A destroyed mechanic’s shop in downtown Swannanoa, North Carolina, US, December 2024, nearly three months after Hurricane Helene in late September. Photograph: Mike Belleme/The Guardian
Floods, heatwaves and supercharged hurricanes occurred in hottest climate human society has ever experienced
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The world is already deep into the climate crisis, with the WMO report saying that for the first time, the 10 hottest years on record all occurred in the last decade. However, global carbon emissions have continued to rise, which will bring even worse impacts. Experts were particularly critical of the purge of climate scientists and programmes by the US president, Donald Trump, saying that ignoring reality left ordinary people paying the price.
“Leaders must step up – seizing the benefits of cheap, clean renewables for their people and economies – with new national climate plans due this year,” said the UN secretary general, António Guterres.
Dr Luke Parsons, of the Nature Conservancy, said: “Every year, we venture further into uncharted territory, with 2024 the hottest year modern human society has ever experienced. Yet the coming decade is expected to be even hotter, pushing us deeper into this unprecedented climate.”
Previous research determining the role of the climate crisis in what are now unnatural disasters has shown that at least 550 heatwaves, floods, storms, droughts and wildfires had been made significantly more severe or more frequent by global heating.
Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
More than 250 people arrive in San Salvador, El Salvador by plane after being detained and deported by the Trump administration, without officials verifying that they were members of violent gangs as they claimed, on March 16, 2025. (Photo: El Salvador Presidency/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“If Trump can disappear Abrego Garcia, he can disappear you,” warned one advocate. “This is why due process matters. Without it, America slides into dictatorship.”
“This is the precedent Trump needs to send you to a concentration camp,” said one advocate for due process rights as President Donald Trump’s administration claimed it had made an “administrative error” in sending a Maryland father to a prison in his home country of El Salvador—leaving the federal government with no way of bringing him back to his children and wife, a U.S. citizen.
In a court filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, an acting field office director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Robert L. Cerna, told Judge Paula Xinis that the removal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia on March 15 “was in error.” Abrego Garcia was one of hundreds of people rounded up by the Trump administration and sent to a “Terrorism Confinement Center” in El Salvador, with the White House invoking the Alien Enemies Act for the first time since World War II and claiming many were members of gangs including MS-13 and Tren de Aragua.
Cerna’s filing reveals the result of a mass expulsion operation in which hundreds of people were afforded no due process rights in violation of the U.S. Constitution: At least one person with legal protected status in the United States who was not convicted of a crime is now imprisoned in a country where a U.S. federal court had previously found he could face persecution and torture.
As Joshua Eakle of Project Liberal warned, Abrego Garcia’s detention and the administration’s claim that it can do nothing to help him also creates precedent for Trump to do the same to anyone else it sees fit to target.
“This is how it starts. You must pay attention,” said Eakle. “If Trump can disappear Abrego Garcia, he can disappear you. If Trump can strip his rights with no accountability, he can do it to anyone. This is why due process matters. Without it, America slides into dictatorship.”
As the news spread of Abrego Garcia’s mistaken expulsion, Vice President JD Vance “smeared him as a ‘convicted gang member,'” claiming to cite the court filing from Monday, and accused podcast host Jon Favreau of having sympathy for “gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize.”
Cerna’s filing states that Abrego Garcia was denied bond in 2019 because “the evidence show[ed] that he is a verified member of [Mara Salvatrucha] (‘MS-13’)]” and therefore posed a danger to the community.” As Kyle Cheney wrote at Politico, the accusation was “sharply contested” by Abrego Garcia and “credited to information gleaned from a confidential informant.”
The 2019 court filing regarding the bond denial notes that Abrego Garcia “has no criminal conviction” and that the government erroneously stated at the time that Abrego Garcia was “detained in connection to a murder investigation.”
Further, noted Cheney, the court at the time found that Abrego Garcia was likely a member of MS-13, but that he had a credible fear of persecution in his home country of El Salvador and should not be deported there—or expelled via an operation like Trump’s mass expulsion campaign, in which those sent overseas have not been afforded due process.
Vance’s claim that Abrego Garcia is a “convicted gang member” was “a lie,” said Krystal Ball of the online news show “Breaking Points.”
“But JD’s comment reveals his deportation was not really a ‘mistake,'” she said. “They put whoever they could round up on those planes without regard for guilt, innocence, immigration status, or court orders. If this man can be permanently disappeared into a foreign dungeon, anyone can.”
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council said it was “shocking that the vice president of the United States would so callously, and so falsely, accuse someone of being a convicted gang member. It’s especially bad when his own administration just admitted to illegally deporting that person due to ‘administrative error.'”
Trump’s Justice Department is now urging Xinis to reject a petition filed by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys to secure his return to the U.S., saying that since the Maryland resident is now in custody in his home country, the administration and the court system can’t force El Salvador to return him.
