Inmates 'decapitated' in Guatemala prison riot

At least 17 prisoners have been killed in a gang brawl inside an overcrowded Guatemalan prison, including seven who were decapitated, officials say.

Victor Mijangos, assistant prosecutor for the Escuintla district, said on Monday that the fight broke out the afternoon before in the Canada Rehabilitation Farm about 70km south of the capital, Guatemala City.

"All were killed by machete and knife wounds," said Mijangos, who entered the prison. Officials found 16 bodies together inside and one more prisoner died of his wounds at a hospital.

He said officials found the heads of three men, apparently the leaders of a group, on top of a table. No one was killed or wounded by gunfire, he said. Another government official had said earlier that the fight started with gunfire.

Rudy Esquivel, prison system spokesman, said the prison was designed to hold 600 inmates, but houses 3,092. He said firefighters had removed 16 bodies from the prison and they were still being identified.

Al Jazeera's David Mercer, reporting from Guatemala City, said the overcrowding has also led to the conflict situations.

Elsa Rodriguez said she identified her son Estuardo Gregorio Rodriguez, 23, from a photograph a funeral home employee showed her.

She was among about 100 people who waited outside a morgue for the victims' bodies to be released to their families.

Esquivel said the fight apparently erupted between members of the Mara 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs and fellow inmates who don't belong to the gangs.

Two thousand police entered the prison to retake control and collect evidence.

Mariela Rodas was inside the prison on Sunday visiting her son when she said gunfire broke out around 3:30pm.

"My son told me to get out fast so nothing would happen to me. I think they already knew," Rodas said. "Then we heard gunshots and we all ran."

Dozens of family members waited outside the prison for word of their relatives on Monday.

François Hollande's mission in Washington

France’s François Hollande heads to Washington Tuesday as a self-declared wartime president. But US president Barack Obama will pose stiff conditions to joining any alliance that includes Russia.

FRANCE 24's Douglas Herbert explains why building a coalition will be tough.

The French president is in Washington this Tuesday in full wartime mode. It's the latest leg in a week-long diplomatic marathon to rally world leaders against the Islamic State group. The Paris attacks have hardened the resolve of France's allies to step up the anti-terror fight. But coralling the US and Russia into a single alliance will prove more difficult.

Even as the US shares more intelligence with France, Obama is laying down a gauntlet of tough conditions for any military cooperation with Vladimir Putin's Russia - starting with Moscow training more of its firepower on the places where the Islamic State group operates. Hollande is under tremendous domestic pressure to protect his country. But if that means appeasing Putin, Washington wants none of it.

Canada to give UN $75m for Syrian refugee relief

© AFP | Syrian refugees at the UN-run Zaatari camp, north Jordan, on September 19, 2015.

Canada’s new Liberal government announced on Thursday a US$75 million (CA$100 million) contribution to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) to help fleeing Syrians, fulfilling a campaign promise from its recent federal election.

The contribution includes US$7.5 million (CA$10 million) for the U.N. refugee agency as part of the program to resettle thousands of Syrian refugees in Canada over the next few months.

International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said the government will move quickly to disburse the funds.

“We know that Syrian refugees are cutting on meals, taking on debt to meet their basic daily needs and risking their lives to leave Syria,” she said. “This funding to UNHCR will help to make these decisions a little less difficult by helping to meet basic needs.”

The government also announced it is honoring a commitment made by the previous Conservative government to match donations by Canadians to the international relief efforts. Officials say Canadians have until Dec. 31 to make donations, which will be equaled to a ceiling of US$75 million (CA$100 million).

Earlier this week, recently elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government will resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year and another 15,000 by the end of February.

Trudeau had wanted to resettle 25,000 refugees in Canada by Dec. 31 but faced some pushback following the deadly attacks in Paris. Immigration and Refugee Minister John McCallum said they wanted to get it done right so they are taking a little bit more time to process and resettle the refugees.

