'El Chapo': Sean Penn interviewed Guzman before recapture
- 10 January 2016
- Latin America & Caribbean
Hollywood actor Sean Penn interviewed Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman at a secret location soon after his jail break.
The interview, conducted in October in the Mexican jungle, is published in Saturday's edition of Rolling Stone.
Guzman escaped from the maximum security Altiplano jail in July and was recaptured on Friday.
Unnamed Mexican officials say Penn's secret meeting helped lead them to the fugitive who is back in Altiplano.
Their comments chime with public pronouncements by Attorney General Arely Gomez, who said on Friday that an important aspect of his recapture "was discovering Guzman's intention to have a biographic film made".
"He contacted actresses and producers, which was part of one line of investigation."
In the Rolling Stone article, Penn and Guzman discuss various topics, including drug trafficking.
Guzman is quoted as saying: "If there was no consumption, there would be no sales.''
Thousands of Hong Kong protesters gather to demand release of booksellers
Five Hong Kong booksellers have vanished since October and many suspect they were abducted by Chinese security forces because of books critical of China
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Hong Kong to demand the release of a group of political booksellers they suspect were abducted by Chinese security forces and are being held in mainland China.
Five Hong Kong booksellers – Gui Minhai, Lee Bo, Lui Bo, Cheung Ji-ping and Lam Wing-kei – who specialised in books criticising China’s Communist party elite have vanished since October.
Beijing has repeatedly refused to comment directly on the case but there is widespread suspicion that the men’s apparent detentions – in Thailand, southern China and Hong Kong – are designed to halt the publication of salacious tomes about the private lives of top party figures.
One source told the Guardian Gui and Lee had been preparing to publish a book about Chinese president Xi Jinping when the disappearances began.
Chaos and Violence: How New Year's Eve in Cologne Has Changed Germany
New Year's Eve in Cologne rapidly descended into a chaotic free-for-all involving sexual assault and theft, most of it apparently committed by foreigners. It has launched a bitter debate over immigration and refugees in Germany -- one that could change the country. By SPIEGEL Staff
A lot happened on New Year's Eve in Cologne, much of it contradictory, much of it real, much of it imagined. Some was happenstance, some was exaggerated and much of it was horrifying. In its entirety, the events of Cologne on New Year's Eve and in the days that followed adhered to a script that many had feared would come true even before it actually did. The fears of both immigration supporters and virulent xenophobes came true. The fears of Pegida people and refugee helpers; the fears of unknown women and of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Even Donald Trump, the brash Republican presidential candidate in the US, felt it necessary to comment. Germany, he trumpeted, "is going through massive attacks to its people by the migrants allowed to enter the country."
For some, the events finally bring to light what they have always been saying: that too many foreigners in the country bring too many problems along with them.
Iranian rockets launched near US warships in Strait of Hormuz captured on video
Will Dunham
The United States has claimed that Iranian forces fired missiles near US warships, including the carrier USS Harry S. Truman, in the Strait of Hormuz on Boxing Day.
Washington: The United States Navy has released black-and-white video it said was taken by an American helicopter showing an Iranian Revolutionary Guards vessel firing unguided rockets on December 26 near warships including the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran on December 31 denied that its Revolutionary Guards vessels had launched the rockets as the US claimed, with a Revolutionary Guards spokesman saying the "false" accusation was "akin to psychological warfare."
The navy said the infrared radar footage showed an Iranian "fast inshore attack craft" launching several rockets on December 26 "in close proximity" to the Truman, the guided missile destroyer USS Bulkeley, the French naval frigate FS Provence and commercial ships in the busy waterway.
Manhunt In Israel Bares Tensions Between Jewish And Arab Citizens
Israeli authorities shot and killed a wanted gunman but opened a gulf of distrust in the process.
Daniel MaransReporter, The Huffington Post
Israeli security forces on Friday killed Nashat Melhem, the suspect in the Tel Aviv New Year’s Day shooting that killed three, in a shootout near his hometown of Arara in Northern Israel. But while Melhem's death marked the end of a weeklong manhunt that had gripped Israel with anxiety, some say the events leading up to it aggravated a growing rift between Israel’s Jewish and Palestinian citizens. The authorities' handling of the incidents may also serve to widen the gap between the conservative Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Obama administration, which has already been critical of Netanyahu's remarks about Israel's Palestinian citizens.
Although Israel is widely criticized for its occupation of Palestinian territories conquered in 1967, it often points to the citizenship of Palestinians inside Israel as evidence of its commitment to democracy, particularly relative to neighboring Arab states. But events in the past week threaten that image.
Tibetan film director wins 1st prize at Tokyo film festival
(Mainichi Japan)
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Pema Tseden, a film director from a traditionally Tibetan region of China, has won the Grand Prize as well as the Student Jury Prize at an international film competition held in Tokyo in 2015.
Tokyo Filmex, held last November, aims at discovering and nurturing young talent in the Asian region. Last year was the 16th time the event has been held.
The film, "Tharlo," depicts Tibetan culture through the life of a Tibetan shepherd with humor and pathos.
In the 123-minute black-and-white movie -- the director's fifth feature-length film -- Tharlo, the shepherd, is told by local police to apply for a proper ID card. So he goes to a photo studio in town, which begins to turn his life on its head.
No comments:
Post a Comment