UNITED STATES
Kids will be taken: Sessions
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday said during a visit to the border with Mexico that people who enter the US unlawfully with children would have them taken away. “If you cross the border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you — it’s that simple. If you smuggle illegal aliens across our border, we will prosecute you,” Sessions said. “If you are smuggling a child, we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you, as required by law.” Sessions said the Department of Justice would send 18 immigration judges — a 50 percent increase — and 35 prosecutors to the southwest. His remarks were briefly interrupted by a protester shouting through a bullhorn, calling Sessions evil and asking if he had a soul.
MEXICO
Firms slam Lopez Obrador
Business groups are again taking out newspaper ads to indirectly attack leftist presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. A two-page ad appeared on Monday in newspapers that — without mentioning Lopez Obrador by name — criticized those who “divide” the nation and cause “resentment.” It was the second time in a week that business chambers have taken out such ads. They were angered when Lopez Obrador said some businesspeople oppose him, because “they don’t want to stop stealing.” Lopez Obrador, who has a strong lead in polls for the July 1 election, has sought to defuse the conflict, saying: “We are not against businessmen. I repeat, we are against corruption.” Lopez Obrador also said that, if elected, he would cancel a planned US$1.2 billion purchase of about eight Seahawk helicopters from the US, because “we don’t want war or an arms race, we want peace, and peace comes from justice.”
GUATEMALA
Graft probe ‘will not end’
Backers of efforts to combat corruption are vowing that work would not be stopped by US Senator Marco Rubio putting a hold on US$6 million in US contributions for a UN-sponsored commission probing graft in the nation. International Commission against Impunity Commissioner Ivan Velasquez said he would not comment, but said on Twitter on Sunday: “The fight against impunity and against corruption must continue; it does not wait; it cannot be suspended or delayed. There is neither time nor space for pessimism, uncertainty, discouragement or fear.” Lawmaker Andrea Villagran on Monday said that lobbyists in Washington are misinterpreting the fight against corruption and is hopeful that Rubio’s request would not last. “What Senator Rubio says should not do significant harm, since it is not a person who makes decisions — it is a group, and we understand US politics. They are institutional regardless of whether Democrats or Republicans are in power.”
UNITED STATES
Hung pinatas spark anger
A Minneapolis man is apologizing for black pinata figures that he hung by cords from the porch roof of his home. Victor Chavarria said the pinatas were created for a multiracial wedding. Chavarria tells Minnesota Public Radio News he left the freshly created pinatas to hang from his home for their paint to dry, not realizing they could be viewed as racial violence. A photograph of the figures appeared on Facebook, sparking online outrage. Chavarria said he called police and asked for extra patrols, because he was worried about backlash. Chavarria is a Mexican immigrant who is trying to start a pinata business in his home. He said he would no longer dry pinatas on his porch. The wedding order was canceled.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number