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Congress Passes Somalia Debt Relief
Bill Heads to White House
WASHINGTON
As part of the Federal government's year-end spending package or "minibus," Congress passed the first phase of debt relief for Somalia. On Tuesday the House of Representatives passed the DHS Cyber Hunt and Incident Response Teams Act of 2019 (HR 1158) which included $35 million to begin paying the principle of $1.1 billion in US held debt. On Wednesday the Senate passed the companion legislation (S 135) which sends the bill to the President to be signed into law.
"Debt relief for Somalia cannot come soon enough," stated Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA. "Without relieving Somalia's debt, Somalia is unable to finance infrastructure and recover from war, natural disasters or famines."The Human Development Index ranks Somalia among the 5 least developed countries on earth. Possibly the poorest country on the African continent, Somalia has a 73% extreme poverty rate.
"Canceling Somalia's debt could mean women's empowerment, kids going back to school and moving forward measures to end extreme poverty," noted LeCompte who serves on United Nations debt expert groups. "If President Trump signs the spending package, the US Treasury and State Departments are authorized to move forward the first phase of debt relief for the African country."
Somalia owes about $4.6 billion in debt. The United States is the largest creditor holding $1.1 billion in Somalia debt. The majority of the remainder of the debt is held by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, France and Italy.
Jubilee USA Network is an interfaith, non-profit alliance of religious, development and advocacy organizations. We are 75 U.S. institutions and more than 750 faith groups working across the United States and around the globe. We address the structural causes of poverty and inequality in our communities and countries around the world.
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Leftist Online Creators Say They've Been Detained and Questioned Over Anti-Trump Content
"No U.S. citizen should be detained by law enforcement, at the border or anywhere, because of their protected speech."
May 12, 2025
"It happened," said progressive online political commentator Hasan Piker on Sunday in a cryptic post on the social media site X—one that suggested he wasn't altogether surprised when he was detained for several hours by border agents at a Chicago airport after flying back to the U.S. from France.
He explained to his 1.5 million followers later that he had been stopped by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents "for additional questioning."
"I'm out, it wasn't that bad," said Piker. "Very strange experience overall though."
Piker shares his commentary primarily on YouTube and the streaming platform Twitch, and detailed the ordeal for his followers on both platforms.
The questions over the two-hour period suggested that the Trump administration has been following Piker's commentary, which has recently included vehement criticism of U.S. support for Israel as it bombards and starves the people of Gaza.
"They straight up tried to get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently," Piker said. "[The agent] kept saying stuff like, do you like Hamas? Do you support Hamas? Do you think Hamas is a terror group or a resistance group?"
Piker shared his story as TikTok creator Savannah Pinder, who makes anti-Trump videos and clothing, said publicly that she had been detained at Miami International Airport after passing through Global Entry.
Pinder was taken to several different screening rooms and questioned about her work, travel history, and her father's citizenship status. Her father was born in Panama and became a U.S. citizen. Pinder, is a U.S. citizen and was born and raised in the United States.
"They asked me to provide my social media accounts for them to go through my TikTok, my Snapchat, my Instagram, and my Facebook, as well as show them how much I was making daily on TikTok," Pinder said. "If you are a United States citizen, you still have the chance of being detained coming back into the United States right now."
ICE detains woman who runs anti-Trump TikTok—she is U.S. citizen born & raised.
She was detained for hours as agents searched phone & social media—even demanding financial statements on how much she earns on TikTok.
Her clothing brand is named "Trump For The Dump"—she donates… pic.twitter.com/FsaX2MTYhV
— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) May 10, 2025
Journalist Séamus Malekafzali, whose work has been published in The Nation, The Intercept, and other publications, said he has had several experiences like the one described by Piker at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
"Been pulled into secondary screening many times and O'Hare CBP had the most involved and specific questions about Gaza for me by far," saidMalekafzali.
Ari Cohn, lead counsel for tech policy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the incidents show that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP "are the 'enemies domestic' that federal officials swear an oath to defend against."
"No U.S. citizen should be detained by law enforcement, at the border or anywhere, because of their protected speech," said Cohn.
Piker said he believes border agents are detaining and questioning commentators and journalists "to try to create an environment of fear, to try to get people like myself or at least like others that would be in my shoes, that don't have that same level of security, to shut the fuck up."
The incidents follow the abductions by federal immigration agents of foreign student protesters whom the Trump administration has pushed to deport for speaking out against U.S. support for Israel and expressing support for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Immigration agents "flagging and detaining one of the U.S.'s largest left-wing voices for their political opinions while the Trump administration suggests they might suspend habeas corpus does not portend well for the future," said lawyer and writer Alex Peter.
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Tlaib Backs Primary Challenger McKinney Over Democratic Incumbent Thanedar
"I know when it comes to real representation, Michigan's 13th District deserves better," said Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in support of state Rep. Donavan McKinney.
May 12, 2025
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib drew praise from progressives Monday after endorsing a state lawmaker's Democratic primary challenge against an incumbent from a neighboring Michigan district.
Tlaib (D-Mich.) endorsed 32-year-old state Rep. Donavan McKinney (D-11), who last month announced he is seeking to oust pharmaceutical magnate-turned Congressman Shri Thanedar, who has represented Michigan's 13th Congressional District since 2023.
