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Afghan immigrants and advocates across the United States are pushing back firmly against the Trump administration’s most recent crackdown on legal immigration, saying the American government is punishing hundreds of thousands of people for the alleged actions of one man.

Since the shooting of two national guard soldiers in Washington DC late last month, with the authorities charging an Afghan man as the suspect, the Trump administration has taken harsh action, especially against Afghans in the US, generating a mix of fear, outrage and defiance in the diaspora.

The government has completely frozen asylum decisions at US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), paused visa and immigration applications filed by Afghans and, more widely, halted all legal immigration cases for nationals of 19 countries listed on its travel ban, including citizenship ceremonies.

“The attacker hasn’t been put on trial, but the whole Afghan community has been labeled as guilty,” said Yahya Haqiqi, president of the Afghan Support Network in the US, an organization founded shortly after the fall of Kabul to Taliban control in 2021 that has helped thousands of Afghan refugees settle in Oregon.

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Germany summoned the Russian ambassador on Friday, accusing Moscow of orchestrating a cyberattack on the nation’s air traffic control systems and attempting to meddle in the country’s federal elections earlier this year.

A spokesperson for the German Federal Foreign Office asserted that Russian military intelligence was responsible for “a cyber-attack against German air traffic control in August 2024.” The official also alleged that Moscow had sought to interfere in the February federal elections, aiming to destabilize Germany’s political landscape.

In a statement to AFP, Russia’s embassy in Berlin dismissed the accusations, calling them “baseless, unfounded, and absurd” and denying any involvement of state structures or affiliated hacker groups.

“The objective of these Russian cyber and disinformation operations is unmistakable: to sow division, erode trust, provoke societal rejection, and undermine confidence in democratic institutions,” foreign ministry spokesperson Martin Giese said.

Giese indicated that the cyberattack bore the hallmarks of Fancy Bear, a hacking collective widely believed to operate on behalf of Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, advancing Moscow’s political objectives.

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Denmark's intelligence service for the first time has described the United States as a potential threat to its and the wider European region's national security because of the Trump administration's apparent willingness to use economic and military coercion and pressure "to enforce its will," even against allies.

"The world's great powers are increasingly prioritizing their own interests and use force to achieve their goals," the NATO country's military intelligence agency said in its annual threats assessment, published on Dec. 10. The Danish Defense Intelligence Service named Russia and China among the chief nations posing challenges to Denmark and Europe. But in an unusual move, it also singled out the United States because of what it said was "uncertainty" about "the role of the United States as a guarantor of European security."

"The United States uses economic power, including in the form of threats of high tariffs, to enforce its will and no longer excludes the use of military force even against allies," the report said.

The U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen referred all questions on the Danish intelligence report to the U.S. State Department, which did not immediately respond to a comment request.

Tensions between Copenhagen and Washington have soured amid President Donald Trump's stated interest in taking control of Greenland, a resource-rich, strategically important Arctic island that's part of the kingdom of Denmark.

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Torrential rain swept across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, flooding hundreds of tents sheltering families displaced by two years of war and leading to the death of a baby girl due to exposure, local health officials said.

Medics said eight-month-old Rahaf Abu Jazar died of exposure to cold after water inundated her family’s tent in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave.

Weeping and holding Rahaf in her hands, her mother Hejar Abu Jazar said she had fed the girl before they went to sleep.

“When we woke up, we found the rain over her and the wind on her, and the girl died of cold suddenly,” she told Reuters.

“There was nothing wrong with her. Oh, the fire in my heart, the fire in my heart, oh my life,” she said in tears.

Municipal and civil defense officials said they were unable to cope with the storm because of fuel shortages and damage to equipment.

They said Israel destroyed hundreds of vehicles, including bulldozers and others used to pump water, during the war, which displaced most of the over two million population and left much of Gaza in ruins.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday hinted at a referendum for Ukrainians to decide whether to cede land to Russia to help end Russia’s invasion.

The comment came as the US pressures Kyiv to concede the Donbas region as part of the peace settlement – a Kremlin war goal and a red line for Kyiv, as it is prohibited by the Ukrainian Constitution.

Zelensky, speaking to reporters on Thursday, said it is ultimately the Ukrainians’ decision on the price for peace – hinting at possible elections or referendums.

“I believe the people of Ukraine will answer this question. Whether through elections or a referendum, the Ukrainian people must take a position,” he said, according to RBC Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that 82% of Ukrainians “are demanding that a settlement be made” – a statement contradicted by local surveys and Kyiv Post interviews, which show most reject peace tied to territorial concessions or limits on sovereignty.

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On Monday, Paramount Skydance launched a $108bn takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery, the entertainment giant that owns Hollywood movie studios, along with CNN, HBO and other media businesses. The bid is led by David Ellison, son of the tech billionaire Larry Ellison – a prominent Donald Trump supporter and Republican donor.

Netflix had already prevailed over Paramount in a previous bidding competition for the purchase, but Trump announced on Sunday that he would “be involved” in his administration’s review of the Netflix deal. The president suggested the sale “could be a problem” because Netflix is already dominant in the US streaming market.

Paramount left out a significant fact in the press release announcing its offer: the bid includes funding from the private equity firm owned by Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, as well as three Arab monarchies, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which collectively have billions of dollars in ongoing ventures involving the Trump family business. Those details were buried in required paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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