Headline

US Justifies Sending Migrants To South Sudan

Published

5 months ago

May 21, 2025

US justifies sending migrants to South Sudan
The US government on Wednesday justified its decision to deport a group of migrants, several of them Asian, to impoverished South Sudan — now in the throes of internal conflict — but suggested it was not their last stop.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin slammed a federal judge in Boston for suspending the expulsion, accusing him of “trying to force the United States to bring back these uniquely barbaric monsters.”

The judge on Tuesday ordered the government to “maintain custody… of class members currently being removed to South Sudan or to any other third country, to ensure the practical feasibility of return if the court finds that such removals were unlawful.”

Donald Trump campaigned for president promising to expel millions of undocumented migrants, and he has taken a number of actions aimed at speeding up deportations since returning to the White House in January.

Trump claims that the United States is facing an “invasion” from foreign criminals. But his mass deportation efforts have been thwarted or stalled by numerous courts, including the Supreme Court, over concerns that migrant rights are being ignored.

At a new hearing on Wednesday, District Judge Brian Murphy said the government had violated one of his previous orders, calling the timeframe given for the migrants to contest their expulsions “plainly insufficient.”

The White House identified the eight men as two citizens of Myanmar, two Cubans, a Vietnamese man, a Laotian, a Mexican and a South Sudanese citizen. The statement listed the crimes they allegedly committed.

“These are the only eight on the flight,” McLaughlin told reporters.

“Because of safety and operational security, we cannot tell you what the final destination for these individuals will be,” she said.

When pressed on the question, she said: “We’re confirming the fact that that’s not their final destination,” though she never named South Sudan as the stopover country.

“They’re still in DHS custody,” McLaughlin told the press conference, when asked if the administration was respecting the judge’s decision. “We are following due process under the US Constitution.”

While the government said those scheduled for expulsion had ample warning, lawyers for the Vietnamese national and one citizen of Myanmar said in court filings that their clients only learned the night before or on Tuesday, when the flight left.

The attorneys argue that the government violated an earlier order by not allowing their clients time to file for protection under the UN Convention against Torture.

When Murphy temporarily blocked the government from expelling Asian migrants to Libya earlier this month, he said migrants being sent to a third country had to be afforded the time to request such protection.

Headline

Woman Wanted Over Mutilation Of Boyfriend’s Genitals In US

Published

7 hours ago

October 9, 2025

Editor

Authorities in Toledo, Ohio, United States, are searching for a 45-year-old woman, Jeanita Hopings, accused of breaking into her boyfriend’s home and attacking him with a sharp object, causing serious injuries to his genitals.

As reported by PEOPLE on Thursday, warrants issued for Hopings’ arrest show she faces charges of felonious assault and aggravated burglary in connection with the October 7 incident.

Investigators allege that Hopings “forcefully kicked open the front door” of her boyfriend’s home before entering “without permission,” according to one of the warrants.

Once inside, she allegedly attacked the victim with an “unknown instrument,” inflicting a deep wound.

“The victim’s testicle was clearly exposed as the result of the laceration,” the warrant stated.

The man was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, police confirmed.

Hopings has not yet been arrested and has not entered a plea to the charges. Court records from Lucas County indicate that she has no prior felony history, though she has previously faced several traffic-related misdemeanour offences.

Police say Hopings remains at large as the investigation continues.

Headline

US To Execute Man Convicted Of Rape, Murder Of Teen

Published

11 hours ago

October 9, 2025

Editor

A 53-year-old man convicted of the 2001 rape and murder of a teenage girl is to be executed by lethal injection in the US state of Indiana on Friday.

Roy Lee Ward was sentenced to death in 2002 for the murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne at her home in the town of Dale.

Payne was repeatedly stabbed and died of her injuries several hours after the attack.

Ward was arrested at the scene while still holding a knife.

The execution is to be carried out between midnight and sunrise on Friday morning at a state prison in Michigan City.

Ward will be the third person put to death in Indiana since the state resumed executions last year after a 15-year hiatus because of difficulties obtaining the lethal drugs used in them.

There have been 34 executions in the United States this year, the most since 2014, when 35 inmates were put to death.

Florida has carried out the most executions — 13 — followed by Texas with five and South Carolina and Alabama with four.

Twenty-eight of this year’s executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad and four by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.

The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.

President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and on his first day in office called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

AFP

Headline

Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

Published

1 day ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may go to the Middle East at the end of this week as a peace deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is “very close.”

Trump said during an event at the White House that he would “go to Egypt most likely” but that he would also consider going to war-torn Gaza.

“I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually. And we’ll see, but there is a very good chance. Negotiations are going along very well,” Trump told reporters at the start of the event.

“Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas, and it seems to be going well. So we’ll let you know, if that’s the case, we’ll be leaving probably on Sunday, maybe on Saturday.”

Near the end of the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio unexpectedly entered the room and handed Trump a note.

The US president told reporters the note said that “we’re very close to a deal” and that his presence was needed. “I have to go now to try and solve some problems in the Middle East,” he added.

Hamas and Israeli officials are having indirect talks in Egypt on a 20-point peace proposal unveiled by Trump to end the two-year-old war.

– ‘Very close’ –

Trump said as he began the event that he had come off the phone with officials in the Middle East, where his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner had just joined discussions in Egypt.

“‘Peace for the Middle East,’ that’s a beautiful phrase, and we hope it’s going to come true, but it’s very close, and they’re doing very well,” Trump added.

“We have a great team over there, great negotiators, and they’re, unfortunately, great negotiators on the other side also. But it’s something I think that will happen.”

Asked if he would consider going to Gaza if a deal happens, Trump replied: “I would, yeah. I would. I might do that. I may do that. We haven’t decided exactly.”

Trump said he would insist on the release of hostages held by Hamas before traveling to the region.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier that he had received “encouraging” signs and hailed the support of Trump.

Hamas too expressed “optimism” over the indirect discussions with its foe Israel.

Trump’s plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
AFP