Trump's lawyers are arguing that because they've dumped this guy in a Salvadoran prison, he can't file a habeas corpus petition, because he's no longer in American custody. They're arguing that once you get to sent to El Salvador, no court can order the govt to bring you back. pic.twitter.com/HswVa2Sr47
“People should go to prison over this,” said Paul Blest, a reporter for More Perfect Union.
Antonio De Loera-Brust, communications director for United Farm Workers, suggested the Trump administration is now refusing to push for Abrego Garcia or other potentially innocent people who have been expelled from the U.S. “because then they will be able to speak for themselves and the full extent of this atrocity will become clear.”
This is a scandal. The admin is hoping it’ll go away once the media moves on. But what happens if an innocent Venezuelans gets out, finds a camera, and starts telling us exactly what goes on in Bukele’s prison? Trump and Bukele will do whatever they can to not let that happen.
— Antonio De Loera 🇺🇸🇲🇽 (@AntonioDeLoeraB) April 1, 2025
Shannon Watts, founder of the gun violence prevention group Moms Demand Action, called on the Democratic Party to ensure the administration can’t ignore the demand for Abrego Garcia’s release.
“I don’t care what the polls say about immigration, this is a legal assault on the Constitution and humanity,” said Watts. “Democratic leaders must publicly pressure the Trump administration to rescue Kilmar Abrego Garcia.”
Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
The young sister (C) mourns for her siblings and other members from the Abu al-Rous family who were killed when their house was hit by Israeli bombardment, during the funeral at the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on March 25, 2025. Israel, vowing to destroy Palestinian militant group Hamas, on March 18 resumed intense bombardment of Gaza and redeployed ground troops, shattering a truce that had largely held since January 19. (Photo by EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images) Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP
While the Israeli leader claims that his goal is the elimination of Hamas, the evidence is clear that his real intention is to save himself and his government—and in this he has had a willing accomplice.
When the Israeli Knesset passed its 2025 budget this past week, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu breathed a sigh of relief. Had the budget not been approved by March 31, the Knesset would have been automatically disbanded, and new elections would have been called. Polls indicate that Netanyahu and his coalition would have decisively lost.
The negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza had resulted in the desertion of one of his coalition partners and the alienation of some members of his own party, putting his government at risk. Once the ceasefire was announced, Netanyahu’s problems grew. His trial on charges of corruption and abuse of his office was once again centerstage as were his Trump-like theatrics in response to the grilling he received from the prosecutors. Also plaguing Netanyahu were reports of his government’s failures emanating from the ongoing investigation into the October 7th Hamas attack.
With his coalition hemorrhaging and his personal position weakening, renewing the war in Gaza provided Netanyahu with a way out. His coalition was restored. His budget was passed. He had a distraction from his trial. His cabinet approved his decision to remove the head of Israel’s domestic intelligence agency who was faulting him for the October 7th attack. And he was in a position to once again advance his legislative efforts to “reform” what he views as the obstacles presented by Israel’s pesky judiciary.
Further compounding Netanyahu’s dilemma were the expectations created once the implementation of the ceasefire agreement began. The world witnessed the powerfully moving scenes of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians trekking northward to return to their demolished homes and communities in the north of Gaza. Compassion grew for Palestinians as did revulsion for the gratuitous devastation wrought by Israel’s bombardments.
There were other factors that weighed heavily on Netanyahu in this period.
Hamas, as expected, overplayed their hand with disgraceful scenes of bravado during each of the hostage releases. Most likely done out of a need to demonstrate control, their behavior was stupid and provocative, especially in the face of the enormity of the suffering endured by their people. One might reasonably ask Hamas’ leadership, “How many times can you foolishly kick the hornets’ nest before you understand the consequences of your actions?”
Gaza’s Palestinians, who our polling establishes have long had unfavorable views toward Hamas, are now demonstrating their anger at both Israel and Hamas. But the last thing Netanyahu wants is an alternative Palestinian leadership in Gaza, as that would threaten his continuation of the conflict and his rule.
The ceasefire agreement of January 19th included three phases, with the second and third phases ultimately leading to an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war. As the negotiations themselves had already cost Netanyahu coalition partners, he promised his allies that he would never allow the process to get to phase two. As a result, early in the implementation of phase one, Netanyahu began seeking an escape, claiming that Hamas was violating the terms of the agreement and pressing unacceptable demands that he sought to add to the first phase.
Then came the Arab peace plan to end the conflict. The plan, which would fulfill phase three of the ceasefire agreement, called for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the positioning of an Arab/international peacekeeping force, the establishment of Palestinian governance linked to the Palestinian Authority, and a plan to reconstruct Gaza. This Arab plan has won broad international support and, if adopted, would have spelled the end of Netanyahu’s reign in Israel.
In the face of all these challenges, Netanyahu felt compelled to break the ceasefire. The renewed campaign has been a ruthless continuation of genocide. For one month now, Israel has withheld entry of all aid and medical personnel from the north of Gaza, implementing what was once termed “the General’s plan” of starving the Palestinians in that area, forcing them to leave. The Israelis have also continued their bombing campaign, taking the lives of hundreds. They have retaken areas of Gaza, promising to annex them to Israel, and are exploring plans to forcibly evict Palestinians from Gaza to both sabotage any effort to allow for Palestinian governance and facilitate Israel’s conquest and annexation of more of Gaza’s land.
