Roger Kamba, Minister of Public Health for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), complained on Friday that travel restrictions against his country due to the Ebola outbreak are “discriminatory” and cannot be justified by science or medicine.
The post DR Congo Denounces Ebola Travel Restrictions as ‘Discriminatory’ appeared first on Breitbart.
The United States, along with the other countries that make up the Shield of the Americas, condemned the "ongoing efforts" in Bolivia to "overthrow the legitimately and overwhelmingly elected" government of President Rodrigo Paz on Friday.
"The member countries of Shield of the Americas denounce ongoing efforts to overthrow the legitimately and overwhelmingly elected government of President Rodrigo Paz in Bolivia," the statement read. "We stand with Paz’s democratic government as it fights back against attempts to drag Bolivia backwards through cynical efforts to prevent the delivery of food, medicine and other vital supplies to the Bolivian people through fake road blockades."
The statement added that "Mob rule cannot replace the decision that a majority of Bolivians made at the ballot box to turn the page on two decades of corrupt governments."
It also said that anyone who is funding protests with "dirty money" from drug trafficking and transnational crime "should be held accountable. Those who have legitimate grievances should take advantage of the government’s willingness to dialogue, and denounce those who would abuse their causes to regain power."
PETE HEGSETH WARNS NARCO-TERRORISTS AS U.S. BACKS BOLIVIA'S GOVERNMENT AMID COUP WARNINGS
The State Department made the joint statement along with Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The statement comes as Bolivia's capital, La Paz, has been rocked by weeks of social unrest as mass protests have blocked streets in major cities amid economic inflation and rising fuel prices.
Bolivian Defense Minister Marcelo Salinas resigned Tuesday.
Upon taking office, Paz supported a land reform bill to boost agribusiness that Indigenous farmers said put them at risk of eviction. He further scrapped fuel subsidies, sending prices surging by nearly 90%. Motorists complained that the gasoline was contaminated and ruined their cars.
PETE HEGSETH MAKES HOMELAND SECURITY TOP MISSION IN FIRST INTERVIEW AS SECRETARY OF WAR
The Trump administration has said drug traffickers are responsible for inciting the mass unrest.
Meanwhile, former President Evo Morales of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) party, the country's first Indigenous president who ruled for an unprecedented 14 years, is calling for early elections. "Paz only has two paths left: a suicidal decision like militarization or ... an election in the next 90 days," he wrote on X.
For almost two years now, Morales has been hiding out in Bolivia's central coca-growing Chapare region, evading an arrest warrant on human trafficking charges relating to allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl. He rejects the allegations as politically motivated.
On Thursday, War Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X, that the War Department and the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C), a recently established multinational military and political alliance, reject all attempts to overthrow the government of Rodrigo Paz Pereira six months into his term.
"The United States is watching. Bolivia must not allow itself to fall prey to the old status quo of narco-terrorist dominance in the region," Hegseth wrote. "We will continue to support our A3C partners like Bolivia to ensure that narco-terrorists are deterred from profiting on death and destruction in our hemisphere."
Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Team set to land in Mexico on Sunday, where it'll be based amid state of war with US, will play first game against New Zealand on June 15
The post US grants Iranian soccer players visas for World Cup, 10 days before first match appeared first on The Times of Israel.
In an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed meeting to reach a resolution to the years-long war between their two nations.
"We see that the United States is fully focused on the issue of Iran, and it would be wrong to simply wait until the war in Europe returns to the center of its attention. Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us — and you. I am proposing a meeting," Zelenskyy said in the letter.
"There are countries that have traditionally hosted leaders to resolve issues of war and peace. Switzerland, Türkiye, the countries of the Arab world — many are able and willing to host such a meeting. It is leaders who resolve the key issues. That has always been the case, and it always will be," he asserted.
18 HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEFY TRUMP TO PASS UKRAINE AID PACKAGE HEADED FOR VETO FIGHT
Zelenskyy suggested that Europe and the U.S. should also be involved in the peace process.
