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May 29 (UPI) —Smokey Robinson and his wife, Frances Robinson, filed a defamation suit against a group of women who have accused him of sexual assault.
The cross-complaint suit claims the sexual assault allegations by four former housekeepers, filed on May 6, were “fabricated” in order to support an “extortionate scheme.”
The suit contends that the Robinsons did not harm or abuse the former housekeepers and seeks to force the women who filed their suit using “Jane Doe” names to be publicly identified.
It also alleges they first demanded $100 million before filing the suit.
“When the Robinsons resisted the extortionate demands, plaintiffs filed this lawsuit,” attorney Christopher Frost wrote.
The suit further alleges that John Harris, an attorney for the housekeepers, and his firm Harris and Hayden, defamed Robinson by referring to the singer as a “serial and sick rapist” who must be stopped.
Harris and Hayden said in a Wednesday statement they will file a motion to strike down Robinson’s suit based on California’s law on “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” or SLAPP.
The law was designed to prevent harassing lawsuits filed by wealthy celebrities and corporations intended to silence free speech and intimidate accusers.
To succeed in legally striking down a SLAPP lawsuit, defendants must show they are being sued for “any act … in furtherance of the person’s right of petition or free speech under the United States Constitution or the California Constitution in connection with a public issue.“
“The cross-complaint … is nothing more than an attempt to silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr. Robinson’s sexual battery and assault. It is a baseless and vindictive legal maneuver designed to re-victimize, shift blame and discourage others from coming forward,” lawyers for the women accusing Robinson said in a statement to USA Today.
The women accusing Robinson alleged in their suit that Robinson committed sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, and gender violence for years.
On May 15, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced Robinson is under criminal investigation for sexual assault.
Israeli settlers stake their claim to West Bank land near the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba near the Palestinian city of Hebron in July 2022. It was unclear whether the outpost was one of 22 granted legal status under Israeli law by Israel’s security cabinet. File photo by Abir Sultan/EPA-EFE
May 29 (UPI) — Israel unveiled plans Thursday for the most significant expansion of its presence in the occupied West Bank in years after approving 22 new Jewish settlements.
The scheme gives legal recognition to the 22 settlements, which already exist but are unofficial, said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Katz said the step would “prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel,” but the Palestinian Authority and at least one anti-war group in Israel condemned the move.
Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh called the Israeli government’s approval of the new settlements in the occupied West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, a “dangerous escalation” that was an affront to international legitimacy and international law, including at least one U.N. Security Council Resolution.
He also called on Washington to intervene to halt “Israeli tampering” with what he said had implications for the entire region.
The Peace Now protest movement said the move would “dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further.”
Israel’s some 160 settlements on disputed land it has occupied for almost six decades since the 1967 Six-Day War with its Arab neighbors are illegal under international law. But Israel argues it has a legal claim on the grounds that the West Bank is fundamental to its security and for religious and historic reasons dating back to the Balfour Declaration and beyond.
Calling the settlement approvals “a historic decision,” Smotrich dismissed criticism of the move, saying Israel was not seizing foreign lands but reclaiming “the inheritance of our fathers.”
“This is a great day for settlement and an important day for the State of Israel. Through hard work and tenacious leadership, we have succeeded in creating a profound strategic change, returning the State of Israel to a path of construction, Zionism, and vision,” he wrote in a post on X.
“Settlement in the land of our ancestors is the protective wall of the State of Israel — today we have taken a huge step to strengthen it. The next step – sovereignty!” said Smotrich.
Katz and Smotrich’s statements came hours after the governments of Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain issued a joint communique reaffirming their commitment to the implementation of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
Only a “viable, contiguous Palestinian State, with internationally recognized borders, comprised of Gaza and the West Bank and with East Jerusalem as its capital, can fully satisfy the legitimate national aspirations and the needs of peace and security” of both peoples, read the dispatch issued after the representatives of the four nations met Wednesday.
Israel announces 22 new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, fuelling fears of further annexation and erasure.
The Israeli government says it will establish 22 illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, including the legalisation of some so-called “outposts” already built without government authorisation, in a move decried by Palestinian officials and rights groups.
Defence Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the decision on Thursday, with Katz saying that it “strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria,” using an Israeli term for the occupied West Bank.
He added it was also “a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel”.
Smotrich, himself a settler on illegally occupied Palestinian-owned land and an advocate for Israeli annexation of the West Bank, hailed the “historic decision”.
In a statement, the Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the move as a “once-in-a-generation decision”, emphasising its strategic value in fortifying Israel’s hold along the eastern border with Jordan.
Israeli settlers erect structures for a new Jewish seminary school, in the settler outpost of Homesh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 29, 2023 [File: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters]
Israel has already built more than 100 illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank that are home to some 500,000 settlers. The settlements range from small outposts to larger communities with modern infrastructure.
The West Bank is home to more than three million Palestinians, who live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority governing in limited areas.
The Palestinians see the territory as an integral part of a future state, along with occupied East Jerusalem and Gaza.
Palestinians slam ‘dangerous escalation’
Palestinian officials and rights groups slammed the Israeli government’s decision, warning that the expansion of illegal settlements would further harm the prospects for a future Palestinian state.
Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the decision, calling it a “dangerous escalation” and a “challenge to international legitimacy”.
He accused Israel of fuelling instability in the region and warned the move breaches international law. “This decision violates all international resolutions, especially UN Security Council Resolution 2334,” he said, adding that all settlement activity remains illegal and illegitimate.
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri condemned called on the United States and the European Union to take action.
“The announcement of the building of 22 new settlements in the West Bank is part of the war led by Netanyahu against the Palestinian people,” Abu Zuhri told the news agency Reuters.
The Israeli NGO Peace Now said the move “will dramatically reshape the West Bank and further entrench the occupation”.
“The Israeli government no longer pretends otherwise: the annexation of the occupied territories and expansion of settlements is its central goal,” it said in a statement.
“This is the largest batch of illegal Israeli settlements to be approved in one decision,” reported Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim from the occupied West Bank.
