NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus and the United Nations agency for refugees on Thursday clashed over allegations that the east Mediterranean island nation continues to engage in so-called pushbacks against boats loaded with migrants departing from neighboring Syria or Lebanon.
The clash, which unfolded on the state broadcaster Thursday, came a few days after Cypriot authorities recovered two survivors and seven bodies in international waters off Cyprus after their boat apparently sank in rough seas.
Emilia Strovolidou, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, told the state broadcaster that Cypriot police intercepted three boatloads of migrants inside Cypriot territorial waters on between March 13-14 but prevented them from disembarking at Larnaca port, making them turn back to Syria from where they departed.
Cypriot Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis vociferously disputed Strovolidou’s claims, saying Cypriot patrol vessels intercepted two – not three - boats near Lebanon’s territorial waters within Cyprus’ search and rescue area of responsibility.
He said Cypriot authorities requested Lebanon’s assistance – in line with a bilateral agreement - to turn the boats back to the Lebanese coast from where they set sail.
Hartsiotis insisted Cyprus does not engage in pushbacks and abides by its international legal obligations, adding that a “serious organization” such as the UNHCR “must substantiate its claims.” He said any relevant information should be forwarded to Cypriot police for a proper investigation.
Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas also said the UNCHR’s claims “don’t stand.”
“We have every right to protect our borders including those at sea,” Hartsiotis said. Cyprus’ get-tough approach to irregular migrant arrivals saw a precipitous drop in such arrivals over the last two years. In 2024, migrant arrivals dropped 64% relative to 2022, while the percentage of migrant departures increased from 43% in 2022 to 179% in 2024.
The Associated Press asked the UNHCR to account for the discrepancies in the two versions. In a written statement, the agency offered no additional details but insisted that the “individuals on board were denied access to Cyprus and are now back in Syria from where they had fled.”
“The international legal principle of non-refoulement prohibits all states … from engaging in conduct that risks sending people back - directly or indirectly - to a place where they would be at risk of persecution or serious human rights violations,” the statement said.
The Cyprus government’s claim that it doesn’t engage in pushbacks is based on its own definition of what constitutes a pushback. Hartsiotis said a key element to a pushback is the use of violence, saying Cypriot authorities don’t resort to such tactics.
Europe’s top human rights court ruled last October that Cyprus violated the right of two Syrian nationals to seek asylum in the island nation after keeping them, and more than two dozen other people, aboard a boat at sea for two days before sending them back to Lebanon.
The row followed Monday’s rescue of two men some 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Cyprus where a boat they were passengers on sank in rough seas.
Officials said the boat was believed to be carrying at least 20 Syrian men between the ages of 25-30. An ongoing search of the area has turned up nothing more.
The sinking sparked media speculation over Cypriot authorities’ alleged inaction, especially after it was learned that the non-governmental organization Alarm Phone had warned authorities a day earlier of a migrant boat in distress somewhere off Cyprus’ southern coast.
This prompted an angry response in which government officials stated that air and sea assets had been dispatched in a search effort covering an area of 1,000 nautical miles without any results.
In a joint statement, the ministers of justice, defense and migration said there’s nothing so far to suggest that the Alarm Phone warning concerned the sunken boat on which the two rescued men were aboard.
“It’s unacceptable for the Cyprus Republic to stand accused of violating human rights,” the ministers said. “the Cyprus Republic has never ignored an appeal for help or a message concerning a search and rescue operation and takes all necessary actions in line with the law.”
FILE - Migrants aboard a Cyprus marine police patrol boat are brought to a harbor after being rescued from their own vessel off the Mediterranean island nation's southeastern coast of Protaras, Cyprus, on Jan. 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
President Donald Trump is citing his authority over diplomatic negotiations as he seeks Supreme Court approval to deport more immigrants to be imprisoned in El Salvador. And he cited protecting national security to justify ending collective bargaining with labor unions across most of the federal government.
JD Vance and his wife are due to visit an American military base in Greenland on Friday in a trip scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes over the uninvited guests.
And an executive order Trump signed Thursday night puts Vance in charge of rooting out “improper ideology” at the Smithsonian Institution 's many museums, in his latest move against the pillars of America's civil society — universities, science, the media and the law — that he considers out of step with Republican sensibilities.
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The U.S. president, in a social media post, called it an “extremely productive call.”
“We agree on many things, and will be meeting immediately after Canada’s upcoming Election to work on elements of Politics, Business, and all other factors, that will end up being great for both the United States of America and Canada,” Trump wrote.
Canadians vote on April 28.
The scholars taken into custody or deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in recent weeks include:
▶ Read more about the detentions and deportations
Their armored vehicle was discovered submerged in 15 feet of water after the soldiers went missing. Teams have been unable to get inside it or pull it out.
U.S. Army Europe and Africa said Friday that cranes, a large-capacity pump and more than 30 tons of gravel have been brought in to help drain the water, dig out the mud and pull out the M88 Hercules. A U.S. Navy dive crew is being brought in, and Polish Armed Forces have volunteered to send equipment and 150 personnel.
