PALM BEACH, United States: US President Donald Trump moved Tuesday to increase access to in vitro fertilization, a move likely to be welcomed by many Americans but which risks a backlash from conservatives and the religious right.
The Republican leader signed an executive order giving his advisers 90 days to find recommendations for protecting IVF access and “aggressively” reducing out-of-pocket and insurance costs for the treatment.
“My Administration recognizes the importance of family formation, and as a Nation, our public policy must make it easier for loving and longing mothers and fathers to have children,” the order stated.
“Americans need reliable access to IVF and more affordable treatment options,” it continued.
Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, shortly after signing the order, that “I think the women and families, husbands, are very appreciative of it.”
The president — whose billionaire top donor and ally Elon Musk has had several children by IVF — has long held conflicting stances on reproductive rights.
He frequently boasts about appointing Supreme Court justices who ended federal protections for abortion access in 2022, a seismic move that made him a hero to the anti-abortion movement, which has driven conservative voters to the polls for decades.
But he drew fury from that same movement when, during last year’s presidential campaign, he announced that in a second term he would ensure free IVF, and claimed to be the “father of IVF.”
At the time Trump voiced worries that Republicans were out of step with voters on the issue.
Republicans are divided on fertility treatments such as IVF, with many hailing them as a boost to American families.
Others, with strong beliefs that life begins at conception, oppose IVF because the procedure can produce multiple embryos, not all of which get used.
Almost every Senate Republican voted against assuring IVF access in a vote in June last year — including then-Ohio senator JD Vance, now Trump’s vice president.
Reproductive rights activists had feared that the Supreme Court decision on abortion threatened IVF, especially after a court in Alabama last year ruled that frozen embryos could be considered people, leading to several clinics briefly pausing treatments.
Trump’s Democratic rival Kamala Harris had put reproductive rights at the heart of her election platform, warning that Trump’s moves on abortion also jeopardized access to fertility treatments.
Trump moves to widen IVF access, risking conservative fury
https://arab.news/8wzvy
Trump moves to widen IVF access, risking conservative fury
French police hunt suspected killer of Muslim worshipper inside mosque
- The suspect was still at large on Saturday, regional prosecutor Abdelkrim Grini told AFP
MARSEILLE: French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Saturday denounced the fatal stabbing of a Muslim worshipper inside a mosque as police hunted the killer, who filmed his victim as he lay dying.
The attacker stabbed the worshipper dozens of times then filmed him with a mobile phone while shouting insults at Islam in Friday’s attack in the village of La Grand-Combe in the Gard region of southern France.
“A worshipper was murdered yesterday,” wrote Bayrou in a message posted on X. “The Islamophobic atrocity was displayed in a video,” he added.
“We stand with the victim’s loved ones, with the believers who are so shocked. State resources are mobilized to ensure the killer is apprehended and punished,” wrote Bayrou.
Earlier Saturday, investigators said they were treating the killing as a possible Islamophobic crime.
The suspect was still at large on Saturday, regional prosecutor Abdelkrim Grini told AFP.
The footage taken by the killer showed him insulting “Allah,” the Arabic term for God, just after he carried out the attack.
The alleged perpetrator sent the video he had filmed with his phone, showing the victim writhing in agony, to another person, who then shared it on a social media platform before deleting it.
The killing itself was not shown on the images posted on social media but was filmed by security cameras inside the mosque. In his own footage the killer notices these cameras and is heard saying: “I am going to be arrested — that’s for sure.”
According to another source, who also asked not to be named, the suspected perpetrator, while not apprehended, has been identified as a French citizen of Bosnian origin who is not a Muslim.
“The individual is being actively sought. This is a matter that is being taken very seriously,” said the prosecutor Grini.
“All possibilities were being considered, including that of an act with an Islamophobic dimension,” he added.
He confirmed that the French anti-terror prosecutors’ office was considering whether to take over the case.
The victim and the attacker were alone inside the mosque at the time of the incident.
