3 girls stage own kidnapping to fulfil dream of meeting BTS pop band members
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Dec 30: Dreams of three minor girls from a village in Maharashtra came to an abrupt halt after police detained them for allegedly staging their own kidnapping in order to raise funds to travel to South Korea and meet hugely popular BTS pop band members.
The girls, one 11 years' old and two aged 13, hailing from Dharashiv district, on Friday planned to go to Pune to earn money which they needed to travel to South Korea and meet their favourite K-pop band members, an official from Omerga police station said on Monday.
They were later handed over to their family members after counselling by the police.
On December 27, the Dharashiv police received a call on their helpline number with a person claiming three girls were forcibly taken away in a school van from Omerga taluka in the district, the official said.
The police swung into action and found the number belonged to a woman, who was travelling in a state transport bus going from Omerga to Pune.
They tracked the bus while it was passing through Mohol area in the state's Solapur district, the official said.
The Omerga police got in touch with their counterparts in Mohol as well as a woman who runs a shop at the Mohol bus stand, he said.
The three girls were subsequently taken down from the bus with the woman's help and brought to a local police station.
The Omerga police team along with the minor's parents later reached there, the official said.
The next day, the police enquired with the girls, who told them that they had a plan to go to Pune, work there and earn money which they needed to go to South Korea and meet their favourite members of the BTS pop band, the official said.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