The site is “incredibly wet and marshy and doesn’t support the weight of the equipment needed for the recovery of the 70-ton vehicle without significant engineering improvements,” an Army statement said.
The soldiers’ identities have not been released. They’re part of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.
▶ Read more on the recovery effort in Lithuania
The U.S. sanctions name five people and three companies, accusing them of evading sanctions to support the militant group’s finance team through a Lebanon-based network.
Included are Rashid Qasim al-Bazzal, Mahasin Mahmud Murtada, Fatimah ‘Abdallah Ayyub, Hawra’ ’Abdallah Ayyub, and Jamil Mohamad Khafaja.
Bradley T. Smith, the Treasury Department’s acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Friday that this “underscores Treasury’s determination to expose and disrupt the schemes that fund” Hezbollah.
The chair of the Democratic National Committee will spend the weekend in Florida’s 6th congressional district, where the GOP candidate has raised concerns among Republicans ahead of a special election that was supposed to result in a landslide for conservatives.
Ken Martin will be visiting Daytona Beach and St. Augustine for get out the vote events in support of Democrat Josh Weil, who has raised $9 million for his campaign.
That’s nearly ten times what Trump-endorsed Randy Fine has reported raising. Fine told The Associated Press he is spending $600,000 of his own money for his campaign.
The emergency appeal follows a 2-1 vote by a panel of judges that left in place an order by U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg temporarily prohibiting deportations of the migrants under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act.
The Justice Department argued that federal courts shouldn’t interfere with sensitive diplomatic negotiations, and that the migrants should make their case in a federal court in Texas, where they are being detained
Trump invoked the 18th century wartime law for the first time since World War II to justify the deportation of hundreds of people under a presidential proclamation calling the Tren de Aragua gang an invading force.
▶ Read more on Trump’s appeal to the Supreme Court over deportations
The Trump administration’s squeeze on higher education underscores how much American colleges depend on the federal government. It provides grants and contracts that have amounted to close to half the total revenue of some research universities, according to an Associated Press analysis.
Trump has been using the funding spigot to seek compliance with his agenda, threatening to cut money for schools the administration has deemed as illegally pushing diversity, equity and inclusion or for not doing enough to combat antisemitism.
The AP analysis looked at federal funding for nearly 100 colleges currently under investigation. For most, around 10% to 13% of their revenue is federal money. That’s not counting federal student aid.
▶ Read more on the AP analysis of federal funding for higher education
The vice president is expected to make the case during his visit to Greenland on Friday that Danish leaders have “spent decades mistreating the Greenlandic people, treating them like second class citizens and allowing infrastructure on the island to fall into disrepair, according to a senior White House official.
He’ll deliver the message during an hourslong visit as Trump continues to say he intends for the U.S. to take control of the icy, mineral-rich island where American forces already have a strategic base.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to preview the vice president’s message, added that Vance will emphasize the importance of bolstering Artic security in places like Pituffik Space Base, where American troops are based.
Vance is expected to meet with U.S. troops on Pituffik Space Base, receive a briefing and deliver a speech during a quick visit, a day after Greenlandic lawmakers agreed to form a new government together to resist Trump’s efforts to annex the Arctic island.
“As the Vice President has said, previous U.S. leaders have neglected Arctic security, while Greenland’s Danish rulers have neglected their security obligations to the island,” said Taylor Van Kirk, the vice president’s press secretary. “The security of Greenland is critical in ensuring the security of the rest of the world, and the Vice President looks forward to learning more about the island.”
Usha Vance had announced she would visit the island with one of her children and attend a dogsled race as well as other cultural events. Vance then announced he was tagging along with his wife and the itinerary changed.
▶ Read more on Vance’s trip to Greenland
The organization’s president, Alexis McGill Johnson, slammed efforts to eliminate Medicaid funding for its health care services as she announced a Wednesday rally in Washington, D.C. ahead of the Supreme Court hearing a case in April that could strip its funding in South Carolina.
“Lawmakers want to impose their beliefs on everyone else, this time by trying to dictate where patients get their health care,” she said.
Planned Parenthood provides a wide range of services besides abortion, providing contraceptives, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and cancer screening and prevention procedures, especially for low-income patients.
“That care is under vehement, targeted attacks,” Johnson said.
Americans are less likely to see Canada and the U.S. as close allies than they were two years ago, the latest indication that Trump’s tariff threats and talk of taking over the neighboring ally are souring a critical economic and military relationship.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggests that about half of Democrats see Canada and the U.S. as close allies now, down from 7 in 10 before Trump’s return. Among Republicans, this dropped from 55% to 44%.
Very few see the U.S. and Canada as outright “enemies.” Almost no Americans see either Russia or China as a close ally.
“He’s turning everybody against us,” bemoaned Lynn Huster, a Democrat in York, Pennsylvania.
