Washington — The Interior Department’s inspector general said in a report released Wednesday that evidence it obtained “did not support a finding” that federal authorities forcibly cleared protesters from Lafayette Park last year so then-President Trump could walk from the White House and pose for a photo outside the historic St. John’s Church.
The watchdog, which examined the incident that occurred June 1, 2020, during protests against racial injustice and police brutality in Washington, D.C., instead found the U.S. Park Police had the authority to clear the park and surrounding areas, and did so to allow a contractor to install anti-scale fencing after several nights of violent clashes. U.S. Park Police also did not know that Mr. Trump would potentially be leaving the White House and crossing Lafayette Park until “mid-to late afternoon” on June 1, hours after the contractor had arrived to begin installation, according to the report.
“The evidence we obtained did not support a finding that the USPP cleared the park to allow the president to survey the damage and walk to St. John’s Church,” the report from the Interior Department’s inspector general states.
The watchdog further found that U.S. Park Police used a “sound amplifying long-range acoustic device” to issue three warnings telling the crowd to disperse, though acknowledged not all could hear the warning, and some police units began moving to clear protesters before the third and final warning was given. Additionally, the report states there were communication issues between U.S. Park Police and law enforcement agencies brought in to assist during the demonstrations, which were sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“We found that the USPP and the Secret Service did not use a shared radio channel to communicate, that the USPP primarily conveyed information orally to assisting law enforcement entities, that an assisting law enforcement entity arrived late and may not have received a full briefing on the rules of engagement, and that several law enforcement officers could not clearly hear the incident commander’s dispersal warnings,” the report says. “These weaknesses in communication and coordination may have contributed to confusion during the operation and the use of tactics that appeared inconsistent with the incident commander’s operational plan.”
In a statement, Mr. Trump claimed the inspector general “totally exonerat[ed] me.”
“As we have said all along, and it was backed up in today’s highly detailed and professionally written report, our fine Park Police made the decision to clear the park to allow a contractor to safely install antiscale fencing to protect from Antifa rioters, radical BLM protestors, and other violent demonstrators who are causing chaos and death to our cities,” he said.
Mr. Trump was condemned for the incident on June 1, 2020, during which law enforcement officers used pepper balls and chemical irritants to disperse the crowd of protesters gathered in Lafayette Park, located outside the White House, just before the city’s 7 p.m. curfew took effect.
Shortly after the area was cleared, Mr. Trump, flanked by some members of his Cabinet and White House staff, walked across the park to St. John’s Church, a part of which had been set on fire the prior night.
The then-president delivered brief remarks outside the church and then held up a Bible as photos of the impromptu visit were taken.
President Donald Trump holds a Bible as he visits outside St. John’s Church across Lafayette Park from the White House on Monday, June 1, 2020.
AP
Then-Attorney General Bill Barr said the protesters were removed from the park to expand the security perimeter around the White House, a move that was planned before Mr. Trump decided to walk through the area.
Video footage and news reports from June 1 raised questions about the events leading up to Mr. Trump’s walk from the White House, as Barr was spotted speaking with the U.S. Park Police operations commander on the scene.
Asked about the exchange, the operations commander told the watchdog’s team he warned Barr the area was unsafe and asked him to move away from the crowd.
“The USPP operations commander said the attorney general asked him, ‘Are these people still going to be here when POTUS [President of the United States] comes out?'” according to the report. “The USPP operations commander told us he had not known until then that the president would be coming out of the White House and into Lafayette Park. He said he replied to the attorney general, ‘Are you freaking kidding me?’ and then hung his head and walked away. The attorney general then left Lafayette Park. The USPP operations commander denied that the attorney general ordered him to clear Lafayette Park and H Street.”
The incident commander with the Park Police told the inspector general’s office that he, too, was never informed of Mr. Trump’s specific plans or when he planned to leave the White house.
“It was just a, ‘Hey, here he comes.’ And all of a sudden I turn around and there’s the entourage,” the incident commander told investigators, as detailed in the report.
The Park Police’s acting police chief also said he did not know of Mr. Trump’s plans to visit St. John’s Church, though the incident commander told him the president might assess the damage at an unspecified time, according to the report.
Narrow in scope, the investigation from the Interior Department’s inspector general focused on the U.S. Park Police actions and did not examine individual uses of force by officers, which are at the center of ongoing lawsuits or separate investigations. The watchdog said its authority to obtain documents or statements from entities outside the Interior Department was limited, though the office received radio transmissions and other information from the Metropolitan Police Department and Arlington County Police Department, as well as videos from Secret Service observation cameras in the Lafayette Park area and documents from the agency.
The inspector general said the office did not seek to interview Barr, White House personnel, Federal Bureau of Prisons officers, or personnel from the Secret Service or Metropolitan Police Department.
The report recommended the U.S. Park Police develop a detailed policy laying out procedures for operations involving protests that may require the use of force and improve field communication procedures.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland told Inspector General Mark Greenblatt in a letter last month that she is establishing a task force to review and improve its law enforcement programs.
“The challenges our officers face every day are many, and the need to coordinate closely across jurisdictions in a manner that promotes transparency, accountability and public trust is paramount,” she said.
The National Park Service and U.S. Park Police said they have taken steps to address both recommendations from the inspector general.
Este 19 de marzo se dio el cierre oficial del programa del Proyecto de Mejora del Desempeños de las Pequeñas Empresas, a través de la implementan de prácticas empresariales responsables, que estuvo a cargo de UnirRSE.
Dicho programa tuvo una duración de tres años y que estuvo integrado por tres empresas ancla y 23 pequeñas empresas de distintas áreas.
