UNITED STATES
Package explodes at college
A package exploded on the campus of Northeastern University in Boston on Tuesday, with the college saying that a staff member sustained minor injuries. Authorities said that another suspicious package was found near an art museum and the FBI was assisting with the investigation. The parcel that blew up was one of two that were reported to police early in the evening. Boston’s bomb squad neutralized a second package near the city’s Museum of Fine Arts, which is on the outskirts of the Northeastern campus. NBC Boston reported that the package that exploded went off as it was being opened near the university’s Holmes Hall, which is home to the university’s creative writing program and its women’s, gender and sexuality studies program. It said the FBI was assisting the investigation. Northeastern spokesperson Shannon Nargi said in a statement that an unidentified university staff member suffered minor injuries to his hand in the explosion.
UNITED STATES
Mike Lindell questioned
MyPillow chief executive officer Mike Lindell on Tuesday said that federal agents seized his cellphone and questioned him about a Colorado clerk who has been charged in what prosecutors say was a “deceptive scheme” to breach voting system technology used across the country. Lindell was approached in the drive-thru of a Hardee’s fast-food restaurant in Mankato, Minnesota, by several FBI agents, he said on his podcast, The Lindell Report. The agents questioned him about Dominion Voting Systems, Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters and his connection to Doug Frank, an Ohio educator who claims voting machines have been manipulated, he said. On a video version of his podcast, Lindell displayed a letter signed by an assistant US attorney in Colorado that said prosecutors were conducting an “official criminal investigation of a suspected felony” and noted the use of a federal grand jury. Federal prosecutors have been conducting a parallel investigation alongside local prosecutors in Colorado who have charged Peters with several offenses, including attempting to influence a public servant, criminal impersonation and official misconduct.
VENEZUELA
State to be ‘guarantor’
President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday said that his government would act as a “guarantor” in peace talks between Colombia’s government and the National Liberation Army rebel group that are slated to begin later this year. Maduro said on national television that he had accepted a request by Colombian President Gustavo Petro to take on the diplomatic role, adding that his government was interested in fomenting peace, security and stability in Colombia and “throughout the continent.” Previous peace talks between the Colombian government and rebel groups have included the participation of “guarantor nations” that have acted as observers of the negotiations and supported both sides with logistics. Venezuela was a guarantor nation in a previous round of negotiations between Colombia and the National Liberation Army that began in 2016. However, the Colombian government asked the Maduro administration to step down from that role in 2018 as political tensions increased between the countries. The following year Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia after its government participated in a US-led effort to force Maduro out of office.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
CEREMONY EXPECTED: Abdullah Ocalan said he believes in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons, and called on the group to put that into practice The jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group yesterday renewed a call for his fighters to lay down their arms, days before a symbolic disarmament ceremony is expected to take place as a first concrete step in a peace process with the Turkish state. In a seven-minute video message broadcast on pro-Kurdish Medya Haber’s YouTube channel, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said that the peace initiative had reached a stage that required practical steps. “It should be considered natural for you to publicly ensure the disarmament of the relevant groups in a way that addresses the expectations
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