Kerala Congress suspends Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil from party’s primary membership following ‘obscene conduct’ allegations
However, he will continue to serve as a legislator. The suspension came amid rising protests and growing calls for action and demands for his resignation.
Meet Ameet Satam, newly appointed Mumbai BJP President ahead of BMC polls, has this Ratan Tata connection
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said that under Amit Satam’s leadership, the BJP will break records in the upcoming BMC elections. Ameet Satam’s appointment comes after the reunion of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray.
Trump’s week shaped by crime agenda, potential guard deployment to Chicago
More details of President Donald Trump’s potential deployment of additional National Guard troops to Chicago could come into focus this week. The move comes as the Trump administration doubles down on its tough-on-crime agenda, seeking a larger federal footprint in Democrat-led cities, drawing pushback from local leaders who contend the move is political. TRUMP VOWS TO MAKE DC ‘SAFER’ AND ‘BEAUTIFUL’ AS CAPITAL BATTLES CRIME AND HOMELESSNESS On Friday, Trump said he would address crime in other major U.S. cities, describing D.C. as a “hellhole” before federal law enforcement and more than 2,200 National Guard members were mobilized to patrol the city’s streets. “Now it’s safe,” the president said a day after visiting with deployed troops in the capital. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said last week that more than 700 arrests have been made in D.C. since Aug. 11. Trump said he would expand security efforts to other major U.S. cities across the country, singling out Chicago but offering few specifics. “Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent,” Trump said on Friday, adding that the Windy City will “be our next one after this,” a reference to the current security presence in Washington. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, said in a statement on Friday that his city has yet to receive details about additional federal law enforcement or military deployments to Chicago. He called the Trump administration’s efforts “uncoordinated, uncalled-for and unsound.” CHICAGO MAYOR SLAMS TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT PLAN Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement Saturday that he has also not heard from the federal government and noted that his state has not requested security assistance. Chicago, home to about 2.7 million people, has topped the nation in homicides for 13 straight years, logging 573 in 2024 alone, according to the city’s own figures. It is not immediately clear what the size and scope of the potential deployment in Chicago will be, or when it might begin. Over the weekend, Trump threatened to send the National Guard to Baltimore following an invitation from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore to attend a public safety walk and learn about the security needs. “As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this crime disaster before I go there for a walk,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. He added that he could deploy National Guard members to Maryland in order to “quickly clean up the crime.” The president added that he did not appreciate the tone of Moore’s Aug. 21 invitation. TRUMP SAYS HE COULD SEND THE NATIONAL GUARD TO MARYLAND TO ADDRESS CRIME Earlier this month, the Trump administration rolled out plans to curb crime and the growing homeless population in the nation’s capital. “The Mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, is a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the crime numbers get worse, and the city only gets dirtier and less attractive. The American public is not going to put up with it any longer,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Aug. 10. Trump wrote in a separate Truth Social post that he wants the homeless to “immediately” move “far from” the nation’s capital. “The criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong,” he wrote in the same post, adding that the new crackdowns on both issues are “going to happen very fast.” “There will be no “MR. NICE GUY.” We want our Capital BACK,” Trump wrote, adding that more details on these efforts will be laid out during a press conference on Monday.