Parte de los resultados del proyecto es que se las empresas lograron implementar ahorros en sistemas de producción y cuido de las comunidades en las que se encuentran.
El programa fue respaldo por un financiamiento del BID Fomin.
Image caption
Emiratos Árabes Unidos dieron a los diplomáticos qataríes 48 horas para abandonar el país.
Seis países árabes cortaron relaciones diplomáticas con Qatar, al que acusan de estar creando inestabilidad en la región.
Arabia Saudita, Egipto, Bahréin, Emiratos Árabes Unidos, Yemen y Libia acusan al país de apoyar a grupos terroristas,incluyendo el autodenominado Estado Islámico (EI) y al Qaeda, lo que es negado categóricamente por Qatar.
Pero el rompimiento de relaciones, anunciado este lunes, también pone de manifiesto profundas divisiones entre los aliados de Estados Unidos en el Golfo Pérsico por cuenta de su relación conIrán.
Y su anuncio se produce en medio de las crecientes tensiones en la región luego un supuesto hackeo a la agencia de noticias oficial de Qatar, el mes pasado.
Según la agencia de noticias estatal SPA, Arabia Saudita cerró sus fronteras con Qatar, cortando así todo contacto terrestre, marítimo y aéreo con la península.
El medio citó a funcionarios sauditas respaldando la medida y diciendo que era necesaria para “proteger la seguridad nacional contra los peligros del terrorismo y el extremismo”.
Riad -la capital de Arabia Saudita- también acusa a Doha -la capital de Qatar- de apoyar a grupos como la “Hermandad Musulmana” y colaborar con milicias apoyadas por los iraníes.
Pero Qatar, quien está llamado a celebrar el Mundial de fútbol de 2022, asegura que las medidas son “completamente injustificadas” y no se basan en hechos comprobados.
Arabia Saudita también ha sido acusada de financiar a grupos como EI, ya sea directamente o al no hacer lo suficiente por evitar que donantes privados hagan llegar dinero al grupo, algo que el gobierno de Riad también niega.
Ultimátum
El rompimiento de relaciones fue iniciado por Bahréin y luego Arabia Saudita el lunes temprano.
Luego se les sumaron los gobiernos de Emiratos Árabes Unidos (EAU), Egipto, Yemen y Libia.
Derechos de autor de la imagen Reuters
Image caption
Unos supuestos comentarios del emir de Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (en la foto junto al presidente de la FIFA, Gianni Infantino), tensionaron todavía más las relaciones con sus vecinos.
La agencia estatal de noticias de Bahréin dijo que el país cortaba lazos con Qatar por “agitar la seguridad y la estabilidad de Bahréin y entrometerse en sus asuntos“.
Emiratos Árabes Unidos, por su parte, le dio a los diplomáticos qataríes 48 horas para abandonar el país.
Las autoridades de Abu Dabi acusan a las de Doha de “apoyar, financiar y alentar el terrorismo, el extremismo y las organizaciones sectarias”, dijo la agencia estatal de noticias de EAU, WAM.
Los países del Golfo (Arabia Saudita, EAU y Bahréin) también les dieron a los ciudadanos qataríes dos semanas para abandonar sus territorios.
Los tres aliados anunciaron además el cierre de su espacio aéreo para Qatar Airways, que ya suspendió sus vuelos a Arabia Saudita.
Las aerolíneas Etihad Airways, Emirates y FlyDubai, por su parte, dijeron que iban a suspender todos sus vuelos hacia y desde Doha a partir del martes temprano.
Derechos de autor de la imagen AFP
Image caption
Los vecinos de Qatar están cortando todo tipo de contacto aéreo, terrestre y marítimo con el país.
Egipto también cerró su espacio aéreo y puertos para todo el transporte qatarí, señaló en un comunicado el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores egipcio.
La coalición árabe liderada por Arabia Saudita, que lucha contra los rebeldes hutíes en Yemen, también expulsó a Qatar de su alianza debido a las “prácticas que fortalecen el terrorismo” de Doha y su apoyo a grupos como “al Qaeda y Estado Islámico, así como tratar con las milicias rebeldes”, según SPA.
Contexto
Si bien la ruptura de relaciones con Qatar se produjo intempestivamente, las tensiones entre Doha y sus vecinos se han estado acumulando por años.
Ya en 2014, Arabia Saudita, Bahréin y Emiratos Árabes Unidos retiraron durante varios meses a sus embajadores en Doha en protesta por su supuestainterferencia en asuntos internos.
Y las tensiones se agravaron hace dos semanas, luego de que medios estatales qataríes publicaran supuestos comentarios del emir de Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, en los que criticaba a Arabia Saudita.
Derechos de autor de la imagen AFP
Image caption
Bahréin es uno de varios países que acusan a Qatar de inmiscuirse en sus asuntos internos.
El gobierno de Doha dijo que los comentarios eran falsos y atribuyó su publicación a “un desvergonzado crimen cibernético”.
Pero los vecinos de Qatar procedieron a bloquear el acceso a los sitios noticiosos de ese país, entre ellos Al Jazeera.
Los dos factores clave en la decisión de este lunes, sin embargo, son los supuestos vínculos de Qatar con grupos islamistas y milicias apoyadas por Irán, el gran rival regional de Arabia Saudita.
Si bien Qatar es parte de la coalición internacional contra el grupo autodenominado Estado Islámico liderada por EE.UU., el gobierno de Doha se han visto constantemente obligado a negar acusaciones de que apoya financieramente a EI.
Derechos de autor de la imagen AFP
Image caption
La independencia de medios qataríes como Al Jazeera incomoda a muchos de sus vecinos.