"Since the war is taking place in Europe, and since Ukraine needs security guarantees, while you also seek security guarantees for yourself, it would be logical to involve those who can genuinely serve as guarantors. We believe Europe should be part of this process — those who truly have the capacity to influence the situation. We also believe that the United States must be part of the process. This is what could help shape a new security architecture for our part of the world," he said.
HOUSE REPUBLICAN DON BACON SAYS HE WANTS 'PARIAH STATE' RUSSIA BOOTED FROM UN SECURITY COUNCIL
He indicated that Ukraine would agree to a ceasefire during the proposed negotiations.
"Ukraine is ready for a full ceasefire for the duration of the negotiations. This is standard practice, and current developments around Iran only reinforce that point. An attempt to establish real silence is the best way to begin talking to one another. We believe it would not simply be an attempt, but a real ceasefire — if that is what you want," he noted.
He also suggested a prisoner swap between the two nations, noting, "Ukraine is ready for an all-for-all exchange of prisoners of war, and this could become a good prologue to ending the war. Serious steps must be taken to return civilians and children who were taken away during the war."
PENTAGON SLASHES NATO COMBAT COMMITMENTS AS TRUMP PUSHES EUROPE TO DEFEND ITSELF
"If you do not personally come to the conclusion that it is time to end this war, Ukraine will continue fighting for its existence. We will have those who support us. But you, too, will have to fight much harder for your own existence — not Russia’s, but your own. And this is not a threat from me or from Ukraine. It is a fact of Russian history that you know well: when Russia grows tired, change comes," Zelenskyy warned Putin.
Hantavirus does not transmit from one human to another, not even the Andes strain that was said to be the cause of the outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius. The most […]
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Fighters from an insurgent group linked to the Islamic State killed 16 civilians in the eastern Congo, the area of the Ebola outbreak.
The post Islamic State-Linked Fighters Kill 16 in Congo’s Ebola Outbreak Area appeared first on Breitbart.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said the United States remains committed to helping defend Bolivia's fragile government amid ongoing warnings of a coup d’état.
In a post on X, Hegseth said the War Department and the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C), a recently established multinational military and political alliance, reject all attempts to overthrow the government of Rodrigo Paz Pereira a mere six months into his term.
"The United States is watching. Bolivia must not allow itself to fall prey to the old status quo of narco-terrorist dominance in the region," Hegseth wrote. "We will continue to support our A3C partners like Bolivia to ensure that narco-terrorists are deterred from profiting on death and destruction in our hemisphere."
PETE HEGSETH MAKES HOMELAND SECURITY TOP MISSION IN FIRST INTERVIEW AS SECRETARY OF WAR
Bolivia's capital, La Paz, has been rocked by weeks of social unrest as mass protests have blocked streets in major cities amid economic inflation and rising fuel prices.
Bolivian Defense Minister Marcelo Salinas resigned Tuesday.
Upon taking office, Paz supported a land reform bill to boost agribusiness that Indigenous farmers said put them at risk of eviction. He further scrapped fuel subsidies, sending prices surging by nearly 90%. Motorists complained that the gasoline was contaminated and ruined their cars.
The Trump administration has said drug traffickers are responsible for inciting the mass unrest.
RUBIO IDENTIFIES 'SINGLE MOST SERIOUS THREAT' TO THE US FROM WESTERN HEMISPHERE
"Let there be no mistake: the United States stands squarely in support of Bolivia's legitimate constitutional government," Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote Wednesday on X. "We will not allow criminals and drug traffickers to overthrow democratically elected leaders in our hemisphere."
"Let us not make any mistake about that; it is a coup financed by this perverse alliance between politics and organized crime across the region," Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said Tuesday, stating that the protests were part of an ongoing "coup d’état."
