DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A performer at Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show unfurled a flag emblazoned with the words Sudan and Gaza in a protest over the two wars that are roiling the Middle East.
Security at the stadium detained the performer shortly after waving the flag atop a car used as a prop in the performance. The New Orleans police said Monday the performer would face no charges.
The NFL said the person would be banned for life from NFL stadiums and events, while the company behind the halftime show said it was not part of the planned performance.
So, what was this protest about, what's happening in the Gaza Strip and Sudan — and how does it affect the wider world?
Here is what's going on:
The Gaza Strip is an enclave along the Mediterranean Sea bordered by Egypt and Israel. It covers some 360 square kilometers (140 square miles) — about twice the size of Washington and 3½ times the size of Paris. But it's incredibly densely populated and was home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the start of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.
The war began when Hamas, a militant group that's ruled Gaza since 2007, stormed across the border into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. Israel responded with a devastating ground and air campaign across Gaza, killing more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between fighters and noncombatants in their count. Much of the territory has been left in ruins, and it's unclear how it could be rebuilt.
A ceasefire in the war began on Jan. 19. Palestinian militants have freed hostages while Israel has released Palestinians held in prisons there. However, worries remain over whether the peace will hold.
Comments by President Donald Trump, who was on hand Sunday night for the Super Bowl, suggesting the U.S. was “committed to buying and owning Gaza,” also have upended discussions about the enclave's future. Hamas said Monday it will delay the further release of hostages in the Gaza Strip after accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire as Israel canceled leave for soldiers assigned to Gaza.
The Palestinians want the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for a future state of their own, with east Jerusalem as its capital. That long-sought, two-state solution for the decadeslong conflict is backed by Mideast nations and much of the international community. Israel has expressed openness to the idea of resettling Gaza’s population, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday calling it "a revolutionary, creative vision." Hamas, the Palestinians and much of the world have rejected it.
Sudan, a nation in northeastern Africa, has been unstable since a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. A short-lived transition to democracy was derailed when army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led a military coup in 2021.
The RSF and Sudan’s military began fighting each other in 2023. Their conflict has killed more than 28,000 people, forced millions to flee their homes and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country. Other estimates suggest a far higher death toll in the civil war.
In recent weeks, Burhan's forces, including Sudan's military and allied militias, have advanced against the RSF. They retook a key refinery north of Khartoum, Sudan's capital. They've also pushed in on RSF positions around Khartoum itself. The fighting has led to an increase in civilian casualties. From Jan. 31 until Feb. 5, the U.N.s' Human Rights Office documented at least 275 civilian deaths from artillery, airstrikes and drone assaults.
“Indiscriminate attacks, as well as threats and attacks directed against civilians, must cease immediately,” said Seif Magango, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Office. “The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces — and their allied movements and militias — must respect their international law obligations and take concrete steps to protect civilians from harm, including humanitarian workers and human rights defenders.”
Online, activists have sought to draw attention to both Gaza and Sudan, though the conflicts have different roots and participants. The idea of the two conflicts being linked by their devastation has been made by celebrities.
In August, American rapper Macklemore said he canceled a concert in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates’ role “in the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis” in Sudan through its reported support of the paramilitary RSF. While the UAE repeatedly has denied arming the RSF, U.N. experts reported “credible” evidence last year showed that the Emirates sent weapons to the RSF several times a week from northern Chad.
Macklemore at the time said he reconsidered the show in part over his recent, public support of Palestinians over the Israel-Hamas war. He has been performing a song called “Hind’s Hall,” in honor of a young girl named Hind Rajab who was killed in Gaza in a shooting that Palestinians have blamed on Israeli forces opening fire on a civilian car.
An attendee holds flags during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
A flag is raised during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine traded heavy aerial blows overnight Saturday, with both sides reporting more than 100 enemy drones over their respective territories.
The attack comes less than 24 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss details of the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Putin said that he supported a truce in principle but set out a host of details that need to be clarified before it is agreed. Kyiv has already endorsed the truce proposal, although Ukrainian officials have publicly raised doubts as to whether Moscow will commit to such a deal.
In a statement Saturday, Zelenskyy accused Moscow of building up forces along the border.
“The buildup of Russian forces indicates that Moscow intends to keep ignoring diplomacy. It is clear that Russia is prolonging the war,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader also stressed that Kyiv’s troops were maintaining their presence in Russia’s Kursk region after U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that “thousands” of Ukrainian troops are surrounded by the Russian military.
“The operation of our forces in the designated areas of the Kursk region continues,” Zelenskyy said. “Our troops continue to hold back Russian and North Korean groupings in the Kursk region. There is no encirclement of our troops.”
Elsewhere, Ukraine’s air force said Saturday that Russia had launched a barrage of 178 drones and two ballistic missiles over the country overnight. The barrage was a mixture of Shahed-type attack drones and imitation drones designed to confuse air defenses. Some 130 drones were shot down, while 38 more were lost en route to their targets.
Russia attacked energy facilities, causing significant damage, said Ukraine’s private energy company DTEK.
Russia struck energy infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, DTEK said in a statement on Saturday. Some residents were left without electricity.
“The damage is significant. Energy workers are already working on the ground. We are doing everything possible to restore power to homes as soon as possible,” the energy firm said.
Meanwhile, in Russia’s Volgograd region, Gov. Andrei Bocharov confirmed that falling drone debris had sparked a fire in the Krasnoarmeysky district of the city close to a Lukoil oil refinery, but provided no further details. Nearby airports temporarily halted flights, local media outlets reported. No casualties were reported.
The Volgograd refinery has been targeted by Kyiv’s forces on several occasions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, most recently in a drone attack on Feb. 15.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
This photo taken from a video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 15, 2025, shows a view of Sudzha, the biggest town in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
This photo taken from a video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 15, 2025, shows a view of Sudzha, the biggest town in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
This photo taken from a video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 15, 2025, shows a view of Sudzha, the biggest town in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at a lyceum following a Russian drone attack in Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 15, 2025, a body of a dead Ukrainian serviceman lies on the ground at an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at a lyceum following a Russian drone attack in Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a fire engine and school buses burn after a Russian drone hit them when firefighters were putting out the fire at a lyceum following Russian drone attack in Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at the private houses following a Russian guided air bombs attack in Kherson, Ukraine, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at the private houses following a Russian guided air bombs attack in Kherson, Ukraine, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, a Russian soldier greets local citizens of Sudzha, the biggest town in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 15, 2025, a Russian "Grad" self-propelled multiple rocket launcher fires towards Ukrainian positions near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 15, 2025, a destroyed Ukrainian Army M2A Bradly armored personal carrier is seen at Cherkasskoe Porechnoe and Pravda in Sudzha district of the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 15, 2025, a destroyed Ukrainian Army M777 howitzer, left, is transported at Cherkasskoe Porechnoe and Pravda in Sudzha district of the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, fire engines burn after a Russian drone hit them when firefighters were putting out a fire at a lyceum following Russian drone attack in Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a fire engine and school buses burn after a Russian drone hit them when firefighters were putting out the fire at a lyceum following Russian drone attack in Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