Scoop: ‘Make America Fentanyl Free’ campaign launches to help Trump lower overdose deaths
FIRST ON FOX: A new campaign launched on Monday to help fulfill President Donald Trump’s pledge to reduce fentanyl overdose deaths, which are one of the nation’s deadliest public health crises. The campaign, titled Make America Fentanyl Free, is described as a privately-funded multi-million-dollar ad blitz on national and local television, and across all major social media platforms, including X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook. The effort, which was first shared with Fox News Digital on Monday, aims to reduce the number of Americans killed by fentanyl, a highly potent and extremely dangerous synthetic opioid. Fentanyl and fentanyl-related drugs have been responsible for most drug overdose deaths in the U.S. for nearly a decade. “The Make America Fentanyl Free ad campaign was launched to support President Trump’s efforts to save American lives from deadly fentanyl, which continues to be a leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45,” organizers said in a statement. DRUG DEADLIER THAN FENTANYL SPREADS ACROSS THE AMERICAS Organizers emphasized that the mission of the campaign, which is also online at MakeAmericaFentanylFree.com, is to inform Americans about the devastating effects of fentanyl, and pointed out that “ingesting as little as three grains of fentanyl can be lethal within minutes.” The campaign is also intended to educate the public about the hidden dangers of fentanyl, which is frequently disguised in other substances, such as cocaine and marijuana. TRUMP SIGNED FENTANYL LAW WILL END ‘CAT AND MOUSE’ WITH TRAFFICKERS “Make America Fentanyl Free is working with President Trump to aggressively make sure every American understands the danger of fentanyl,” the narrator in the ad says. The effort also intends to “send a strong unequivocal message to Mexican drug cartels that actions leading to American deaths or harm will result in serious consequences.” The Trump administration says it has lowered fentanyl deaths in the U.S. by beefing up security along the nation’s borders, emphasizing law enforcement, and raising tariffs against China and Mexico to keep fentanyl and other lethal drugs out of the country. Organizers touted that “on day one in office, President Trump shut down the dangerous, open border and stemmed the flow of deadly fentanyl through our country. As a result, fentanyl traffic at the border fell by 54% in the first months of the Trump Administration. FATHER WHOSE SON DIED FROM FENTANYL WARNS ‘OVERDOSES CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE’ But organizers said their effort is needed to “continue eradicating deadly fentanyl from our communities.” Trump last month signed into law a bill permanently placing street versions of fentanyl on the list of controlled substances, which should make it easier to prosecute fentanyl traffickers and put them behind bars. But the Trump administration has also been criticized when it comes to battling fentanyl deaths, for seeking major cuts to domestic programs that work to reduce drug demand. And Democrats in California, taking aim at what they call Trump’s “unlawful deployment of military personnel to Los Angeles,” say the effort has slashed the California’s National Guard’s fentanyl and drug interdiction force by 32%, “directly harming California’s ability to fight the flow of illegal drugs into our communities.” Organizers of the new effort highlight that Make America Fentanyl Free is a privately funded campaign “launched without taxpayer dollars.” Some of the major contributions to fund the campaign have come from a number of the president’s major donors and allies, according to sources in Trump’s political orbit.
Trump tells Grassley to tell Democrats ‘go to HELL’ over blocked judicial nominees in Senate
President Donald Trump on Sunday blasted the Senate’s “blue slip” tradition, calling it an unconstitutional affront to his appointment power and alleging that his rights have “been completely taken away from me in States that have just one Democrat United States Senator.” The president is referring to his ability to nominate judges and U.S. Attorneys, accusing the custom of essentially giving Democrats veto power over his nominees. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley is defending the century-old process, saying he views it as a norm worth preserving for balance and state input. GRASSLEY REBUKES TRUMP’S PRESSURE TO ‘HAVE THE COURAGE’ TO SPEED UP NOMINATIONS Blue slips are a long-standing tradition but are not a codified law, and constitutionally he is only allowed the power to nominate while the Senate ultimately approves or rejects that nomination. Trump’s frustration with the Senate’s blue slip practice isn’t new. In July, Trump called the tradition a “hoax” and a “scam” used by Democrats to block his nominees and demanded that Grassley stop supporting them. “Put simply, the president of the United States will never be permitted to appoint the person of his choice because of an ancient, and probably unconstitutional, ‘CUSTOM,’” his post said. ALINA HABBA SAYS SHE ‘WON’T BE INTIMIDATED’ AFTER SENATE CUSTOM HINDERS US ATTORNEY NOMINATION In his first term, Trump was able to appoint 234 federal judges, including three Supreme Court justices and 54 appellate court judges. However, this term he has only confirmed five in the first seven months. Trump went on in his post to suggest he was willing to apply pressure and that Grassley shouldn’t acquiesce. “The only candidates that I can get confirmed for these most important positions are, believe it or not, Democrats! Chuck Grassley should allow strong Republican candidates to ascend to these very vital and powerful roles, and tell the Democrats, as they often tell us, to go to HELL!” he wrote. Trump’s comments come after U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann recently ruled that Alina Habba had been unlawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey beyond the 120-day limit allowed for temporary prosecutors and that the administration had been using an unusual maneuver to keep her in the role. Trump’s pressure campaign could shape how many judicial vacancies he can realistically fill in the months ahead.