Meanwhile, former President Evo Morales, the country's first Indigenous president who ruled for an unprecedented 14 years, is calling for early elections. "Paz only has two paths left: a suicidal decision like militarization or ... an election in the next 90 days," he wrote on X.
For almost two years now, Morales has been hiding out in Bolivia's central coca-growing Chapare region, evading an arrest warrant on human trafficking charges relating to allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl. He rejects the allegations as politically motivated.
Two days after another ceasefire was announced between Israel and U.S. terrorist designated group Hezbollah, Yulia Bar-Dan was standing outside her temporary home in Kibbutz Manara in northern Israel when the familiar sound of an interceptor echoed overhead.
"There will probably be another siren soon," she told Fox News Digital.
Minutes later, an alert appeared on her phone warning residents in northern Israel to take shelter.
For Bar-Dan, the scene captured the reality of life on Israel's northern border nearly two years after Hezbollah joined the war against Israel on Oct. 8, 2023.
After Hezbollah entered the recent war in support of Iran, Washington launched a diplomatic effort aimed at turning the ceasefire into a broader arrangement for Lebanon.
Multiple rounds of talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials have taken place in Washington, and President Donald Trum repeatedly has announced ceasefire understandings aimed at restoring calm along the border. Residents of communities like Manara, Israel, say the rockets, drones and uncertainty never really stopped.
"A ceasefire is supposed to be on both sides," she said. "Not that Hezbollah keeps shooting at us and we just keep absorbing it."
When Fox News Digital first spoke to Bar-Dan in December 2024 during the war, she and her husband had fled Manara, Israel, with their three children and were living out of a single hotel room, unsure whether they would ever return home.
Today, roughly 200 of the kibbutz's 280 residents have returned, Bar-Dan said. But many, including Bar-Dan's family, still cannot live in their original homes because of war damage.
Despite repeated ceasefire announcements, residents say normal life remains elusive.
"There hasn't really been a routine or a quiet day since February," she said.
Schools officially reopened in early June, but Bar-Dan decided not to send her children.
"They take the bus to school," she said. "What if there's a siren on the way? I can't take that chance."
Her frustration is not directed at Hezbollah alone.
Like many residents interviewed by Fox News Digital, Bar-Dan says there is a growing disconnect between the reality experienced on the border and the reality described by politicians.
"It doesn't really matter where the decisions are being made," she said. "The decisions just need to match reality. Right now there is a decision, but the reality is completely different."
A year and a half after most of Manara's residents were evacuated amid fears of a Hezbollah invasion, community leader Yochai Wolfin says residents have developed their own name for the current situation.
"We call it 'the ceasefire war,'" he said.
The phrase has become common in the community.
First came a year and a half of evacuation. Then came the return home. Then came what Wolfin describes as three months of "fire within a ceasefire."
The uncertainty has become part of daily life.
Children study inside shelters. Parts of the kibbutz still lack protected rooms. Construction projects remain unfinished because contractors are reluctant to work so close to the border.
He said many residents increasingly feel that the decisions determining their future are being made far from the communities that bear the consequences.
ISRAEL WARNS IT WILL GO AFTER LEBANON DIRECTLY IF CEASE-FIRE WITH HEZBOLLAH COLLAPSES
"Who knows what tomorrow will bring?" Wolfin said. "We know who is calling the shots. We saw it a few days ago when Trump announced another ceasefire. But for us, the reality on the ground hasn't changed."
The comments come as Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned Thursday that northern Israel would remain unsafe as long as Israeli strikes continue in Lebanon, according to Reuters.
In a written statement broadcast on June 4, 2026, Qassem condemned the Washington-mediated framework as "absurd, humiliating, and insulting," calling it a roadmap for surrender.
For residents of Israel's northern border communities, the statements reinforced what many say they have been experiencing for months: a ceasefire that exists on paper but not in daily life.
Naor Shamia, who heads Manara's emergency response team, says residents increasingly worry that temporary emergency measures are becoming permanent.
