The White House has hit out at an “appalling” attempt by a Democratic senator to return a father wrongly deported to El Salvador.
Chris Van Hollen arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday to speak to the country’s leaders about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was removed from the US by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation.
Washington acknowledged Mr Garcia was deported due to an “administrative error”.
The US Supreme Court has called on the administration to facilitate his return, upholding a court order by Judge Paula Xinis, but Trump officials have claimed Mr Garcia has ties to the MS-13 gang.
Mr Garcia’s lawyers have argued there is no evidence of this.
Speaking about Mr Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the Democrats “still refuse to accept the will of the American people”.
She alleged Mr Garcia was an “illegal alien MS-13 terrorist” and claimed his wife petitioned for court protection against him after alleged incidents of domestic violence.
Image: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Pic: AP/Jose Luis Magana
After outlining the allegations against Mr Garcia, she went on: “All of that is not enough to stop the Democrat Party from their lies.
“The number one issue they are focused on right now is bringing back this illegal alien terrorist to America.
“It’s appalling and sad that Senator Van Hollen and the Democrats are plotting his trip to El Salvador today, are incapable of having any shred of common sense or empathy for their own constituents and our citizens.”
After making a statement, Ms Leavitt introduced Patty Morin, who described graphic details of her daughter’s murder by an immigrant from El Salvador.
Rachel Morin was raped and murdered by Victor Martinez-Hernandez along a popular hiking trail northeast of Baltimore.
Afterwards, Ms Leavitt left without taking any questions from reporters.
Image: Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Pic: CASA/AP
Senator travels to El Salvador
Mr Van Hollen met with the El Salvador vice president during his trip to the Central American country.
But he did not meet with President Nayib Bukele, who publicly met with Donald Trump in the Oval Office this week, nor did he meet Mr Garcia himself.
Image: US senator Chris Van Hollen has been in El Salvador.
Pic: Reuters/Jose Cabezas
In a post on X, he said he would continue to fight for Mr Garcia’s return.
During Mr Bukele’s trip to the White House earlier this week, he said he would not return Mr Garcia, likening it to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States”.
Along with Mr Garcia, the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people, mostly Venezuelans, who it claims are gang members without presenting evidence and without a trial.
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2:53
‘I’m talking about violent people’
Judge’s contempt warning
It comes hours after a US federal judge warned that he could hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for violating his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador.
The comments are an escalation in a row which began last month when US district judge James E Boasberg issued an order temporarily blocking the deportations.
However, lawyers told him there were already two planes with immigrants in the air – one headed for El Salvador, the other for Honduras.
Mr Boasberg verbally ordered the planes to be turned around, but the directive was not included in his written order. The Trump administration then denied refusing to comply.
Charges could be brought forward by the Justice Department, NBC News, Sky’s US partner network, reported.
However, that could create an uncomfortable situation for the department, which is headed by the attorney general – a position appointed by the president.
If the executive-led Justice Department refused to prosecute the matter, Judge Boasberg said he would appoint another attorney to prosecute the contempt.
The judge wrote: “The Constitution does not tolerate wilful disobedience of judicial orders – especially by officials of a coordinate branch who have sworn an oath to uphold it.”
He gave the government a 23 April deadline.
White House director of communications Steven Cheung said the administration would seek “immediate appellate relief” – a review of a decision within a lower court before the case has been resolved.
In a stark and direct intervention, Martin Griffiths, the former UN humanitarian chief, has described the situation in Gaza as genocide.
The statement, made during an interview I conducted with Griffiths on The World, marks one of the most pointed accusations yet from a figure known to be deeply embedded in the world of international politics and diplomacy.
“I think now we’ve got to the point this is unequivocal. Of course it is genocide. Just as it is weaponising aid.
“We don’t need to look behind ourselves to see that’s the case. That should encourage us even more because we, of course, all doubted whether it would come to that level of definition.
“We all doubted whether famine is actually there. I think starvation is killing people. That’s bad enough. We don’t have to worry about famine, which is obviously there lurking in the shadows.
“Also, genocide… of course that’s what has happened. We only need to look at the statements made. Prime Minister Netanyahuhas the virtue of being very clear about his objectives.”
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3:14
Ex-Israeli aide dismisses genocide claims
His choice of words is extraordinary – not just for its gravity, but because it’s Griffiths who is saying it.
A veteran diplomat with decades of experience navigating complex international crises, Griffiths is known for his calm and thoughtful demeanour – not for inflammatory language.
For him to use the term “genocide” in a television interview signals a significant shift in how some within the international system are now interpreting events on the ground in Gaza – 20 months since Israel launched its war.
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Just weeks earlier, Tom Fletcher, another respected former British ambassador and current UN humanitarian chief, came close to using the phrase during a UN Security Council session.
