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.
‘EYE FOR AN EYE’: Two of the men were shot by a male relative of the victims, whose families turned down the opportunity to offer them amnesty, the Supreme Court said Four men were yesterday publicly executed in Afghanistan, the Supreme Court said, the highest number of executions to be carried out in one day since the Taliban’s return to power. The executions in three separate provinces brought to 10 the number of men publicly put to death since 2021, according to an Agence France-Presse tally. Public executions were common during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001, with most of them carried out publicly in sports stadiums. Two men were shot around six or seven times by a male relative of the victims in front of spectators in Qala-i-Naw, the center
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
The US will help bolster the Philippines’ arsenal and step up joint military exercises, Manila’s defense chief said, as tensions between Washington and China escalate. The longtime US ally is expecting a sustained US$500 million in annual defense funding from Washington through 2029 to boost its military capabilities and deter China’s “aggression” in the region, Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro said in an interview in Manila on Thursday. “It is a no-brainer for anybody, because of the aggressive behavior of China,” Teodoro said on close military ties with the US under President Donald Trump. “The efforts for deterrence, for joint resilience
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
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