"The fear isn't today," he said. "The fear is that this becomes years. We are in a deadlock."
Across the border region, similar concerns are heard.
In the community of Adamit, resident Yael Cohen-Arazi described the contrast between the beauty surrounding her and the reality of living under constant threat.
"Every morning I wake up and think I'm living in paradise," she said in footage provided to Fox News Digital by the Israeli news agency TPS-IL. "Then there are the explosions that shake my soul."
Her children, she said, have spent so much of their lives under fire that they no longer know what normal looks like.
"I tell them there are children who don't live like this," she said.
Back in Manara, Israel, another alert interrupted the afternoon.
Bar-Dan says she is not angry anymore. Mostly, she is tired and sad.
"I feel bad for the soldiers," she said. "Every day there is another casualty, and there is still no solution."
Yet she insists she is staying.
"This is our home," she said. "Someone has to live on the borders of this country."
Then another explosion sounded in the distance.
Prime Minister Mark Carney warned this week that Jewish Canadians are being "brutally targeted," while also announcing a new anti-racism council that reportedly includes two members with troubling views on the Jewish state.
Following Carney's speech on antisemitism, critics reacted with anger at the makeup of the council and questioned how a body meant to fight hate and antisemitism includes two members who are reportedly hostile to the concerns of the Jewish community.
Omar Alghabra, a former Liberal party cabinet minister and Member of Parliament, has faced criticism for publicly mourning former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The former leader of the PLO was described by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies as "the father of modern terrorism." In the days following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, he declined a request to condemn them, when asked by Canada's Rebel News.
Alghabra has also faced scrutiny over past comments regarding Israel. In 2005, he criticized Toronto's police chief for participating in and leading a "Walk with Israel" event, according to The Jerusalem Post. He described the event as "a show of solidarity for a foreign state currently in the midst of an unresolved conflict" and referred to Israel as "a country that is conducting a brutal and the longest contemporary military occupation in the world."
CANADA’S CARNEY UNDER PRESSURE TO ACT AFTER SYNAGOGUES SHOT AT IN LATEST ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS
Canada's opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre, pointed to a separate encounter with him involving a terrorist organization. "I remember Mr. Alghabra lobbying me before he was in politics to keep Hezbollah legal, so I'm not sure that he's the right guy to combat antisemitism," he told reporters.
Howeer, the Jerusalem Post reported that Alghabra had described Hamas as a terrorist organization during a 2016 parliamentary debate.
The other controversial member of the council, Avnish Nanda, represented efforts to keep a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Alberta in place. Critics of the encampment argued it created a hostile atmosphere for Jewish students following Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.
In April, B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights released a report showing that 6,800 antisemitic incidents took place in the country in 2025, representing a 9.4% increase over 2024. On average, this represented 18.6 incidents a day and was the "highest volume" the group has recorded since it began tracking incidents.
"I'm a Canadian-born Jew serving as rabbi of the vibrant Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem community in Montreal, and I was truly shocked to learn that among the people chosen to sit on Prime Minister Carney's newest council is Omar Alghabra, who publicly mourned the death of Yasser Arafat and remained silent when asked to condemn the attacks of October 7th," Rabbi Zolly Claman of Montreal's Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem Congregation told Fox News Digital.
"Canadian Jews are struggling to understand how our prime minister believed this would be a constructive appointment," Claman said.
When announcing the new Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, Carney stated, "The council has a clear mission to combat racism and hate in all their forms and to guide the Government of Canada as part of our efforts to build a fairer, more just, more inclusive society," He also said that, "The crisis of antisemitism in Canada today is specific, it’s severe, and it demands a targeted response. And that is what our government is fully committed to," Reuters reported.
FROM AUSCHWITZ, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR ISSUES URGENT WARNING OVER RISING ANTISEMITISM IN CANADA
When asked about Prime Minister Mark Carney's announcement, B'nai Brith Canada, one of the country's leading Jewish advocacy organizations said that while it welcomed the prime minister's acknowledgment of rising antisemitism, it believes additional action is needed to address what it views as a growing crisis facing Canada's Jewish community.