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He said: “What more evidence do you need now? Will you act decisively to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law? Or will you say instead: ‘we did all we could?'”
Whilst he stopped short, his tone showed a clear change in how leading international figures now view the direction of Israeli military operations in Gaza; staggering civilian deaths, and the statements made by Israeli officials prosecuting this war.
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Lawyers representing Israel against accusations brought by South Africa to the International Court of Justice last year – accusing its actions in Gaza of amounting to genocide – called the claims “unfounded”, “absurd” and amounting to “libel”.
They went on to say Israel respected international law and had a right to defend itself.
Now 41.2% of Europe finds itself in some form of drought, according to the latest update from the EU’s European Drought Observatory, which covers 11 to 20 May.
It is most acute in pockets of south-eastern Spain, Cyprus, Greece and Albania, where the strongest “alert” category has been issued, as well as parts of Poland and Ukraine.
But broad stretches of northern and eastern Europe through France, Germany, Poland and Ukraine also drying up, sowing concerns about crop yields.
On Thursday, the UK’s Environment Agency officially declared a drought in North West England after river and reservoir levels were licked away by a dry spring.
Image: More than 40% of Europe was in drought as of 11-20 May 2025. Pic: CEMS / EDO
Image: Heat was record high in March in Europe. The image on the right shows the south of the continent was much wetter than average and the north much drier. Source: Copernicus Climate Change Service
Greece tourism is ‘unsustainable’
In Greece, “overtourism” from millions flocking to its beaches adds further pressure to water supplies, said Nikitas Mylopoulos, professor of water resource management at Thessaly University.
“The tourist sector is unsustainable and there is no planning… leading to a tremendous rise in water demand in summer,” he told Sky News.
“The islands have an intense problem of drought and water scarcity.”
Islands like Santorini and Mykonos are now forced to ship in water from Athens or desalination plants to provide for showers and swimming pools. In the past, many residents could make do with local methods like rainwater harvesting.
But agriculture is a far bigger drain on the country’s water, with waste rife and policies lacking, said Prof Mylopoulos.
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1:55
‘Tropical nights’ soar in European hotspots
Wildfire season could be ‘particularly difficult’
This year’s hot and dry conditions are also fuelling the risk of yet another fierce wildfire season in Greece.
Last week civil protection minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis warned of a “particularly difficult” summer.
He said a record 18,000 firefighters have been deployed and the drone fleet almost doubled in a bid to combat fires being fuelled by a hotter climate.
Droughts and their causes are more complicated, but scientists at World Weather Attribution say global warming is exacerbating drought in some parts of the world, including around the Mediterranean.
Image: A drought was declared in northwest England on Thursday. Pic: Reuters
The International Hydropower Association said drought and intense rain in Europe are pushing power plants to “operate at the limits of their existing equipment”.
Extreme weather costs the EU about €28.3bn (£23.8bn) in lost crops and livestock per year, according to insurance firm Howden.
Hayley Fowler, professor of climate change impacts at Newcastle University, said: “With global warming, we expect more prolonged and intense droughts and heatwaves punctuated by more intense rainfall, possibly causing flash floods.
“In recent years, we have experienced more of these atmospheric blocks, causing record heat and persistent drought, as well as severe flooding in other locations in Europe.
“Recent months have been no different, with prolonged dry conditions and heatwaves in northern Europe and floods in southern Europe.”
At least 117 people have died and others are still missing after heavy flooding in Nigeria, an emergency official said.
Authorities initially said 21 people had died but this figure has today risen significantly.
Media reports quoting local government officials said a dam collapse has worsened the situation.
Ibrahim Hussaini, head of Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said some 3,000 houses were underwater in two communities.
Videos posted on social media show floodwater sweeping through neighbourhoods, with rooftops barely visible above the brown currents. One clip shows a tanker floating through a town.
Image: A tanker is swept away by floodwaters
The chairman of the Mokwa local government area suggested poor infrastructure has worsened the impact of the flooding.
Jibril Muregi has appealed to the government to start “long overdue” construction of waterways in the area under a climate resilience project.
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Image: Water appears to be flowing over a dam behind the town
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In a similar occurrence last September, torrential rains and a dam collapse in Nigeria’s northeastern Maiduguri caused severe flooding, leaving at least 30 people dead and displacing millions.
Nigeriais prone to flooding during the rainy season, which began in April – and flooding is becoming more common and extreme as the climate warms.
Hotter air is thirstier and can hold more moisture – about 7% more for every 1C warmer – meaning it unleashes heavier flooding when it rains.
Violent rain, which killed hundreds of people in Nigeria during 2022, was made at least 80 times more likely and 20% more intense by climate change, analysis by World Weather Attribution found.