NEWS OF THE DAY

_1 Germany extremists: Chancellor Angela Merkel said the German government is committed to fighting far-right extremism, which presents “a big challenge for all of us,” after a man with anti-migrant views allegedly killed a regional official from Merkel’s party. Extremists “need to be fought from the beginning without any taboo,” Merkel said Saturday at a gathering in Dortmund. The German leader called the slaying of Kassel administrator Walter Luebcke, 65, who was found shot in the head at his home on June 2, “a big challenge for all of us to check on all levels (of society) for far-right tendencies.” Police arrested Stephan Ernst, 45, in the killing. He was known as a far-right extremist with convictions for violent crimes, including a 1993 pipe bomb attack on a refugee shelter. _2 Libya migrants: Libya’s coast guard said Saturday that it has intercepted Europe-bound vessels carrying nearly 200 migrants off the country’s Mediterranean coast. Spokesman Ayoub Gassim said five rubber boats were intercepted over the past several days near the capital, Tripoli. All were Africans, except eight people from Bangladesh. They were given humanitarian and medical aid, then taken to refugee camps in Tripoli. Libya became a major conduit for African migrants and refugees fleeing to Europe after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed longtime ruler Moammar Khadafy. Libyan authorities have stepped up efforts to stem the flow of migrants with European assistance. _3 Prison phones: El Salvador’s government is demanding that telephone companies block cell phone signals inside the country’s prisons in a bid to stop gang leaders from ordering killings and other crimes from behind bars. President Nayib Bukele, who took office June 1, is moving to crack down on gangs in the crimeplagued country. El Salvador is one of the most violent countries in the world. Its homicide rate last year was 50.3 killings per 100,000 inhabitants. _4 Nazi emblem: A court in Uruguay has ruled that the government must sell a huge Nazi bronze eagle that was recovered off the South American country’s coast in 2006. The eagle with a swastika under its talons was part of the stern of the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee that sank off Uruguay’s coast at the outset of World War II. The divisive symbol has been kept inside a sealed crate in a navy warehouse for more than a decade. The court ruled Friday that it must be sold within 90 days and the proceeds must be split among the investors who organized the effort to recover the eagle from the bottom of the River Plate. Uruguay’s government can appeal the decision. _5 Bribery scandal: A judge in the Dominican Republic has ordered a former Senate president, an ex-public works minister and four other people to stand trial in a bribery scandal involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Ex-Senate leader Andrés Bautista and former public works minister Víctor Díaz Rúa are among those ordered to trial in the corruption case, which has toppled business and political leaders across Latin America and the Caribbean. Prosecutors allege Bautista took bribes from Odebrecht for the Northwest Aqueduct Line expansion and the Palomino Hydroelectric Plant project. All deny the charges against them. As he left the court, Bautista said the “judge didn’t refer to the evidence that we provided.” Odebrecht has acknowledged paying nearly $800 million to high-profile leaders across the region in exchange for lucrative public works contracts.