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Colombia’s ex-President Uribe charged with witness tampering

Colombia’s ex-President Uribe charged with witness tampering

Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010, faces up to 12 years in prison for witness tampering and bribing witnesses. Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been charged with witness tampering and bribery, becoming the first head of the state to face a criminal trial in the Latin American nation. The charges arise from an investigation into Uribe’s alleged ties to right-wing paramilitary groups. The 71-year-old leader is accused of “offering cash or other benefits” to witnesses to discredit a political opponent who was digging into his family ties to the armed groups. If convicted, Uribe faces up to 12 years in prison. Uribe, who was president from 2002 to 2010, has denied any wrongdoing and has accused Colombia’s chief prosecutor’s office of “political vengeance”. There are wiretapped phone conversations in which the former president can be heard discussing with one of his lawyers efforts to flip two former paramilitary fighters who were set to testify against him. Uribe said his conversations were intercepted illegally. “I never sought to look for witnesses. I wanted to defend my reputation,” Uribe said during the virtual hearing. Judge Sandra Heredia rejected his request to have the case scrapped. The case dates to 2012 Uribe said on Friday he felt hurt for being the first former president to have to defend himself in court. The matter dates to 2012, when Uribe, then a senator, filed a complaint against left-wing senator Ivan Cepeda, whom he accused of hatching a plot to falsely link him to paramilitary groups. But the Supreme Court decided against investigating Cepeda, instead turning its sights on Uribe. The investigation against Uribe began in 2018 and has had numerous twists and turns, with several attorneys general seeking to close the case. It has gained new impetus under Attorney General Luz Camargo, who took over in March and was chosen by Colombia’s first-ever left-wing president, Gustavo Petro – historically a foe of Uribe. Uribe, who remains a prominent voice on Colombia’s right, was known for being tough on the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) fighters and strongly opposed the historic 2016 peace accord that saw the Marxist rebels disarm. Adblock test (Why?)

Rescuers search rubble after over 300 buried in Papua New Guinea landslide

Rescuers search rubble after over 300 buried in Papua New Guinea landslide

Landslide blocked highway access to affected communities making helicopters the easiest way to reach the disaster zone. Rescue teams have arrived at the site of an enormous landslide in Papua New Guinea‘s remote highlands, helping villagers search for hundreds of people feared dead under towering mounds of rubble and mud. “At this time, we are still searching for bodies who are buried by the massive landslide,” community leader Mark Ipuia told Reuters news agency on Saturday, adding that “more than 300” villagers may be entombed. So far, only four bodies have been pulled from the debris, a United Nations official based in the capital, Port Moresby, was quoted as saying. The disaster hit Kaokalam village in Enga province early on Friday morning when many villagers were at home asleep, according to government officials. According to Papua New Guinea media, at least 1,182 houses were also buried in the landslide in the area located about 600km (370 miles) northwest of Port Moresby. “There are a lot of houses under the debris that cannot be reached,” said UN official Serhan Aktoprak, who estimated as many as 3,000 people called the hillside settlement home. “The land continues to slide and move, and that makes it dangerous for people to operate,” he told AFP news agency. While the area is not densely populated, humanitarian agency CARE said that it is worried that the death toll could be disproportionately high. The landslide has also blocked highway access, making helicopters the only way to reach the area. The emergency team of medics, including military and police, also faced difficulty in reaching the area due to rugged terrain and damage to major roads. In all, more than six villages had been affected by the landslide in the province’s Mulitaka region, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said on Saturday. “Australia’s High Commission in Port Moresby is in close contact with PNG authorities for further assessments on the extent of the damage and casualties,” a DFAT spokesperson said in a statement. Social media footage posted by villager Ninga Role showed people clambering over rocks, uprooted trees and mounds of dirt searching for survivors. Women could be heard weeping in the background. Prime Minister James Marape has said disaster officials, the Defence Force and the Department of Works and Highways were assisting with relief and recovery efforts. The South Pacific county is vulnerable to natural disasters, including heavy rain and flooding, as well as earthquakes. In March, at least 23 people were killed by a landslide in a nearby province. Residents look into a demolished house at the site of a landslide at Yambali village in the region of Maip Mulitaka following the deadly disaster [AFP] Adblock test (Why?)