Se cree, sin embargo, que tanto ricos qataríes como el mismo gobierno han apoyado financieramente a grupos islamistas en Siria.
Y Qatar también ha sido señalado de vínculos con el grupo antes conocido como Frente Nusra, un afiliado de al Qaeda.
El comunicado saudí acusa a Qatar de apoyar a esos grupos, así como a la “Hermanada Musulmana”, además de “promover el mensaje y planes de esos grupos constantemente a través de esos medios”.
¿Fortalecidos por Trump?
Según un experto en temas del Golfo Pérsico entrevistada por la agencia Reuters, el reciente viaje del presidente estadounidense Donald Trump a Arabia Saudita, parece haber convencido a este país y sus aliados de que había llegado el momento de lidiar “con el enfoque alternativo” exhibido por Qatar en estos asuntos.
Durante su visita Trump instó a los países musulmanes a que asumieran el liderazgo en la lucha contra la radicalización y culpó a Irán por la inestabilidad en el Medio Oriente.
“Y parece que sauditas y emiratíes se sienten fortalecidos por el alineamiento entre sus intereses regionales -hacia Irán y el islamismo- y los de la administración Trump”, le dijo a Reuters Kristian Ulrichsen.
Derechos de autor de la imagen Reuters
Image caption
Trump eligió a Arabia Saudita como el destino de su primer viaje oficial como presidente de Estados Unidos.
El secretario de Estado de EE.UU., Rex Tillerson, le pidió sin embargo a los países resolver sus diferencias mediante el diálogo.
“No espero que esto vaya a tener ningún impacto significativo, o de cualquier tipo, sobre nuestra lucha compartida contra el terrorismo en la región o a nivel global”, agregó Tillerson.
Qatar, por su parte, aseguró que la decisión de sus vecinos “no va a afectar la vida normal de sus ciudadanos y resientes”.
Pero la bolsa de valores registró importantes pérdidas el lunes por la mañana.
Y el periódico Doha News reportó que mucha gente había corrido a los supermercados para abastecerse de agua y alimentos.
Población 2,7 millones
Superficie 11.437 Km²
Principal idioma Árabe
Mayor religión Islam
Esperanza de vida 79 años (hombres), 78 años (mujeres)
Moneda Riyal
Todos los días cientos de camiones cruzan la frontera entre Arabia Saudita y Qatar, muchos de ellos cargados con comida.
Se estima que el 40% de la comida de Qatar llega al país por esa vía.
Both cities have been under heavy bombardment. The mayor of Mariupol had been pleading on Friday for humanitarian corridors to allow people to flee and bring in food and medical supplies. Mariupol has had no water, heat or electricity and is running out of food after coming under attack by Russian forces for the past five days, the mayor said. In Volnovakha, the attack has been so intense that dead bodies lie uncollected, those trapped in shelters are running out of supplies, and 90% of buildings are damaged or destroyed, local MP Dmytro Lubinets said.
Democratic congressional leaders claim President Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency to spend additional money on a border wall is unlawful, with some even saying this maneuver looks more like a dictatorship than a democracy. On this matter, the Democrats are wrong. It was Congress that gave the president this power.
The Military Construction Codification Act of 1982 provides that the president can reallocate funds for military construction projects when he declares a national emergency “that requires use of the armed forces.”
One could argue a border wall isn’t a real emergency and that judges should stop the president. The problem is that judges historically have tried to not second-guess the president’s national security judgment for declaring a national emergency. Congress holds the real power here. If lawmakers believe a border wall is a “fake” emergency, they can vote to undo the decision. The National Emergencies Act of 1976 says that Congress can pass a joint resolution of termination to end such an emergency declaration.
A stronger argument against Trump’s declaration is that it does not require use of the armed forces. The president is likely to argue that he must use armed forces or else the problems he seeks to resolve with his declaration will continue, and so the use of military personnel is required. This question is likely to be a close call legally, and it’s hard to predict how judges will respond.
Other critics claim the Military Construction Codification Act violates the Constitution’s nondelegation doctrine, which prohibits Congress from delegating away its legislative power to the president. I strongly support the nondelegation doctrine, see my amicus brief in the pending Supreme Court case Gundy v. United States, but the statute invoked by the president does not violate that doctrine because the nondelegation doctrine only applies to rules of private conduct. As Justice Clarence Thomas, the strongest supporter of the nondelegation doctrine on the court, recognized in DOT v. Association of American Railroads (2014), “The core of the legislative power that the Framers sought to protect from consolidation with the executive is the power to make ‘law’ in the Blackstonian sense of generally applicable rules of private conduct.”
Discretion given to the president over how the executive branch is run, or how appropriated money is spent, is merely allowing the head of the executive to exercise his default control over his subordinates. The very first appropriations bill put almost no limits on how the money would be spent outside of the department it was assigned to, and likewise this authorization by Congress is constitutional.
Another concern the president should be aware of concerns the use of eminent domain, the power of the government to seize property for a public use. Only Congress can authorize the president to seize property, and it certainly has not done so in this case. Two-thirds of the land along the border is owned by private individuals who may not want a border wall on their property. The president does not have the power, under the authority he has invoked so far, to take their land. He can, however, negotiate to buy their land with the newly available funds.
Aside from the present border wall dispute, people in both political parties have expressed fear that a future president could willy-nilly declare a national emergency on other priorities for which he can’t gain approval from the legislature, like guns or climate change. No doubt a president could declare such a national emergency, but the additional powers given to the president by declaring a national emergency are limited. Even with a national emergency declaration, there is no statute giving the president the power to seize guns or other private property. Even if there were a statute that said that, it would violate other constitutional provisions, such as the Due Process Clause or the Takings Clause.