“Israeli settlements are strangling Palestinian communities inside the West Bank,” said Ibrahim. “These new settlements fill the gaps, making a future Palestinian state almost impossible on the ground. Israel is using this moment – while global attention is fixed on Gaza – to cement its occupation.”
The settlement announcement comes just weeks ahead of a high-level international conference, jointly led by France and Saudi Arabia at the United Nations, aiming to revive the long-dormant process to agree a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
President Donald Trump said Harvard University is refusing to tell the United States government who its international students are.
On May 22, the Trump administration stripped Harvard of the federal government certification that lets it enrol international students. A federal judge on May 23 temporarily blocked the administration’s effort.
“Part of the problem with Harvard is that there are about 31 percent of foreigners coming to Harvard … but they refuse to tell us who the people are,” Trump told reporters on May 25. “We want a list of those foreign students and we’ll find out whether or not they’re OK. Many will be OK, I assume. And I assume with Harvard many will be bad.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says Harvard did not provide the information it requested about the university’s international students. DHS cited that as one reason for revoking Harvard’s certification. But Harvard disputed that in its lawsuit against the Trump administration.
Courts have not yet ruled on whether Harvard complied with providing DHS with the additional information it requested. DHS asked for details about students’ activities, including “illegal” and “dangerous or violent activity”. However, immigration law experts said Trump’s statement that the US government doesn’t know the identities of Harvard’s international students is incorrect.
US colleges and universities that enrol international students must be certified under the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program, called SEVP.
SEVP’s database “contains all information about every student visa holder. Addresses, courses, grades, jobs, social media accounts and much more”, Charles Kuck, an Atlanta-based immigration lawyer and Emory University law professor, said.
Harvard has been certified to enrol international students since 1954, according to court documents. As part of the certification, the university is required to report to the US government detailed information about its international students.
Schools renew their SEVP certification every two years. In its lawsuit, Harvard said the university’s “seamless recertification across this period – spanning more than 14 presidential administrations”, is evidence of its compliance.
Additionally, to enter the US, all international students must apply for and be issued student visas via the State Department. To be eligible for a student visa, a person must be enrolled in an SEVP-certified university. The visa application process requires students to provide the US government with detailed biographical information.
When contacted for comment, a White House spokesperson said Trump was “making a simple ask” for Harvard to comply with the government.
What is the Student and Exchange Visitor Program?
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program “collects, maintains, analyses and provides information so only legitimate foreign students or exchange visitors gain entry to the United States”, the DHS website says. “SEVP also ensures that the institutions accepting non-immigrant students are certified and follow the federal rules and regulations that govern them.”
As part of the programme, DHS manages the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System which maintains records on international students and certified universities. Immigration law dictates what records universities must keep and report to maintain certification.
These records include “US entry and exit data, US residential address changes, programme extensions, employment notifications, and program of study changes”, Sheila Velez Martínez, University of Pittsburgh immigration law professor, said. “The information is available to US government agencies.”
The certification programme does not provide visas to students. The federal State Department issues visas. To apply for a student visa, a person must fill out a form and schedule an interview. As part of the application process, students must provide biographical and employment information, including information about their relatives, and answer security questions, including about their criminal records.
Trump administration says Harvard failed to provide international students’ information
On April 16, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sent Harvard a letter requesting information about every international student enrolled in the university. Noem asked for “relevant information” about international students’ “illegal activity”, “dangerous or violent activity”, “known threats to students or university personnel” and “known deprivation of rights of other classmates or university personnel”.
Noem said failure to comply with the request would “be treated as a voluntary withdrawal” from the SEVP certification programme.
On April 30, Steve Bunnell, a Harvard lawyer, responded to Homeland Security with information about 5,200 international students, according to Bunnell’s email included in the court filing.
The university said it did not seek to withdraw from the certification and said that while parts of Noem’s request used terms not defined in the immigration law that dictates what information universities must provide, “Harvard is committed to good faith compliance and is therefore producing responsive materials that we believe are reasonably required” by law.
According to Harvard’s lawsuit, the information included student identification numbers, names, dates of birth, countries of citizenship and enrolment information such as academic status, coursework and credit hours. Harvard also provided information about international students who left and why they left, which can cover a “range of reasons, including but not limited to disciplinary action”, Harvard’s email to DHS said.
On May 7, DHS responded saying the information Harvard provided “does not completely address the Secretary’s request”. It reiterated its original request.
Harvard responded on May 14 saying it was “not aware of any criminal convictions” of international students and identified three students who received disciplinary consequences.
As for students who deprived the rights of classmates, faculty or staff, Harvard said it did not find any.
On May 22, Noem sent Harvard a letter saying the university’s certification had been revoked.
“As a result of your refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information … you have lost this privilege.”
Our ruling
Trump said Harvard University “refuse(s) to tell us” who its international students are.
To enrol international students, Harvard, and all other certified institutions must provide the US government with detailed biographical information about every international student at its institution. That includes students’ names, addresses, contact information and details about their coursework.
Additionally, all international students must have student visas to enter the US. To get these, students who have enrolled in a government-certified university must apply via the State Department. That process also requires students to provide biographical and security information to the federal government.
May 29 (UPI) — Thousands of First Nations people in northern Manitoba are being evacuated as the central Canadian province issued a state of emergency to battle fast-moving wildfires, officials said.
There are a number of wildfires burning across thousands of acres in northern Manitoba, mostly near the border with Saskatchewan.
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents 26 First Nations communities in the province, said in a statement that evacuation orders have been issued for nearly 17,500 people in four First Nations communities with two more communities on evacuation notice.
“A lot of our First Nations are under threat because of the fires that have consumed a lot of territory in our area, and I’m just asking all of you, my relatives, to be strong and to be brave and to be courageous during this very difficult time,” MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee said in a recorded statement published to Facebook.
“This is a very, very critical time in our First Nations.”
Premier Wab Kinew of Manitoba on Wednesday declared a provincewide state of emergency, which will be in effect for 30 days to ensure federal, provincial and local resources can be deployed in a coordinated response.