"B'nai Brith Canada acknowledges the Prime Minister's solidarity with the Jewish community," Simon Wolle, the organization's chief executive officer, told Fox News Digital. "He was right to mandate that the Special Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion prioritize researching and combating antisemitism."
At the same time, Wolle questioned whether the newly announced council has the authority and scope necessary to effectively address the problem.
"But we are concerned because the council does not have the power or scale to address this crisis in an appropriate and meaningful manner," he said. "It is an important aspect of the government's approach to combating antisemitism, but it is not sufficient."
Wolle added that B'nai Brith Canada will "continue to call on the government to establish a National Emergency Task Force on Antisemitism, among other initiatives, because the Jewish community needs immediate action, not just words during this time of violence, hate, and threats to our right to exist and participate in Canadian society," he said. Wolle did not offer comment on either Omar Alghabra and Avnish Nanda appointments.
NON-JEWISH PROFESSOR SAYS HE WAS FIRED FOR CALLING OUT HAMAS SUPPORTERS IN ONLINE POST
Canadian Jewish activist Ariella Kimmel also questioned the effectiveness of the newly announced council.
"The Jewish community makes up just 1.2% of Canada's population, yet is the target of 75% of hate crimes, which is astoundingly disproportionate. Canada does not have a hate problem; it has a Jew-hatred problem. There is a very specific virus spreading rapidly across this country, and our prime minister is administering a broad catch-all antibiotic that will not help."
Kimmel said his speech lacked concrete solutions and failed to address what she described as growing hostility toward Jewish communities.
SIGN UP FOR ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED NEWSLETTER
"There was nothing on the vile chants we hear on the streets, nothing about the mobs that target Jewish neighborhoods, nothing calling for police to enforce the laws that already exist," she said.
"What Canada doesn't need is another special council on racism. We need to address the real elephant in the room, the targeting of Jews using 'Zionism' as an excusable reason, led by radicalized progressives and Islamist fundamentalists."
Fox News Digital reached out to Carney’s office and Omar Alghabra and Avnish Nanda for comment.
World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus demanded on Wednesday that countries imposing travel restrictions on visitors to stop the spread of the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) lift them, claiming they were harming containment efforts.
The post Tedros Demands End to Ebola Travel Restrictions, Admits W.H.O. Months Late to Outbreak appeared first on Breitbart.
In past climate change models, the United Nations (“UN”) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) used Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 (“RCP8.5”). Recently, IPCC “scientists” concluded that RCP8.5 was implausible. In the following, […]
The post IPCC will drop its implausible doomsday scenario but will continue its “alarmism-as-usual” climate change narrative first appeared on The Expose.
A Sherpa guide whose family had already begun funeral rituals after he vanished on Mount Everest was found alive and crawling toward base camp nearly a week later, surviving alone on the world's highest peak without food, water or supplemental oxygen in what rescuers called "nothing short of a miracle."
Dawa Sherpa, 52, disappeared around May 29 while descending Everest after turning back short of the summit with a Polish climber he was guiding. The client made it safely to base camp, but Dawa had not, triggering fears that he had died on the mountain.
A cleanup crew from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee found him Thursday morning crawling through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, one of the most dangerous sections of Everest, just above base camp, Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions told The Associated Press.
Rescuers carried him to safety, gave him food and water, and flew him by helicopter to a hospital in Kathmandu, where his wife and daughter were waiting.
LONE SURVIVOR RESCUED AFTER FATAL FALL KILLS THREE CLIMBERS ON MOUNT MCKINLEY
By that point, his family had already lost hope.
His teenage daughter, Mendo Lhamu Sherpa, told the outlet that relatives were in the middle of funeral rites when news of the rescue broke.
