Headline
Colombia Swears In First-ever Leftist President
Published
2 years agoon
By
EditorEx-guerrilla and former mayor Gustavo Petro will be sworn in Sunday as Colombia’s first-ever leftist president, with plans for profound reforms in a country beset by economic inequality and drug violence.
The former senator, 62, takes over from the deeply unpopular Ivan Duque for a four-year term during which he will enjoy support from a left-leaning majority in Congress.
Petro’s hard-fought victory in June elections brought Colombia, long ruled by a conservative elite, into an expanding left-wing fold in Latin America that could be consolidated in October with a likely victory for Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil.
At a ceremony in Bogota on the eve of his inauguration, Petro said his government would aim to “bring to Colombia what it has not had for centuries, which is tranquility and peace.”
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“Here begins a government that will fight for environmental justice,” he added.
On the campaign trail, Petro had promised to raise taxes on the rich, invest in health care and education, and reform the police after a brutal crackdown on anti-inequality protests last year that was internationally condemned.
He has vowed to suspend oil exploration, to promote clean energy and to reactivate diplomatic and commercial relations with the government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, suspended since 2019.
Petro starts from an “enviable position, with a large majority in Congress and, in terms of the street, with support that no government had in recent years,” analyst Jorge Restrepo of the Resource Center for Conflict Analysis told newsmen.
– ‘Critical’ debt burden –
Petro’s presidency is historic in another sense, too: by his side will be the country’s first-ever Afro-Colombian woman vice-president, environmental and women’s rights activist Francia Marquez, 40.
The pair will grapple with an economy reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, a spike in violence and deep-rooted anger at the political establishment that culminated in last year’s protests.
Almost 40 percent of Colombia’s 50 million people live in poverty, while 11.7 per cent are unemployed.
On Monday, a preparatory commission set up by Petro said he was inheriting “a level of indebtedness and fiscal deficit that is critical.”
– Peace talks –
Petro, who in his youth was a member of the M-19 urban guerrilla group, has promised to implement outstanding provisions of the 2016 peace agreement that saw the rebel FARC movement lay down arms after nearly six decades of civil conflict.
The former mayor of Bogota has also vowed to pursue negotiations with the National Liberation Army armed group.
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Despite the FARC disbanding to become a political party, Colombia has seen a surge in violence as thousands of dissidents battle the liberation army and powerful cartels for control of drug fields, illegal gold mines and lucrative smuggling routes.
According to the Indepaz peace research institute, there are 90 armed groups with some 10,000 members active in Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer.
Petro has proposed allowing armed groups to hand themselves over in exchange for some form of amnesty.
He will be inaugurated at 3:00 pm local time (20:00 GMT) in front of a host of international guests.
Colombian presidents serve only one term.
AFP
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Headline
Man Sets Self On Fire Outside Trump Trial Venue
Published
27 mins agoon
April 19, 2024By
EditorA man set himself on fire Friday outside the court where Donald Trump is standing trial in Manhattan, with officers rushing to extinguish the flames.
Burning clothes were strewn in the park, which was locked down by authorities, while ambulances lined up nearby on standby, an AFP correspondent at the scene saw, describing a strong smell of burning chemicals.
The scene unfolded moments after the full panel of 12 jurors and six alternates was selected for the trial of the former president in a hush money cover-up case.
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“A male did light himself on fire outside of the Supreme Courthouse. We’re still gathering details from the field,” said a New York Police Department spokesman.
The fire department did not respond to a request for comment, but media reported the man had been taken away for medical treatment.
The incident happened in a park opposite the 100 Centre Street courthouse, which has been used by authorities to corral protesters, both pro-Trump and anti-Trump, as well as by some members of the media.
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The park, which is close to several courthouses and other buildings, is a popular local lunch spot.
Trump’s criminal trial, the first of a former president, is being conducted amid tight security in a 15th-floor courtroom swarming with Secret Service officers as well as court police.
New York’s police department had promised a major deployment to ensure the trial passes off safely, with the force’s head of intelligence John Hart calling it a “major challenge.”
AFP
Headline
Police Storm Iranian Embassy In Paris After Man ‘In Suicide Vest’ Threatened To Blow Himself Up
Published
5 hours agoon
April 19, 2024By
EditorA man has surrendered to police after he reportedly threatened to blow himself up at the Iranian consulate in Paris with a suicide vest.
According to Mail Online, the man gave himself after 2pm, walking out of the consulate with his hands in the air and giving himself over to police at the scene.
‘He had no explosives or weapons on him,’ said a security source. ‘He was placed under arrest immediately and taken away to a secure police station for questioning.’
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Specialist BRI officers continued to swarm around the area, together with sniffer dogs, just in case explosives had been hidden in the area.
‘The security perimeter will be maintained for a while yet,’ said the source.
The individual was for a time holed up inside the building in the French capital’s 16th arrondissement in a room with the ambassador, one report said.
He was said to be wearing an explosive belt and equipped with an object that resembled a grenade, Europe 1 and other sources reported earlier.
The area was cordoned off and evacuated, with a police source saying that an ‘intervention was imminent’.
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This suggested officers had been preparing to storm the building.
‘A witness saw a man enter carrying a grenade or an explosive belt,’ a source told France’s AFP news agency, adding that an elite police unit had been mobilised after the consulate requested an intervention.
‘The man presented him at the consulate, and then removed his coat, to show off an alleged explosives vest,’ another security source said at the scene.
‘He said he was carrying a grenade, and then placed a national flag on the floor. He said he wanted to avenge his brother.’
Police ordered the city’s Metro Line 6 to be interrupted as a safety measure.
Europe 1 reported that the embassy contacted the police requesting assistance, reporting that the man was inside the building. It said he was holed up in a room inside the consulate ‘in the presence of the ambassador’.
There were no reports of an explosion.
The incident came amid increasing tensions between Israel and Iran, with the Jewish state today launching strikes against the Islamic Republic.
This was in response to Iran launching over 300 missiles toward Israel on Saturday, 99 percent of which were intercepted by Israel and its allies.
Headline
Best Airports In Africa For 2024 Named, Nigeria Missing [Full List]
Published
6 hours agoon
April 19, 2024By
EditorSkytrax, a UK-based airline and airport review and ranking site has named Cape Town International Airport in South Africa as the best airport in Africa for 2024.
This came after Skytrax conducted a survey from August 2023 until March 2024, in which respondents are polled on a variety of areas, from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration, through to departure. Over 100 customer nationalities participated in the survey.
It was also stated that Cape Town airport has the ‘Best airport staff service in Africa’ while Durban King Shaka Airport, which came second, had an additional award for ‘Best regional airport in Africa’.
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Johannesburg’s Tambo International Airport came third, while the Mohammed V International Airport serving Casablanca, Morocco, polled fourth.
At fifth place was Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in Mauritius, with Morocco making another entry via Menara Airport in Marrakesh for sixth place.
Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport, the hub of Ethiopian Airline, was ranked seventh, while the Kigali International Airport in Rwanda scooped the eight spot.
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Cairo International Airport in Egypt took the ninth position while Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport had the tenth place.
See the full list below for the Best African Airports 2024:
Cape Town
Durban King Shaka
Johannesburg
Casablanca
Mauritius
Marrakech
Addis Ababa
Kigali
Cairo
Nairobi.
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