Contrary to Democrats’ claims, this national emergency declaration does appear to be lawful. That doesn’t mean it’s good public policy, good precedent, or that it stands in the way of Congress simply reversing the national security declaration, as it has the power to do. But Democrats should think twice about hastily declaring the president’s action unlawful or unconstitutional. Doing so risks misinforming Americans about critical decisions made by their representatives and further eroding their trust in our system.
Devin Watkins is an attorney at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and author of a brief to the Supreme Court advocating a strong nondelegation doctrine.
President Trump participates in a roundtable on immigration and border security at the U.S. Border Patrol Calexico Station in Calexico, Calif., on April 5.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
President Trump participates in a roundtable on immigration and border security at the U.S. Border Patrol Calexico Station in Calexico, Calif., on April 5.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
President Trump is trying to ratchet up public pressure on congressional Democrats to bend to his administration’s will on immigration, but the House majority is dismissing new White House proposals to discourage the surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In a Wednesday morning tweet, the president called on Congress to return early from the scheduled two-week April recess to pass a border bill.
Democrats in Congress must return from their Vacations and change the Immigration Laws, or the Border, despite the great job being done by Border Patrol, will only get worse. Big sections of Wall now being built!
Administration officials last week told White House reporters that they want Congress to act to change immigration laws affecting how families are held in detention, the processing of unaccompanied minors at the border, and the criteria migrants can use to claim asylum. The collective goal is to discourage more migrants from attempting to cross the border and to make it easier to hold them in detention if they do.
Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told NPR the White House’s ideas are “an anti-immigrant wish list that does nothing to keep our country safer and erodes our values as a nation of immigrants.”
Last week, the speaker defended congressional action on the border, noting the bipartisan spending deal reached in February and signed by the president included significant border resources, including $1.375 billion in funding to build barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“There is money there for increased judges to adjudicate the cases more quickly; there is funding there for humanitarian assistance for the people coming in; there is money for repairs and for physical necessities that may be there; and there is funding to send to countries of the Northern Triangle [Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador] to try to alleviate the problem before it reaches our shores,” Pelosi told reporters.
House Democrats do plan to act on immigration this year, but on a revamped Dream Act to provide legal status and a path to citizenship for up to 3.6 million people who were brought to the U.S. as children and reside in the country illegally or who are in legal limbo through the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that is being challenged in court.
For two years, President Trump has offered varying degrees of support for the Dream Act and taken it on and off the table in sporadic negotiations on immigration that have yet to result in any tangible immigration proposal that can pass both chambers of Congress and earn his signature.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who is up for reelection in 2020, told reporters last week that he was open to a new round of immigration talks. “I think it’s way past time, on both sides, that we sit down together and see what we could agree to to improve the situation, not only border security, but also the asylum laws that are very challenging when you are confronted with this onslaught of people,” he said. He did not elaborate on what could clear a 60-vote hurdle in the Senate.
Efforts to pass comprehensive immigration legislation have failed under the previous two administrations, and it is far less likely to succeed under Trump as the two parties move further apart on the policies needed as the 2020 elections near.
The president and his allies have always seen his hard-line stance on immigrants and immigration as a reason for his 2016 victory and a key to bolstering his prospects for reelection. Meanwhile, Democrats see opposition to Trump’s immigration policies as a reason for their own successes in the 2018 midterms and believe they can campaign on the issue with minority voters heading into 2020.
NPR’s Mara Liasson and Kelsey Snell contributed to this report.
Image caption
Enseguida se dispuso un fuerte despliegue policial en el centro comercial.
La policía de la ciudad alemana de Múnich informó que el ataque ocurrido este viernes por la tarde en un centro comercial, en el que murieron 9 personas y 20 resultaron heridas de gravedad, fue ejecutado por un único sospechoso que se suicidó.
Según las autoridades, el sospechoso es un joven de 18 años de nacionalidad alemana e iraní. Hasta el momento se desconocen sus motivaciones.
En un principio las autoridades habían informado que buscaban a tres hombres como posibles responsables del ataque perpetrado en el centro comercial Olympia, una hipótesis ya descartada.
El cuerpo sin vida del sospechoso fue hallado a 1 kilómetro del centro comercial, en el suburbio de Moosach.
Según Hubertus Andrae, jefe de policía de Múnich, las autoridades no tenían noticias previas del atacante y por el momento no se le conocen vínculos con grupos extremistas.
El ataque dio lugar a una enorme operación policial de busca y captura en la que participaron miles de agentes.
También se interrumpió el sistema de transporte público de Múnich, que ya reanudó su actividad.
Sucedió en la puerta de un McDonald’s ubicado en las inmediaciones de Olympia.
Las imágenes del terror
“La gente llegaba gritando”, le explicó a la BBC Dominik Faust, un residente local que cuando comenzó el ataque no estaba lejos del centro comercial Olympia.
La gente llegaba gritando al centro comercial. Nos contaron que había un tiroteo fuera”
En un video tomado por un transeúnte con un celular se puede ver cómo un hombre armado con una pistola sale de un restaurante McDonald’s ubicado en las inmediaciones del centro comercial y comienza a disparar.
A continuación se pueden escuchar numerosos disparos y se ve cómo la gente trata de cubrirse. Por lo que se aprecia en la grabación, el autor de los disparos no grita nada cuando comienzan el tiroteo.
En otro video de celular se ve a quien se supone es el atacanteen el techo de un edificio de aparcamientos con lo que parece ser una pistola en la mano. En un momento dado parece que le gritan y él responde: “Soy alemán”.