U.N. staff in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are currently working overtime and on weekends to help select the Syrians who will be brought to Canada.

The government is also giving the UN in those countries, as well as in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Europe, money to help deal more broadly with the effect of the refugee crisis in those countries.

Thursday’s announcement brings to US$728 million (CA$969 million) the total amount of humanitarian assistance from Canada in response to the Syrian crisis, which has forced four million people to leave the country.

The U.S. plans to take 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year. Germany saw 758,000 refugees and other migrants arrive between January and October. Sweden is expecting around 200,000 this year.

France Dominican Republic drug trafficking Americasfrance 24 Dominican Republic issues arrest warrant for French MEP in 'Air Cocaine' case

Dominican authorities issued an arrest warrant for three French nationals, including MEP Aymeric Chauprade, for their involvement in the escape of two French pilots sentenced to prison in a cocaine trafficking case, the prosecution announced Sunday.

The two other French nationals being sought out by Dominican authorities are Christophe Naudin, a criminologist and specialist in aviation security, and Peter Malinowski, parliamentary assistant to Jean-Marie Le Pen, former president of France’s extreme right National Front party.

Chauprade had recently left the National Front but kept his seat at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The arrest warrant “was issued for Aymeric Chauprade, Christophe Naudin and Peter Malinowski, after the Dominican authorities presented evidence of their alleged involvement in the escape” of two French pilots, said Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito.

The three men have already admitted being involved in the escape of the two French pilots Pascal Fauret and co-pilot Bruno Odos.

The prosecutor announced the transmission by Interpol (the International Criminal Police Organization) of a “Red Notice” -- an international wanted persons alert.

“This means that if one or more of them were to leave the French territory to travel to another country, they would be arrested to face the Dominican justice system for violations of the law 137-03 regarding Illegal Trafficking of Migrants and Trade in Persons," said Dominguez Brito.

Air Cocaine

Fauret and Odos were both sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Dominican justice system for drug smuggling in the case known as “Air Cocaine”.

The pilots were arrested in March 2013 along with two other men, Nicolas Pisapia and Alain Castany, as they were about to take off from the Dominican resort of Punta Cana.

Authorities said they were preparing to leave on a mid-size Dassault Falcon 50 jet with 26 suitcases containing 680 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of cocaine.

The two pilots have denied wrongdoing, saying they did not know the private plane that they had been hired to fly was loaded with drugs.

Last October 28, the two defied a ban on leaving the Dominican Republic and secretly returned to France while on parole pending the examination of their appeal.

In early November, just days after their return, the two pilots were taken into custody by the French courts.

France has previously said that it will not extradite Fauret and Odos to the Dominican Republic but confirmed on November 19 their continued detention.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Date created : 2015-11-23

US states shun Syrian refugees after Paris attacks

Nearly half of the 50 US states moved on Monday to shut the door on Syrian refugees as Republican lawmakers urged a halt to the resettlement programme, citing security fears following the Paris attacks.

President Barack Obama pushed back, criticizing “shameful” calls to screen the refugees fleeing the war-torn country based on their religion.

But Obama faced a barrage of pressure from at least 22 Republican-led states, GOP presidential candidates, key members of Congress, and in one case a Democratic governor to suspend a program to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees on US soil in 2016.

The discovery of a Syrian passport near the body of one Paris assailant has revived Europe’s debate on how hard a line to take on the record migrant influx.

In the United States, several Republican presidential hopefuls including Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio said outright that America must not take in Syrian refugees because they might includeIslamic State (IS) militants.

And Republican state governors lined up to demand the suspension of plans to resettle Syrians.

“Given the tragic attacks in Paris and the threats we have already seen, Texas cannot participate in any program that will result in Syrian refugees—any one of whom could be connected to terrorism—being resettled in Texas,” Governor Greg Abbott of the large southern state wrote Monday in a letter to Obama.

