Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at anti-ICE protests spreading across the United States, votes of confidence in the Polish and Israeli parliaments, and rioting in Northern Ireland.
‘Brazen Abuse of Power’
What started as small, mostly peaceful protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles have become nationwide demonstrations against U.S. President Donald Trump’s alleged abuse of executive power.
This week, the Trump administration deployed around 4,000 National Guards and about 700 Marines to Los Angeles without first consulting California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The White House maintains that its actions were vital to weaken the demonstrations, but local officials argue that they only fueled tensions and endangered residents.
“This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers, and even our National Guard at risk,” Newsom said late Tuesday after imposing a nighttime curfew on roughly 1 square mile of Los Angeles’s downtown area. That curfew has since been lifted.
Even as protests appeared to dwindle in Los Angeles on Wednesday, anti-ICE marches have risen across the country. Authorities have recorded or anticipate protests in Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Eugene, Oregon; Mission Viejo, California; New York City; Raleigh, North Carolina; Seattle; St. Louis; and Washington, D.C.; among others. On Wednesday, Texas Republican Greg Abbott became the first state governor to deploy the National Guard ahead of planned demonstrations in San Antonio and other parts of the state.
The Pentagon will deploy federal troops to other cities “if there are riots in places where law enforcement officers are threatened,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Senate lawmakers on Wednesday.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman said on Wednesday that the 700 Marines ordered to Los Angeles will enter the city in the coming days. However, a federal judge in California is expected to hear a state request on Thursday to limit federal troops to just guarding Los Angeles’s federal buildings and prevent them from participating in immigration raids.
The anti-ICE protests come just days before Trump is set to hold a military parade in Washington on Saturday to mark the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary. The massive demonstration, coinciding with Trump’s 79th birthday, has raised alarms among democracy activists who fear that Trump is politicizing the military for his personal agenda.
To counter Saturday’s parade, a coalition group called No Kings is planning more than 1,800 peaceful demonstrations and events across the country. This is a “mass, nationwide protest rejecting authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy,” according to an event description for the organization.
Although No Kings has not scheduled any marches in Washington, Trump warned on Tuesday that “for those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.” Thousands of officers and other law enforcement officials are planning to be deployed to the capital and other cities across the United States for the military parade.
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What We’re Following
Votes of confidence. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk won a vote of confidence in parliament on Wednesday, allowing the pro-European leader to solidify his fragile coalition after suffering a major defeat in the country’s recent presidential election. “I needed this vote because we were seeing … speculation that this government will not make it,” Tusk said, adding that he needed to regain voters’ confidence. In the 460-member lower house, 243 lawmakers voted in favor of Tusk, giving him a majority in parliament.
On June 1, nationalist candidate Karol Nawrocki defeated Tusk-backed rival Rafal Trzaskowski in a runoff vote. Tusk admitted on Wednesday that Nawrocki’s win will create challenges “greater than we expected” but vowed to continue his efforts to repeal judicial reforms passed by the right-wing Law and Justice party.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Knesset faced a major challenge on Wednesday when opposition lawmakers submitted a bill to dissolve parliament. In a rare move, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right backers threatened to support the bill to protest the government’s failure to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities from having to serve in the Israeli military.
After its first reading, the bill must pass three additional readings before the Knesset can be dissolved. That process could take days, if not weeks, to conclude. If that occurs, Israel will be forced to hold early elections that could potentially unseat Netanyahu and his Likud party from power. Parliamentarians engaged in intense, last-minute talks on Wednesday to avoid such an outcome, though no agreement on enlistment has reportedly been reached yet.
Xenophobic attacks. Rioting in the Northern Ireland town of Ballymena and the surrounding area stretched into early Wednesday, as police used water cannons and plastic baton rounds to counter violent protests. Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson characterized the riots as “racially motivated” and said authorities were working to identify those responsible and bring them to justice. Such violence should be “loudly condemned by all right-thinking people,” he added.
Chaos first erupted on Monday after a peaceful march supporting the family of an alleged sexual assault victim turned violent. Earlier that day, a local court charged two 14-year-old boys who spoke Romanian with attempting to rape a teenage girl on Saturday night; the suspects denied the allegations. A planned demonstration over the case became disruptive when masked demonstrators broke away from the group to throw bricks, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at several homes and businesses, injuring at least 15 officers in the process. Many of the attacks appeared to target the property of immigrants.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he “utterly condemns” the violence, and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill called the attacks “pure racism,” adding, “There’s no other way to dress it up.”
Conditions for statehood. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on Tuesday for Hamas to cease ruling Gaza, according to a letter addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Abbas denounced Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel; demanded that the militant group “hand over its weapons”; and ordered the immediate release of all remaining hostages, echoing three key Israeli demands.
However, Abbas added that the Palestinian security forces, which the Palestinian Authority controls, should oversee Hamas’s removal with Arab and international support—a suggestion that is expected to ruffle feathers in Israel. Hamas controls Gaza, whereas the Palestinian Authority administers parts of the West Bank, and the two groups have been bitter rivals for years. Netanyahu has repeatedly said he opposes the Palestinian Authority having any role in Gaza’s postwar governance.
Macron and Mohammed bin Salman will jointly chair a United Nations conference in New York next week to discuss the creation of a Palestinian state. Macron has listed several conditions to secure this, including disarming Hamas and reforming the Palestinian Authority. Abbas committed to such reforms in his letter on Tuesday, promising to also hold general elections to combat institutional corruption.
However, the United States is already trying to derail next week’s talks. In a cable sent on Tuesday, the Trump administration discouraged countries from attending the conference, saying that the United States views it as “counterproductive to ongoing, life-saving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages.” The cable, which was seen by Reuters, also said the White House opposes any steps to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.
Odds and Ends
Hong Kong’s national security police have a new target: video games. On Tuesday, the government effectively banned the Taiwanese war strategy game Reversed Front: Bonfire, accusing it of “advocating armed revolution.” The game allows players to “pledge allegiance” to Taiwan, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Tibet, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, or other locations in order to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party. Apple removed the game from its App Store for Hong Kongers on Wednesday, and local authorities have warned that anyone who downloads or recommends Reversed Front: Bonfire could face legal charges.