After initially praying alongside the man, the attacker then stabbed the victim up to 50 times before fleeing the scene.
The body of the victim was only discovered later in the morning when other worshippers arrived at the mosque for Friday prayers.
According to prosecutor Grini, the victim, between 23 and 24 years old, was a regular worshipper at the mosque. The killer had never been seen there before.
According to several people AFP spoke to at the scene on Friday, the victim was a young man who arrived from Mali a few years ago and was “very well-known” in the village, where he was highly regarded.
A former mining center about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the town of Ales, La Grand-Combe suffers one of the highest unemployment rates in France after the end of coal mining.
On Friday, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau described the murder as “appalling.”
He expressed his “support for the victim’s family and solidarity with the Muslim community affected by this barbaric violence in their place of worship on the day of prayer.”
Gabon’s constitutional court confirms Nguema’s victory
- The Constitutional Court announced a turnout of 70 percent in the election in which some 920,000 voters, including over 28,000 overseas, were registered to participate across more than 3,000 polling stations
DAKAR: Gabon’s constitutional court has confirmed that Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, Gabon’s interim president who staged a 2023 coup, won the Central African nation’s April 12 presidential election.
According to the final results announced by the Constitutional Court, Oligui Nguema won the election with 58,074 votes, which accounts for 94.85 percent.
Oligui Nguema’s tally increased by almost 5 percent compared to the provisional results announced the day after the April 12 vote by the Ministry of the Interior.
He defeated seven other candidates, including the immediate past Prime Minister Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze, who came in a distant second with 3 percent of votes cast. None of the other six candidates crossed the 1 percent mark.
Bilie-By-Nze recently said that Oligui Nguema took advantage of state resources to support his campaign. The government denies this.
Local observers deemed the conduct of the election satisfactory in nearly all the polling stations monitored.
The Constitutional Court announced a turnout of 70 percent in the election in which some 920,000 voters, including over 28,000 overseas, were registered to participate across more than 3,000 polling stations.
The Interior Ministry had previously announced a higher turnout of 87.21 percent in its provisional results announced the day after the vote.
Gabon’s first election since the 2023 military coup ended a political dynasty that lasted over 50 years.
It was seen as a crucial election for the central African nation’s 2.3 million people, a third of whom live in poverty despite its vast oil wealth.
Oligui Nguema, the former head of the country’s Republican Guard, toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba nearly two years ago.
He hopes to consolidate his grip on power for a seven-year term in office and is set to be inaugurated on May 3.
African peacekeeping mission in Somalia ‘needs 8,000 more troops’
- Envoys hold a three-day meeting to discuss the security situation and the progress of ‘stabilization mission’
NAIROBI: The African peacekeeping mission in Somalia requires an additional 8,000 troops, even as Burundi is expected to withdraw its contingent, a statement from military heads from troop-contributing countries said.
The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, is tasked with combating the Al-Shabab group, whose attacks are stoking fears of a terrorist resurgence in the Horn of Africa nation.
But Burundi’s planned pullout, which diplomatic sources said was triggered by a spat with Mogadishu over the state of its soldiers’ equipment, would deprive the mission of around one-fifth of its current manpower.
BACKGROUND
Officials say insufficient troops have created security gaps ‘resulting in the resurgence of Al-Shabab taking control of significant territory in both Middle and Lower Shabelle.’
Envoys from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, the African Union, and multilateral organizations held a three-day meeting in Uganda this week to discuss the security situation in Somalia and the progress of AUSSOM.
In a statement, the officials said insufficient troops had created security gaps “resulting in the resurgence of Al-Shabab taking control of significant territory in both Middle and Lower Shabelle.”
“As a consequence, both Jowhar and Mogadishu are under imminent threat by Al-Shabab,” the statement said.
Somalia has long struggled with the violent Islamist insurgency.
However, the Al-Qaeda-linked group had been forced onto the defensive in 2022 and 2023 by Somali forces backed by African Union-led peacekeepers.
