WORLD

Washington, Sep 13 (IANS) US President Donald Trump said that he would deploy the National Guard to combat crime in Memphis -- a Democratic-led city in the state of Tennessee -- claiming he was backed by the city's mayor and the state's governor.Speaking on Fox News, Trump claimed on Friday that the city is "deeply troubled," and that both the mayor and the governor are "happy" about the upcoming deployment, Xinhua news agency reported."We're going to fix that, just like we did in Washington," Trump said.Memphis, a Democratic stronghold, has a majority-Black population. The city's mayor, Paul Young, said at a press conference Friday that "I did not ask for the National Guard and I don't think it's the way to drive down crime."However, Young said that as mayor, he will "work with this commu...

Seoul, Sep 13 (IANS) More than 300 South Korean workers returned home Friday after a weeklong detention by US immigration authorities in Georgia, ending an unprecedented incident that bewildered Seoul and stirred confusion over ties with its ally.A Korean Air chartered plane, carrying 316 South Koreans and 14 foreigners, landed at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, around 3:23 p.m., a day after their release from detention following last week's immigration sweep at an electric car battery plant construction site co-run by Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution Ltd. in Bryan County.The workers were released from the facilities in Folkston early Thursday (local time), as Seoul made intensive efforts to secure their release and return home through negotiations with Washington.T...

Washington, Sep 13 (IANS) The US pressed its G7 partners to adopt tougher measures against Russia, urging them to impose tariffs on countries that continue to buy Russian oil.In a joint call with G7 finance ministers, US Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, on Friday, echoed President Donald Trump’s demand that allies step up efforts to cut off Moscow’s energy revenues, which Washington says are fuelling the war in Ukraine.“Only with a unified effort that cuts off the revenues funding Putin’s war machine at the source will we be able to apply sufficient economic pressure to end the senseless killing,” Greer and Bessent said in a statement after the call.The officials said the US has already moved ahead with punitive tariffs on nations that continue importing Russ...

Washington, Sep 13 (IANS) US President Donald Trump will meet with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in New York, days after an Israeli air strike targeted Hamas leaders in Doha, local media reported.Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, is expected to attend the meeting, said the reports.The Qatari prime minister headed to New York after roughly one hour of talks with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the White House earlier on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported quoting NBC News.The meeting in the White House was described as "very positive," said the report, noting that the two sides discussed Qatar's role in facilitating peace in the Middle East and a defense cooperation agreement between the two countries.The official said Tr...

Cape Town, Sep 13 (IANS) South Africa's highest court, the Constitutional Court, has ruled that husbands are now legally allowed to take on the surnames of their wives.The court ruled on Thursday that certain sections of the current Births and Deaths Registration Act are "unconstitutional," as they "unfairly discriminate on the grounds of gender."The ruling was made after two couples approached the Constitutional Court, Xinhua news agency reported.One man, Henry van der Merwe, was not allowed by the Department of Home Affairs to take the surname of his wife Jana Jordaan, while in the case of the second couple, Andreas Nicolaas Bornman was disallowed from hyphenating his surname to include that of his wife Jess Donnelly-Bornman.The matter was heard on March 4, and judgment was delivered on ...

Washington, Sep 13 (IANS) Two days after an Indian national, Chandra Nagamallaiah was brutally murdered and decapitated by an undocumented immigrant from Cuba, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has started the process of the attacker’s “removal” from the country.In a statement, the agency highlighted the criminal background of the alleged murderer. “On September 10, Yordanis Cobos-Martinez- an illegal alien from Cuba with a rap sheet including child sex abuse, grand theft of a motor vehicle, false imprisonment and carjacking - was arrested by Dallas Police Department at a motel in Dallas for murder.”On Wednesday, 41-year-old Nagamallaiah was fatally attacked and decapitated at a motel in Dallas, Texas. 37-year-old Martinez...

New York, Sep 13 (IANS) "We got him”, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said, announcing on Friday the arrest of the alleged assassin of US President Donald Trump’s close supporter, Charlie Kirk. Tyler Robinson was turned in by his father, who recognised his photographs circulated by law enforcement and had heard him making radical statements, Trump said without naming him on Fox News before Cox’s announcement."And the father convinced the son, 'this is it’”, he said.Kirk, a conservative youth leader with a large following, was shot dead on Wednesday when he was speaking at a university in Utah.Trump attributed his victory last year to Kirk mobilising young people to vote for him, and he emerged as an adviser to Trump.Kirk was close to Vice President JD Vance and had lobbied with Trump to make him...

Washington, Sep 12 (IANS) US President Donald Trump on Friday said that imposing 50 per cent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil was not “an easy thing to do” and was a “big deal.”In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Trump said that his decision to put punitive levies on New Delhi caused a “rift with India.”“India was their biggest customer. I put a 50 per cent tariff on India because they're buying oil from Russia. That's not an easy thing to do. That's a big deal, and it causes a rift with India,” Trump added.His remarks on India came in response to a question on the likely action against Russia for continuing the conflict in Ukraine.Trump also announced that he will be hitting Russia “very hard” with economic measures, including tariffs.“It'd be hitting very hard on with sanctio...

Geneva, Sep 12 (IANS) A powerful exhibition organised by Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) at the iconic Place des Nations, beside the Broken Chair monument in Geneva, shed light on the ongoing persecution and human rights violations faced by vulnerable minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh.The three day event from September 8-10 drew significant attention from the public, civil society actors, and international visitors.Through impactful posters, statistical evidence, and portraits of victims, the exhibition amplified the voices of communities including Ahmadiyya, Sindh, and Baloch communities in Pakistan, as well as Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian minorities in Bangladesh, who were often silenced or ignored.“These groups continue to face systematic discrimination, targeted violence, forc...

Kathmandu, Sep 12 (IANS) Sushila Karki, 73, was sworn in as Nepal's interim Prime Minister late Friday evening, thus becoming the first-ever woman PM of the Himalayan nation.Karki, also the country’s first woman Chief Justice, took the oath of office from President Ram Chandra Poudel who held extensive consultations with leaders of the Gen-Z protests, constitutional experts, and the army chief, throughout the day.Following the fall of KP Sharma-Oli led government during the violent Gen-Z protests on Monday, Karki was the pick of activists who have taken to the streets, protesting against Oli's rule.Discussions with Gen-Z protestors and other stakeholders were prolonged over the issue of dissolving the House of Representatives, the lower house, before the new Prime Minister is sworn in or a...