International
21 killed in Bangladesh boat accident
AFP
At least 21 people were killed and dozens remain missing as a boat packed with passengers and a sand-laden cargo ship collided Friday in a lake in eastern Bangladesh, officials said.
The boat was reportedly carrying some 60 passengers when the incident occurred on a lake in the town of Bijoynagar, local government administrator Hayat-ud-Doula Khan said.
The cargo ship’s steel tip and the boat collided, causing the passenger vessel to capsize, he said.
“We have recovered 21 bodies including nine women and six children so far,” he told AFP, adding that the toll would likely rise.
Local fire service spokesman Taufiqul Islam said divers were searching the scene of the accident for more bodies, and that reinforcements had been called in from neighbouring towns. Locals also joined the rescue efforts.
Police said at least seven people were taken to a local hospital after they were rescued from the sunken boat.
Survivor Akhi Akter said she was travelling with her son, mother-in-law and brother-in-law in the passenger boat.
“When the accident occurred, I managed to swim back to the bank. But the rest of my relatives are still missing,” she said tearfully.
Local authorities have formed a probe committee to investigate the accident.
The maritime accident was the latest in a string of similar incidents in the south Asian country.
In April and May, 54 were killed in two separate boat capsizing accidents.
Experts blame poor maintenance, lax safety standards at shipyards and overcrowding for many of the accidents.
Vessels transporting sand sit low in the water and can be hard to see in choppy conditions, particularly in poor lighting.
In June last year, a ferry sank in Dhaka after it was hit from behind by another ferry, killing at least 32 people.
In February 2015, at least 78 people died when an overcrowded ship collided with a cargo boat.
International
Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.
“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.
“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.
Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links

A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”

The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
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