NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 North Korea talks: North Korea said Friday that nuclear negotiations with the United States will never resume unless the Trump administration moves away from what Pyongyang described as unilateral demands for disarmament. The statement by an unnamed North Korean foreign ministry spokesman published in state media was the country’s latest expression of displeasure over the stalled negotiations as it continues to press Washington to soften its stance on enforcing sanctions against the North’s crippled economy.
2 Prison riot: A showdown between armed inmates and guards in an overcrowded cellblock of a Venezuelan jail Friday left at least 29 prisoners dead, an official said. The clash started when inmates, many armed, refused to let authorities enter, fearing they would be robbed, said Humberto Prado of the Venezuelan Prison Observatory. Critics say about 30 prisons spread across Venezuela are severely overcrowded, housing 57,000 inmates. They’re often run by gangs that traffic drugs and weapons.
3 Homophobia ruling: A majority in Brazil’s supreme court has voted to make homophobia and transphobia crimes like racism, a decision coming amid fears the country’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro will roll back LGBT social gains. Six of the Supreme Federal Tribunal’s 11 judges have voted in favor of the measure. Racism was made a crime in Brazil in 1989 with prison sentences of up to five years. The court’s judges ruled that homophobia should be framed within the racism law until the country’s congress approves legislation specifically dealing with LGBT discrimination.
4 Catalan separatist: The most prominent jailed leader of Catalonia’s separatist movement is vowing to take his fight to the European Parliament after being suspended as a lawmaker in Spain while judges consider whether he is guilty of rebellion for attempting to divide the country’s territory. The lower chamber of Spain’s Parliament on Friday suspended Oriol Junqueras and three colleagues from their recently gained positions as national lawmakers because they are currently in jail during an ongoing trial. The rebellion charges stem from a banned referendum and an independence declaration made by the separatist-controlled Catalan government in late 2017.
5 Lethal fire: At least 19 teenage students were killed in a fire that broke out Friday in a tutoring center in the western Indian city of Surat, a top state official said. The students were attending a class when the fire broke out in the four-story building. Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire. Building fires are common in India because of poorly enforced safety regulations.
6 Saudi arms: The Trump administration on Friday invoked a rarely used provision in federal law to bypass congressional review of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, citing threats the kingdom faces from Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo notified Congress of the decision to use an emergency loophole in the Arms Export Control Act to move ahead with sales of $7 billion in precision-guided munitions, other bombs, ammunition and aircraft maintenance support to Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, without lawmakers’ approval. Lawmakers have blocked arms sales to the kingdom for more than a year due to concerns over civilian casualties in the Saudi-led military operation in Yemen and outrage over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.