EU countries recognise Juan Guaidó as interim Venezuelan leader
Coordinated move comes after deadline for Maduro to call presidential elections expires
European countries including Spain, France, the UK, Sweden and Denmark have recognised Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela in a coordinated move made after a deadline for Nicolás Maduro to call presidential elections expired.
“Given that we’ve got to today and Maduro’s regime hasn’t taken any steps whatsoever towards [calling elections], the government of Spain announces that it officially recognises Mr Guaidó, the president of the Venezuelan assembly, as Venezuela’s caretaker president,” Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, told reporters at the Moncloa palace in Madrid.
Jeremy Hunt, the UK foreign secretary, tweeted: “Nicolás Maduro has not called presidential elections within 8 day limit we have set. So UK alongside European allies now recognises @jguaido as interim constitutional president until credible elections can be held. Let’s hope this takes us closer to ending humanitarian crisis.”
Israel builds new barrier along Gaza Strip border
Israel on Sunday said it had started to build a new barrier along its border with the Gaza Strip, according to the Defense Ministry.
The ministry said in a statement that the above-ground barrier — 65 kilometers long and six meters high — would work in conjunction with an underground wall also under construction, to neutralize the possibility of cross-border tunnels built by Hamas militants.
Bahraini Shiite footballer appears in Thai court to fight extradition
A jailed football player who has refugee status in Australia told a Thai court Monday that he refuses to be voluntarily extradited to Bahrain, which has asked for his return to serve a prison sentence for a crime he denies committing.
Hakeem al-Araibi's rejection of extradition means a trial will be held to determine whether Thai authorities will send him to Bahrain, where he fears he is at risk of torture, or release him so he can return to Australia.
"Please speak to Thailand, don't send me to Bahrain. Bahrain won't defend me," a chained Araibi shouted to reporters outside court as he was escorted by prison guards into Monday's hearing.
Behind the Lion Air crash
By James Glanz & Julie Creswell
In the brutally competitive jetliner business, the announcement in late 2010 that Airbus would introduce a more fuel-efficient version of its best-selling A320 amounted to a frontal assault on its archrival Boeing's workhorse 737.
Boeing scrambled to counterpunch. Within months, it came up with a plan for an upgrade of its own, the 737 Max, featuring engines that would yield similar fuel savings. And in the years that followed, Boeing pushed not just to design and build the new plane, but to convince its airline customers and, crucially, the US Federal Aviation Administration, that the new model would fly safely and handle enough like the existing model that 737 pilots would not have to undergo costly retraining.
Trump ignites new immigration furor ahead of State of the Union
Updated 0741 GMT (1541 HKT) February 4, 2019
President Donald Trump is carving new divides on immigration ahead of his State of the Union address that likely offer a more reliable guide to the year ahead than the ritual calls for national unity he is expected to issue on Tuesday night.
"With Caravans marching through Mexico and toward our Country, Republicans must be prepared to do whatever is necessary for STRONG Border Security," Trump wrote in a tweet on Sunday evening.
"Dems do nothing. If there is no Wall, there is no Security. Human Trafficking, Drugs and Criminals of all dimensions - KEEP OUT!"
Japan too soft on sex offenders, vast majority of survey respondents say
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24
In some ways, the Japanese legal system can be extremely tough on crime. This is after all, the country where a foreign college student remains in lockup eight months after reportedly breaking a lamp at a bar, and where the police are still searching for vandals who caused a ruckus at a Halloween party in order to bring them to justice, even though we’re well into the next calendar year.
But that doesn’t mean that Japanese citizens think their country is a police state. On the contrary, a recent survey by Japanese survey site Shirabee shows that many Japanese people think their country should be tougher on offenders in one area: sex crimes.
Shirabee recently polled 1,344 Japanese men and women between the ages of 20 and 69, asking them “Do you think that Japan is too forgiving of sex offenders?” The vast majority, 86.5 percent, answered “Yes.” The survey administrators say there wasn’t a large discrepancy between male and female respondents, either, with over 80 percent of both groups saying Japan should be tougher on rapists, chikan, domestic abusers, sexual harassers, and those who commit other acts of illegal indecency outside of those specific categories.
No comments:
Post a Comment