“A Turkish national and doctoral student at Tufts University has been detained by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents without explanation, her lawyer said Wednesday. Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, had just left her home in Somerville on Tuesday night when she was stopped, lawyer Mahsa Khanbabai said in a petition filed in Boston federal court. Video obtained by The Associated Press appears to show six people, their faces covered, taking away Ozturk’s phone as she yells and is handcuffed. ‘We’re the police,’ members of the group are heard saying in the video. A man is heard asking, ‘Why are you hiding your faces?'” (03/27/25)
“Germany has said it ‘will not give in’ and that Europe must ‘respond firmly’ as US President Donald Trump targets [American buyers of] imported cars and car parts with a 25% tax in his latest tariffs. Other major world economies have vowed to retaliate, with France’s president branding the move ‘a waste of time’ and ‘incoherent,’ Canada calling it ‘a direct attack,’ and China accusing Washington of violating international trade rules. Shares in carmakers from Japan to Germany sold off. In the US, General Motors dropped 7%, while Ford fell more than 2%. Trump has threatened to impose ‘far larger’ tariffs if Europe works with Canada to do what he describes as ‘economic harm’ to the US. The fresh car tariffs will come into effect on 2 April, with charges on businesses importing vehicles starting the next day.” (03/27/25)
“President Donald Trump on Thursday withdrew his nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Trump cited the razor-thin majority that Republicans hold in the House of Representatives for his decision to pull Stefanik’s name from consideration by the Senate for the U.N. post. The vote of Stefanik, a New York Republican, has repeatedly been crucial in helping the GOP caucus pass key legislation since the beginning of Trump’s term in January. … ‘With a very tight Majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat.’ If Stefanik left the House, her seat would be filled by a special election in New York. Trump did not say who he would now nominate for the U.N. ambassador slot.” (03/27/25)
“The Health and Human Services Department said Thursday it plans to slash 10,000 full-time employees across the nation’s foremost health agencies. The cuts will dramatically reduce the capacity of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), among others now overseen by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The restructuring is intended to streamline functions and cut costs from the nearly $2 trillion department, according to a press release announcing the cuts. … The cuts will reduce the HHS workforce by about a quarter, from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.” (03/27/25)
“Following six straight nights of protests in cities across Turkey, authorities have [abducted] 1,879 people since the demonstrations began last Wednesday, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The protests erupted after Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key opposition figure and rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was jailed on corruption charges. Yerlikaya said that of those [abducted], 260 remain in custody awaiting trial, while 489 have been released and 662 are still under legal review. He added that 150 police officers were injured during the unrest and claimed that some of the [abductees] had past criminal records or alleged links to banned groups. All protesters were held on accusations of resisting law enforcement, the Interior Ministry told Germany’s DPA news agency. A nationwide ban on public gatherings has now been extended through April 1.” (03/27/25)
“A day after a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to cut off all federal funds to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the president’s senior adviser at the agency that oversees the broadcaster withdrew the cancellation of the network’s grants. In a letter to RFE/RL chief executive Steve Capus, Kari Lake wrote that the U.S. Agency for Global Media had ‘rescinded’ the previous letter ‘terminating your grant agreement’ and that Radio Free Europe would continue to receive federal funds for the time being. … In addition to the letter, Lake also filed a response in RFE/RL’s lawsuit notifying the court that the grant termination had been withdrawn, seeking to end the legal standoff with the broadcaster.” (03/27/25)
“U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem landed in Colombia on Thursday as part of a tour of three Latin American nations to discuss immigration, crime and deportation. Her trip comes amid a souring in relations between the Trump administration and the Colombian government – long the United States'[s] closest ally in the region. Tensions between the two countries rose in January over accepting flights of immigrants deported from the U.S. Noem sat down with the country’s foreign minister Thursday morning, and is set to meet with Colombia’s leftist leader and police to discuss efforts to fight organized crime later. Colombian President Gustavo Petro and U.S. President Donald Trump, both populists [sic], share diametrically opposed views over key issues like combatting crime and the American government’s role in Latin America.” (03/27/25)
“British Steel said Thursday that it is planning to close its two blast furnaces and steelmaking operations in the northern England town of Scunthorpe, after its Chinese owner Jingye failed to agree a rescue package with the U.K. government. Unions called on the government to help secure the future of the company, which Jingye said is suffering daily losses of around 700,000 pounds ($900,000) despite the Chinese firm investing more than 1.2 billion to maintain operations since its takeover of British Steel in 2020. The company, Britain’s second-biggest steelmaker, blamed ‘highly challenging market conditions, the imposition of tariffs, and higher environmental costs relating to the production of high-carbon steel.'” (03/27/25)
“Donald Trump has said he would be willing to reduce tariffs on [US buyers of Chinese products] to get a deal done with TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the social media app used by 170 million Americans. He acknowledged the role China would play in any agreement. ‘With respect to TikTok, and China is going to have to play a role in that, possibly in the form of an approval, maybe, and I think they’ll do that,’ Trump told reporters on Wednesday. ‘Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done,’ he added. Trump’s comment suggests the sale of TikTok’s is a priority for his administration and important enough to use tariffs as a bargaining chip with Beijing. TikTok did not immediately comment.” (03/27/25)
“BBC correspondent Mark Lowen has been deported from Turkey after being arrested in Istanbul on Wednesday, the BBC has said. Lowen had been in Turkey for several days to report on the ongoing protests that were sparked by the Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s arrest last week. Imamoglu — who is being held in jail on corruption charges he denies — is seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival. He has been selected by his party as presidential candidate in the 2028 election. In a statement issued on Thursday, the BBC said: ‘This morning (27 March) the Turkish authorities deported BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen from Istanbul, having taken him from his hotel the previous day and detained him for 17 hours.’ On Thursday morning, he was presented with a written notice that he was being deported for ‘being a threat to public order,’ the statement said.” (03/27/25)
