NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 American casualty: The Pentagon has identified the soldier killed Saturday by a roadside bomb outside the Iraqi city of Mosul. First Lt. Weston Lee, 25, of Bluffton, Ga., was an infantry officer from the 82nd Airborne Division and was on patrol at the time of his death, according to a statement from his unit. Lee joined the Army in 2015 and deployed to Iraq in December. He was a platoon leader and died on his first deployment. “First Lt. Wes Lee was an extraordinary young man and officer. He was exactly the type of leader that our paratroopers deserve,” said Col. Pat Work. Lee was awarded the Bronze Star and Meritorious Service Medal posthumously.
2 Venezuela unrest: President Nicolas Maduro is increasing salaries and handing out free homes as he tries to counter a strengthening protest movement calling for his removal. Maduro said on his Sunday TV show that the minimum wage will rise 60 percent starting May 1. Workers will earn at least 200,000 bolivars per month including food subsidies, or less than $50 at the black market exchange rate. It’s the third wage increase this year as triple-digit inflation erodes workers’ savings. The president also watched as authorities in several states handed over the keys to hundreds of new apartments. Almost 30 people died in April from violence related to protests demanding the departure of Maduro, who critics say has violated democratic norms.
3 Brexit bill: British Prime Minister Theresa May brushed off calls for her country to settle its “divorce bill” from the European Union before beginning trade talks, saying Sunday she is confident she could secure a good Brexit deal. May spoke a day after EU leaders formally backed the bloc’s Brexit negotiating guidelines. They agreed that key issues including a disputed divorce settlement must be dealt with before the parties can proceed to discussions about Britain’s future relationship with the EU. Britain, however, wants to have parallel talks about future trade relations.
4 Tax espionage: Germany’s Welt newspaper reported Sunday that a Swiss man arrested for espionage last week in Frankfurt may have been spying on German tax officials. German prosecutors said the man, identified only as Daniel M., was “suspected of working for the intelligence agency of a foreign power,” but declined to say which country was allegedly involved. The Welt newspaper reported the man had been sent to Germany by Switzerland’s NDB intelligence agency to identify German tax investigators involved in the purchase of confidential Swiss bank client data. Germany has in the past bought the names of Swiss banking clients to determine if they were cheating on their taxes.
5 Belarus protest: Nikolai Statkevich, a leading opposition figure in Belarus, was arrested and jailed on the eve of a planned protest, his wife said Sunday. Maria Adamovich said she was informed by police Saturday that her husband had been jailed for five days. She said police did not explain why he was detained. Statkevich is one of the most prominent figures in Belarus’ beleaguered opposition. Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, in office since 1994, suppresses opposition and independent news media. Statkevich ran against Lukashenko in the 2010 election and was arrested after a large demonstration protesting the results. He spent the next five years in prison. A wave of protests broke out in Belarus this year, and another has been called for Monday in the capital of Minsk.