Trump to feature on limited edition US passports
Washington, April 29: The State Department is all set to unveil a limited-edition US passport with pictures of President Donald Trump and the Founding Fathers to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence in July. The special passports will be available only to those who show up in person at the Washington Passport Agency and not anywhere else across the country. The Department of State shared images of the limited edition passports on its social media accounts. One page of the passport carries Trump’s image surrounded by the text of the Declaration of Independence and the American flag along with the president’s signature in gold. Another page features the famous painting of the founding fathers at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The passports, which are set to be released this summer, are part of the Trump administration’s broader “America250” celebration, which also includes a Grand Prix race on the National Mall in August and a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn in June. (PTI)
UK expels Russian diplomat in tit-for-tat move
London, April 29: The UK on Wednesday expelled a Russian diplomat in retaliation for Moscow’s recent expulsion of a British official and the smear campaign that followed. Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it summoned the Russian ambassador to its offices in London to inform him of the “reciprocal action.” The tit-for tat moves reflect spiralling tensions between Moscow and the West. “This behaviour is wholly unacceptable, and we will not tolerate harassment or intimidation of our diplomatic staff,’’ the Foreign Office said in a statement. The move came after Russia last month expelled a British diplomat over spying allegations that the UK rejected as “complete nonsense.” Russia’s top domestic security and counterintelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, said the British diplomat had sought to gather “sensitive information” about the Russian economy in “unofficial meetings” with Russian experts. The diplomat was ordered to leave Russia within two weeks. (AP)
Pak’s Punjab sets 18 years as legal marriage age for girls
Lahore, April 29: Pakistan’s Punjab government has changed the 97-year-old law by setting 18 years as the minimum legal age for marriage for girls and declaring underage marriage a non-bailable offence. Previously, the minimum legal age for marriage in Punjab was 16 years for girls under the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929. The government introduced the “Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2026” in the Punjab Assembly, which was adopted this week. According to the new law, marriage below the age of 18 for both males and females is a non-bailable and cognisable offence. Adults marrying a female child (under 18) will face up to three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of up to PKR 500,000. The law further says cohabitation resulting from child marriage is classified as child abuse, carrying up to years of imprisonment and a minimum fine of PKR 1 million. (PTI)
