The Daily Populous

Wednesday September 17th, 2025 evening edition

image for State Department is denying visas to those who 'celebrate' Charlie Kirk's death, Rubio says

The U.S. State Department will deny visas to individuals who are found to be celebrating the death of right-wing podcaster and activist Charlie Kirk, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday.

Rubio confirmed that the department would not issue visas to people who were "celebrating" the shooting death of Kirk.

“Why would we want to give a visa to someone who think it’s good that someone was murdered in the public square?

Last week Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau ordered department officials to "take appropriate action" in cases where people seeking visas made light of or rationalized Kirk's death.

It's also not clear how many visas may have been denied or revoked so far.

Officials push to revoke visas for migrants who praised Charlie Kirk's death.

Vice President JD Vance, while hosting Charlie Kirk's radio show on Monday, appeared to encourage pushback against people who "celebrated" Kirk's death. »

In South Korea, Trump’s US$350 billion demand threatens financial meltdown

Authored by scmp.com
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Washington is demanding an eye-watering US$350 billion in direct investment, a sum so vast that economists warn it could tip South Korea into a crisis unseen in its modern history.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick bluntly asserted last week that South Korea must accept the deal or face higher tariffs – pointing out that Japan had already agreed to similar terms.

A protester holding US dollar banknotes wears a mask of Donald Trump during a rally in July against Trump’s tariff policy near the US embassy in Seoul. »

Russian oppositioner Navalny killed 'by poisoning,' widow cites Western labs

Authored by kyivindependent.com
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Laboratories in two unnamed Western countries concluded that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed by poisoning, his widow Yulia Navalnaya said on Sept. 17.

The widow accused Western governments of slowing down the investigation for political reasons and urged the laboratories to publish their findings.

After Navalny's death, Putin said he had agreed to exchange him for prisoners — mostly Russian spies held in Western countries — "but, unfortunately, what happened, happened.". »

Prosecutors already have dropped nearly a dozen cases from Trump’s DC crime surge, judge says

Authored by apnews.com
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Already, prosecutors have dropped at least 11 of those cases, an unusually high collapse rate that judges say is wasting court resources.

On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh dismissed two felony assault cases at the request of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office.

He delivered a blunt warning from the bench as he questioned whether prosecutors are making charging decisions before cases are properly investigated and vetted. »