Shaya Scher, a Republican in New Jersey, said “he’s just doing it to make them freak out so they can get a deal.”
▶ Read more about the AP-NORC poll on Trump and America’s allies
An inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve remained high last month even before the impact of most tariffs has been felt.
Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices increased 2.5% in February from a year earlier, matching January’s annual pace. Excluding volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.8% compared with a year ago, higher than January’s figure of 2.7%. Economists watch core prices as a better guide of where inflation is headed.
Inflation remains a top economic concern for most Americans, even as it has fallen sharply from its 2022 peak. Trump rode dissatisfaction with higher prices to the presidency and promised to quickly bring down inflation, but the yearly rate is higher now than during the Biden administration in September, when it briefly touched 2.1%.
▶ Read more on the latest U.S. inflation numbers
Chinese anti-monopoly authorities will review a Hong Kong-based conglomerate’s tentative deal to sell its port assets at the Panama Canal to a consortium that includes U.S. investment firm BlackRock Inc.
That’s according to a state-backed media outlet Friday in the latest sign of Beijing’s disapproval over the sale.
China’s Hong Kong affairs offices have posted scathing commentaries over the deal by CK Hutchison Holdings, which is controlled by the family of Li Ka-shing, the city’s richest man.
Several Hong Kong media outlets quoted anonymous sources Friday saying the conglomerate would not sign the definitive documentation next Wednesday, as was expected in a timeline released by Hutchison in early March. The South China Morning Post newspaper reported that it understood next Wednesday was not a real deadline.
The 2026 Florida governor’s race is already heating up as Rep. Byron Donalds — backed by President Donald Trump — opens his campaign Friday evening with a hometown rally in Bonita Springs.
The event at the Sugarshack venue comes a month after Donalds officially announced his run to succeed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose term is expiring.
DeSantis hinted previously that his wife, Casey DeSantis, would be a worthy candidate to continue his administration’s legacy. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz said in January that too he was considering a run.
▶ Read more on Republicans running to succeed Gov. DeSantis in Florida
The billionaire entrepreneur is returning to the campaign trail for the first time since helping to elect Trump.
He posted on X overnight that he would be holding an event in Wisconsin on Sunday night. The battleground state is holding a pivotal Supreme Court race, which will determine whether liberals maintain their 4-3 majority.
“This is super important,” Musk wrote. He also said he’ll hand out two $1 million checks to voters, part of a sweepstakes he’s used to generate interest.
Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for Musk’s political action committee, declined to say Friday whether the two would include the $1 million Musk previously said was going to a voter in Green Bay.
▶ Read more on Musk’s influence campaign in Wisconsin
Trump is moving to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions across the federal government, citing authority granted him under a 1978 law.
The order, signed without public fanfare and announced late Thursday, appears to touch most of the federal government. Affected agencies include the Departments of State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Health and Human Services, Treasury, Justice and Commerce and the part of Homeland Security responsible for border security.
Police and firefighters, the order says, are an exception.
Trump said the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 gives him the authority to end collective bargaining with federal unions in these agencies because of their role in safeguarding national security.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers, said late Thursday that it is “preparing immediate legal action and will fight relentlessly to protect our rights, our members, and all working Americans from these unprecedented attacks.”
▶ Read more about Trump’s order on collective bargaining
The Trump administration on Thursday opened investigations into the admissions policies at Stanford University and three campuses within the University of California system, including UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Irvine.
The Department of Justice said it’s investigating whether the schools’ policies comply with the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action in college admissions.
Stanford said it took immediate steps in 2023 to ensure its admissions process complied with the law. The school said it had not been told specifically why it was being investigated.
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has attempted to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs at colleges and elsewhere.
▶ Read more about the anti-DEI investigation
Trump revealed his intention to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order that targets funding for programs that advance “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology,” the latest step in a broadside against culture he deems too liberal.
It's the Republican president’s latest salvo against cultural pillars of society, such as universities and art, that he considers out of step with conservative sensibilities.
The president said there’s been a “concerted and widespread” effort to rewrite American history by replacing “objective facts” with a “distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”
The order puts Vice President JD Vance in charge of an effort to “remove improper ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education and research centers and the National Zoo. It specifically names the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The executive order also hints at the return of Confederate statues and monuments, many of which were taken down or replaced around the country after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, which is detested by Trump and other conservatives.
The order also calls for improvements to Independence Hall in Philadelphia by July 4, 2026, in time for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
▶ Read more about Trump’s executive order on the Smithsonian
As prisoners stand looking out from a cell, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet takes off from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower, also known as the 'IKE', in the south Red Sea, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)
A digital bill board flashes a tariffs message in Kennedy Township, Pa., Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
New Toyota vehicles are stored at the Toyota Logistics Service Inc., their most significant vehicle imports processing facility in North America, at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif., Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt walks up to the podium to speak with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 26, 2025.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
