 2023, tariffs may be reimposed.
International
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
Thousands of protesters gathered on Saturday (April 19, 2025) in major cities like New York and Washington, as well as in small communities across the United States, in a second wave of demonstrations against President Donald Trump. The crowds denounced what they view as growing threats to the country’s democratic ideals.
In New York City, demonstrators of all ages rallied in front of the Public Library near Trump Tower, holding signs accusing the president of undermining democratic institutions and judicial independence.
Many protesters also criticized Trump’s hardline immigration policies, including mass deportations and raids targeting undocumented migrants.
“Democracy is in grave danger,” said Kathy Valyi, 73, the daughter of Holocaust survivors. She told AFP that the stories her parents shared about Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1930s Germany “are happening here now.”
In Washington, demonstrators voiced concern over what they see as Trump’s disregard for long-standing constitutional norms, such as the right to due process.
International
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday asked two federal judges to block the U.S. government under President Donald Trump from deporting any Venezuelan nationals detained in North Texas under a rarely used 18th-century wartime law, arguing that immigration officials appear to be moving forward with deportations despite Supreme Court-imposed limitations.
The ACLU has already filed lawsuits to stop the deportation of two Venezuelan men held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center, challenging the application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The organization is now seeking a broader court order that would prevent the deportation of any immigrant in the region under that law.
In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan detainees of being members of the Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang. These accusations, the ACLU argues, are being used to justify deportations under the wartime statute.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times in U.S. history — most notably during World War II to detain Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration has claimed the law allows them to swiftly remove individuals identified as gang members, regardless of their immigration status.
The ACLU, together with Democracy Forward, filed legal actions aiming to suspend all deportations carried out under the law. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed deportations to resume, it unanimously ruled that they could only proceed if detainees are given a chance to present their cases in court and are granted “a reasonable amount of time” to challenge their pending removal.
International
Dominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231
A man identified as Rafael Rosario Mota falsely claimed to have rescued 12 people from the collapse of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo—a tragedy that left 231 people dead—but he was never at the scene.
Intelligence agents in the Dominican Republic arrested the 32-year-old man for pretending to be a hero who saved lives during the catastrophic incident, authorities announced.
Rosario Mota had been charging for media interviews in which he falsely claimed to have pulled survivors from the rubble after the nightclub’s roof collapsed in the early hours of April 8, during a concert by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among those killed.
“He was never at the scene of the tragedy,” the police stated. The arrest took place just after he finished another interview on a digital platform, where he repeated his fabricated story in exchange for money as part of a “media tour” filled with manipulated information and invented testimonies.
“False hero!” read a message shared on the police force’s Instagram account alongside a short video of the suspect, in which he apologized: “I did it because I was paid. I ask forgiveness from the public and the authorities.”
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
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