"Centering community not only means standing up to corporate donors and lobbyists but also means fighting to address community needs through robust community services and responsive representation," said Tlaib in a statement. "This type of leadership is missing for residents in the 13th and I know Donavan will bring it... I know when it comes to real representation, Michigan's 13th District deserves better."
Big news! Rep. Rashida Tlaib is endorsing @donavanmckinney.bsky.social’s campaign for Congress—the first Congressional endorsement of this race. Rashida knows that voters in her neighboring district need a leader who will fight back against billionaire corruption—not a Congressman in name only.
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— Justice Democrats (@justicedemocrats.com) May 12, 2025 at 7:08 AM
McKinney, who is also endorsed by the progressive group Justice Democrats and more than a dozen current and former Michigan state lawmakers and other officials, said Monday on social media that he is "honored to have" Tlaib's support and "can't wait to serve by her side" in Congress.
According to Justice Democrats, McKinney's "priorities are protecting our economic security, ensuring families have access to clean air and water, ensuring every child can receive a quality public education, bringing justice to the criminal legal system, pushing for a robust, quality public transit system, and expanding the rights of unions and workers."
"He has worked to lower costs and increase affordability for the people of his district, taken on corporate monopolies, and fought to get big money out of politics on the state-level and he's running for Congress to bring that fight to Washington," the group added.
Thanedar responded to Tlaib's endorsement in an interview with the Detroit Free Press in which he said that "my focus is, and will continue to be, fighting [President Donald] Trump, bringing federal dollars back to the district, and serving my constituents."
"I'm confident voters in the 13th will choose me again in 2026," he added.
One issue of contention between Tlaib and Thanedar is Israel's U.S.-backed assault on Gaza, which is the subject of an International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case and the impetus for International Criminal Court arrest warrants targeting fugitive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Tlaib—the only Palestinian American member of Congress—is a staunch advocate of a Gaza cease-fire and cutting off U.S. military aid to Israel.
Thanedar previously co-sponsored a resolution in Michigan's House of Representatives advocating an end to U.S. aid for Israel, which he described an an "apartheid state"—a position aligned with the ICJ and numerous international and Israeli human rights groups.
However, Thanedar subsequently quit the Democratic Socialists of America over what he said was DSA's failure to condemn the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Blue Wave—a super political action committee linked to American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, spent $2.3 million on ads attacking Thanedar's 2024 primary opponent, Detroit City Councilmember Mary Waters, who drew praise from the area's sizable Palestinian and Arab American community for her opposition to Israel's Gaza onslaught.
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Duffy Warns Technical Issues, Chaos at Newark Airport Could Spread Across US
The transportation secretary has called for upgrades to the systems used by air traffic controllers; he voted against such improvements when he was in Congress.
May 12, 2025
Travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Monday were still being impacted by flight delays and cancellations after numerous technical issues in recent days interrupted air traffic control operations—disruptions that U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday are likely to spread to the nation's other airports.
Duffy toldNBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that he is currently "concerned about the whole airspace," but said traveling by air is still safe.
"The lights are blinking, the sirens are turning," said Duffy. "What you see in Newark is gonna happen in other places across the country."
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement that Newark's most recent technical disruption on Sunday was the result of a "telecommunications issue" at Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) Area C facility, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark.
Air traffic control systems were also disrupted on Friday, with controllers at the same facility losing radar and radio contact for about 90 seconds.
At least five air traffic controllers at TRACON Area C are currently on 45 days of trauma leave after a similar incident on April 28 during a busy afternoon.
The air traffic control team at the facility lost contact with all planes while they were managing 15-20 flights. One air traffic controller at Newark toldNBC News after this incident that the airport is "not a safe situation right now for the flying public."
The disruption led to thousands of flight cancellations and delays—some longer than five hours—in and out of Newark, which serves more than 24 million travelers per year and is the nation's 12th busiest airport.
Duffy denied on Sunday that job cuts affecting about 400 staffers at the FAA—spearheaded by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, headed by billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk—had anything to do with the problems at Newark.
But representatives of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, which represents about 11,000 employees who support air traffic controllers, warned earlier this year that layoffs would result in critical workers guiding planes in and out of airports with less support from the FAA.
The job cuts affected workers including administrative and logistics technicians, aeronautical information specialists, and maintenance mechanics.
The FAA has blamed many of the issues at Newark, where TRACON Area C has been affected by outages four times since November, on equipment failures and staffing shortages.
Duffy has called for air travel upgrades including investments in digital flight data management, improvements to radio systems, and extending the retirement age for air traffic controllers to 61, up from 56.
On CNN last week, Kaitlan Collins pointed out that Duffy, then a Republican member of the U.S. House, joined his party in voting against upgrades to air traffic control systems.
On Sunday, signs were already emerging that staffing and technical issues could be spreading to other airports with impacts on travel.
An equipment outage at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport—the busiest in the world—led to a ground stop for more than an hour, delaying 1,337 flights. FAA staffing shortages at a control tower in Austin, Texas also led to delays for 145 flights.
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