Manitoba has declared a province-wide state of emergency to safely evacuate and shelter 17,000 people – the largest wildfire evacuation in recent memory.
To those leaving home: you’re not alone. These measures protect you. We’ll get through this – together. pic.twitter.com/sLSU0X06qt— Wab Kinew (@WabKinew) May 29, 2025
A statement from the provincial government states that evacuation orders have beeb issued for the city of Flin Flon and the First Nations of Pimicikamak and Mathias Colomb.
“This is the largest evacuation in many Manitobans’ living memory,” Kinew said during a press conference.
“This is a moment of fear and uncertainty. This is a moment of concern. But I want to tell you that your fellow Manitobans will welcome you. We will get through this difficult period, and we will get through this trying period the way we always do — by working together. “
He said he has spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who agreed to his request for assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces.
The military, he said, will be aiding with evacuation flights to the province’ capital of Winnipeg.
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Azerbaijan in February, and Turkiye only a month ago, in April.
Yet, this week, he was back in both countries, as part of a five-day, four-nation diplomatic blitzkrieg also including stops in Iran and Tajikistan, where Sharif will hold talks on Thursday and Friday. And he isn’t alone: Sharif is being accompanied by Army Chief Asim Munir — recently promoted to Pakistan’s only second-ever field marshal — and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.
Their destinations might be familiar, but the context has changed dramatically since Sharif’s previous visits.
More than two weeks after a four-day standoff between Pakistan and India – during which they exchanged missile and drone strikes – diplomacy has become the new battlefront between the South Asian neighbours.
India has launched a global diplomatic campaign, sending delegations to over 30 countries, accusing Pakistan of supporting “terrorist groups” responsible for attacks in India and Indian-administered Kashmir.
“We want to exhort the world to hold those responsible for cross-border terrorism accountable, those who have practiced this for 40 years against India, that is Pakistan. Their actions need to be called out,” said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, last week.
On April 22, gunmen killed 26 people, most of them tourists, in Pahalgam, a hill resort in Indian-administered Kashmir in the worst such attack on civilians in years. India blamed the killings on The Resistance Front (TRF), which it alleges is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based group designated as a “terrorist” entity by the United Nations. New Delhi accused Islamabad of complicity in the attacks.
Pakistan denied the allegations, calling for a “transparent, credible, independent” investigation.
Then, on May 7, India launched a series of missiles aimed at what it said was “terrorist infrastructure” in parts of Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Islamabad insisted that the missiles struck civilians, mosques and schools. More than 50 people, including at least 11 security personnel were killed in the Indian missile strikes.
This was followed by drone incursions and, on May 10, both sides fired missiles at each other’s military bases, as they stood on the brink of a full-fledged war before they agreed to a ceasefire that the US says it brokered.
Now, Pakistan, say officials and analysts, is looking to flip India’s narrative before the world — projecting itself as an advocate of peace and stability in South Asia, and New Delhi as the aggressor looking to stoke tensions.
‘We want peace’
On Wednesday, Sharif expressed willingness to engage in dialogue with India on “all matters,” if India reciprocates “in all sincerity.”
Speaking at a trilateral summit in Lachin, Azerbaijan, Sharif said trade could resume if India cooperated on all issues, including “counterterrorism.”
“I have said in all humility that we want peace in the region, and that requires talks on the table on issues which need urgent attention and amicable resolution, that is the issue of Kashmir, according to the resolutions of the United Nations and the Security Council, and as per the aspirations of the people of Kashmir,” he said.
Kashmir, a picturesque valley in the northeastern subcontinent, remains the root of conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations since their independence in 1947.
A 1948 UN resolution called for a plebiscite to determine Kashmir’s future, but eight decades later, it has yet to take place.
India and Pakistan each administer parts of Kashmir, while China controls two small regions. India claims the entire territory; Pakistan claims the portion administered by India, but not the areas held by its ally China.
Contrasting diplomacy
But there are other motivations driving Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach too, say officials and experts.
India’s diplomatic delegations that are currently touring the world include members from various political parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Indian National Congress (INC), projecting a unified stance.
In contrast, Pakistan’s current mission is led by top state officials, including Sharif and army chief Munir, widely considered the most powerful figure in the country.
The Pakistani delegation with prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir also made a stop in Iran during their four-country tour. [Handout/Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office]
The trip also reflects strategic alignment, say analysts. Turkiye, whose drones were used by Pakistan in the recent conflict, is a key defense partner.
“Pakistan’s defense cooperation with Turkey is especially deep,” said Christopher Clary, assistant professor of political science at the University at Albany.
“Evidence suggests several Turkish-origin systems were used in this recent clash, with varying levels of effectiveness, so there is much to talk about between the two,” he told Al Jazeera.
Khurram Dastgir Khan, a former federal minister for foreign affairs and defence, is part of a Pakistani delegation set to visit the US, UK and EU headquarters in Brussels next month.
He said the current trip by Sharif, Munir and Dar is at least partly about highlighting Pakistan’s capacity to wage a modern war against a larger adversary. “There is immense interest in how Pakistan fought the recent war,” Khan said.
“There are countries deeply interested in learning the details, what capabilities Pakistan used and what Indians had,” he added.
“This opens new strategic possibilities for Pakistan’s defence forces to provide training to others. We are battle-tested. This makes us highly sought after, not just in the region but globally.”
Pakistan relied heavily on Chinese-supplied weaponry, including the fighter jets and the missiles that it deployed against India, and the air defence systems it used to defend itself from Indian missiles.
Post-conflict narrative battle
Though both countries claimed victory after the conflict, the battle over narratives has since raged across social media and public forums.
Pakistan claims to have downed six Indian jets, a claim neither confirmed nor denied by India, while Indian missiles penetrated deep into Pakistani territory, revealing vulnerabilities in its air defenses.
India has also suspended the six-decade-old Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a critical water-sharing agreement that is vital to Pakistan.
Recently, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Pakistanis to reject “terrorism.” “Live a life of peace, eat your bread or choose my bullet,” Modi said, during a speech in India’s Gujarat state.