“I will do everything humanly possible to stop any plans from the Obama administration to put Syrian refugees in Mississippi,” added that state’s governor, Phil Bryant.

Obama’s policy of welcoming such individuals “is not only misguided, it is extremely dangerous,” he said.

Alabama and Michigan announced their opposition Sunday.

They have been joined by Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan—a Democrat—Maggie Hassan has backed them.

Her spokesman said Hassan believes the Obama administration should “halt acceptance of refugees from Syria” until it can assure the vetting process is as strong as possible.

Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan, home to one of America’s largest concentrations of Middle East immigrants, said he decided to suspend arrivals of Syrian refugees until the Department of Homeland Security completes a “full review” of security clearances and procedures.

Michigan’s leading newspaper, the Detroit Free Press, reported that between 1,800 and 2,000 refugees have been resettled in the state over the past year, about 200 of whom were from Syria.

‘Un-American’

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who is running for president, signed an executive order Monday instructing state agencies to “take all available steps to stop the relocation of Syrian refugees to Louisiana.”

He also wrote to Obama Saturday urging him to “pause the process,” and complained that he was kept in the dark about Syrian refugees as they began arriving in New Orleans earlier this month.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations decried the governors’ “un-American” reactions.

“Governors who reject those fleeing war and persecution abandon our ideals and instead project our fears to the world,” CAIR said.

Suzanne Akhras Sahloul, director of the Syrian Community Network which helps refugees adjust to American life, warned of growing “Islamophobia” in the country.

“What happened to us that we are now closing our doors to people who are escaping terrorism, trauma and death?” she told AFP.

At least six states have stated they remain open to Syrian refugees.

One is Washington, whose governor, Jay Inslee, issued a statement saying: “We have been and will continue to be a state that embraces compassion and eschews fear mongering.”

Claimed by the Islamic State group, Friday’s coordinated attacks targeting revelers at a Paris concert, restaurants and the national stadium left at least 129 dead and raised fears of a similar assault by jihadists on US soil.

Obama, speaking Monday at a Turkey summit of the world’s top economies, said it is “very important... that we do not close our hearts to these victims” of violence in the Middle East.

In September, the US leader announced plans to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees by September 2016. The White House stressed the plan carries little risk because there is a “robust” vetting process in place.

The State Department said it was taking the governors’ concerns seriously, and that it was looking into “whether they can legally” block federal resettlement efforts in their states.

Congress faces a December 11 deadline for finalizing 2016 spending, and some Republicans want to insert language that blocks federal funding for refugee plans.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose chamber observed a moment of silence Monday evening for the victims of the Paris attacks, said he was looking at all options.

(AFP)

Conservative opposition wins Argentine presidential election

Conservative opposition candidate Mauricio Macri won Argentina’s presidential election on Sunday after promising business-friendly reforms to spur investment in the struggling economy.

Macri’s supporters swarmed to the Obelisk in the heart of Buenos Aires’ theater district for a giant street party as subdued ruling party candidate Daniel Scioli conceded defeat.

Argentina’s election body said Macri had 52.1 percent of votes and Scioli had 47.9 percent with returns in from 91.5 percent of polling stations.

“The is the beginning of a new era that has to carry us toward the opportunities we need to grow and progress,” Macri told supporters at his headquarters, which pulsed with Latin music and was festooned with white and sky-blue balloons, the colors of the Argentine flag.

In a sign of Argentines’ weariness with a spluttering economy, rising crime and corruption, Macri had gone into the run-off election with a comfortable lead in opinion polls over Scioli, the candidate of outgoing President Cristina Fernandez.

During the campaign, Scioli warned that Macri’s orthodox policies are similar to those that preceded Argentina’s 2001-02 economic crisis, which tossed millions of people into poverty.

But with economic growth slowing sharply and inflation running at more than 20 percent, voters were keen for change.