Recent attacks in key towns have provoked worries of the organization’s resurgence, with the militants targeting President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s convoy in the capital, Mogadishu, in March.
The security representatives recommended “an additional 8,000 to AUSSOM Troops to address the current security situation in Somalia so as not to roll back the hard-earned gains.”
The mission, which replaced the previous ATMIS deployment, has 11,146 soldiers.
But the withdrawal of Burundi troops with no prospect of replacement “will create more gaps and exacerbate the already deteriorating situation,” the statement added.
Somalia and Burundi have been at loggerheads over the number of troops Burundi should contribute to the mission, with Mogadishu requesting only around 1,000 Burundian soldiers — far below Burundi’s proposal of 2,000.
According to an African diplomat, Somalia “felt that Burundi was not sufficiently equipped for such a large number of soldiers.”
“Our government saw the Somali proposal as a lack of consideration, a lack of respect when you consider the sacrifices Burundi has made to bring peace back to Somalia,” a senior Burundian official said.
A statement by the AU dated April 15 instructed the UN office in Somalia to facilitate the repatriation of Burundi’s contingent.
The envoys also addressed the mission’s significant financial challenges, urging international partners to address the deficit of $96 million for ATMIS and $60 million to cover four months of AUSSOM — which has been in operation since January.
Trump expresses doubts Putin is willing to end the Ukraine war, a day after saying a deal was close
- “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump said
- “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions?”
ROME: President Donald Trump said Saturday that he doubts Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to end his war in Ukraine, expressing new skepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon. Only a day earlier, Trump had said Ukraine and Russia were ” very close to a deal.”
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump said in a social media post as he flew back to the United States after attending Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican, where he met briefly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump also hinted at further sanctions against Russia.
“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions?” Too many people are dying!!!” Trump wrote.
The new doubts aired by Trump come as the president and top aides intensify their push to come to a deal to end the war that began in February 2022 when Russian invaded Ukraine.
The comments also sharply contrasted with Trump’s positive assessment that the two sides were “very close to a deal” after his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, had met with Putin in Moscow on Friday.
The Trump-Zelensky conversation on the sidelines of the pope’s funeral was first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since they argued during a heated Oval Office meeting at the White House in late February. That confrontation led to the White House to briefly pause US military assistance and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
Days after ordering the pause, Trump also announced he was “strongly considering” imposing new sanctions and tariffs on Russia to try to prod Putin to negotiate in earnest. Trump has not yet followed through on the threat — something even some of his staunch Republican allies are now pressuring him to do.
It’s the second time a matter of days that Trump has rebuked Putin, whom the American president rarely publicly criticizes.
On Thursday, Trump publicly urged the Russian leader to “STOP!” after a deadly barrage of attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
After their brief meeting Saturday, Zelensky’s office had said the US and Ukrainian teams were making arrangements for the leaders to talk again Saturday. But Trump went directly to the Rome airport after the funeral and boarded Air Force One for the 10-hour flight back to the United States.
Zelensky’s spokesperson, Serhii Nykyforov, said Trump and Zelensky did not meet again in person because of their tight schedules.
Zelensky called it a “good meeting” on social media after the funeral.
“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out,” he said on X. “Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you.”
The White House called the discussion “very productive” and said it would release more details later. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, where Francis often preached the need for a peaceful end to the war, just before Trump and Zelensky took their seats at the outdoor funeral service.
The Vatican long ago had offered to help facilitate peace talks and Francis had regularly called for peace and dialogue from the altar of the basilica. That Trump and Zelensky spoke privately, face to face and hunched over on chairs on the marbled floors of the pope’s home, on the day of his funeral, was perhaps a fitting way to honor his wishes.
Trump said on social media, after he arrived in Italy late Friday, that Russia and Ukraine should meet for “very high level talks” on ending the war.
Neither Putin nor Zelensky have commented Trump’s calls for direct talks.