He also criticised the IWT as “badly negotiated,” claiming it disadvantaged India.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, right, and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, left, speak to the media following talks in Berlin, Germany, May 23, 2025. [Annegret Hilse/Reuters]
Muhammad Shoaib, an academic and security analyst at Quaid-i-Azam University, said Modi’s remarks reflected “ultra-nationalism” and were targeted at a domestic audience.
“The Indian diplomatic teams won’t likely focus on what Pakistan says. They will only implicate Pakistan for terrorism and build their case. Meanwhile, the Pakistani delegation will likely use Modi’s statements and international law regarding the IWT to bolster their arguments,” he told Al Jazeera.
Khan, who is also a senior member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), the ruling party which premier Sharif belongs to, said the upcoming diplomatic mission that he will be part of will focus on issues like India’s suspension of the IWT.
“Our fundamental point is that Pakistan seeks to maintain lasting peace in South Asia, but three major hurdles are posed by Indian aggression,” he said.
The first, according to Khan, is “Indian-sponsored terrorism” in Pakistan, in which, he claimed, more than 20 people have been killed over the past four years. India has been accused by the US and Canada of transnational assassinations. In January 2024, Pakistan also accused India of carrying out killings on its soil. India denies involvement. Pakistan also accuses India of backing separatist groups in its Balochistan province — again, an allegation that India rejects.
“The second point is India’s utterly irresponsible suspension of the IWT,” Khan said.
“Pakistan has rightly said that any step by India to stop our water will be treated as an act of war. This is something that can bring all the region in conflict and I believe that if India acquires capability to divert waters in next six to ten years, and tries to do so, it will lead to a war,” Khan warned.
The third issue, Khan said, is Pakistan’s concern over India’s “status as a responsible nuclear power”.
In the past, New Delhi has frequently cited the nuclear proliferation facilitated by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, as evidence that Islamabad cannot be trusted with the safe management of its nuclear weapons.
But in recent days, India’s internal security minister, Amit Shah — widely viewed as the country’s second-most powerful leader after Modi — has confirmed that India used its homegrown BrahMos missile against Pakistan during the recent military escalation.
The BrahMos – developed with Russia – is a supersonic cruise missile capable of Mach 3 – three times the speed of sound – and a range of 300 to 500 kilometers. It can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and be launched from land, air, or sea.
Khan, who served as defense minister from 2017 to 2018, warned of “unimaginable consequences” from using such weapons.
“Once the missile is in the air, you cannot know what payload it carries until it hits the target. This is very, very irresponsible,” he said. “India has already shown recklessness when it mistakenly fired a missile into our territory a few years ago.”
Khan was referring to an incident in March 2022, when India fired a BrahMos “accidentally” in Pakistani territory, where it fell in a densely populated city of Mian Channu, roughly 500 kilometers south of capital Islamabad.
India at the time acknowledged that accidental launch was due to a “technical malfunction” and later sacked three air force officials.
A man waves a national flag in front of a cut out of Brahmos Missile during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Road show in Ahmedabad, India on May 26, 2025. [Ajit Solanki/AP Photo]
Ceasefire holds, but tensions linger
While the conflict brought both countries to the edge of war, the ceasefire declared on May 10 has held, with troops gradually returning to peacetime positions.
Shoaib, also a research fellow at George Mason University in the US, expressed cautious optimism.
“Initiating hostilities is risky. No side wants to be seen as irresponsible. For that to break, it would take a major incident,” he said.
Tughral Yamin, a former military officer and researcher in Islamabad, noted that while diplomacy offers no guarantees, the ceasefire could last.
“India has seen that Pakistan is no cakewalk. It has both conventional and nuclear deterrence,” he told Al Jazeera. “Both sides will remain alert, and Pakistan must address weaknesses exposed in the standoff.”
Clary added that while the India-Pakistan relationship remains fragile, history suggests that intense clashes are often followed by calmer periods.
“It is reasonable for both countries and international observers to hope for the best but prepare for the worst over the next few months,” he said.
But Khan, the former minister, questioned Modi’s comments, after the military crisis, where the Indian PM said that any attack on the country’s soil would now be seen as worthy of a military response, and that New Delhi would effectively cease to draw any distinction between Pakistan’s military and non-state armed groups.
“The new stated policy of the Indian government is to attack Pakistan even after minor incidents, without waiting for evidence. This puts the entire region on edge,” he said. “This trigger-happy policy should concern not just Pakistan, but the entire world.”
May 29 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued several more pardons, including those for his political allies: former U.S. House member Michael Grimm of New York and ex-Connecticut Gov. John Rowland.
Trump has largely circumvented the process run through the Department of Justice. Trump’s new pardon attorney Ed Martin last week reviewed commutation applications for the president to consider, a source told CNN.
A pardon ends the legal consequences of a criminal conviction and a commutation reduces the sentence.
Grimm, a member of the U.S. House from 2011-2015, served seven months in prison after being convicted of tax evasion in 2014.
He attempted to win back his House seat in 2018 but lost in the Republican primary.
Grimm, 55, who worked for Newsmax from 2022-2024, was paralyzed in a fall from a horse during a polo competition last year.
After the State of the Union in 2014, Grimm threatened to break a reporter in half “like a boy” when questioned about his campaign finances. He also threatened to throw the reporter off a balcony at the Capitol.
Rowland, a Republican governor in Connecticut from 1996-2004, was convicted twice in federal criminal cases. He resigned as governor after the first offense of election fraud and obstruction of justice. Then, he was sentenced to a 30-month prison term in 2015 for his illegal involvement in two congressional campaigns.
Also pardoned was another Republican, Jeremy Hutchinson, a former Arkansas state senator, who was sentenced to 46 months in prison for accepting election bribes and tax fraud in 2014.
Hutchinson is the son of former Sen. Tim Hutchinson and nephew of former Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Imaad Zuberi, who donated $900,000 to Trump’s first inaugural committee and was also a donor on fundraising committees for Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, had his sentence commuted on Wednesday.