Sam Pound, camarero de un bar irlandés de Múnich, describió la sensación de pánico que se vivió en la ciudad tras conocerse la noticia del ataque.
“Estamos en la bodega del bar y nos sentimos bastante seguros, pero cuando sales a la calle se puede escuchar muchas sirenas y helicópteros“, relató.
9
es el número de muertos que informa la policía
1 atacante
10 es la cantidad de heridos
* el tiroteo ocurrió en el centro comercial Olympia
Por su parte, el testigo Luan Zequiri dijo que vio a un solo atacante, que llevaba botas y una mochila, y que le vio disparar a dos personas en las escaleras del centro comercial.
Según contó, se escondió en una tienda y luego corrió afuera cuando la situación se calmó. Al salir, vio los cuerpos muertos de dos personas y heridos en el suelo.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption
La policía evacuó a los ciudadanos que se encontraban en el centro comercial.
“Ataque terrorista”
La policía de Múnich decidió darle el tratamiento de “ataque terrorista” a lo ocurrido para “asegurar la disponibilidad del máximo de recursos posible”.
De acuerdo con la información de la policía, a las 17:50 hora local (15:50 GMT) recibieron una primera llamada alertando de un tiroteo en las calles aledañas al centro comercial Olympia y después en el interior del recinto.
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption
Los alrededores del centro comercial fueron acordonados con rapidez.
La canciller alemana Angela Merkel realizará una reunión con su consejo de seguridad nacional este sábado.
Ciudad cerrada
Todas las unidades disponibles de la policía de la ciudad de Múnich fueron desplegadas.
Diversos medios informaron que testigos vieron a un hombre armado huir del lugar hacia una estación de metro cercana.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption
Todas las unidades disponibles de la policía de la ciudad de Múnich fueron desplegadas.
La cuenta de Twitter de la policía de Múnich, solicitó a la población resguardarse en sus hogares y evitar los lugares públicos.
Además, insistió en llamar a los ciudadanos a no especular con lo que ocurría y pidió que quienes hubieran hecho fotografías, videos o audios en el lugar de los hechos, en lugar de publicarlos en redes sociales, se los enviaran a las autoridades a través de una página web que fue habilitada para ello.
Mensajes de solidaridad
El presidente de EE.UU., Barack Obama, y su homólogo francés, François Hollande, expresaron su apoyo a Alemania tras el ataque.
Hollande envió un “mensaje de apoyo personal” a la canciller alemana, Angela Merkel, y dijo que se puso a su disposición.
Image copyright AFP
Image caption
Poco después de que se reportaran los disparos, se lanzó la búsqueda del sospechoso.
“Nuestros corazones están con aquellos que han sido heridos. Alemania es uno de nuestros aliados más cercanos, por lo que vamos a prometer todo el apoyo que pueda necesitar para hacer frente a estas circunstancias“, dijo Obama.
Por su parte, el portavoz de la Casa Blanca, Josh Earnest, condenó los hechos “el los más duros términos”.
También reaccionó el presidente alemán, Joachim Gauck, quien dijo estár “horrorizado” por el “mortífero ataque” en Múnich.
Las fuerzas de seguridad han estado en alerta desde que un inmigrante atacó con un hacha a cuatro personas en un tren en Baviera, el lunes.
Los demandantes incluyen a Nueva York, Massachusetts, Washington, Connecticut, Delaware, Distrito de Columbia, Hawái, Illinois, Iowa, Nuevo México, Carolina del Norte, Oregón, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont y Virginia.
El fiscal general de Nueva York, Eric Schneiderman, junto con la fiscal de Massachusetts, Maura Healey, y el de Washington, Bob Ferguson, encabezaron esta coalición de 16 fiscales generales en la demanda contra el presidente, que fue presentada en el Tribunal de Distrito Este de Nueva York.
“Uno de los puntos de la demanda indica que Trump ha violado la cláusula de Igual Protección de la Constitución discriminando a los mexicanos, que representan el 78% de los beneficiarios de DACA”, indica el comunicado distribuido por Schneiderman.
“La inmigración es la fuente de vida del Estado de Nueva York. La decisión de la administración Trump de poner fin a DACA es cruel, inhumana y devastadora para los 42,000 neoyorquinos que han podido salir de las sombras y vivir una vida plena como resultado del programa (…) Estos dreamers trabajan duro y pagan impuestos. EEUU es el único hogar que han conocido y merecen quedarse aquí y seguir contribuyendo a nuestra gran nación”, dijo Schneiderman.
Esta demanda llega luego de que el martes, el fiscal general, Jeff Sessions, dijera que el programa conocido como Acción Diferida para los LLegados en la Niñez (DACA) finalizaba y exhortara al Congreso a que en seis meses encuentre una solución legislativa al problema de los dreamers.
DACA fue puesto en vigor mediante acción ejecutiva por el expresidente Barack Obama en 2012. El objetivo era proteger y darles ciertos beneficios iguales al del estatus legal (como trabajar, estudiar, viajar al exterior), a aquellos que fueron llevados a Estados Unidos como indocumentados siendo niños.
Luego del anuncio de Sessions, los acogidos al programa se encuentran en la incertidumbre ya que no se sabe qué les deparará en el Congreso.
Tras el revuelo causado por el anuncio de DACA por parte del gobierno, el presidente sorprendió al enviar un tuit en el que, sin aclarar cómo, afirmaba que volvería a revisar este programa migratorio.
“El Congreso tiene ahora 6 meses para legalizar el DACA (algo que el gobierno de Obama no pudo hacer). ¡Si no pueden, voy a revisitar este problema!”, tuiteó el presidente.
