International
Argentina’s Kirchner slams court as ‘firing squad’
| By AFP |
Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Kirchner on Tuesday accused the court trying her for alleged corruption of being a “firing squad,” speaking in her final arguments before a verdict is due.
Kirchner, 69, is accused of fraudulently awarding public works contracts in her stronghold in Patagonia during two terms as president, and prosecutors want her jailed for 12 years and banned from politics. However, even if she is convicted, she will not go to prison as long as she enjoys parliamentary immunity as head of the country’s Senate.
“This court has been a true firing squad,” the veteran politician said, accusing prosecutors of having “dedicated themselves to disrespecting and insulting me.”
Kirchner spoke for 20 minutes in a virtual speech broadcast from her Senate office, just days after announcing she would run again as vice president in October elections. She repeated accusations that the prosecution had “invented and misrepresented” facts that she said had been shown to be false.
“They slandered, lied, and insulted me and our government,” said the divisive leftist, seen as the most powerful figure in Argentine politics.
Kirchner is charged alongide12 others for alleged involvement in the illicit attribution of public works contracts in the southern Santa Cruz province in favor of businessman Lazaro Baez. The period investigated includes Kirchner’s eight years in office, from 2007 to 2015, and the preceding four years when her late husband Nestor Kirchner, who died in 2010, was president.
Earlier in the trial, prosecutor Diego Luciani hit out at what he said was “probably the biggest corruption operation the country has known.” One hearing remains in the trial, on December 6, the same day a verdict is expected, though judges technically have up to 10 days to rule.
Mass daily protests erupted outside Kirchner’s apartment building in the upmarket suburb of Recoleta in late August in response to the prosecutor’s sentencing request. During one of these protests on September 1, a man shoved a revolver in her face and pulled the trigger — but the gun did not fire. Four people have been charged with involvement in the attack.
International
Six killed, including baby, in armed attack near tourist beach in Ecuador
Six people, including a baby girl about two years old, were killed on Sunday in an armed attack near a tourist beach in southwestern Ecuador, police said. The shooting, carried out with rifles, also left three people wounded.
The incident took place in the coastal town of Puerto López, in the province of Manabí, a popular tourist destination known for whale watching. The attack occurred amid a surge of violence over the weekend that left at least nine people dead nationwide, according to local media reports.
“There are six fatalities and three injured,” Colonel William Acurio, the local police commander, told reporters on Sunday. He confirmed that one of the victims was a baby “approximately two years old.”
Authorities have not released further details about the motive behind the attack or whether arrests have been made.
International
Man accused of killing nine in Paramaribo dies by suicide in police custody
The man who killed nine people, including five children, on Saturday night in Paramaribo died by suicide while in custody, Suriname police confirmed in a statement on Monday.
The suspect, identified by the initials D.A., 43, “hanged himself inside a holding cell at the Keizerstraat police station” in the capital, Paramaribo, according to the official report.
Police said the man sustained leg injuries during his arrest and was taken to a hospital before being transferred to the detention facility on Sunday night. Authorities did not provide further details on the circumstances surrounding his death.
International
Winter storm disrupts holiday travel, forcing 1,500 flight cancellations in the U.S.
Airlines canceled around 1,500 flights across the United States during the peak Christmas travel season after warnings of a severe winter storm and forecasts of heavy snowfall in the Midwest and Northeast. An additional 5,900 flights were delayed due to adverse weather conditions.
More than 40 million Americans were under snowstorm warnings or weather advisories one day after Christmas. Meanwhile, another 30 million people faced flood or storm alerts in California, where an atmospheric river triggered intense rainfall.
New York City was bracing for up to 25 centimeters (10 inches) of snow overnight, which would mark its heaviest snowfall in four years. Cold weather was expected to persist through the weekend in the nation’s largest city. According to flight-tracking website FlightAware, airports in the New York area recorded about 850 flight cancellations.
Six killed, including baby, in armed attack near tourist beach in Ecuador
Man accused of killing nine in Paramaribo dies by suicide in police custody
Winter storm disrupts holiday travel, forcing 1,500 flight cancellations in the U.S.
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