In 2021, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for falsifying records to conceal work as a foreign agent while lobbying high-level U.S. government officials and obstructing a federal investigation of the inaugural fund.
Trump also Wednesday commuted the sentences of eight others, a White House official said.
Larry Hoover, the co-founder of Chicago’s Gangster Disciples street gang, was serving six life prison sentences in the federal supermax facility in Florence, Colo., after a 1997 conviction. He ran a criminal enterprise from jail.
Hoover, who is now 74, had been seeking a commutation under the First Step Act, which Trump signed into law in 2018. U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber denied Hoover’s request, calling him “one of the most notorious criminals in Illinois history.”
But he won’t get out of a prison yet because he is also serving a sentence of up to 200 years on Illinois state murder charges. Trump can’t give clemency to those convicted on state charges.
An entertainer and a former athlete were also pardoned.
Rapper Kentrell Gaulden, who goes by NBA YoungBoy, was convicted in a federal gun crimes case last year. He was released from prison and won’t need to serve probation.
Charles “Duke” Tanner, a former professional boxer, was sentenced to life in prison for drug conspiracy in 2006. Trump commuted his sentence during his first term.
Thousands of desperate Palestinians stormed a UN World Food Programme warehouse in central Gaza on Wednesday, taking bags of flour after nearly three months of an Israeli blockade. The WFP said initial reports indicated that two people had died and several more were injured in the incident.
May 29 (UPI) — A Baylor defensive lineman for Baylor University died Wednesday following a shooting in Mississippi, according to his football team and reports.
“We are heartbroken by the unexpected passing of Alex Foster, a beloved teammate, friend and a cherished part of the Baylor family,” Mack Rhoades IV, vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics at Baylor, and Dave Aranda, the school’s football coach, said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Alex’s family and all those who loved him.”
Foster, 18, died early Wednesday at the Delta Health Center in Greenville, Miss., the Clarion Ledger reported.
The Greenville Police Department told the local newspaper that officers had responded to reports of shots fired at around 12:11 a.m. local time at 1800 East Alexander St., where they found a male in a car suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Circumstances surrounding the shooting and information about a potential suspect were not mentioned.
Foster was a native of Greenville and was listed as 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing 292 pounds. He attended St. Joseph High School, located in Greenville.
“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of a young life in our community,” St. Joseph said in a statement on Facebook.
“We extend our prayers and deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Alex Foster, a graduate of our school.”
US president says Harvard must ‘show us their list’ of foreign students to make sure they are not ‘troublemakers’.
United States President Donald Trump has intensified his dispute with Harvard University, saying the college should cap foreign enrolments and share information with the government about its international students.
“Harvard has to show us their lists. They have foreign students, almost 31 percent of their students. We want to know where those students come from. Are they troublemakers? What countries do they come from?” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. According to university enrolment data, foreign students make up 27 percent of Harvard’s student body.
“I think they should have a cap of maybe around 15 percent, not 31 percent,” Trump said, adding that he wants universities to accept “people who are going to love our country”.
The Trump administration has sought to pressure Harvard into compliance on a number of demands, including greater control over the university’s curricula, information about foreign students and further steps to crack down on pro-Palestine student activism, which the administration has characterised as anti-Semitic.
“Harvard has got to behave themselves. Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The university has resisted what it says is an effort to erode its independence from the government and commitment to academic freedom.
The Trump administration has severed grants worth billions of dollars to Harvard and announced that it would revoke Harvard’s ability to enrol international students entirely. The Department of Homeland Security said that order was a response to Harvard “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party”.
The university said in a statement at the time that the order was part of a “series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence and to submit to the federal government’s illegal assertion of control over our curriculum, our faculty, and our student body”.
The university swiftly challenged the order in court, and it was temporarily blocked by a judge on Friday.
Patricia McGuire, president of Trinity Washington University, said on Wednesday that Trump’s actions against foreign enrolment at US universities “makes no sense”.
“It’s so irrational because higher education is one of the top US exports to the world and the international students who come to this country enrich American universities immensely and take their knowledge back to all of their countries around the globe for the improvement of their countries and their populations,” McGuire told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC.
However, McGuire said Trump’s actions are consistent with “an administration that has literally snatched students off the street and taken them to detention centres”, referring to Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was forcibly taken into custody by masked federal agents in broad daylight on a street near her Massachusetts home in March.
This month, a court ordered the release of the 30-year-old Turkish doctoral student from the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
“This is, in my view, completely anti-American values, and I think many academics are horrified by the fact that students are now being censored for their viewpoints,” McGuire said.
May 28 (UPI) — A three-judge panel on Wednesday struck down President Donald Trump‘s unilateral tariffs, including 10% imposed on most U.S. trading partners, calling them “contrary to law.”
The New York-based Court of International Trade, in a 49-page opinion, said the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not give him the “unlimited” power to levy across-the-board tariffs.
The Trump administration can appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and, ultimately, the Supreme Court.
White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the U.S. trade deficits with other countries have “created a national emergency that has decimated American communities.”
“It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency. President Trump pledged to put America First, and the Administration is committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American Greatness,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to CBS News.
The judges’ decision was based on two cases brought by a group of small businesses and 12 Democratic state attorneys general.
The judges were appointed by three presidents: Gary Katzmann by Barack Obama, Timothy Reif by Donald Trump and Jane Restani by Ronald Reagan.
“The President’s assertion of tariff-making authority in the instant case, unbounded as it is by any limitation in duration or scope, exceeds any tariff authority delegated to the President under IEEPA,” the judge wrote. “The Worldwide and Retaliatory tariffs are thus ultra vires and contrary to law.”
Separate tariffs against China, Canada and Mexico “do not deal with the threats set forth in those orders,” the court also found. These went into effect on March 4.
Trump imposed a 25% tariff against Canadian and Mexican goods, except for items compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada, and 10% for energy and potash from the U.S. northern neighbor. China was hit with a 30% tariff.
The 10% duties went into effect on April 5.