US National Guard troops begin carrying weapons in Washington, DC
The military said some troops are now carrying guns as Trump claims there is now ‘no crime’ in the US capital. National Guard troops patrolling the United States capital at the direction of President Donald Trump have started carrying firearms, the military said on Sunday. “Starting the late evening of August 24, 2025, [Joint Task Force-DC] service members began carrying their service-issued weapon,” the Joint Task Force-DC said in a statement. The troops are only authorised to use force “as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm”, the statement said. Unnamed officials told the Reuters news agency that the National Guard would either carry M17 pistols or M4 rifles. The announcement came as Trump claimed, without evidence, on Sunday that there is “NO CRIME AND NO MURDER IN DC!”, one week after he deployed troops there. In the same post on Truth Social, Trump said he might “send in the ‘troops’” to neighbouring Baltimore, which he described as “out of control” and “crime-ridden”. Responding to an invitation from Maryland Governor Wes Moore to visit Baltimore and walk its streets, Trump said: “I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a ‘walk’.” However, according to the Baltimore police department, there was a double-digit reduction in gun violence in July compared with the previous year. The city has had 84 homicides so far this year – the fewest in more than 50 years, according to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. In Washington, DC, which has a population of just more than 700,000 people, thousands of National Guard and federal law enforcement officers are now patrolling the streets. Advertisement The National Guard is a part-time force of reserve soldiers, which, according to the US Army, can be called on to respond to domestic emergencies, overseas combat missions and “counter-drug efforts”. People protest against Trump’s use of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in the city during a rally along the U-Street corridor in northwest Washington, DC, on Saturday [Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo] Their presence in the national capital, along with federal law enforcement officers, has been met by protests, as well as fear and confusion from residents. At Trump’s request, some Republican governors have sent hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington, DC, which the president has depicted as being in the grip of a crime wave, although official data shows crime is down in the city. Since Washington, DC, is not a state, the president has the power to take over policing in the capital for up to 30 days. Many residents have long advocated for the district to become a state. However, Democrats did not further pursue efforts to make it a state after passing a bill in favour of it through the then-Democrat-controlled House of Representatives in 2020. Meanwhile, JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, on Sunday rejected Trump’s push to send troops into Chicago. “Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicise Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing working families,” Pritzker said in a statement. Adblock test (Why?)
South Korea’s Lee set to meet Trump, with trade and security high on agenda
Seoul, South Korea – South Korean President Lee Jae-myung is set to meet United States President Donald Trump for the first time in a high-stakes visit to his country’s closest and most important ally. After a one-day meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo, Lee arrived in Washington, DC, on Sunday ahead of an official working-level meeting at the White House with Trump. It will be the first time the two heads of state meet. Their summit follows a trade deal in July in which Washington agreed to cut its reciprocal tariff on South Korea to 15 percent from an initially proposed 25 percent. The meeting is crucial for South Korea, whose engagement with the Trump administration was disrupted by domestic political turmoil, ignited by the brief declaration of martial law announced in December by the country’s impeached former president, Yoon Suk-yeol. Discussion will focus on ironing out details of the unwritten July trade deal, which involves South Korea agreeing to buy $100bn in US energy and invest $350bn in the US economy. On top of those dizzying sums are direct investments in the US, which are expected from South Korean companies, and which Trump has mentioned will be decided during their talks. Accompanied by first lady Kim Hea-kyung, Lee will lead a delegation formed by the heads of South Korean top conglomerates, including Samsung Electronics, SK Group, Hyundai Motor and LG Group. The four companies alone are already known to contribute approximately 126 trillion won ($91.2bn) in direct investments to the US, according to the South Korean daily Maeil Business Newspaper. Advertisement Choi Yoon-jung, a principal research fellow at the Sejong Institute in Seoul, said Lee needs to be deliberate and direct with Trump in the talks, as “South Korea is in a tough predicament in terms of trade with the US compared to the past”. “It will be important for President Lee to explain how investments will be designed to serve US national interests and to remind Trump that the two nations are close trading partners who went through large ordeals to realise their Free Trade Agreement over two decades ago,” Choi told Al Jazeera. Mason Richey, a professor of international politics at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), said the direction of the talks on investments is likely to be “unpredictable”. “Not only are the current 15 percent tariffs overwhelmingly likely to stay on, but the investment part of the deal is likely to remain unclear and subject to unpredictable adjustment by the White House,” Richey told Al Jazeera. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers under construction at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering facility on Geoje Island, South Korea, on December 7, 2018 [Ahn Young-joon/AP] Analysts say shipbuilding is one area where Trump clearly desires to have South Korea as a key partner to play catch-up to China’s naval fleet, which leads in terms of sheer numbers and is also making technological advancements. Officials in Seoul have previously stated that a key component of the tariff deal with Washington would include a partnership worth about $150bn to assist in rebuilding the US shipbuilding industry. To that end, after visiting the White House, Lee will head to Philadelphia to visit the Philly Shipyard, which was bought by the South Korean company Hanwha Group last year. Analysts also say that battery production and semiconductors are some other sectors where Trump has set clear objectives to increase US capacity, and where South Korea has shown willingness and interest in being that partner. “The South Korean government is also willing to actively participate in the ‘modernisation’ of its alliance with the US, that could include increasing contributions to upholding the region’s security and development,” said the Sejong Institute’s Choi. Another major discussion point will be Seoul and Washington’s defence posture regarding the growing threats from North Korea, as well as the development of a strategic alliance to address the changing international security and economic environment. “The pressures for the role of US forces on the Korean Peninsula to evolve has been growing for years,” Jenny Town, the director of the Washington, DC-based research programme 38 North, told Al Jazeera. Advertisement This evolution was especially so with great power competition increasing from China, Town said. “The Trump administration is focused on how to maximise resources for US interests and priorities, so it is likely that some changes will be made during this term,” Town said. “How drastic or dramatic those changes will depend on a number of factors, including the state of the US domestic political infrastructure that provides checks and balances to executive decisions,” she said. A US Senate defence policy bill for fiscal year 2026 includes a ban on the use of funds to reduce the number of US Forces Korea (USFK) troops to below the current level of 28,500 service members. “This makes it unlikely that there will be an immediate change in troop deployment numbers in South Korea,” Choi said. “So, the big point of contention will be the job assignment of the troops to match US interests. I think there’s a possibility of Trump asking South Korea to take on a bigger role in regional security, such as taking part in the conflict involving Taiwan.” Financial negotiations between Trump and Lee may also tip into security details, as the US president has regularly called for South Korea to pay more for the US troops stationed on its soil. Trump has made that same call since his first presidential term. In addition to providing more than $1bn for the presence of USFK forces, South Korea also paid the entire cost of building Camp Humphreys, the largest US base overseas, situated 64km (39 miles) south of Seoul. Trump has said that he wants defence spending to reach closer to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for all US allies. Today, South Korea’s defence budget is at 3.5 percent of GDP. Transfer of wartime operational command – referring to the transfer of control of South
Has Israel become a divisive issue in Europe?
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp resigns after failing to secure sanctions against Israel over Gaza atrocities. Earlier this month, Slovenia joined Spain and Belgium in imposing an arms embargo on Israel. Germany followed suit, partially, halting the sale of weapons to Israel that could be used in Gaza “until further notice”. The Netherlands has also imposed a partial ban on parts for Israeli fighter jets, while Italy suspended all new military exports to Israel in October. But it is the recent resignation of Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, after his government failed to agree to sanctions against Israel, that raises questions: Will this one action trigger a broader political fallout across the 27-nation bloc? Presenter: Adrian Finighan Guests: Mpanzu Bamenga – member of the Dutch Parliament and human rights lawyer Ori Goldberg – political commentator and author Rene Wildangel – Middle East analyst and former foreign policy adviser to the German Parliament. Adblock test (Why?)
India’s slams US tariffs as ‘unfair, unreasonable, unjustified’; says, ‘Will continue to…
Vinay Kumar, India’s ambassador to Russia, has emphasised that India will continue buying oil from wherever it gets the “best deal” and “take measures” to protect its national interest amid US tariffs.
Who is Sagar Kundu? 22-year-old YouTuber swept away at Odisha’s Duduma waterfall while making reel
A search operation was underway to locate the YouTuber. After the harrowing incident, locals are urging the authorities to implement stringent safety protocols and limited access to dangerous zones located near the waterfall. Read on to know more on this.