Taiwan president says China has no right to sanction Taiwan’s people
Updated 24 June 2024
Reuters
TAIPEI: Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Monday that China has no right to sanction Taiwan’s people or go after their rights, after China threatened to impose the death penalty in extreme cases for “diehard” Taiwan independence separatists.
China should talk to Taiwan’s legitimately elected government and recognize its existence, and if it does not then relations will only drift further apart, he told reporters at the presidential office in Taipei.
Two-year-old US citizen deported ‘with no meaningful process’
“It is illegal and unconstitutional to deport, detain for deportation, or recommend deportation of a US citizen,” Doughty said
Updated 9 sec ago
Reuters
WASHINGTON:The Trump administration appeared to have deported a 2-year-old US citizen “with no meaningful process,” a federal judge said on Friday, as the child’s father sought to have her returned to the United States. US District Judge Terry A. Doughty said the girl, who was referred to as “V.M.L.” in court documents, was deported with her mother. “It is illegal and unconstitutional to deport, detain for deportation, or recommend deportation of a US citizen,” Doughty said. He scheduled a hearing for May 19 “in the interest of dispelling our strong suspicion that the Government just deported a US citizen with no meaningful process.” V.M.L. was apprehended by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday with her mother, Jenny Carolina Lopez Villela, and older sister when Villela attended a routine appointment at its New Orleans office, according to a filing by Trish Mack, who said the infant’s father asked her to act as the child’s custodian. According to Mack, when V.M.L.’s father briefly spoke to Villela, he could hear her and the children crying. During that time, according to a court document, he reminded her that their daughter was a US citizen “and could not be deported.” However, prosecutors said Villela, who has legal custody, told ICE that she wanted to retain custody of the girl and have her go with her to Honduras. They said the man claiming to be V.M.L.’s father had not presented himself to ICE despite requests to do so. “It is therefore in V.M.L.’s best interest that she remain in the lawful custody of her mother,” Trump administration officials said in a filing on Friday. “Further, V.M.L. is not at risk of irreparable harm because she is a US citizen.” V.M.L. is not prohibited from entering the US, prosecutors added. The Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The American Civil Liberties Union described V.M.L,’s case -and another similar — as a “shocking ... abuse of power.” “These actions stand in direct violation of ICE’s own written and informal directives, which mandate coordination for the care of minor children with willing caretakers – regardless of immigration status – when deportations are being carried out,” it said. US President Donald Trump, whose presidential campaigns have focused heavily on immigration, said earlier this month he wanted to deport some violent criminals who are US citizens to El Salvadoran prisons. The comments raised concern about a proposal that has alarmed civil rights advocates and is viewed by many legal scholars as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration, which has already deported hundreds of people to El Salvador, to “facilitate and effectuate” the return of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was sent to the country on March 15 despite an order protecting him from deportation.
Indian army says new exchange of gunfire with Pakistan
Says unprovoked” small arms firing was carried out by “multiple” Pakistan army posts “all across the Line of Control in Kashmir”
Updated 42 min 48 sec ago
AFP
NEW DELHI: Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged gunfire overnight along the Line of Control (LOC) that separates the two countries in contested Kashmir for a second day running, the Indian army said Saturday.
India’s army said “unprovoked” small arms firing was carried out by “multiple” Pakistan army posts “all across the Line of Control in Kashmir” overnight from Friday to Saturday.
“Indian troops responded appropriately with small arms,” it said in a statement. “No casualties reported.”
FBI arrests a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities
Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of escorting the man out of her courtroom through the jury door as immigration authorities were coming
Arrest comes amid growing battle between the Trump administration and the federal judiciary over deportations and other matters
Updated 26 April 2025
AP
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin: The FBI on Friday arrested a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, escalating a clash between the Trump administration and local authorities over the Republican president’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of escorting the man and his lawyer out of her courtroom through the jury door last week after learning that immigration authorities were seeking his arrest. The man was taken into custody outside the courthouse after agents chased him on foot.
President Donald Trump’s administration has accused state and local officials of interfering with his immigration enforcement priorities. The arrest also comes amid a growing battle between the administration and the federal judiciary over the president’s executive actions over deportations and other matters.
Dugan was taken into custody by the FBI on Friday morning on the courthouse grounds, according to US Marshals Service spokesperson Brady McCarron. She appeared briefly in federal court in Milwaukee later Friday before being released from custody. She faces charges of “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest” and obstructing or impeding a proceeding.
“Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety,” her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during the hearing. He declined to comment to an Associated Press reporter following her court appearance.
Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, in a statement on the arrest, accused the Trump administration of repeatedly using “dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level.”
“I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law,” he said.
Court papers suggest Dugan was alerted to the presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the courthouse by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that they appeared to be in the hallway.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan speaks during a rally marking the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2025, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Lee Matz/Milwaukee Independent via AP)
The FBI affidavit describes Dugan as “visibly angry” over the arrival of immigration agents in the courthouse and says that she pronounced the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. It says she and another judge later approached members of the arrest team inside the courthouse, displaying what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”
After a back-and-forth with officers over the warrant for the man, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, she demanded that the arrest team speak with the chief judge and led them away from the courtroom, the affidavit says.
After directing the arrest team to the chief judge’s office, investigators say, Dugan returned to the courtroom and was heard saying words to the effect of “wait, come with me” before ushering Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer through a jury door into a non-public area of the courthouse. The action was unusual, the affidavit says, because “only deputies, juries, court staff, and in-custody defendants being escorted by deputies used the back jury door. Defense attorneys and defendants who were not in custody never used the jury door.”
A sign that remained posted on Dugan’s courtroom door Friday advised that if any attorney or other court official “knows or believes that a person feels unsafe coming to the courthouse to courtroom 615,” they should notify the clerk and request an appearance via Zoom.
A sign is posted outside of county Judge Hannah Dugan's courtroom at the Milwaukee County courthouse on April 25, 2025. (AP Photo)
Flores-Ruiz, 30, was in Dugan’s court for a hearing after being charged with three counts of misdemeanor domestic battery. Confronted by a roommate for playing loud music on March 12, Flores-Ruiz allegedly fought with him in the kitchen and struck a woman who tried to break them up, according to the police affidavit in the case.
Another woman who tried to break up the fight and called police allegedly got elbowed in the arm by Flores-Ruiz.
Flores-Ruiz faces up to nine months in prison and a $10,000 fine on each count if convicted. His public defender, Alexander Kostal, did not immediately return a phone message Friday seeking comment.
A federal judge, the same one Dugan would appear before a day later, had ordered Thursday that Flores-Ruiz remain jailed pending trial. Flores-Ruiz had been in the US since reentering the country after he was deported in 2013, according to court documents.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said victims were sitting in the courtroom with state prosecutors when the judge helped him escape immigration arrest.
“The rule of law is very simple,” she said in a video posted on X. “It doesn’t matter what line of work you’re in. If you break the law, we will follow the facts and we will prosecute you.”
White House officials echoed the sentiment of no one being above the law.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat who represents Wisconsin, called the arrest of a sitting judge a “gravely serious and drastic move” that “threatens to breach” the separation of power between the executive and judicial branches.
Emilio De Torre, executive director of Milwaukee Turners, said during a protest Friday afternoon outside the federal courthouse that Dugan was a former board member for the local civic group who “was certainly trying to make sure that due process is not disrupted and that the sanctity of the courts is upheld.”
“Sending armed FBI and ICE agents into buildings like this will intimidate individuals showing up to court to pay fines, to deal with whatever court proceedings they may have,” De Torre added.
The case is similar to one brought during the first Trump administration against a Massachusetts judge, who was accused of helping a man sneak out a back door of a courthouse to evade a waiting immigration enforcement agent.
That prosecution sparked outrage from many in the legal community, who slammed the case as politically motivated. Prosecutors dropped the case against Newton District Judge Shelley Joseph in 2022 under the Democratic Biden administration after she agreed to refer herself to a state agency that investigates allegations of misconduct by members of the bench.
The Justice Department had previously signaled that it was going to crack down on local officials who thwart federal immigration efforts.
The department in January ordered prosecutors to investigate for potential criminal charges any state and local officials who obstruct or impede federal functions. As potential avenues for prosecution, a memo cited a conspiracy offense as well as a law prohibiting the harboring of people in the country illegally.
Dugan was elected in 2016 to the county court Branch 31. She also has served in the court’s probate and civil divisions, according to her judicial candidate biography.
Before being elected to public office, Dugan practiced at Legal Action of Wisconsin and the Legal Aid Society. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1981 with a bachelor of arts degree and earned her Juris Doctorate in 1987 from the school.