The president has the right to impose tariffs, based on a 1970s court decision involving the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, which preceded the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The judges said the president’s tariffs do not meet the limited condition of an “unusual and extraordinary threat” that would allow him to act alone without approval by Congress.
“Because of the Constitution’s express allocation of the tariff power to Congress, we do not read IEEPA to delegate an unbounded tariff authority to the President,” they wrote. “We instead read IEEPA’s provisions to impose meaningful limits on any such authority it confers,” the ruling said.
Earlier this month, T. Kent Wetherell II, a district judge in Florida nominated by Trump, said the president has the authority on his own to impose tariffs, but opted to transfer the case to the Court of International Trade.
Several lawsuits have been filed since Trump announced the tariffs on April 2 as “Liberation Day.”
Trump also announced on April 2 plans for harsher tariffs against the so-called worst offenders but one week later he paused them for 90 days until July. They include ones against America’s greatest allies: 26% against India, 25% against South Korea, 24% against Japan and 20% against the 27 members of the European Union.
Trump also had announced a 125% tariff on top of 30% against China but he suspended that. He also excluded tariffs on electronic products in China but last week threatened a 25% one on Apple products not made in the United States.
Last week Trump suggested 50% tariffs on the EU by June but paused them until July 9 on Sunday.
May 28 (UPI) — President Donald Trump is a strong ally for the growing cryptocurrency industry, Vice President JD Vance told attendees at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
“Crypto finally has a champion and an ally in the White House,” Vance said while delivering the event’s keynote address, CBS News reported.
“We want our fellow Americans to know that crypto and digital assets, and particularly bitcoin, are part of the mainstream economy and are here to stay,” he said.
Vance was this year’s featured speaker at the annual bitcoin conference, which President Donald Trump headlined last year while campaigning for the presidency.
Stablecoins stabilize the dollar
He said the Trump administration does not view so-called stablecoins as destabilizing the U.S. dollar and instead strengthens it, CNBC reported.
“We view them as a force multiplier for our economic might,” Vance told the audience at The Venetian Resort.
A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency whose value is derived from another asset, such as gold or the U.S. dollar, according to coinbase.
Vance said cryptocurrency has transformed how people and businesses conduct transactions, and its decentralized nature makes it a good way to protect personal and business finances against bad policies.
“Crypto is a hedge against bad policymaking from Washington, no matter what party’s in control,” he said.
Political advocacy for crypto progress
Vance encouraged those who are involved in cryptocurrency to increase their political advocacy.
He said $200 million in campaign support for candidates who supported cryptocurrency had a positive effect during the 2024 general election, The Hill reported.
Such financial support enabled Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, to beat Democratic Party incumbent Sherrod Brown in the 2024 Senate election in Ohio.
“Part of the reason that I’m standing here, part of the reason that Bernie Moreno defeated Sherrod Brown in the Senate campaign last year, is because you guys got organized and got involved in American politics,” Vance said.
Brown chaired the Senate Banking Committee, but his election defeat removed him as an obstacle to crypto-friendly legislation.
“There’s a lesson to take from that experience,” Vance said. “Unless you guys get involved in politics, politics is going to ignore this industry.”
Strong support for the GENIUS Act
The Trump administration is advocating for the GENIUS Act, which officially is called the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation in U.S. Stablecoins Act.
Vance said the proposed act’s enabling legislation is poised to be approved in the Senate and likely would fare well in the House of Representatives.
President Trump’s lead crypto adviser, David Sacks, last week told CNBC that U.S. investors have more than $200 billion in unregulated stablecoins.
Sacks said that amount could reach trillions of dollars “if we provide the legal clarity and legal framework for this.”
Praise follows conflict of interest concerns after Trump launches his own coin and hosts a dinner for his investors.
United States Vice President JD Vance has urged the domestic cryptocurrency industry to remain involved in US politics, highlighting the close ties of President Donald Trump’s administration to a deep-pocketed industry.
Speaking at a Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday, Vance urged cryptocurrency executives and enthusiasts to keep pressure on the US Congress to pass pro-crypto legislation supported by the White House
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unleash innovation and use it to improve the lives of countless American citizens,” Vance said in his address. “But if we fail to create regulatory clarity now, we risk chasing this $3 trillion industry offshore in search of a friendly jurisdiction.”
Vance made the speech after Trump promised to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet” when he addressed the same Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee, last year in the middle of the presidential campaign. The crypto industry, which felt unfairly attacked by former President Joe Biden’s administration, spent heavily to help Trump and pro-cryptocurrency lawmakers win election.
Vance praised how quickly the crypto industry was able to organise and influence US politics during last year’s elections, giving special credit to Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the billionaire founders of the crypto exchange Gemini.
“You chose to speak up, and you chose to get involved, and I believe you changed the direct trajectory of our country because of it,” Vance told the crowd gathered at the Venetian Hotel.
Vance hailed cryptocurrencies as a hedge that can help conservative populists protect themselves against what he called bad politicians, overly aggressive regulators and unethical elites. He predicted continued assimilation of the digital currencies into the financial mainstream and said it was strategically important for the US to be a world leader in the industry, noting that the Chinese government is hostile to crypto.
As president, Trump has established a Bitcoin reserve for the federal government and pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, a black market website that was key to the early growth of Bitcoin.
Trump has also put outspoken crypto backers in his administration, which has undone or paused several enforcement actions taken against large cryptocurrency companies
Several other Trump officials are speakers at the Bitcoin conference, as are his sons Don Jr and Eric.
Conflict of interest
The president and his family’s use of cryptocurrencies as a platform to make money has drawn criticism from Democrats and even crypto enthusiasts as corrupt and unseemly.
The Trump family holds about a 60 percent stake in a crypto project called World Liberty Financial, which recently launched its own stablecoin, a fast-growing form of cryptocurrency whose value is often tied to the US dollar. This month, the US Senate advanced legislation that would create a federal framework to regulate stablecoins, a bill that Vance said the Trump administration wants passed into law quickly.
The president and first lady Melania Trump have also launched their own meme coins. Last week, Donald Trump rewarded investors in his coin. About 220 of the biggest investors in the $TRUMP were invited to Trump’s luxury golf club in northern Virginia.
