NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Auschwitz guard: A German court has rejected the appeal of a former Auschwitz guard against serving his sentence on 300,000 counts of accessory to murder. The Celle state court ruled Wednesday that Oskar Groening was in good enough health to serve his four years in prison. But his attorney said he’d pursue further action to keep the 96-year-old free, and the court said it wasn’t clear when he might be jailed. Groening, an SS sergeant dubbed the “accountant of Auschwitz” for his role overseeing the collection of prisoners’ belongings and sending valuables and cash to Berlin, was convicted in 2015. 2 Protesters abused: Venezuelan state security forces systematically abused opposition protesters detained during months of deadly political unrest earlier this year, Human Rights Watch charged Wednesday. Some of the more than 5,000 people detained were beaten, sexually assaulted or given electrical shocks in what the New Yorkbased rights group describes in a report as a level of repression “unseen in Venezuela in recent memory.” At least 120 people died during the unrest. Protests have died out in recent months following the election of a pro-government constitutional assembly now ruling with virtually unlimited powers.
3 Saudi crackdown: Ethiopia says more than 1,300 citizens have been expelled from Saudi Arabia in “recent days” after a warning for undocumented migrants to voluntarily leave the Gulf nation expired. The foreign ministry’s statement late Tuesday came after Saudi officials began a crackdown against undocumented migrants, including tens of thousands of Ethiopians. Ethiopian officials have said more than 70,000 people have returned home since Saudi Arabia in March ordered all undocumented migrants to leave. More than 400,000 Ethiopian migrants are estimated to live in Saudi Arabia, most working as domestic workers and farm workers.
4 Protecting migrants: The European Union, African Union and United Nations are setting up a special task force to help protect migrants, notably those detained in squalid conditions in conflict-torn Libya. The three organizations said in a statement Wednesday in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, that the aim is to “save and protect lives of migrants and refugees along the routes and in particular inside Libya.” The task force also will speed up the process of returning willing migrants to their home countries and finding new homes for those fleeing violence or conflict and who need international protection. The three organizations say the task force will coordinate closely with Libyan authorities and be part of the organizations’ continued efforts to dismantle human trafficking and crime networks. 5 Massacre case: A former Salvadoran colonel was extradited to Spain to face charges that he helped plot the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests and two others in El Salvador, Spanish authorities said Wednesday. The National Court in Madrid said Inocente Orlando Montano Morales, 76, arrived in Madrid on Wednesday from the United States and was placed in prison. Montano faces charges of terrorist murder in the attack on the Jesuit priests — five of whom were Spaniards — and two female employees. Court documents said Montano was part of a group of military officers accused of conspiring to kill the priests, who were helping organize peace talks during El Salvador’s 1980-1992 civil war. The killings sparked international outrage.