“MURIENDO POR CRUZAR,” AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INCREASING NUMBER OF IMMIGRANT DEATHS ALONG THE BORDER, THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 AT 6 P.M./5 C
Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval present the Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production
Miami – July 31, 2014 –Telemundo presents “Muriendo por Cruzar”, a documentary that investigates why increasing numbers of immigrants are dying while trying to cross the US-Mexican border near the city of Falfurrias, Texas, this Sunday, August 3 at 6PM/5 C. The Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production, presented by Noticias Telemundo journalists Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval, reveals the obstacles immigrants face once they cross into US territory, including extreme weather conditions, as they try to evade the border patrol. “Muriendo por Cruzar” is part of Noticias Telemundo’s special coverage of the crisis on the border and immigration reform.
“‘Muriendo por Cruzar’” dares to ask questions that reveal the actual conditions undocumented immigrants face as they try to start a new life in the United States,” said Alina Falcón, Telemundo’s Executive Vice President for News and Alternative Programming. “Our collaboration with The Weather Channel was very productive. They have a unique expertise in covering the impact of weather on people’s lives, as we do in covering immigration reform and the border crisis. The result is a compelling documentary that exposes a harrowing reality.”
“Muriendo por Cruzar” is the first co-production by Telemundo and The Weather Channel. Both networks are part of NBCUniversal.
And he said a no-deal Brexit would not affect the UK’s ability to strike a trade deal with the US.
The US president has welcomed Mr Johnson’s rise to power, saying he would do a “great job” and even suggesting he was “Britain Trump”.
A supporter of Brexit, Mr Trump was critical of former Prime Minister Theresa May’s negotiations with the EU.
There have also been tensions over climate change and the US president’s views on race and immigration, while a recent row over the leaking of British diplomatic cables led to the resignation of Sir Kim Darroch, the UK’s ambassador in Washington.
Woody Johnson told Radio 4’s Today his job was to focus on the “things we agree on”.
“We’re going to have bumps in the road, no question, but we are two great countries,” he said.
“If we look forward optimistically between our two countries, we’re going to lift all the people in this country – to independence and all the things you voted for in the referendum.”
“I think that’s what the president wants and what your new prime minister wants too,” he added.
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption
Woody Johnson said the UK would be “front of the line” for a trade deal with the US
In 2015, Boris Johnson, as London Mayor, said Mr Trump’s claim that parts of the city were “no-go areas” showed “quite stupefying ignorance” and made him unfit to be president.
But Woody Johnson suggested Mr Trump was not bothered by the comments.
“The new relationship between your new prime minister and our president… it’s going to be sensational,” he said. “Their leadership has a lot in common. Both have their own style but similarities – a clear vision of what they want to accomplish.”
He said the UK would be at the “front of the line” for a trade deal once Brexit had happened and it was “not imperative” for the UK to leave the EU with an agreement to make progress.
“The president is going to try and move the ball forwards – the UK is our most important ally in security and prosperity. He knows that.”
Irish border
Most experts believe a free trade deal with the US will take years to complete and could be beset by difficulties over issues like food standards, environmental regulations and access to healthcare services for each other’s companies.
And one of the most powerful politicians in the US has said its Congress would not support any trade agreement which undermined the peace settlement in Northern Ireland.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption
Angela Merkel has invited Boris Johnson to Berlin
Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, told the Irish Times there could be no return to physical border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, something Dublin has said would be inevitable if the UK left without a deal.
“We made it clear in our conversations with senior members of the Conservative Party earlier this year that there should be no return to a hard border on the island,” she said.
“That position has not changed. Any trade deal between the US and Great Britain would have to be cognisant of that.”
The new prime minister has not yet revealed when he will hold his first face-to-face leaders’ meeting with Mr Trump.
No 10 confirmed that Mr Johnson had spoken to the French President Emmanuel Macron over the phone on Thursday and they had discussed Brexit.
A German government spokesperson also said the PM had discussed Brexit with Chancellor Angela Merkel during a phone call on Friday.
“The chancellor has invited the prime minister to visit Berlin for an early first visit,” they added.
Former President Jimmy Carter issued a statement Thursday rejecting President Donald Trump’s newly proposed Middle East peace plan, which calls for the Israeli annexation of key swaths of Palestinian-held land.
The statement issued Thursday by the Carter Center in Atlanta describes Trump’s offer as “fragmented statehood” which leaves Palestinians “without control of their borders … and undercuts prospects for a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Trump unveiled the long-awaited plan Tuesday in Washington alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump’s plan sides with Israel on key contentious issues that have derailed peace efforts in the past, including borders and the status of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements, according to reporting by The Associated Press.
The plan attaches nearly impossible conditions for granting the Palestinians their hoped-for state, such as allowing the Palestinians to establish a capital on the outskirts of east Jerusalem but leaving most of the city under Israeli control, the AP reported.
<!–
–>
“If implemented, the plan will doom the only viable solution to this long-running conflict, the two-state solution,” Carter said in the statement.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also dismissed the plan as “nonsense” and vowed to resist it, the AP reported.
“We will not kneel, and we will not surrender,” Abbas said, according to the AP.
The announcement of the plan sparked widespread protests in the West Bank.
The Palestinians favor a two-state solution based on borders that were in place before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
The United Nations has already issued several resolutions declaring all Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal, contrary to Trump’s solution.
Trump’s plan “violates the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, which is codified in a long line of United Nations Security Council resolutions from 242 (1967) to 2334 (2016),” Carter said.
