NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
❶ Russia trial: A Russian court convicted two members of a leftwing youth group of terrorism Monday in a case that human rights groups called fabricated and based on coerced testimony. The military court in St. Petersburg found Victor Filinkov, 25, and Yuly Boyarshinov, 28, guilty of membership in a terrorist organization. Filinkov was handed a sevenyear prison term, while Boyarshinov, who was also found guilty of possession of explosives, was sentenced to five and a half years behind bars. Both were said to belong to the Set (Network) group. The group was accused of preparing to carry out attacks during Russia’s March 2018 presidential election and when Russia hosted the World Cup soccer tournament that year. Human rights advocates wrote a letter this year to President Vladimir Putin, demanding an investigation of possible torture of the group’s members.
❷ Military base fire: A fire broke out Monday in a storage building for hazardous materials at a major U.S. air base on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa, slightly injuring dozens of personnel who were exposed to smoke or chlorine gas, the U.S. military said. The blaze at Kadena Air Base was extinguished several hours later. About 45 people in the area were exposed to smoke and chlorine gas from the fire, but were treated and most have returned to duty, the U.S. Air Force said in a statement. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Many residents of Okinawa have complained about environmental hazards, noise and crime related to the U.S. military presence.
❸ Afghanistan attack: Gunmen opened fire at a car belonging to the Afghan attorney general’s office on Monday in Kabul, killing five people, including two prosecutors. The driver of the car and two other employees were among those killed, said police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz. The gunmen fled the scene, police said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Violence has spiked in Afghanistan, with most of the attacks claimed by the Islamic State group’s affiliate in the country.
❹ Mexico violence: Security officials say they have arrested the mother and sister of an alleged crime gang boss along with 24 other people, prompting a wave of violence in the central state of Guanajuato. The army said an operation involving both state and federal officials captured the two family members of José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, known as “El Marro,” the alleged leader of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, on Saturday. Enraged members of the gang blocked highways and set cars and trucks ablaze along roads in the state. Yépez Ortiz threatened further disturbances in a video distributed to local news media. “They humiliated and did what they want with the family and I am going to be a stone in their shoe,” he said. The gang began by robbing trains and expanded into stealing gasoline from government pipelines.
❺ Libya fighting: Italy, Germany and the United States pushed Monday for a ceasefire in Libya following a warning by Egypt that it would intervene militarily if Turkishbacked forces attack the strategic city of Sirte. Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, said after talks in Rome that a ceasefire is urgent given the Egyptian threat. Di Maio also called for the naming of a new U.N. envoy and the enforcement of a U.N. arms embargo on Libya. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah elSissi warned over the weekend that any attack on Sirte by Turkishbacked forces loyal to the U.N.supported but weak government in Tripoli would amount to crossing a “red line.” The U.S. National Security Council called for Libya’s longdelayed political negotiations to resume.