Trump has pressed both sides to quickly come to an agreement to end the war, but while Zelensky agreed to an American plan for an initial 30-day halt to hostilities, Russia has not signed on and has continued to strike at targets inside Ukraine.
Putin did not attend Francis’ funeral. He faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, which has accused him of war crimes stemming from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in a statement Friday night, Zelensky said “very significant meetings may take place” in the coming days, and that an unconditional ceasefire was needed.
“Real pressure on Russia is needed so that they accept either the American proposal to cease fire and move toward peace, or our proposal — whichever one can truly work and ensure a reliable, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire, and then — a dignified peace and security guarantees,” he said.
“Diplomacy must succeed. And we are doing everything to make diplomacy truly meaningful and finally effective.”
The meeting Saturday also came shortly after Trump had issued his most definitive statement to date about the need for Ukraine to give up territory to Russia to bring the war to a close. He said in a Time magazine interview published Friday that “Crimea will stay with Russia.”
Russia seized the strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine in 2014, years before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022. Zelensky wants to regain Crimea and other Ukrainian territory seized by Russia, but Trump considers that demand to be unrealistic.
Referring to Crimea during the interview, which was conducted at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said, “everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” meaning Russia.
Trump and Zelensky meet one-on-one to seek peace
- After talks at Vatican, Trump takes tough tone in post about Putin
KYIV: US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, met one-on-one in a marble-lined Vatican basilica on Saturday to try to revive faltering efforts to end Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Zelensky said the meeting could prove historic if it delivers the kind of peace he is hoping for, and a White House spokesman called it “very productive.”
The two leaders, leaning in close to each other with no aides around them while seated in St. Peter’s Basilica, spoke for about 15 minutes.
The meeting at the Vatican, their first since an angry encounter in the Oval Office in Washington in February, comes at a critical time in negotiations aimed at bringing an end to fighting between Ukraine and Russia.
HIGHLIGHT
All Ukrainian troops have been forced from parts of Russia’s Kursk region, which Moscow lost control of last year to a surprise Ukrainian incursion, Russia’s top general claims.
After leaving Rome, Trump published a social media post in which he took a tough tone on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump posted on Truth Social. Twelve people were killed on Thursday when a missile fired by Russia hit a Kyiv apartment block.
“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!” Trump wrote.
Trump’s post was a departure from his usual rhetoric, which has seen the toughest criticism directed at Zelensky, while he has spoken positively about Putin.
In a post on social media platform Telegram, Zelensky wrote: “Good meeting. One-on-one, we managed to discuss a lot. We hope for a result from all the things that were spoken about.”
He said those topics included: “The protection of the lives of our people. A complete and unconditional ceasefire. A reliable and lasting peace that will prevent a recurrence of war.”
Zelensky added: “It was a very symbolic meeting that has the potential to become historic if we achieve joint results. Thank you, President Donald Trump!“
Meanwhile, all Ukrainian troops have been forced from parts of Russia’s Kursk region, which Moscow lost control of last year to a surprise Ukrainian incursion, Russia’s top general said in a Kremlin meeting. Ukrainian officials denied the claim.
Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff for Russia’s Armed Forces, gave Russian President Putin the news in a meeting, Peskov told Russian state news outlet Interfax.
In a statement, Putin congratulated the Russian soldiers and commanders and said that Kyiv’s incursion had “completely failed”.
“The complete defeat of our enemy along Kursk’s border region creates the right conditions for further successes for our troops and in other important areas of the front,” he said.
Ukrainian officials, however, said the fighting was still continuing. “The statements of representatives of the high command of the aggressor country about the alleged end of hostilities in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation are not true,” a Ukrainian government statement said.
“The defensive operation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in certain areas in the Kursk region continues. The operational situation is difficult, but our units continue to hold designated positions and carry out assigned tasks, while inflicting effective fire damage on the enemy with all types of weapons, including using active defense tactics,” it added.