"When we first heard about it (the rescue), we could not be sure if that person was indeed our father," she said. "So to be certain we asked for photos to be sent and then only we were sure and very happy."
His wife, Damu Sherpa, added that the family learned he was alive through local news reports and phone calls from friends.
"We first heard that he was still alive on the local news and from a person we know who called with the news that ... he is being brought down," she said.
Dawa was still wearing his climbing jacket when rescuers found him. His family said he is being treated for frostbite and other complications but is conscious and able to speak.
"He recognized me … is good and speaks," his daughter told Reuters. "We are happy."
The Nepal Mount Everest hiking company called his survival extraordinary.
"Dawa survived alone for nearly a week without food, water, or supplemental oxygen navigating the treacherous Khumbu Icefall (even after the fixed ladders were removed for the season)," the company said in a social media post. "This is nothing short of a miracle."
It was unclear how Dawa became separated from his client during the descent or why there was a delay in launching a search team when he went missing last week. Helicopters were eventually dispatched but failed to locate him.
His rescue came at the end of a record-breaking Everest climbing season. More than 1,000 climbers and guides reached the summit this year after Nepal issued a record 494 permits.
Officials have said five climbers and guides died on Everest during the season, according to Reuters.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Several groups of “ISIS Brides” from the Middle East have arrived back in Australia, and there has been a flurry of news reports. Some have been arrested, others not. A group of […]
The post Australia: ISIS Brides’ return is newsworthy but being jailed for suspected hantavirus exposure is not first appeared on The Expose.
A major international study, published on Monday 1 June, revealed that 55,000 expected cancer cases went undiagnosed across seven high-income countries during the first nine months of the Covid pandemic. The study […]
The post New Study Reveals Thousands of Cancer Deaths Due to Covid Restrictions first appeared on The Expose.
A buffalo with a distinctive hairstyle is going viral for its resemblance to President Donald Trump.
The rare albino buffalo, nicknamed "Donald Trump," has become a sensation at Bangladesh’s national zoo thanks to its blond tuft of hair, which many say resembles the president’s signature look.
The animal first gained attention after a local farmer noticed the resemblance.
A video of the pale, horned buffalo quickly spread across social media, drawing crowds to a farm outside Dhaka where it was being kept.
'SUPER RARE' ALBINO SQUIRREL SPOTTED ON GOLF COURSE: 'KEEP AN EYE OUT'
The buffalo was originally sold and slated for slaughter during Eid al-Adha, the Muslim "Feast of Sacrifice," but government officials intervened and ordered the animal transferred to the national zoo in the capital.
Since arriving at the zoo, the buffalo has attracted large crowds and sparked debate over its unusual nickname.
Some visitors embraced the comparison.
DAVID MARCUS: TO BURNISH TRUMP'S LEGACY, WE NEED TO STOP NAMING THINGS AFTER HIM
"There is a resemblance to Donald Trump in its eyes, hairstyle, and skin color," Mohammed Nasim, a student in Dhaka, told The Associated Press.
"And just as Donald Trump has a distinctive personality and lifestyle, this buffalo, after going viral, is now living a similar kind of life, enjoying a lot of attention and special treatment," he added.
According to local media reports, the exhibit initially featured a sign identifying the animal as "Donald Trump," though the sign has since been removed.
The zoo’s curator was later fired, although officials have not publicly disclosed the reason for the dismissal.
As visitors crowded around the enclosure this week, many stopped to take photos and videos of the increasingly famous buffalo.
Others, however, said naming the animal after the president was inappropriate.
"Giving a farm animal the name of one of the world’s most influential leaders was certainly the wrong thing to do," local resident Mohammad Joynal Adedin told the AP.
Still, Adedin made the trip to the zoo to see the buffalo for himself.
"It seems disrespectful," he added. "I think the farmer who did this made a poor decision."
