Human Race: Out with the activist?

The Trump administration on April 11 scored a legal victory in its battle to deport 30-year-old Columbia University graduate and activist Mahmoud Khalil. At a removal hearing in Jena, La., immigration Judge Jamee E. Comans ruled the government had sufficient grounds for deporting the student activist. Yet it appears Khalil won’t be leaving American soil anytime soon.

Khalil, a citizen of Algeria and U.S. green card holder, played a prominent role in the pro-Palestinian protests on the campus of Columbia last year. A memorandum from Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated he believes Khalil’s actions and presence in the country “undermine U.S. policy to combat anti-Semitism around the world and in the United States.” But Khalil’s lawyers and supporters argue he has been unfairly targeted by the Trump administration for speech that should be protected by the First Amendment. “This is America,” said the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression in a statement. “We don’t throw people in detention centers because of their politics.”

Khalil legally entered America in 2022 on a student visa and later married a U.S. citizen. His lawyers are appealing the ruling in Louisiana and pursuing a separate case in New Jersey that challenges the legality of his arrest and detention.

Pastor rescued 

Police in South Africa rescued American missionary Josh Sullivan in a deadly shootout days after he was kidnapped from his church near Gqeberha in South Africa’s Eastern Cape region. According to authorities, four armed men burst into Fellowship Baptist Church April 10 and abducted Sullivan while he was delivering a sermon. Police found and killed three suspects in a “high-intensity shootout” April 15 and said Sullivan, though found in the same car as the suspects, emerged “miraculously unharmed.” A native of Maryville, Tenn., Sullivan moved to South Africa with his family to plant a church for the Xhosa-speaking people in 2018. —Elizabeth Russell

Betting on Britain

A former Conservative member of British Parliament has been charged with using insider knowledge to wager on the timing of last year’s snap election. On April 14, the U.K.’s Gambling Commission announced it had charged ex-MP Craig Williams and 14 other defendants with offenses under the Gambling Act of 2005. The commission said its investigation, launched one month after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for a surprise election last May, “focused on individuals suspected of using confidential information—specifically advance knowledge of the proposed election date.” The defendants, including former Conservative Party chief marketing officer Simon Chatfield, are scheduled to appear in Westminster Magistrates Court on June 13. —Bekah McCallum

Masterful triumph

Rory McIlroy cemented his place in golf history April 13, completing a career grand slam with a victory at the Masters in Augusta, Ga. Golf’s grand slam consists of four major tournaments—the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship. McIlroy joins Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods as the only players to win all four. In his 17th year playing the Masters, the Northern Irish golfer finally won it in thrilling fashion, edging out Justin Rose in a playoff. —Ray Hacke

Mississippi hero

A Gulf Coast Easter egg hunt turned deadly April 12 when gunfire claimed the life of Mississippi church deacon Eddie Shed. The family event, sponsored by the Empowerment Ministries Christian Center, took place at a sports complex in Gulfport. Police charged Tyran Deion Gable, 24, with first-­degree murder and aggravated assault in connection with the shooting, which reportedly began as a child custody dispute. Shed was killed and another victim was wounded while attempting to de-escalate the conflict. In a statement, Shed’s pastor, Gregg Magee, wrote that Shed “epitomized the virtues of a hero, dis­playing selfless courage and bravery that ultimately saved others from harm.” —Kim Henderson

Bomb hoaxer busted

A federal jury convicted Zimnako Salah of a hate crime in early April for placing a fake bomb—a pillow-stuffed backpack—on a toilet in a Christian church in Roseville, Calif. Salah, 45, went to four churches in Arizona, California, and Colorado in 2023 and planted black backpacks at two of them. Security guards deterred him in the other incidents. The Phoenix resident had searched online for videos of “infidels dying” and ­possessed items that could be used to make a bomb, according to FBI court testimony. Salah faces up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine. —Todd Vician

Ecuadorian election

In Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa emerged winner of an April 13 runoff election, warding off a challenge by leftist opponent Luisa González. Noboa, 37, first assumed office after a snap election in 2023 and ran this year to clinch a full four-year term. He defeated González by more than 10 percentage points, amounting to more than a million votes. González rejected his victory and called for a recount, but international observers dismissed any claims of fraud. During his first term, Noboa ushered in a heavy-handed crackdown on organized crime groups and drug cartels in a country that recorded the highest homicide rate in Latin America in 2024. Noboa deployed troops to the streets and also sought support from foreign militaries to help curb the violence. —Onize Oduah

Bribes at the border

Federal authorities in San Diego charged two U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors with accepting thousands of ­dollars in bribes in exchange for waving travelers through the San Ysidro Port of Entry without checking their documents. In a criminal complaint unsealed April 3, authorities said they found evidence of phone text conversations between Mexican traffickers and officers Farlis Almonte and Ricardo Rodriguez as well as unexplained deposits in the officers’ bank accounts. The men allegedly informed smugglers when they would be on duty and in one instance recorded a car’s driver as entering the U.S. without marking down any of the other passengers. Prosecutors said the two shooed in dozens of vehicles between August 2024 and January 2025. —Addie Offereins