GUATEMALA
Ex-president ‘unfit for trial’
The nation’s forensic authority on Tuesday said that former president Efrain Rios Montt is mentally unfit to be tried again on genocide charges, two years after his historic conviction was thrown out on a technicality. The National Forensic Science Institute determined that due to cognitive deterioration the 89-year-old would not be able to defend himself against charges that he was responsible for the killings of nearly 2,000 indigenous Maya during a brutal stretch of the nation’s 36-year civil war. Rios Montt’s opponents accuse him of implementing a scorched-earth policy and his earlier conviction had been hailed as a landmark for justice in the nation. The institute’s conclusion was presented by lawyers representing Rios Montt; the tribunal that handles the case must still decide whether or not to accept it at a hearing scheduled for July 23.
NORTH KOREA
Drought threatens kids: UN
A severe drought is putting the lives of children at risk and many are in serious danger of disease and malnutrition, the UN children’s agency said yesterday. UNICEF said in a statement that there had been in a sharp increase in cases of diarrhea among children in drought-affected areas, as access to safe drinking water and sanitation was severely compromised. “Lack of rain reduces access to clean water and undermines effective hygiene, putting children’s lives at risk,” UNICEF regional director Daniel Toole said. The country says it is experiencing its worst drought in a century, with some of its main farming regions particularly hard hit. The country’s large number of malnourished children — as many as one in four children according to a 2012 study —heightens concerns about the impact of drought, UNICEF said. “These children are particularly vulnerable, because children who are malnourished have less resilience to water-borne illness and disease,” the agency said.
UNITED STATES
‘Lady Liberty’ glows anew
The Statue of Liberty has a certain glow about her — thanks to a new lighting system. Onlookers and officials stood on the grounds and boats gathered in the waters around Liberty Island on Tuesday night to see the new ground lights get turned on. The system uses LED and was installed by Musco Lighting of Oskaloosa, Iowa. The lights cast a bright spotlight on the statue, clearly defining the folds of her robes. The National Park Service said much of the previous lighting system was installed underground and damaged in Hurricane Sandy.
UNITED STATES
Same-sex ruling film eyed
20th Century Fox is developing a film about the US Supreme Court case that made same-sex marriage a nationwide right. A representative for Fox confirmed on Tuesday that the studio has acquired the life rights to Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that last month became a landmark in the gay rights movement. Fox also obtained the life rights of Obergefell’s lawyer, Al Gerhardstein, and those to a book proposal by Obergefell and journalist Debbie Cenziper. The project is to be developed by the 20th Century Fox division Fox 2000. Obergefell sued after Ohio refused to list him as the spouse of his longtime partner, John Arthur, on Arthur’s death certificate in 2013. The two had been legally married in Maryland. The New York Times first reported the film project.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing