Headline

Judge Halts US Govt Effort To Detain Student For Deportation

Published

5 months ago

March 26, 2025

A judge ordered US authorities Tuesday to cease efforts to detain and deport a New York college student, as President Donald Trump presses his campaign against pupils linked to pro-Palestinian protests.

Trump has targeted New York’s Columbia University, where the student is enrolled, as an epicenter of the US student protest movement sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, stripping federal funds and directing immigration officers to deport foreign student demonstrators.

Critics argue that the Trump administration’s campaign is retribution and will have a chilling effect on free speech, while its supporters insist it is necessary to restore order to campuses and protect Jewish students.

Authorities had sought to detain Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old South Korean citizen and permanent resident of the United States, under the same powers they used to arrest and hold Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil pending deportation.

In both cases, authorities argue the students undermined US foreign policy through their actions, a charge which allows the Secretary of State to deport foreigners.

Chung, whom officers reportedly have been unable to find, sued the US government Monday, arguing that “immigration enforcement — here, immigration detention and threatened deportation — may not be used as a tool to punish noncitizen speakers who express political views disfavored by the current administration.”

According to Chung’s lawyers, Columbia’s Public Safety department contacted Chung to tell her that Homeland Security agents were seeking her arrest.

At an emergency hearing Tuesday, judge Naomi Buchwald ordered the government to stop its effort to locate and remove Chung, a court order said.

“Defendants-Respondents are enjoined from detaining the Plaintiff-Petitioner pending further order of this Court,” Buchwald said in a temporary restraining order.

– ‘They won’t stop’ –
Separately, a number of university professors sued the Trump administration Tuesday, arguing its policy targeting foreign academics was illegal.

“The policy prevents or impedes Plaintiffs’ US citizen members from hearing from, and associating with, their non-citizen students and colleagues,” the lawsuit reads.

In addition, the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers asked a New York judge to declare Trump’s slashing of $400 million from Columbia’s budget unconstitutional and to restore the funding.

Columbia’s student movement has been at the forefront of protests that have exposed deep rifts over the war in Gaza, drawing dividing lines on the issues of protest and free speech across the country.

Khalil, the arrested Columbia graduate student, was a prominent leader in the protest movement, leading negotiations between students and university authorities.

Lawyers are seeking to have him released from detention in Louisiana while they fight his deportation.

Chung, meanwhile, did not have such a high profile in the protest movement.

Her lawyers acknowledge that she was detained and released for “obstruction of governmental administration” and the case is pending in the New York courts system.

On March 13, federal agents searched two Columbia-owned residences apparently in connection with Chung’s case, according to her attorneys.

Activists call the protests that rocked numerous US campuses a show of support for the Palestinian people, while Trump condemns them as anti-Semitic and says they must end.

The president has cut $400 million in federal funding for Columbia — including research grants and other contracts — on the grounds that the institution has not adequately protected Jewish students from harassment.

Columbia announced Friday a package of concessions to the Trump administration around defining anti-Semitism, policing protests and oversight for specific academic departments.

They stopped short however of some of the more strenuous demands of the Trump administration, which nonetheless welcomed the Ivy League college’s proposals.

Todd Wolfson, of the American Association of University Professors that joined the academics’ lawsuit, said “the Trump administration is going after international scholars and students who speak their minds about Palestine, but make no mistake: they won’t stop there.”

Headline

Again, Russia Claims Another Village In Ukraine’s Region

Published

2 days ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

The Russian army Monday claimed to have captured another village in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, moving deeper into Ukrainian territory as peace efforts stall.

Russian forces are slowly but steadily gaining ground in costly battles for largely devastated areas in eastern and central Ukraine, normally with few inhabitants or intact buildings left.

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had seized the settlement of Zaporizke in the region, which Russian troops recently advanced into for the first time in the three-and-a-half-year offensive.

Kyiv denies that Russian troops have gained a foothold in the Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub.

After another push by US President Donald Trump to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, hopes for peace dimmed when Russia last week ruled out any immediate meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

The central region of Dnipropetrovsk has previously been largely spared from fighting that has ravaged swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, until Russia said its forces broke through in July.

Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea — that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.

Ukraine said Russia had launched over 100 drones Monday, killing a 37-year old civilian driver and wounding two people in the northeastern Sumy region.

Moscow said Kyiv had launched about two dozen drones targeting western Russia

Headline

US Comedian Reggie Carroll Shot Dead In Mississippi

Published

2 days ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

A United States comedian, Reginald “Reggie” Carroll, has been shot dead in Southaven, Mississippi.

The 52-year-old Carroll, widely known as the Knockout King of Comedy, was reportedly killed on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.

The Southaven Police Department confirmed the incident in a Facebook statement on Saturday.

“Southaven officers located one male victim suffering from gunshot wounds.

“The officers and medical personnel provided life saving techniques but the individual succumbed to his injuries,” the statement partly read.

The victim was later identified as Carroll, a Baltimore native.

Police said one suspect was arrested and charged with his murder.

“One male is in custody and has been charged with the murder of Reginald Carroll.

“Our thoughts are with the family of Mr. Carroll.

“Thank you to the community for their patience and understanding,” the department added.

The police further assured that there was no ongoing threat to residents, describing the case as “an isolated shooting.”

Carroll, who built his career in stand-up comedy, gained national recognition touring with Katt Williams and headlining his own showcase, Knockout Kings of Comedy.

He also featured in the 2000 edition of Showtime at the Apollo, appeared on the UPN sitcom The Parkers alongside Mo’Nique and Countess Vaughn, and starred in the 2022 television film Rent & Go.

In 2023, he produced the stand-up special Knockout Kings of Comedy.

The Southaven Police Department disclosed that an investigation into his death is ongoing.

Headline

US Defends New Social Media Vetting For Nigerian Visa Applicants

Published

2 days ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

The U.S. Mission in Nigeria on Monday reaffirmed that the safety and security of the United States remain the cornerstone of its visa application and decision-making process.

The US said this following its directive last week that mandates Nigerians to disclose all social media usernames and handles used over the past five years as part of the visa application process.

US Mission said Nigerian visa applicants must provide a comprehensive list of their social media profiles on the DS-160 visa application form, and warned that omitting the information could lead to visa denials.

Reacting to the development, the Federal Government said US citizens intending to visit Nigeria will be subjected to the same measures.

“The best we can do is to carry out reciprocal action. Some people from the US might want to apply for a visa, and we will adopt the same measures,” spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said last Monday.

However, in a statement released Monday on X, the US Mission said prospective visa applicants undergo careful vetting to maintain a safe and welcoming environment in the US.

It said, “The safety and security of the United States is at the heart of every #USVisa application and decision process.

“That’s why prospective applicants undergo careful screening to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for all.”

The Mission added, “These measures help protect American citizens and communities while supporting secure and responsible travel.”