Macri promises to set Latin America’s third biggest economy on a more free-market course after a combined 12 years of leftist populism under Fernandez and her late husband and predecessor Nestor Kirchner.

Barred from seeking a third straight term, Fernandez will leave office with Argentina deeply divided between those who back her protectionist policies and defense of worker rights and others who blame her policies for weak economic growth.

President’s shadow

A moderate within the Peronist movement, Scioli failed to win over middle-ground voters after struggling to step out of Fernandez’s shadow during the election campaign.

His talk of maintaining generous social welfare programs and energy subsidies while making only gradual changes to the capital and trade controls that have hobbled the economy hurt his credentials as a candidate for change.

“Scioli did not manage to differentiate himself from Fernandez and so people stopped seeing him as a change of style and went over to Macri,” said political analyst Mariel Fornoni.

The shift in power in Argentina may reverberate across South America where other left-leaning governments, such as Venezuela and Brazil, are also up against the end of a decade-long commodities boom and allegations of financial mismanagement.

Macri was favored by investors and Argentine asset prices were expected to rise on Monday.

“Foreign investors got their wish. Macri’s win signals a decisive break with the Kirchner-Fernandez legacy of creditor confrontation and economic mismanagement,” said Washington-based emerging markets analyst Gary Kleiman.

“Bond and stock markets will enjoy the afterglow into the new year, but the inherited currency and fiscal mess and direct and portfolio investor antagonism may linger with the Peronists’ continued political hold on parts of the government apparatus.”

Scioli’s apparent defeat amounted to an indictment of Fernandez’s stewardship of the economy and her confrontational style.

She often takes to the airwaves to mock her critics with fiery speeches. She denounces holdout creditors suing the country over defaulted debt as “vultures” and invokes the memory of her late husband as the guiding light of her policies.

Fernandez is known as a political fighter committed to her vision of a government actively involved in helping low-income families, and she may return as a presidential candidate in 2019.

She appeared on television in recent weeks appealing to voters to ensure that government funding of education, healthcare and programs for poor mothers remains.

(REUTERS) 

 

Canada to announce plan to resettle 25,000 refugees

 

© AFP | Migrants and refugees wait to enter a registration camp after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border near Gevgelija on November 20, 2015.

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2015-11-24

Canada’s new Liberal government will announce details of how it intends to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hasn’t backed down from a pledge to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by Dec. 31 despite pushback by some following the deadly attacks in Paris.
Trudeau said all of Canada’s premiers support resettling 25,000.
“Everyone agrees that Canada must do more and must welcome 25,000 refugees,” Trudeau said after meeting them late Monday.
Tuesday’s announcement is sure to raise alarm in the U.S. where many Republican governors have said they don’t want any Syrian refugees.
Trudeau said robust security screening continues to be a high priority.
Immigration Minister John McCallum said he spoke to Canada’s big city mayors about how they can help resettle the refugees. Quebec Premier Phillipe Couillard said accepting refugees and immigrants is part of Canadian tradition.
“There was no one sitting at the table that is not interested in seeing refugees come,” Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said.
Canada has long prided itself on opening its doors wider than any nation to asylum seekers. In times of crisis in decades past, Canada resettled refugees quickly and in large numbers. It airlifted more than 5,000 people from Kosovo in the late 1990s, more than 5,000 from Uganda in 1972 and resettled 60,000 Vietnamese in 1979-80. More than 1.2 million refugees have arrived in Canada since World War II.
Former Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who lost the Oct. 19 election to Trudeau, had declined to resettle more Syrian refugees, despite the haunting image of a drowned 3-year-old boy washed up on a Turkish beach that focused global attention on the migrant crisis stemming from the civil war. The boy had relatives in Canada and the refugee crisis became a major campaign issue.
Brad Wall, the Conservative premier of Saskatchewan province, said he has problems with the deadline of Dec. 31 for security reasons, but believes Canada should welcome the refugees.
More than 4 million Syrians have fled their country since the conflict began in 2011.