R Kelly charged for saying no to a cell mate
Germany’s president asked for forgiveness for his country yesterday for the suffering of the Polish people during World War II, as Poland marked 80 years since the Nazi German invasion that unleashed the deadliest conflict in human history.
The ceremonies began at 4.30am in the small town of Wielun, site of one of the first bombings of the war on September 1, 1939, with speeches by Polish President Andrzej Duda and his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Few places saw death and destruction on the scale of Poland.
It lost about a fifth of its population, including the vast majority of its 3 million Jewish citizens.
After the war, its shattered capital of Warsaw had to rise again from ruins and Poland remained under Soviet domination until 1989.
“As a German guest I walk before you here barefoot. I look back in gratitude to the Polish people’s fight for freedom.
“I bow sorrowfully before the suffering of the victim,” Steinmeier said.
“I ask for forgiveness for Germany’s historical guilt. I profess to our lasting responsibility.”
US Vice-President Mike Pence paid tribute to the courage of the Polish people. “None fought with more valour, determination and righteous fury than the Poles,” he told the gathering of leaders that included German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
For some in Poland, the conflict and its commemorations are still a live political issue, just weeks before a national vote.
For Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, the memory of the war is a major plank of its “historical politics”, aiming to counteract what it calls the West’s lack of appreciation for CHICAGO: After R Kelly was jailed in the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in Chicago last month on child pornography and obstruction of justice charges, the disgraced musician was written up for refusing to take a cell mate, according to newly disclosed prison records.
An incident report said Kelly had rebuffed an order to take a cell mate in the facility’s special housing unit, a more secure area away from the Polish suffering and bravery under Nazi occupation.
Pence attended the ceremony instead of US President Donald Trump, who cancelled his trip due to the arrival of Hurricane Dorian – a disappointment to the PiS government, which is seen as one of Washington’s biggest allies in Europe.
Pence underlined that relationship, saying: “America and Poland will continue to call on our allies to live up to the promises we have made to one another.”
Poland commemorates the outbreak of World War II rather than its end, because it fell under Soviet domination shortly afterwards. | general population.
Kelly said: “I was told I didn’t have to take a cellie and I have too much to worry about the incident report.”
The report was filed as part of the government’s response to Kelly’s motion that he be granted bail so he can be released from custody.
Kelly is being held without bail on a 13-count federal indictment in Chicago alleging that he fixed a 2008 child pornography trial in Cook County by KINSHASA: The head of Democratic Republic of Congo’s public finances watchdog was detained for questioning for several hours on Saturday, in what he said was retaliation for investigations by his office into spending by senior government officials.
Sylvain Kasongo, the capital Kinshasa’s police chief, confirmed to Reuters that Inspector-General of Finances Victor Batubenga and one of his colleagues had been detained for several hours before being released.
He said the arrests were for “matters of common law”, but declined to elaborate.
Batubenga’s office has been investigating a $100 million (R1.5 billion) line of credit opened in May by the central bank at the instruction of the interim economy minister to reimburse fuel distributors, according to a report his office issued in July.
It was also ordered by the National Intelligence Agency last month to audit spending by the interim government in place since President Felix Tshisekedi’s inauguration in January.
Since taking office, Tshisekedi has promised to clean up corruption which he said proliferated during his predecessor Joseph Kabila’s 18-year tenure. paying off witnesses and victims to change their stories.
Federal prosecutors maintained that Kelly should remain jailed because he is a flight risk and a danger to the public. |
Civil society groups, however, have accused his administration of profligate spending, charges he has denied.
In an interview with Radio France Internationale, Batubenga said that after he and a colleague were arrested by the police, he was held by an aide to Tshisekedi’s national security adviser, Francois Beya.
“The aide (to Beya)… said my work was causing problems,” Batubenga said. He said the aide also made threats against him and his family.
Neither Beya nor Tshisekedi’s spokesman could be immediately reached for comment.
The interim cabinet consists largely of holdovers from Kabila’s final government. New ministers were finally named last week and are expected to be sworn in this week.
The report by Batubenga’s auditors in July found that interim Economy Minister Henri Yav had ordered 15% of the $100m line of credit to be paid into a bank account controlled by the government committee that monitors fuel prices. It said that money “did not benefit the state” and called on the government to explain how the money was used.
Yav was not immediately available for comment. |