Some 45,000 Rohingya flee amid allegations of beheading, burning in Myanmar

Some 45,000 Rohingya flee amid allegations of beheading, burning in Myanmar

UN rights chief Volker Turk urges Bangladesh, other countries ‘to provide effective protection’ to the latest refugees. Escalating violence in conflict-torn Myanmar’s Rakhine State has forced another 45,000 minority Rohingya to flee, the United Nations warned, amid allegations of beheadings, killings and burnings of property. Clashes have rocked Rakhine State since the Arakan Army (AA) rebels attacked forces of the ruling military government in November, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since a military coup in 2021. The fighting has caught in the middle the Muslim minority group, long considered outsiders by the majority Buddhist residents, either from the government or the rebel side. The AA says it is fighting for more autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine population in the state, which is also home to an estimated 600,000 members of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, who have chosen to remain in the country. More than a million Rohingya have taken shelter in neighbouring Bangladesh after fleeing Rakhine, including hundreds of thousands in 2017 during an earlier crackdown by the military that is now the subject of a United Nations genocide court case. UN rights office spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell told reporters in Geneva on Friday that tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced in recent days by the fighting in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships. “An estimated 45,000 Rohingya have reportedly fled to an area on the Naf River near the border with Bangladesh, seeking protection,” she said, as she urged the protection of civilians according to international law. UN rights chief Volker Turk was urging Bangladesh and other countries “to provide effective protection to those seeking it, in line with international law, and to ensure international solidarity with Bangladesh in hosting Rohingya refugees in Myanmar”, she said. But Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, said that with more than a million Rohingya already in the country, the government has been reluctant to take more, leaving the latest refugees stuck on the Myanmar side of the border. ‘Beheadings’ James Rodehaver, head of the rights office’s Myanmar team, described the horrifying situation many were fleeing from. He said his team had received testimonies and seen satellite images, online videos and pictures indicating that Buthidaung town had been “largely burned”. “We have received information indicating that the burning did start on May 17 … two days after the military had retreated from the town … and the Arakan Army claimed to have taken full control of the village.” One survivor had described seeing dozens of dead bodies as he fled Buthidaung, while another had said he was among tens of thousands who fled the town only to find themselves blocked by the Arakan Army on the road west towards Maungdaw town. Other survivors also said AA members had abused them and extorted money from them as they tried to make their way to Rohingya villages south of the town. In the weeks leading up to the burning of Buthidaung, Rodehaver said the rights office had documented renewed attacks on Rohingya civilians by both the AA and the military in northern Rakhine, including through air strikes. The team had documented “at least four cases of beheadings”, he said, adding that they had determined with a high level of confidence that those were carried out by the AA. There have also been previous allegations of Rohingya being used as human shields. Al Jazeera’s Chowdhury, said the Rohingya were “caught in the middle”. “They are in a precarious situation,” he said, adding that recent Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar had told him that both the AA and the military have been trying to recruit them to fight. “They are threatened that if they don’t join, their villages would be burned,” he said. Adblock test (Why?)

Top moments from US v. Menendez reveal wads of cash stashed around New Jersey home: PHOTOS

Top moments from US v. Menendez reveal wads of cash stashed around New Jersey home: PHOTOS

New photos admitted as evidence in the U.S. v. Menendez trial shed light on discoveries made by federal agents during their raid of the New Jersey senator’s home.  Nearly $500,000 in cash and $150,000 in gold bars were strategically concealed throughout his cluttered New Jersey home, including a hefty stack of bills crammed inside a Timberland boot. This week, jurors were presented with numerous photographs capturing scenes inside the Englewood Cliffs residence where the Democratic senator and his wife, Nadine, live. Nadine’s trial was delayed until July while she undergoes treatment for breast cancer. Photographs showed cash stuffed inside designer bags and shoes, gold bars, multiple cell phones, jewelry, a cluttered closet filled with clothing and other items and a Mercedes-Benz that was allegedly one of the bribes given to the couple. JURY PICKED, OPENING STATEMENTS BEGIN IN US V. MENENDEZ: ‘USE YOUR GOOD JUDGMENT’ The “sheer volume of bills” found posed a challenge for agents, prompting Special Agent Aristotelis Kougemitros to request assistance, he said during Thursday’s testimony. The task of manually tallying the $486,461 in bills proved daunting, necessitating the dispatch of two cash-counting machines from the FBI’s Manhattan office. “I was directed that if I seized the cash, that I needed to count it in place,” Kougemitros said. “So, I called in reinforcements.” Kougemitros said the city brought in the cash-counting machines and “with all the cash that we started finding, we counted it all.” US V. MENENDEZ: DEM SENATOR’S CORRUPTION TRIAL KICKS OFF WITH SURPRISING DELAY In exchange for the cash, gold bars and other luxurious gifts, Menendez allegedly used his power as senator to benefit the governments of Qatar and Egypt and give business favors to three New Jersey businessmen — Wael Hana, Fred Daibes and Jose Uribe, co-defendants in the trial.  All have pleaded not guilty except Uribe, who agreed to cooperate with authorities and testify at the trial.  This is the second time in a decade Menendez has been accused in a federal corruption case. 

2024 wild card: Could Trump criminal trial verdict rock White House race?

2024 wild card: Could Trump criminal trial verdict rock White House race?

With closing arguments in former President Trump’s criminal trial scheduled for early in the week ahead, a pending verdict in the historic case could have serious consequences in the 2024 election between the former president and President Biden. Trump holds the slight edge right now both in national polling and in public opinion surveys in most of the crucial battleground states that will likely decide their election rematch. However, Trump could potentially be convicted on some or all of the nearly three-dozen state felony charges he faces in his trial in New York City, which is the first in the nation’s history for a former or current president. Veteran Democratic pollster Chris Anderson told Fox News that he did not think “a guilty verdict would fundamentally change the landscape of the race.” Longtime Republican pollster Neil Newhouse went even further, arguing that a Trump conviction “is unlikely to make any difference.” WHAT AMERICANS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE TRUMP TRIAL  Both pointed to the fact that “attitudes are so set in concrete” regarding both the Republican former president and his Democratic successor in the White House. Trump is charged with falsifying business records in relation to payments during the 2016 election that he made to Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about his alleged affair with the adult film actress. Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 in return for her silence about allegations of an affair with Trump in 2006. WARNING SIGNS FOR TRUMP AND BIDEN AS THEY CAREEN TOWARDS NEXT MONTH’S FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE  Both Cohen and Daniels testified for the prosecution and were grilled by Trump’s attorneys during cross-examination in a case that has grabbed tons of attention on the cable news networks, online and on social media. The former president has repeatedly denied falsifying business records as well as the alleged sexual encounter with Daniels, and he has repeatedly claimed, without providing evidence, that the case is a “SHAM TRIAL instigated and prosecuted directly from the inner halls of the White House and DOJ.” Trump has also been fined a couple of times, and threatened with jail, by the judge in the case for violating a gag order aimed at protecting witnesses and jurors from the former president’s verbal attacks. According to a Fox News national poll conducted earlier this month, nearly half of registered voters questioned said Trump had done something illegal when it comes to violations of campaign finance laws, with another quarter saying he had done something unethical.  THE BLUE STATES TRUMP AIMS TO FLIP RED IN HIS 2024 REMATCH WITH BIDEN Only 27% said the former president had done nothing seriously wrong. However, that number jumped to 54% among Trump supporters. That same survey indicated that voters were roughly divided on whether Trump’s legal treatment was fair (51%) or unfair (47%). There was an expected extremely wide partisan divide, with nine out of 10 Democrats saying the former president’s treatment was fair and 85% of Republicans disagreeing. Would a Trump guilty verdict dramatically alter the current state of play in the presidential showdown? A handful of recent national polls suggest the answer is not really. Among them, 62% of registered voters questioned in a Quinnipiac University survey said a guilty verdict would make no difference to their vote for president. Fifteen percent said it would make them more likely to cast a ballot for Trump, and 21% said it would make them less likely to vote for the former president. Additionally, eight out of 10 Trump supporters surveyed in an ABC News/Ipsos national poll said they would still back the presumptive GOP presidential nominee if he was found guilty in court. Sixteen percent said they would reconsider their support, and 4% said they would no longer back Trump. Anderson, a member of the Fox News Election Decision Team and the Democratic partner on the Fox News Poll, compared a potential guilty verdict to the infamous video that briefly damaged Trump’s chances of winning the 2016 presidential election.  “We might see an ‘Access Hollywood’ type slump in Trump’s poll numbers, where some of his less devoted supporters sour on him temporarily, but then by November it will seem forgivable,” Anderson said. ” So I don’t think a guilty verdict would fundamentally change the landscape of the race, but it will certainly be a new contour that could be meaningful in a close race.” Newhouse, who served as a pollster on four Republican presidential campaigns and is a co-founder of the political survey and polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, highlighted that “attitudes are so set in concrete regarding both President Biden and former President Trump that a guilty verdict in the hush money is unlikely to make any difference at all on the presidential ballot.”  “Those who back Trump believe this is nothing more than a political witch hunt, while those who oppose him came to a guilty verdict before the trial ever began,” he emphasized. However, Anderson spotlighted that the history-making trial would have an impact. “Regardless of the verdict, this trial clearly isn’t what Trump wants to be dealing with right now and has not helped him,” Anderson said. “What might help him is a not guilty verdict that will allow him to claim vindication. But even then, it’s a real stretch to imagine it becomes a net positive for him.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.