Financial giant Fannie Mae (corporate headquarters in Washington, D.C., pictured in July 2008) said Wednesday it will launch an AI-powered unit to detect and prevent mortgage fraud in a partnership with AI software company Palantir. File Photo By Alexis C. Glenn/UPI | License Photo
May 28 (UPI) — Financial giant Fannie Mae said Wednesday it will launch its AI-powered unit to detect and prevent mortgage fraud in a partnership with AI software company Palantir.
“By integrating this leading AI technology, we will look across millions of datasets to detect patterns that were previously undetectable,” said Fannie Mae’s president and chief executive officer Priscilla Almodovar.
Fannie Mae, which holds more than $4 trillion in U.S. housing market assets, is the nation’s single largest holder of outstanding residential mortgage debt.
The launch of its new artificial intelligence-powered crime detection unit with Palantir seeks to expand Fannie’s ability to sniff out fraud with “leading” scientific and investigative AI-enabled tech.
The Washington-based Fannie Mae says its new capability will prevent and detect fraudulent activity with a “speed and precision” that, according to the company, has “never before” been seen designed to save millions of dollars in future financial losses to fraud in the U.S. housing market.
“This new partnership will combat mortgage fraud, helping to safeguard the U.S. mortgage market for lenders, homebuyers and taxpayers,” Fannie’s Almodovar continued.
Fannie Mae, which likewise owns or guarantees roughly one in four single-family mortgages and about 20% of America’s multifamily mortgages, says Palantir’s technology will provide “expansive” monitoring for anomalous transactions, activities and other digital behaviors.
According to Fannie officials, it will not only detect suspicious activity but ultimately will “trigger investigative action.”
“No one is above the law,” Fannie Mae Chairman William Pulte said in a statement.
Palantir was one of eight major tech firms to sign on to then-President Joe Biden‘s voluntary commitment in 2023 aimed to ensure AI tech is utilized responsibly.
On Wednesday, its top official said the Fannie Mae partnership will set off “a revolution in how we combat mortgage fraud” in the United States.
“We are bringing the fight directly to anyone who attempts to defraud our mortgage system and exploit hardworking Americans,” says Alex Karp, co-founder and CEO of Palantir Technologies.
May 28 (UPI) — Nvidia officials have scheduled a 5 p.m. EDT first-quarter earnings report that many expect to reflect the Trump administration’s restrictions on trade with China.
The artificial intelligence firm is expected to show increased earnings from a year ago, when it posted adjusted earnings of 61 cents per share on $26.04 billion in sales during the quarter that ended on April 27, Investor’s Business Daily reported.
Analysts queried by FactSet anticipate Nvidia to report adjusted earnings of 73 cents per share and $43.34 billion in sales during the first quarter this year.
Others suggest the AI chipmaker will report 93 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $43.31 billion in sales, CNBC reported.
Analysts anticipate improved numbers during the second quarter with projected adjusted earnings of 99 cents per share and nearly $46 billion in sales.
The effect of the Trump administration’s restrictions on trade with China should be known better after the Wednesday earnings report by Nvidia.
The Trump administration on April 9 notified Nvidia that it is requiring the chipmaker to obtain an export license for its H20 chip that is designed specifically for use in China’s market.
The chip is a specially designed version of Nvidia’s popular Hopper AI chips and is intended to comply with U.S. trade restrictions.
The Nvidia earnings report also comes on the heels of the Federal Reserve‘s recent announcement that it is maintaining the Fed’s lending rate of 4.25% to 4.5%.
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee met earlier in the month and agreed that President Donald Trump‘s tariffs policy and other inflationary pressures could trigger a rise in inflation.
Despite such concerns, Nvidia is expected to announce increased first-quarter earnings.
Pakistan win the opening match of the three-game T20 series against Bangladesh by 37 runs in Lahore.
Pakistan stormed to a 37-run win against Bangladesh in the opening T20 international of the three-match series at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Hasan Ali, returning to the side for the first time in a year, claimed 5-30 to bowl the tourists out for 164 in the final over.
Having won the toss, the hosts amassed 201-7 with captain Salman Agha top scoring with 56, but the innings was not without its bumps.
Right-arm seamer Hasan stole the hearts at least on his return to the international fold, following injury troubles, having recently impressed in his country’s domestic Two competition, the Pakistan Super League.
“I have seen him work hard and put in extra hours, and it has all paid off,” his skipper said afterwards.
On his top score in the match, Salman added, “What mattered is that everyone contributed, and that’s how we want to play – everyone has to bat, bowl and field well.”
Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha celebrates after scoring fifty [KM Chaudary/AP]
Pakistan, like Bangladesh, are looking to recover from the group-stage exits at February’s ICC Champions Trophy, a competition they hosted.
It couldn’t have been a worse start for the hosts, who also lost seven of eight matches in the recent white-ball series against New Zealand, as they were reduced to 5-2 after eight balls of their innings.
Mohammad Haris began the recovery with his captain Salman as the pair shared a stand of 51 for the third wicket.
Hasan Nawaz took that foundation on with the highest strike rate of the innings as he hit 44 off 22 balls in a stand of 65 – the highest of the innings.
Salman was the only batter in the match to reach a half century and posted 56 off 24 with eight fours and one six.
The fourth-wicket pair fell within 11 deliveries of each other, and the finish looked to be stuttering until Shadab Khan smashed 48 off 25 to pile the pressure back onto Bangladesh.
The allrounder’s end came off the penultimate ball of the innings as Shoriful Islam claimed his second wicket – the only Bangladesh player to claim more than one scalp.
A top-heavy reply from the tourists looked to offer hope of a series-opening win as the highest partnership of the match of 63 was shared between their captain Litton Das and Tawhid Hridoy for the third wicket.
The breaking of that partnership, with the score on 100-2 before Litton departed, was the beginning of the end for the chase.