“Further, the proposal breaches international law regarding self-determination, the acquisition of land by force, and annexation of occupied territories,” according to Carter’s statement. “By calling Israel ‘the nation state of the Jewish people,’ the plan also encourages the denial of equal rights to the Palestinian citizens of Israel.”
Carter ends the statement by urging the UN “to adhere to UN Security Council resolutions and to reject any unilateral Israeli implementation of the proposal by grabbing more Palestinian land.”
The Palestinians see the West Bank as the heartland of a future independent state and east Jerusalem as their capital. Most of the international community supports their position, but Trump has reversed decades of U.S. foreign policy by siding more with Israel.
— Reporting by The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
Support real journalism. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today. See offers.
Your subscription to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution funds in-depth reporting and investigations that keep you informed. Thank you for supporting real journalism.
São Paulo – The collection of Museu Imperial (the Imperial Museum), in the city of Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, includes precious keepsakes of Brazil’s ties with the Arab world in its empire days: the diaries of emperor Dom Pedro II’s travels through Brazil and the world, including Arab countries. The notepads contain accounts of the monarch’s trips to Egypt, in 1871, and then to Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Egypt again, in 1876.
M. Delie & E. Bechard – Back to Light
Dom Pedro II (3rd, right to left) travelled to Egypt
“He is fascinated with Egypt. He made that clear in his writings on several occasions,” says the Imperial Museum‘s director Maurício Vicente Ferreira Júnior. He also highlights Dom Pedro II’s enthusiasm about the trip to Palestine. Júnior lists characteristics of the emperor that show through in his diaries – he was curious, easily moved and sarcastic, which becomes evident from his critical, light-hearted remarks about things.
“After sitting a mass at the Franciscanos church, which can only be reached by foot because of these streets akin to ant galleries, I went to the Pyramids of Giza. The path is almost entirely flanked by Acacias, a very many of which intertwine their crowns of the most splendid green, a worthy locale to such venerable monuments,” wrote Pedro II during his first trip to Egypt.
The accounts of his first trip to Egypt are basically about visits to landmark sites, interspersed with a few alternately endearing and high-spirited remarks about the people he met and the places he saw.
The museum’s director notes that the emperor’s Middle East travels were personal affairs rather than official missions. Proof of this is the fact that Dom Pedro II made a point of checking in at hotels as Pedro de Alcântara, and not as the Brazilian emperor. Júnior explains that the monarch took his first trip abroad in 1871, already a middle-aged man who had read a lot about different countries and studied different languages.
“At close to ¼ past 7 I was in Al- Eizariya (Bethany). Not many Arabs there. I crossed the village to go to Lazarus grave, where I arrived after almost lying down flat on my stomach to go through a hole that opens up to the hall from whence one walks down 5 steps, after having walked down another 27,” the emperor described on November 27th, 1876, already in his second trip to the Arab world, about his visit to the grave site of Lazarus, a biblical character who supposedly resurrected. The grave is located in what is now the occupied West Bank.
In the diaries from his second trip to Arab countries, the emperor takes his time to write about the landmarks he visits, displaying vast knowledge about them and making remarks at times analytical and at others funny. “Since I started sailing the Nile, above and near Aswan, I have heard nothing but the exclamation – look, a crocodile! – a beast I was unable to see and could only glimpse at, on three occasions, stuffed,” he writes of his second time in Egypt, in 1876.
The Museum’s archive holds a total of 47 notepads. Some of them also contain sketches, such as the one written in Egypt; The written material is not on display at the Museum to prevent wear and tear on the paper, but the contents are available online (see the link below). The travel logs have been the subject of a book and a CD produced by Museu Imperial in the 1990s, which are out of print, and were also featured in exhibitions. One of them was titled “O Imperador Viajante” (The Travelling Emperor) and travelled to 12 localities throughout Brazil that were visited by emperor Dom Pedro II.
Júnior explains that within the next two years, new materials based on the travel logs are set to be published, and that the museum is planning another exhibition. The items on showcase at the museum include a few keepsakes, but these are mostly from the emperor’s trip through Brazil, integrated into different rooms within the house, with no labelling to connect them to specific trips.
Press Release
The Imperial Museum houses items from the monarchy period
Museu Imperial was founded in 1940, in emperor Dom Pedro II’s former summer palace. The site was formerly a farm named Fazenda do Córrego (Creek’s Farm), which Dom Pedro I purchased to create a shorter route from Rio to Minas Gerais, bypassing São Paulo. Dom Pedro I dreamed of building a summer retreat there and name it Palácio da Concórdia (the Palace of Concord), but never did. After receiving the farm as inheritance, Dom Pedro II proceeded to fulfil his father’s dream by building the villa.
Afterwards, the city of Petrópolis was erected around the palace. After the Proclamation of the Republic, the estate was bought by government and converted into a school. During his administration, president Getúlio Vargas worked for the appreciation of all things national, therefore the villa was converted into a museum to hold items dating back from the monarchy period. Some of the items came from various organizations, but most are from the personal collection of Pedro de Orléans e Bragança, Dom Pedro II’s grandson.
The body of documentation of the emperor’s travels through Brazil and the world was nominated last year for the International Register of the Memory of the World Program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).
All quotes from: Museu Imperial/Ibram/Brazilian Ministry of Culture
São Paulo –Flora Néctar, Brazilian honey producer, plans to resume exporting to the Arab market. The company already exported to Saudi Arabia around three years ago and is scheduled to take part in food sector trade fair, Sial Middle East, next year, with the intention to resume sales to the Arabs. The fair is held annually in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The previous export to Jeddah was 35 tonnes large, according to Flora Néctar’s director and owner, José Eduardo Anibal.
