Nieto pushes Pompeo for reunification
MEXICOCITY — Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Friday urged U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to quickly reunite migrant families separated at the border.
Mr. Pompeo visited Mexico with a delegation to meet with Mr. Pena Nieto and president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador after an election that offers a chance for the neighbors to mend strained relations.
Discussions were expected to address ways to combat transnational criminal organizations, the U.S. opioid epidemic and trade tensions. But irregular migration across Mexico’s northern border into the United States loomed large during the meetings.
Bottled nerve agent found
LONDON— The British police announced Friday that they found “a small bottle” containing Novichok, providing a possible break in the investigation into an attack on a former Russian spy and the inquiry into the poisoning of two British citizens.
The bottle was found in the home of Charlie Rowley, 45, in Amesbury, England. He and his partner, Dawn Sturgess, 44, were exposed to the nerve agent on July 1.
Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the head of the national counterterrorism squad, said the police could not reveal any more details about the bottle, which was being examined by experts at Porton Down, the British government’s laboratory for chemical and biological weapons.
Ms. Sturgess died Sunday evening, and officials have begun a murder inquiry. Mr. Rowley has regained consciousness, and he is speaking to investigators.
South Sudan embargoed
NEWYORK CITY — After nearly five years of war and atrocities, including mass rapes, in South Sudan, the United Nations Security Council Friday imposed an arms embargo on the African country, the world’s youngest.
A resolution proposed by the U. S. was adopted, 9-0, by the 15-member council.
But Nikki R. Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who has made ending South Sudan’s civil war one of her signature causes since she visited the country last year, said an arms embargo would send an unmistakable message to its warring antagonists.
Human rights groups, which often stand opposite Ms. Haley on issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and migrant rights, welcomed the resolution.
Failed assassin charged
ALEXANDRIA,Va. — A U.S. citizen studying in Mexico who tried to kill a U.S. diplomat will spend at least a decade in prison after pleading guilty Friday.
Christopher Ashcraft, vice consul at the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara, was leaving the gym in January 2017 when Zia Zafar approached his car from a garage ramp and fired inside.
The bullet hit Mr. Ashcraft in his chest and remains lodged in his spine. Shrapnel is embedded in his pectoral muscle.
Mr. Zafar didn’t know Mr. Ashcraft, but figured out he worked at the consulate and planned the attack. The 33-year-old Californian was in Mexico on a student visa.
Mr. Zafar’s public defender, Whitney Minter, said he was only deemed competent because of new medications. He seemed confused Friday in court.
Mr. Zafar nearly went to trial to argue that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, and Ms. Minter said two doctors would testify about his mental problems.