Category: World

On April 13, President Donald Trump spoke while flying back to Washington, D.C., from Florida. He made it clear that he doesn’t want a foreign company to buy U.S. Steel, which is the American steel company. His comments follow a proposal that Japan’s Nippon Steel wants to buy U.S. Steel for $14 billion.

Last Wednesday, Trump said he does not want to see U.S. Steel “go to Japan,” which caused the company’s stock value to drop by 7%. After this, both U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel said they are working with the U.S. government to get a major investment.

When talking to reporters on Sunday, Trump repeated his view: “I don’t think a foreign company should control U.S. Steel.”

A 17-year-old named Nikita Casap from Wisconsin is facing serious charges for allegedly killing his parents. Authorities say he shot his mother, Tatiana, and stepfather, Donald, at their home near Milwaukee in February. Their bodies were found on February 28, after family members requested a well-being check. Investigators believe they had been dead for weeks and that Nikita lived with their bodies before leaving home with $14,000 in cash, jewelry, passports, and their family dog.

Nikita was arrested in Kansas during a traffic stop. Police found the cash, more than $14,000 in jewelry, and a revolver belonging to his stepfather in his car. That’s not all – he is also accused of planning to kill President Trump to overthrow the government. His plan was described in a three-page manifesto filled with hate, referencing extremist views and praising Adolf Hitler.

According to federal authorities, Nikita communicated with other people about his plans to assassinate the President. His manifesto mentioned wanting to bring chaos by getting rid of both Trump and the Vice President.

Nikita faces nine felony charges, including two counts of first-degree murder. He is now in jail with a $1 million bond and will appear in court to enter a plea. His public defender argues that he is still a minor and has not had a fair trial yet. A classmate reported that Nikita had once talked about killing his parents but claimed he didn’t have a gun.

The case has drawn a lot of attention due to the serious nature of the allegations against a teenager.

On Friday, four men were publicly executed in Afghanistan. This was the highest number of executions in a single day since the Taliban returned to power. With these four executions, a total of ten people have been publicly executed since the Taliban took control in 2021, according to a report by AFP.

During their previous rule from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban often executed people in public, especially in sports stadiums. In one place called Qala-i-Naw, two men were shot multiple times by family members of the victims in front of a crowd. A 48-year-old man named Mohammad Iqbal Rahimyar who watched the execution said the convicted men were made to sit and were shot by the victims’ relatives.

The Supreme Court stated that these men were punished for shooting others, and their cases were carefully reviewed before the actions were taken. The families of the victims chose not to forgive the convicted men, which is why the punishment was carried out.

A 35-year-old spectator named Zabihullah said that the punishment must be implemented if the family didn’t offer forgiveness, calling it God’s order. The Taliban encouraged people to come and watch the event by sending out official invitations.

The third man was executed in the city of Zaranj in Nimroz province and the fourth in Farah city. A witness named Javid expressed approval of the Taliban’s actions, saying it showed power and discipline.

The last public execution before this took place in November 2024 when a man was shot by a victim’s family member in front of thousands, including Taliban officials. The Taliban has been using corporal punishment, like flogging, for crimes such as theft and drinking alcohol.

All orders for executions are made by the Taliban’s Supreme Leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who resides in Kandahar. He has told judges to enforce strict Islamic law, which includes the death penalty for murder. The Taliban believes in strong law and order, stemming from the chaos of Afghanistan’s past civil wars.

Their past rule includes infamous incidents, such as the 1999 public execution of a woman accused of killing her husband. Groups like the United Nations and Amnesty International have condemned the Taliban’s use of severe punishments. Amnesty’s reports indicate that Afghanistan is among countries where executions happen without fair trials.

In 2024, there were 1,518 recorded executions worldwide, not counting countless others believed to take place in China, the world’s leading executioner.

The US Supreme Court has sided with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man from Maryland who was wrongly sent back to El Salvador last month. This happened because of a mistake made by the government. An immigration judge had already decided that sending him to El Salvador was dangerous because he might face harm from a gang.

Kilmar was deported after being held in the US for over ten years. He entered the US illegally in 2011. Even though local police thought he might be involved with gangs based on his clothes, an immigration judge found he was not connected to any gang and had granted him protection from being sent back.

Now, Kilmar is held in a tough prison in El Salvador with bad conditions. The Supreme Court told the government to help bring him back home and to make sure his case is treated fairly, as if he had never been sent away. US District Judge Paula Xinis gave the government a deadline to bring him back, but Chief Justice John Roberts put a pause on that deadline for now.

The justices emphasized that the government must share its plan to bring Kilmar back soon. The Department of Justice commented that judges should respect the government’s choices regarding how they handle foreign policy.

Although there’s no date for Kilmar’s return yet, this ruling puts pressure on the government to fix the error and help him get back to Maryland.

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will increase taxes on Chinese goods to 145%. This decision came after China responded by adding its own high taxes of 84% on American products. This information was shared in a memo from the White House.

Earlier this year, Trump had already placed a 20% tax on some Chinese items, blaming China for being involved in the illegal drug trade, especially with fentanyl. Just a day before this new announcement, he had raised the tax to 125%. The goal of these moves is to fix the trade imbalance between the US and China and to respond to China’s actions against American products.