🇺🇸✈️ Hundreds of foreign students in the U.S. have been told they must self-deport or they will be forcibly deported for campus activism—including attending protests or posting on social media.

This comes after the launch of AI system "Catch and Revoke", which trawls social media for politically incorrect speech. Speaking to reporters, Rubio said ‘Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas… At some point, I hope we run out.’

There are over 1.1 million international students in the U.S. today.

https://ndtv.com/world-news/us-cracks-down-on-international-students-hundreds-asked-self-deport-over-campus-activism-8038809/amp/1

🔗 WikiLeaks

🇺🇸🇮🇷 U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Iran with bombings and secondary tariffs on Sunday if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear program.

"If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing," Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC. "But there's a chance that if they don't make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago."

🔗 Rapid Response 47

🇮🇱🇵🇸 Netanyahu says Trump's plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza is Israel's "strategy" and that he is "ready to discuss it" at any time

https://trt.global/world/article/aeedb97c86c6

🇮🇷🇺🇸 Iran has rejected direct negotiations with the US in response to Trump’s letter

Iran’s president said Sunday that the Islamic Republic rejected direct negotiations with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear program, offering Tehran’s first response to a letter that U.S. President Donald Trump sent to the country’s supreme leader.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-rejects-direct-negotiations-trump-letter-us-c414743a567c574b6f48f64a2e889f31

🇺🇸Trump won’t rule out seeking a third term in the White House

President Donald Trump did not rule out the possibility of seeking a third term in the White House, which is prohibited by the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment, saying in an exclusive interview with NBC News that there were methods for doing so and clarifying that he was “not joking.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-third-term-white-house-methods-rcna198752

🇺🇸🇮🇷 President Trump has warned he’ll impose secondary tariffs on Iran if it doesn’t move toward ending its nuclear program.

“I would prefer a deal to the other alternative, which I think everybody on this plane knows what that is. That’s not going to be pretty.”

🔗 AF Post

🇺🇬🇸🇸 How economic interests pushed Uganda to deploy in S. Sudan

Fear of a blown-out war in Juba saw Uganda deploy its military there with an eye on keeping the peace while securing investments made by Kampala.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/how-economic-interests-pushed-uganda-to-deploy-in-s-sudan-4982800

🇺🇬🇨🇩 Ugandan Forces enter Bule, a town in Ituri Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It's in Djugu territory, near the Ugandan border. It's known for being an area affected by conflict, such as those involving the CODECO (Cooperative for the Development of Congo) militia. The Lendu ethnic group is behind this militia and has traditionally been opposed to the pastoralists of the Hema people. - oscarvara

🔗 mkainerugaba

🇺🇬🇨🇩DRC alarmed by Uganda Army Chief's threat to seize Kisangani City

https://youtu.be/pliXB0uB0og

🇺🇸 Elon Musk: “If the ship of America sinks we all sink with it.. I will die in America, I’m not going anywhere. I might go to Mars, but that will be part of America.”

🔗 America

🇩🇪🇺🇸 Where’s the gold? Germany’s conservatives sound the alarm over reserves in the US

Can the United States be trusted with Germany’s gold?

[S]ome politicians in Germany are worried that what was for decades seen as one of the world’s most reliable storehouses might not be so secure after all.

Germany holds the world’s second-largest gold reserves, and keeps 37 percent of them — some 1,236 metric tons, worth €113 billion — in the vaults of the New York Federal Reserve. Those holdings of precious metal guarantee that, should the need ever arise, the Bundesbank has access to something it can change into U.S. dollars (or any other hard currency).

The very idea that they might not be safe would have been considered ridiculous from 1945 ... until a couple of weeks ago. But the certainties of Germany’s postwar existence have been turned on their head and — as the recent scrapping of a notorious cap on public borrowing showed — the unthinkable is suddenly very thinkable indeed. All the more so given evidence of U.S. President Donald Trump’s willingness to push the limits of his powers and assert presidential primacy over the judicial system.

German tabloid Bild, owned by POLITICO parent company Axel Springer, reported on Thursday that outgoing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) lawmaker Marco Wanderwitz is one of those concerned.

Already in 2012, Wanderwitz had unsuccessfully requested to inspect the gold holdings as part of an effort to pressure the bank to either take a more active role as a custodian, or to repatriate it to Germany.

“Of course, the question now arises again,” Wanderwitz said in comments reported by Bild.

https://www.politico.eu/article/gold-germany-conservatives-sound-alarm-over-reserves-usa/

🇨🇳🇹🇼 China launches joint military exercises around Taiwan, practicing a “blockade on key areas”

On 1 April, PLA Eastern Theater Command deployed Army, Navy, Air Force, & Rocket Forces to “close in on Taiwan from multiple directions.”

- Sea-air combat readiness patrols
- Joint seizure of comprehensive superiority
- Assault on maritime & ground targets
- Blockade on key areas & sea areas

“It is a stern warning & forceful deterrence against ‘Taiwan Independence’ separatist forces.”

The PLA released a theme poster called “Closing In: Sinister Moves of Taiwan Separatists Courting Disaster Upon Themselves.”

https://fxtwitter.com/ianellisjones/status/1906867532646031666

🤖 Humanoid robot company Figure released a new video of its robot working on BMW's production line.

"This isn't a test environment—it's real production operations."

🔗 Sawyer Merritt

🇸🇻🇺🇸 Last night, in a joint military operation with our allies from the United States, we transferred 17 extremely dangerous criminals linked to Tren de Aragua and MS-13.

All individuals are confirmed murderers and high-profile offenders, including six child rapists.

This operation is another step in the fight against terrorism and organized crime.

🔗 Nayib Bukele