Trump suggests military could fire at caravan if people throw stones
Washington, Nov 02 : President Donald Trump has suggested that the military could fire on the caravan that is heading towards the United States if people throw stones at the soldiers.
Currently, an estimated 5,000-7,000 people from three Latin American countries --El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala -- are marching towards the US through Mexico. Trump has deployed more than 5,000 military personnel on the southwestern border to stop them from entering.
Responding to a question from reporters after he announced changes in the current catch-and-release policy, Trump hoped that the US military does not has to open fire at these illegal immigrants.
"I hope not. I hope not. It's the military. I hope there won't be that," he said.
But, Trump added, anybody throwing stones and rocks, like they did in Mexico, that would be considered as a firearm, because "there's not much difference when you get hit in the face with a rock".
Trump alleged that these immigrants were throwing rocks, viciously, and violently. "You saw that three days ago, really hurting the military. We're not going to put up with that. They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back," he said.
"We're going to consider -- and I told them consider it a rifle. When they throw rocks like they did at the Mexico military and police, I say consider it a rifle," he added.
"They broke in to Mexico. And you look at what's happening in Guatemala along with El Salvador and Honduras. It's disgraceful that those countries aren't able to stop this because they should be able to stop it before it starts.
"And the United States pays them a fortune and we're looking at not doing that anymore because why should we be doing that when they do nothing for us?" he asked. PTI LKJ
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link now fully operational
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link was opened to vehicular traffic on Saturday noon after a delay caused by the dismantling of inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work, a day after the Pune section became operational.
The 13.3 km-long "missing link", which bypasses a section of the Bhor Ghat stretch of the expressway and cuts travel time between Mumbai and Pune by 25 to 30 minutes, was inaugurated a day earlier by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar.
The Pune-bound carriageway of the corridor was opened to traffic immediately; however, the Mumbai-bound section remained closed to traffic for several hours after the inauguration.
An official of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation told PTI on Saturday that the opening of the Mumbai-bound carriageway was delayed mainly due to the dismantling of the inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work.
The removal of the stage and other decorations was completed in the morning. The work to load and transport the material slightly delayed the opening of the carriageway.
Vehicular movement on the carriageway began after all the remaining material was cleared and road cleaning was completed, the official added.
The expressway control room said that despite significant vehicular movement, the access-controlled highway has not witnessed any major traffic snarls since Friday evening, after the Pune-bound carriageway of the missing link was opened to traffic.
The Missing Link project connects Khopoli (in Raigad) on the Mumbai side to Kusgaon near Lonavala in Pune district and is expected to make the expressway fully access-controlled, easing congestion in the ghat section.
Developed by the MSRDC and dubbed an "engineering marvel", the project includes two tunnels, two viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley. It bypasses the steep, accident-prone ghat section, where frequent traffic snarls are reported during weekends and on public holidays.
