NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
Nurse charged: A German nurse who is already serving a life sentence for two murders has been charged with killing 97 more patients over several years at two hospitals in northwestern Germany, prosecutors said Monday. The new indictment against Niels Hoegel was expected after officials said in November that he may have killed more than 100 patients in total. He worked at a clinic in Oldenburg from 1999 to 2002 and in nearby Delmenhorst from 2003 to 2005. During his trial in 2015, Hoegel said he intentionally brought about cardiac crises in patients because he enjoyed the feeling of being able to resuscitate them. Those statements prompted investigators to carry out toxicological examinations on dozens of other patients who died at the hospitals, leading to the new charges.
Mexico killings: The homicide rate in 2017 was the highest in two decades in Mexico, with the government reporting there were 29,168 murders, a 27 percent increase over 2016. The number is the highest since comparable records began being kept in 1997 and is also higher than the peak year of Mexico’s drug war in 2011, when there were 27,213 killings. The Interior Department said the country’s homicide rate was 20.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017. Brazil and Colombia had about 27 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, still well below Venezuela’s 57 per 100,000, according to a World Bank report. El Salvador reported a rate of 60.8 for 2017.
Spain tensions: The fugitive ex-president of Spain’s Catalonia region left his self-exile in Belgium and visited Denmark unimpeded Monday after a Spanish judge refused to ask Danish authorities to arrest him. Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena rejected a petition from Spain’s top prosecutor to issue a European arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont. Puigdemont’s journey, which included attending a university debate and meeting Danish lawmakers, came nearly three months after he was removed from office and fled to Belgium. A warrant for his arrest remains open in Spain. Spanish authorities are investigating him and other Catalan officials for possible rebellion and sedition charges related to regional parliament’s Oct. 27 declaration of independence.
Kashmir fighting: Indian and Pakistani soldiers again traded fire along their volatile frontier in disputed Kashmir after a day’s lull, killing at least one civilian and wounding three others, officials said Monday. The recent clashes have left 13 civilians and nine soldiers dead and dozens injured on the two sides. The fighting also has caused extensive damage and sent tens of thousands of residents fleeing from their border homes. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since 1947 over their competing claims to the region. Russia politics: A Moscow district court has ordered the closure of a foundation crucial to the activities of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most formidable foe, had been leading a grass-roots campaign for a year ahead of the 2018 presidential vote, before election officials in December formally barred him from running. Navalny then vowed to mount a boycott campaign to lower the voter turnout, which would be an embarrassment for the Kremlin. The court ruled Monday that the foundation Navalny and his allies have used to rent premises and pay salaries at campaign headquarters should be shut down. The lawsuit was filed by prosecutors who said they found numerous violations. Navalny’s campaign chief vowed to appeal.