World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder called for the creation of a $1 billion global media and public relations operation backed by the Israeli government and Jewish communities worldwide to combat what he described as an escalating wave of anti-Israel disinformation, antisemitism, and attacks on Western democratic values.
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The Trump administration is rolling out what experts describe as the most significant expansion of U.S. sanctions on Cuba in decades.
The administration is attempting what supporters say is the first broad application of Cuba-related secondary sanctions against foreign firms, aiming not only at Havana itself but also at foreign companies and banks that continue doing business with the island’s military-linked economic empire.
The new framework, established under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump May 1, applies pressure beyond U.S. companies for the first time, threatening foreign firms with sanctions exposure if they continue operating in key sectors of the Cuban economy linked to Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., or GAESA.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PRESSED TO CLOSE CUBA EMBARGO LOOPHOLE AS OIL SET TO RUN OUT WITHIN DAYS
Supporters say the move closes a loophole that allowed foreign investors to sustain Cuba’s communist regime while the longstanding U.S. embargo largely restricted Americans.
Critics argue the measures risk worsening an already severe humanitarian crisis on the island without meaningfully weakening the government.
"At the top of the month, what the Trump administration did was for the first time extend the application of U.S. sanctions from just prohibiting trade between U.S. firms and U.S. persons and the Cuban island to third-party countries and enablers," Max Meizlish, a former Treasury Department official now serving as a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"For the first time ever in a truly unprecedented fashion, that’s the same logic that the administration is now applying to Cuba," he said.
The sanctions focus heavily on GAESA, a sprawling military-linked conglomerate that analysts estimate controls between 40% and 70% of Cuba’s economy, including tourism, mining, retail, ports and financial services.
A recent Foundation for Defense of Democracies report authored by Meizlish and Connor Pfeiffer argued that foreign companies doing business in Cuba are effectively helping sustain the regime’s military and political leadership.
The State Department sanctioned GAESA and several affiliated entities in May under the new authorities, opening the door for potential penalties against foreign companies and financial institutions that continue dealings with them after a June 5 wind-down deadline.
Meizlish argued previous sanctions regimes failed because they isolated American companies while allowing foreign actors to continue financing the Cuban state.
"There’s a lot of Spanish firms, for instance, that have invested millions of dollars in luxury hotel properties, villa properties in Cuba that partner with GAESA, all funding this military enterprise at the expense of the Cuban people," he said.
He also pointed to Canadian involvement in Cuba’s nickel and cobalt sectors, saying foreign investment has generated "huge amounts of money for the regime."
"A lot of people think about the U.S. embargo over the years is actually being responsible for a lot of the problems on the Cuban island, but they don't give consideration to the fact that GAESA, this newly sanctioned entity, has been sitting on an estimated $20 billion in assets and cash over the year while depriving the people of Cuba," Meizlish told Fox News Digital.
But critics of the policy warn the economic fallout could land hardest on ordinary Cubans.
William LeoGrande, a longtime Cuba expert at American University, said the May 1 measures represent a major escalation because they specifically target foreign businesses rather than just Americans.
LeoGrande said the new sanctions represent a major escalation because they extend beyond Americans and aim to deter foreign companies from doing business with GAESA by threatening sanctions exposure.
LeoGrande acknowledged the measures could deprive the Cuban government of revenue but argued the broader population is likely to suffer most.
CUBA'S ENTIRE ELECTRICAL GRID COLLAPSES, LEAVING WHOLE ISLAND WITHOUT POWER
"This would potentially deprive the Cuban government of funds, but the impact will fall mainly on ordinary citizens because it means the government has fewer resources to import food, medicine and fuel," he said.
The debate comes as Cuba faces its deepest economic and humanitarian crisis in years.
The World Food Programme says food insecurity is worsening amid fuel shortages, inflation and declining access to imported goods, while U.N. officials have warned that electricity shortages and blackouts are disrupting hospitals, vaccination programs and food distribution networks across the island.
LeoGrande also warned tougher sanctions could contribute to another migration crisis.
