Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday issued an executive order that has stirred deep unease and controversy among Muslims, civil rights organisations, and legal experts across the United States.

In that order, he designates the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the country’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood, as “foreign terrorist organi[s]ations.”

The move comes exactly one month after Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a similar proclamation against CAIR in his state, a measure that CAIR is already challenging in federal court. With Florida now following suit, the legal and political battle around the organisation has widened significantly.

Governor DeSantis, who typically rolls out major executive actions at high-profile public events, chose a markedly quieter route this time.

He posted the order on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, announcing that it would take effect immediately. Within hours, the move had sent a chill through Muslim communities and civil rights circles nationwide, not least because this is the first time that two major US states have sought to label as “terrorist” an organisation that, for three decades, has been active in US courts and legislative halls defending the Constitution, civil liberties, and religious freedom.

In a joint statement, CAIR’s national office and its Florida chapter condemned the order as unconstitutional, malicious, baseless, and politically motivated, and declared that they will also challenge Florida’s action in federal court.

The statement argued that Governor DeSantis knows full well that CAIR-Florida is a legitimate American civil rights organisation that for years has worked to defend free speech, religious liberty, civil rights, and justice for the Palestinian people, and that it is precisely for this reason that his administration has chosen to target it.

The Florida order asserts that some of CAIR’s founders had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, an organisation that has come under intensified scrutiny in the wake of the October 7, 2023, attack and the broader security discourse that followed.

By highlighting alleged ideological links between the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, the order attempts to pull CAIR into the same orbit. CAIR, however, has consistently and emphatically rejected these accusations, stressing that it has no connection to Hamas or to any other such group.

Unlike Texas, Florida’s order does not bar CAIR or the Muslim Brotherhood from purchasing property in the state, but it does issue sweeping instructions to state agencies.

They are directed not to award contracts, grants, funding, employment, or any form of state benefit to these organisations or to any individual, entity, or supporter deemed to be associated with them.

The order further assigns responsibility to Florida’s Domestic Security Oversight Council to review existing state laws and regulations and to recommend additional measures or restrictions against the two organisations. Those recommendations are to be submitted to state leaders by January 6, 2026.

Viewed in a broader political context, the order fits into a longer pattern of criticism directed at Governor DeSantis for his hard line against American Muslims and pro-Palestinian groups.

According to CAIR, DeSantis held his first official cabinet meeting in Israel, funneled millions of Florida taxpayers’ dollars into Israeli bonds, and sought to shut down Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters on state university campuses — an effort that CAIR challenged in court and successfully forced him to retreat from.

CAIR argues that these steps are part of a systematic attempt to silence American Muslims and marginalise voices critical of US policy toward Israel.

In their press release, CAIR’s national office and its Florida chapter described DeSantis as an “Israel First” politician who prioritises the interests of a foreign state over the US Constitution, civil rights, and the peaceful civic engagement of American Muslims.

They noted that whenever CAIR has taken its unconstitutional actions to court, the governor has been compelled to step back. Now, they contend, he is seeking instead to smear the organisation and attach false labels to it. The statement pledged that CAIR will defeat this latest political stunt in court, “where decisions are based on evidence, not conspiracy theories,” and called on all Americans to speak out against the order.

Last month, the Muslim Legal Fund of America, the CAIR Legal Defense Fund, and a team of prominent attorneys filed suit against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, arguing that branding an American civil rights organisation as a “foreign terrorist organi[s]ation” without trial, evidence or due process violates the federal Constitution and the fundamental rights of US citizens. That case remains ongoing, and Florida’s new order has only deepened the legal and constitutional questions now before the courts.

Taken together, these developments have created a new moment of crisis for American Muslims. On one side is the post-October 7 climate of heightened surveillance and suspicion, exacerbated by isolated incidents such as a fraud scandal involving members of the Somali community in Minnesota and a shooting by an Afghan immigrant.

On the other are two powerful states now attempting to designate a nationwide Muslim civil rights group as a terrorist entity.

CAIR describes this as a grave assault on civil liberties in US history, a direct attack on the identity and legitimacy of American Muslims and a clear violation of constitutional principles.

Governor DeSantis’s decision has opened the door to a far-reaching legal and political confrontation, and the coming months are likely to be critical for the future of both constitutional rights and minority protections in the United States.

A fire in a building on Tuesday in Indonesia’s capital killed at least 20 people, police said.

Police said the fire started in the afternoon when a battery on the first floor of a seven-story office building in central Jakarta exploded and the fire spread to the upper levels.

“As of now, 20 victims have been retrieved, consisting of five men and 15 women,” Susatyo Purnomo Condro, the Central Jakarta police chief, told reporters, adding that one of those killed was a pregnant woman.

Susatyo said most of the victims did not seem to suffer from burns and most likely died of asphyxiation.

He said the bodies had been taken to the police hospital for autopsy.

Firefighters are still scouring the scene to find more people possibly trapped inside the building, he said.

“We are still collecting data, but for now, we are focusing on identifying the victims who have been found,” he said.

Susatyo said that firefighters were focused on cooling the building due to intense heat and thick smoke on several floors.

Deadly fires are not uncommon in Indonesia, where in 2023, at least 12 people were killed and 39were  injured in eastern Indonesia after an explosion at a nickel-processing plant.

The planet is on track to log its second hottest year on record in 2025, tied with 2023 after a historic high in 2024, Europe’s global warming monitor said Tuesday.

The data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service reaffirms that global temperatures are on course to exceed 1.5C above pre-industrial levels — the threshold considered safer in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Temperatures rose by 1.48C on average between January and November, or “currently tied with 2023 to be the second-warmest year on record”, according to the service’s monthly update.

“The three-year average for 2023-2025 is on track to exceed 1.5C for the first time,” Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at Copernicus, said in a statement.

“These milestones are not abstract — they reflect the accelerating pace of climate change and the only way to mitigate future rising temperatures is to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Burgess said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in October that the world would not be able to contain global warming below 1.5C in the next few years.

Last month was the third warmest November on record at 1.54C above pre-industrial levels, according to Copernicus, with the average surface air temperature reaching 14.02C.

Such incremental rises may appear small but scientists warn that is already destabilising the climate and making storms, floods and other disasters fiercer and more frequent.

“The month was marked by a number of extreme weather events, including tropical cyclones in Southeast Asia, causing widespread, catastrophic flooding and loss of life,” the monitor said.

Fossil fuel fight

The Philippines were ravaged by back-to-back typhoons that killed some 260 people in November, while Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand were hit by massive floods.

The global average temperature for the northern hemisphere autumn, from September to November, was also the third highest on record after 2023 and 2024.

“Temperatures were mostly above average across the world and especially in northern Canada, over the Arctic Ocean, and across Antarctica,” the monitor said, adding that there were notable cold anomalies in northeastern Russia.

Copernicus takes its measurements using billions of satellite and weather readings, both on land and at sea, and their data extends back to 1940.

Global temperatures have been stoked ever higher by humanity’s emissions of planet-heating gases, largely from fossil fuels burned on a massive scale since the industrial revolution.

Nations agreed to transition away from fossil fuels at the UN’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai in 2023 but ambitions have stalled since then.

The COP30 climate conference in Belem, Brazil, concluded last month with a deal that avoided a new, explicit call to phase out oil, gas and coal following objections from fossil fuel-producing countries.