Trump to meet with India’s Modi
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — With Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India set to meet President Trump on Monday for the first time, many Indians in communities like this one have high hopes for the relationship between the two leaders.
In a string of storefronts here in “Little India” that pay tribute to Hindu deities, Yogi Patel, 52, runs the Laxmi Pan Center. He has lived in the United States for 32 years and is a strong supporter of Mr. Trump.
“Trump is doing the right thing. He’s doing good for U.S. citizens and America,” he said, switching between English and Hindi to explain that he grew up in Gujarat. “And I am from both countries.”
Tourist boat sinks
BOGOTA, Colombia — A tourist boat packed with about 170 passengers for the holiday weekend capsized Sunday on a reservoir near the Colombian city of Medellin, leaving nine people dead and 28 missing, officials said.
Rescuers, including firefighters from nearby cities and air force pilots, were searching for survivors at the Guatape reservoir where the four-story El Almirante ferry sank. A flotilla of recreational boats and jet skis rushed to the scene, pulling people from the boat as it went down and avoiding an even deadlier tragedy.
Margarita Moncada, the head of the disaster response agency in Antioquia state, said that according to a preliminary report, 99 people were rescued and another 40 managed to find a way to shore on their own and were in good condition.
It’s unclear what caused the boat to sink but survivors said that it appeared to be overloaded and nobody on board was wearing a life vest.
Protester exiled to France
PARIS — A Vietnamese dissident who says he was arrested at his home in southern Ho Chi Minh City and forcibly exiled to France said he is determined to continue his activity as a pro-democracy blogger.
Pham Minh Hoang, a 61year-old math lecturer, recounted his arrest and deportation in a phone interview Sunday with The Associated Press a few hours after his arrival in France. He said three police officers burst into his house on Friday and grabbed his arms when he refused to follow them while wearing only shorts, an undershirt and slippers.
After being detained in front of his wife, Hoang said he was driven to a detention center two hours away, where he spent 24 hours and was visited by the Consul General of France. He said Vietnamese authorities forced him on a plane to Paris on Saturday night.
Hoang’s deportation came two weeks after he learned a presidential decree had revoked his Vietnamese citizenship. Human Rights Watch denounced Hoang’s expulsion in a statement as a “blatantly illegal, rights violating act” that effectively forces the activist into “indefinite exile.”
Banks in Italy remain open
ROME — The Italian government on Sunday made 5.2 billion euros ($5.8 billion) of resources immediately available to keep operative two banks that the European Central Bank has deemed “failing or about to fail,” sending them into insolvency procedures.
Premier Paolo Gentiloni defended the swift action by the government as vital for ensuring Italy’s slow economic recovery isn’t derailed by a “disorderly” failure of Veneto Banca and Banca Popolare di Vicenza.
The two banks are based in the northeast Veneto region, one of Italy’s most economically productive.