Pakistan’s Shadab Khan, right, cuts in an innings that contributed to his award as Player of the Match [Aamir Qureshi/AFP]
Shadab Khan claimed 2-26 along with his ferocious tally with the bat to be named Player of the Match.
“My comeback to Pakistan colours wasn’t great despite my hard work, but my recent performances in PSL helped regain some confidence,” the Pakistan vice captain said, having lost his place in the side recently.
All the matches in the series are being played in Lahore, with the second game taking place on Friday before the series finale on Sunday.
“We didn’t bowl, bat and field well,” Bangladesh captain Litton said in his post-match comments, believing his team needs more consistency in “all areas of the game”.
“We have two more games, so we must come back strongly as a unit,” he added.
Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party is set to run for the presidency in South Korea’s June 3 election. Photo by Kim Min-Hee/EPA-EFE
May 28 (UPI) — The People Power Party’s Kim Moon-soo, 73, is the main conservative candidate in South Korea’s June 3 snap presidential election. The former labor minister trails his liberal opponent, Democratic Party frontrunner Lee Jae-myung, by a large margin in most polls.
Kim emerged as a prominent labor and democracy rights activist in the turbulent 1970s, and as a former labor activist, he began his career in politics when he participated in the founding of the progressive People’s Party in 1990. Watching the collapse of communist countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he abandoned his “leftist view of labor” and shifted to a moderate stance, expressing the view that resources should be concentrated on growth while also improving welfare. He ran as a candidate for the conservative New Korea Party in 1996 and became a three-term lawmaker representing Bucheon. He was later elected governor of Gyeonggi Province in 2006 and won a second term in 2010. Kim served as Labor Minister under impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2024-2025.
The PPP candidate was born in Yeongchon, North Gyeongsang Province, as the sixth of seven children in an impoverished household. He was able to enter business school at Seoul National University in 1970 but was expelled for his anti-dictatorship activism during the regime of President Park Chung-hee.
Kim found factory work after expulsion and grew deeply involved with the labor activist movement as well, rising to national prominence and facing arrest and torture by the authoritarian government during the 1980s. He eventually finished his university degree in 1994, some 25 years after first enrolling.
After a turn to the conservative camp in 1994 under the invitation of then-President Kim Young-sam, himself a former activist who moved rightward, Kim saw his political star rise as a lawmaker and then Gyeonggi governor. In 2014 he announced that he would not run for re-election, ending his term as Gyeonggi governor. Instead, he supported his party colleague Nam Kyung-pil. Nam was elected governor that year but lost to the Democratic Party candidate four years later, who was none other than Lee Jae-myung.
Kim re-emerged in the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and maintained support for Yoon even as some other primary candidates called for distancing the party from the impeached president.
He was the sole cabinet member who refused to stand and apologize for Yoon’s martial law attempt in a session at the National Assembly and won the strong backing of hardline loyalists who opposed impeachment.
Kim won the PPP nomination on May 3, but faced a late push by party leadership to replace him with former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who some saw as a less polarizing figure with a better chance of defeating Lee. An all-member meeting finally confirmed Kim as their candidate a week later.
Kim has outlined a conservative vision for the country in his campaign, touting business-friendly economic policies and a hard line against threats from North Korea, as well as promising to push through sweeping political and anti-corruption reforms.
Economy
Kim said he would be a “job president” in his acceptance speech for the PPP nomination in May, and has promoted business-friendly policies such as economic deregulation and tax relief. Like his opponent, Lee Jae-myung, Kim has vowed to make South Korea an AI powerhouse, promising to establish a $71 billion public-private fund to invest in infrastructure and technology development in the sector.
Other pledges include child support grants and housing assistance to help address South Korea’s declining birthrate crisis, and the expansion of nuclear power as an energy source.
If elected, Kim has vowed to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump immediately to negotiate tariffs and resolve trade issues.
Defense and Foreign Policy
In his nomination acceptance speech, Kim vowed to be a “security president who eliminates the fear of North Korea’s nuclear weapons,” and has signaled a hard-line stance similar to the approach taken by Yoon Suk Yeol.
He has called for strengthening extended deterrence capabilities under the U.S.-South Korea military alliance, including the potential of redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.
“If we can arm ourselves with nuclear weapons within the scope of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, we should do it,” Kim said during a presidential debate on May 28.
Kim has also called for enhancing South Korea’s own defense capabilities and has pledged to develop nuclear-powered submarines.
On May 26, Kim’s key foreign policy advisers said that the candidate would seek engagement with North Korea while maintaining a demand for its complete denuclearization, and would “proactively support” a summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Government Reforms
Like his opponent Lee Jae-myung, Kim has proposed transitioning from South Korea’s current single five-year presidential term to a two-term, four-year presidency. He has promised to cut down his own term to three years if elected, allowing presidential and general elections to synchronize in 2028.
In the wake of the martial law crisis under Yoon, Kim has proposed decentralizing executive power and removing presidential immunity. He has also been deeply critical of the current Democratic Party-led parliament, calling it the “worst National Assembly dictatorship in history” over its opposition to Yoon and numerous impeachment motions. Kim has said he would slash the number of lawmakers by 10% and relocate the National Assembly to the administrative city of Sejong.
Kim has maintained a connection with Yoon and received the impeached president’s endorsement on May 17.
He issued an apology for the “suffering” caused by Yoon’s martial law attempt earlier in May and called it an “extreme measure” that he would not look to employ.
“If I become president in the future, I will not use martial law,” he said while campaigning. “I will complete democracy through dialogue, persuasion and patience to resolve any issues between the ruling and opposition parties.”
He also met two former conservative presidents, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye and received their support.
A look at the gang at the centre of US President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.
Tren de Aragua was a little-known gang in Venezuela – until recently. US President Donald Trump’s focus on the group has thrust it into the spotlight, as hundreds of Venezuelans have been deported from the United States.
![The Pakistani delegation with prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir also made a stop in Iran in their four-country tour. [Handout/Pakistan Prime Minister's Office]](https://www.occasionaldigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/c4bc2843-fa4c-4437-b90f-387be1d39668-1748471595.jpg)