Developing countries should fast-track US trade deals: World Bank president
Agrees with US push for removal of China from bank's list of“developing country” status
Says WB is also pushing to encourage private sector job creation in developing countries
Updated 26 April 2025
AFP
WASHINGTON: Developing countries should strike swift trade deals with the United States at the “earliest possible” opportunity, the president of the World Bank told AFP Friday, after a busy week with global financial leaders in Washington.
Ajay Banga was interviewed by AFP at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s Spring Meetings, which have been held this year under a cloud of uncertainty about President Donald Trump’s stop-start tariff rollout.
The Bank has been advising developing countries to get a deal done quickly with the United States, and to then focus attention on cutting trade barriers and boosting regional flows of goods, Banga said.
“You need to negotiate trade systems with the US at the earliest possible (opportunity),” he said. “If you delay, it hurts everyone.”
Trump’s tariffs have roiled financial markets, sent volatility surging and spooked investors and consumers.
Since returning to office in January, the US leader has imposed a “baseline” 10 percent tariff on most countries, with much higher duties on China, and 25 percent sector-specific levies on areas including steel, aluminum, and automobiles not manufactured in the United States.
He also introduced much higher tariffs on dozens of countries — which have since been temporarily paused — accusing them of having an unfair trade balance with the United States.
China’s ‘absurd’ status
Banga also addressed the criticism leveled by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the Bank earlier this week.
Bessent criticized China’s “absurd” developing country status and called on Banga and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to “earn the confidence of the administration.”
“I don’t think he’s wrong,” Banga said of Bessent’s comments on China.
“A country that is the size of China and the capability of China, at some point, should no longer be taking money from IBRD,” he said, referring to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development — an arm of the World Bank that lends largely to middle-income countries.
Such a move would require the support of the World Bank’s executive board, which is made up by member states.
China, Banga said, borrowed around $750 million from the IBRD last year, while paying billions of dollars to the institution in repayments and donations.
“My view is, I’ve brought it down to 750 (million), and I’m trying to figure out a way to deal with China to bring it down further,” he said. “I want to get it done. And that’s what I’m talking to the Chinese about.”
Banga said the Trump administration’s criticisms of the World Bank, which included “expansive policy overreach,” were not unusual, citing newly elected governments in countries including France, Japan and Korea.
“I keep telling people this is a perfectly constructive request, to say, tell me and show me that you guys are the kind of people that advance the interests of my taxpayer, of my country,” he said.
“I take it in that spirit,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with it.”
Since taking the helm of the Washington-based development lender in 2023, Banga has pushed to streamline operations and encourage private sector participation, while focusing on job creation and electricity connectivity.
Among the Bank’s current priorities is a push with the African Development Bank to connect 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030 — a process that will require a vast amount of new energy to be brought online.
“You should try and get (energy) in the best, accessible way and the lowest possible cost,” Banga said, suggesting that in addition to renewable power, nuclear and gas could help provide a base load — two energy sources the World Bank is currently hesitant to finance.
The Bank’s executive board is set to discuss its energy strategy in June, Banga said, adding that funding for both nuclear and gas would likely be on the agenda.
Banga said the Bank is also pushing to encourage private sector job creation in developing countries — beyond simply outsourcing jobs from advanced economies.
“Because then you end up with challenges in (advanced economies), and you can see that people are speaking about them with their votes,” he added.
China foreign minister says US tariffs show ‘extreme egoism’
FM Wang Yi said China would seek solidarity with other countries and would uphold multilateralism to “inject stability into the world”
Updated 26 April 2025
Reuters
HONG KONG: China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing stands on the side of international rules on US-imposed tariffs and opposes protectionism, the Foreign Ministry on Saturday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a China-Central Asia foreign ministers meeting in Kazakhstan, Wang said Beijing would seek solidarity with other countries on the tariff situation and exposes “extreme egoism” and the bullying of certain countries, the ministry said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump asserted in an interview published on Friday that tariff negotiations were under way with China, but Beijing denied any talks were taking place, the latest in a series of conflicting signals over what progress was being made to de-escalate a trade war threatening to sap global growth.
Wang, meeting with Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov, said China would seek solidarity with other countries and would uphold multilateralism to “inject stability into the world.”