While Netanyahu claims that his goal is the elimination of Hamas, the evidence is clear that his real intention is to save himself and his government—and in this he has had a willing accomplice. The Trump administration has supported Israel’s trashing the very ceasefire agreement Trump once boasted as his personal diplomatic victory.
And so here we are, a little over two months after the announced ceasefire and Palestinians are once again victims of slaughter and mass starvation. Instead of being an agreement that would lead to an end of the conflict, the ceasefire, as I feared, turned out to be nothing more than a pause or a cruel ruse that was sacrificed on the altar of Netanyahu’s political survival.
There are no good guys to this story, only Palestinian victims. As tens of thousands of Israelis are demonstrating in opposition to Netanyahu because he is risking the lives of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, it is time for Arabs to unite in defense of the Palestinian people and their own peace plan to end the genocide.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAUK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
As the 19th-century French political philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville, memorably observed, Americans have a tendency to fight their political battles in court. Barely two months into his presidency, Donald Trump is demonstrating increasing frustration as trade unions, civil rights organisations and states attorneys general challenge the implementation of his policies with lawsuits alleging presidential overreach that undermines the constitutional separation of powers.
More than 130 lawsuits are now pending. As a result, federal courts have put on hold key policies of the Trump administration and Trump lawyers have lodged emergency petitions invoking Supreme Court intervention.
First to face court check was the federal funding freeze order. This was swiftly followed by court rulings against the birthright citizenship order. This controversial measure would withdraw citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented or non-citizen parents who are in the country legally but temporarily.
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Donald Trump decrees forbidden terms denying sexual diversity. Image added by https://onaquietday.org
This was blocked for the very fundamental grounds that this has not been authorised by Congress and is not within the scope of the presidential power. Whether Doge can even exist without Congressional authority is also in contention.
The president’s increasing anger with the courts erupted on March 18. The US president launched an astonishing personal attack on a US federal judge who ruled against the summary deportation of alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang and ordered the administration to turn around the plane carrying them that had already taken off.
The US president calls for a judge to be impeached. TruthSocial.
Trump’s call for Judge James Boasberg to be impeached prompted a rare intervention from Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts. Roberts condemned the impeachment call in a statement that did not name the president but was clearly intended as a rebuke and a reminder of the constitutional boundaries that guarantee the role of the judiciary as the equal third branch of government.
Unrepentant, Trump doubled down the next day on TruthSocial calling Judge Boasberg a “Radical Left Lunatic Judge” who wanted “to assume the role of president”. His charge was then echoed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt who accused the judiciary generally of attempting to paralyse the administration’s programme, usurp the power of the president and undermine the will of the American people.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Judge James Boasberg.
Despite Judge Boasberg’s order, the plane carrying the Venezuelans did not turn back. The administration has denied wrongdoing and Judge Boasberg has yet to impose any penalty.
This was not the first occasion that the administration has appeared to openly defy court orders. The previous week Dr Raiza Alawieh, a Brown University professor with an American visa was deported despite an order from a federal judge in Boston requiring that the court be given advance notice before the government attempted to remove her.
All eyes on the Supreme Court
All these cases are likely to go to the US Supreme Court. As its name suggests, this is the highest level of the judiciary in the US. It has the final say on what the US constitution means and authorises. At issue will be the scope of the presidential power – and the outcome is uncertain.
It’s important to bear in mind that the court now has a six-to-three majority of conservative justices – three of whom were Trump nominees. We also need to be aware that this court, in a previous ruling, considerably extended the scope of presidential immunity to cover all official “core acts” so that, whatever the outcome, the president himself is unlikely to attract personal liability.
But we do know that the Supreme Court’s ruling on a constitutional issue is final – and that all government officials at federal and state level will be required to respect it. The fear now is that the administration may go ahead regardless in which case we will find ourselves in unknown constitutional territory.
To find parallels we could go back to the desegregation era of the middle of the 20th century and specifically to Little Rock in Arkansas where the then governor, Orval Faubus, called out the national guard to prevent the court-ordered desegregation of the local high school.
The ensuing crisis ended when the then president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, sent in federal troops to enforce the court order. The US Supreme Court unanimously declared that its interpretations of what the constitution required were the supreme law of the land, which bound the governor and the state legislature.
The chief justice of that era, Earl Warren, later regarded this ruling (Cooper v Aaron) as the most important of his time on the Supreme Court – more important even than the actual desegregation decision itself (Brown v Board of Education).
It is clear that the judicial branch depends upon the executive to put its orders into effect and demonstrate respect for the rule of law and the separation of powers. But we now see a president who demonstrates open hostility to judges whom he considers have opposed him. His administration has also begun to vindictively target with punitive blocking orders the big law firms who assisted in the prosecutions brought against him before he took office.
Does a constitutional crisis loom? How all this plays out remains to be seen.
