EL SALVADOR
Court absolves ex-president
A court on Friday absolved former president Francisco Flores of civil responsibility in a case in which he was accused of diverting more than US$15 million in earthquake relief funds donated by Taiwan. Investigators had found that US$10 million of the money, intended to help the victims of two powerful earthquakes in 2001, had in fact gone to Flores’ Nationalist Republican Alliance party, while the rest benefited him personally. However, the court ruled there was no basis for a civil judgement against him, because documents from Taiwan that were presented by the Public Ministry “were not authenticated. They did not fulfill the formalities of the law.” Defense lawyer Edgar Morales Joya said there was no proof against the former president. Flores governed from 1999 to 2004 and died in 2016 while under house arrest on accusations of embezzlement, illicit enrichment and other crimes. His death ended any possibility of a criminal conviction, but prosecutors pursued a civil case.
BOLIVIA
Six countries quit UNASUR
A South American bloc created a decade ago to counter US influence in the region has temporarily lost half its members after six countries suspended their memberships amid differences over who should lead the group. Chancellor Fernando Huanacuni on Friday said that Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru had decided to temporarily leave the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) due to differences over choosing the secretary-general of the group. “We have received a note from the six countries saying they will not participate in UNASUR meetings for a period of one year” until the leadership issue is resolved, Huanacuni said. The Paraguayan Ministry of Foreign Relations said in a statement that the six countries would remain outside UNASUR until they see “concrete results that guarantee its operation.”
UNITED KINGDOM
Top court rejects Evans case
The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a mother and father who want to take their terminally ill toddler to Italy for treatment. The decision announced on Friday was another setback for the parents of 23-month-old Alfie Evans. They have been engaged in a protracted legal fight with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital over his care. The decision means an earlier Court of Appeal ruling is to stand. Justices in that court upheld a lower court’s conclusion that it would be pointless to fly the boy to Rome for treatment. Alfie is in a “semi-vegetative state” as the result of a degenerative neurological condition that doctors have been unable to definitively identify.
UNITED STATES
Swift stalker caught napping
Police said a stalker broke into Taylor Swift’s New York City townhouse and took a nap. Police said officers investigating a reported break-in on Friday found 22-year-old Roger Alvarado asleep in the pop star’s home in the Tribeca neighborhood. Alvarado, of Homestead, Florida, was arrested on charges of stalking, burglary, criminal mischief and trespassing. It was not clear whether he has an attorney who can speak for him. Alvarado was arrested at the same address on Feb. 13 on charges of breaking the front door with a shovel. Swift was not home during Friday’s break-in. The multi-platinum recording artist has dealt with stalkers on both coasts. Police said a Colorado man arrested on Saturday last week outside a Beverly Hills home owned by Swift had a knife, a rope and ammunition.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in