Press release
Flora Néctar: partnership with beekeepers
“The Arab market is very interesting. During Ramadan, they consume a lot of honey. There is a large consumption,” says Anibal. The difficulty with selling to the region, according to the Brazilian businessman, is the competition with China. He says the Asian country usually exports honey to Germany and from there the product is sold to the Arab market. The competition against Chinese honey is not a hindrance to sell only to the Arabs, but to other countries in general. “But the quality of the Chinese honey is quite inferior”, says Flora Néctar’s owner.
The plant is in Barretos, São Paulo’s countryside, and it focuses on exporting. Currently 82% of the production is intended to the foreign markets. There are seven countries purchasing from the company, the United States and Canada are the largest buyers. And perspectives for exporting are bright. In the first five months of this year alone, Flora Néctar has already matched 2013’s total sales, driven by the good sales both domestically and abroad. Last year production stood at 2.5 million tonnes of honey.
Press release
Pure honey is sold in a variety of packages
In Brazil Flora Néctar sells honey in several sizes and packages, ranging from sachets to packages of over one kilo. Abroad the product is usually sent in 280-kilo barrels. The choice of sending the product in bulk is to make the price more appealing. The company from Barretos sells both pure and compound honey, i.e. mixed to propolis, eucalyptus, guaco other extracts. They even produce honey in packages aimed at children.
Flora Néctar processes all the honey in its Barretos unit. The raw material, however, comes from virtually all Brazil, from beekeepers associated to the company. The company also has one of the largest projects for the production of organic honey in the country. Currently, around 80% of the honey sold by the company is organic.
“MURIENDO POR CRUZAR,” AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INCREASING NUMBER OF IMMIGRANT DEATHS ALONG THE BORDER, THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 AT 6 P.M./5 C
Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval present the Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production
Miami – July 31, 2014 –Telemundo presents “Muriendo por Cruzar”, a documentary that investigates why increasing numbers of immigrants are dying while trying to cross the US-Mexican border near the city of Falfurrias, Texas, this Sunday, August 3 at 6PM/5 C. The Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production, presented by Noticias Telemundo journalists Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval, reveals the obstacles immigrants face once they cross into US territory, including extreme weather conditions, as they try to evade the border patrol. “Muriendo por Cruzar” is part of Noticias Telemundo’s special coverage of the crisis on the border and immigration reform.
“‘Muriendo por Cruzar’” dares to ask questions that reveal the actual conditions undocumented immigrants face as they try to start a new life in the United States,” said Alina Falcón, Telemundo’s Executive Vice President for News and Alternative Programming. “Our collaboration with The Weather Channel was very productive. They have a unique expertise in covering the impact of weather on people’s lives, as we do in covering immigration reform and the border crisis. The result is a compelling documentary that exposes a harrowing reality.”
“Muriendo por Cruzar” is the first co-production by Telemundo and The Weather Channel. Both networks are part of NBCUniversal.
Bloomberg 2020 campaign senior adviser Tim O’Brien lays out the campaign’s strategy as the Senate impeachment trial kicks off.
Michael Bloomberg senior campaign adviser Tim O’Brien has explained the message behind the $10 million ad focusing on gun violence that will air during Sunday’s telecast of Super Bowl LIV.
“I think it contrasts very sharply with where Donald Trump has been on this issue,” O’Brien told Jessica Rosenthal on Friday’s “Fox News Rundown.”
“We have had a wave of gun violence in the United States, a sharp escalation in hate crimes and domestic terrorism that are directly the result of, I think, the hateful language that Trump has deployed when he ran as a candidate and now as a president in an unwillingness to do the right thing on stemming gun violence.”
The 60-second ad features Calandrian Simpson Kemp, a Texas woman whose 20-year-old son, George Kemp Jr., was shot and killed in 2013. The issue has been a centerpiece of Bloomberg’s campaign. The former New York City mayor is also a founder and major financial supporter of the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates for greater gun control.
“This is something that touches families,” O’Brien explained. “It most profoundly touches communities of color. Some of the most vulnerable communities in our country — it’s in our schools. It’s where people pray. And we can’t say we’re a civilized country if our kids have to hide under their desks or worry about hiding under their desks because there’s an active shooter in a school.”
With the Iowa caucuses four days away, O’Brien also addressed the Bloomberg campaign’s decision to skip the early-state nominating contests and focus instead on the states that award their delegates on March 3, a date known as Super Tuesday.
“We have a national footprint right now in over 35 states with about a thousand people on the ground. We’re running three campaigns simultaneously,” he explained. “Essentially, we’re running a general election campaign right out of the gates against Donald Trump.
“We’re also running, obviously, a primary campaign that really hinges on Super Tuesday states as our first showing. And we’re also prioritizing a handful of battleground states where we think the 2020 election is going to be won or lost.”
Bloomberg has struggled to gain support among people of color, in large part due to the controversial “stop-and-frisk” policy he implemented during his time as mayor of New York. In November, Bloomberg apologized for the policy, saying, “I was wrong.”
O’Brien said the campaign will “continue to apologize” for the policy and that the candidate is “pained” by the idea that it was driven by racist motivations.
“I think his goal was to reduce gun violence on the streets,” he said. “But the program and that approach was a mistake. He’s apologized for it … and I think it’s a measure of his self-confidence and openness as a candidate that he can apologize for his mistakes. Having said that, stop-and-frisk hardly defines his tenure as mayor of New York. He lowered the incarceration rate by over 34 percent … So ‘stop-and-frisk’ was not about throwing people in jail.”
This is a widget area - If you go to "Appearance" in your WP-Admin you can change the content of this box in "Widgets", or you can remove this box completely under "Theme Options"