NICARAGUA BLOCKS PATHWAY USED BY CUBAN MIGRANTS TO REACH THE US
"Another unintended effect is that by making living conditions in Cuba even more desperate, tougher sanctions could trigger a mass migration like we saw in 1980 or 1994," LeoGrande said.
On background, a U.S. official rejected arguments that American sanctions are responsible for Cuba’s humanitarian crisis.
"The suffering of the Cuban people is not caused by the U.S. embargo but by the Cuban dictatorship’s failed Communist policies and human rights violations," the official told Fox News Digital. "The embargo does not prohibit Cuba’s access to world markets or trade with third countries."
The official added that U.S. law explicitly permits exports of food, medicine and medical equipment to Cuba and accused the regime of hiding "billions in overseas bank accounts instead of investing in electricity, infrastructure and the daily needs of its people."
The debate mirrors longstanding arguments surrounding U.S. sanctions on countries like Iran and Venezuela, where supporters view economic pressure as a tool to weaken authoritarian governments while critics argue regimes often survive and civilians absorb the economic damage.
Meizlish argued sanctions should not be judged simply by whether they immediately topple governments.
"The problem isn’t that the embargo went too far," he said. "It’s that it didn’t go far enough."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Cuban Embassy in Washington for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Newly released police bodycam footage is intensifying scrutiny of local police after officers handcuffed an 18-year-old university student who repeatedly told them he had been stabbed and could not breathe moments before dying on a Southampton street.
The video, released Monday following the murder conviction of 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, shows Henry Nowak telling officers, "I’ve been stabbed" and "I can’t breathe" while lying on the ground after the Dec. 3, 2025, attack.
One officer responded: "I don’t think you have, mate," according to the video.
Police handcuffed Nowak after Digwa claimed he had been the victim of a racist assault, according to court proceedings previously reported by Sky News.
BODYCAM FOOTAGE SHOWS MOMENT FLORIDA OFFICERS' ATTEMPT TO RESTRAIN SUSPECT GOES HORRIBLY WRONG
Reuters reported that officers later removed the handcuffs and attempted CPR after realizing Nowak had suffered serious stab wounds.
Digwa was sentenced Monday to life in prison after being convicted of murdering the 18-year-old University of Southampton finance student with a 21-centimeter blade prosecutors described as a Sikh kirpan-style weapon.
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The case has sparked political backlash in Britain and renewed debate over policing, race and knife crime.
In a statement read outside court Monday, Nowak’s father, Mark Nowak, said his son repeatedly pleaded for help before losing consciousness.
"Henry had been stabbed multiple times, and as his chest filled with blood, he tried to escape. He was chased, abused, and filmed by Vickrum Digwa and others," Mark Nowak said, according to Reuters. "When police arrived, Henry was lying on the floor, barely able to sit up and plainly in severe medical distress."
"With his final words, he told officers that he could not breathe. He told them he had been stabbed," Mark Nowak said, according to Reuters. "The response from one officer was ‘I don’t think you have, mate,’" he added.
Mark Nowak said the family held Digwa "solely and 100% responsible" for their son's death, but criticized the police, saying, "Henry should not have died on the streets of Southampton in police custody. The way he was treated was inhumane and degrading."
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, said the case showed "the fear of being called racist was greater than dealing with Henry Nowak’s murder," according to Reuters.
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Reform UK MP Robert Jenrick also called for the release of body-worn camera footage and accused authorities of prioritizing allegations of racism over saving Nowak’s life during an appearance on GB News.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the killing as "an awful, shocking case" and said it was right that the Independent Office for Police Conduct investigate the police response.
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, the police force responsible for policing Southampton and surrounding areas in southern England, previously apologized after the conviction, with Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Robert France saying he was sorry that Nowak had been handcuffed "in the moments before he lost consciousness," according to Sky News.
The police force remains under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary for comment but did not receive a response.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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