UNITED STATES
Immigrant release ordered
A federal judge has ordered the government to release from detention centers immigrant children and their mothers caught entering the nation illegally from Mexico. In a filing late on Friday, California US District Judge Dolly Gee rejected the government’s request that she reconsider her ruling and ordered it to implement remedies by Oct. 23, saying the children and their mothers must be released without unnecessary delay. Two centers in Texas and one in Pennsylvania held about 1,400 people recently, mostly Central Americans seeking asylum after fleeing violence at home. The government had fought the judge’s ruling, saying that the facilities had been turned into short-term processing centers. However, Gee said in her order that the government remains in violation of a longstanding legal agreement that bans immigrant children from being held in secure unlicensed facilities.
JORDAN
UN touts female education
The head of the UN Population Fund said the agency’s “new mantra” is to keep girls in school until age 18 “in every nook and cranny of the world,” as a key means of slowing population growth. The UN expects the world’s population to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and 9.7 billion by 2050. Agency executive director Babatunde Osotimehin said women tend to have fewer children if their first is born after they have turned 18 years old. He previously said that one in three girls is married before the age of 18. Osotimehin at a conference in Jordan on Friday said that pushing for primary education is not enough, adding that “we must up our game” as UN members prepare to ratify ambitious development goals for 2030 next month.
VENEZUELA
Border closure extended
President Nicolas Maduro is extending indefinitely the closure of a popular border crossing with Colombia and declaring a 60-day state of emergency in several western cities. Maduro earlier in the week announced a 72-hour closure of the normally busy crossing in Tachira State in response to a shooting of three army officers while patrolling for smugglers. On Friday night, he said the crossing would remain closed until the assailants are caught, adding that the state of emergency would allow security forces to reassert control over the long-volatile border. Maduro blamed smugglers and paramilitaries from Colombia for violence that has spilled over the 2,200km border in recent years. Opponents decried Maduro’s move and said that it might be an attempt to thwart defeat in upcoming legislative elections.
INDIA
Kashmiri separatist detained
Kashmiri leader Zameer Ahmed said that police have detained a top Kashmiri separatist leader after he landed at New Delhi’s airport ahead of talks between Indian and Pakistani security advisers. Ahmed said Shabir Ahmed Shah yesterday flew in from Indian Kashmir for a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s national security adviser Sartaj Aziz, who is scheduled to arrive in the Indian capital today. Shah and two colleagues were driven away from the airport by the New Delhi police, said Ahmed, who is also detained by the police. India opposes Pakistani leaders meeting with Kashmiri separatist leaders in New Delhi. The police in Indian Kashmir confirmed Shah’s detention in New Delhi.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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