Experts cite ‘crimes against humanity’ in Maduro’s Venezuela
Independent experts for the U.N.’S top human rights body accused the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday of crimes against humanity, highlighting grisly cases of torture and killings allegedly carried out by security forces who used techniques like electric shocks, genital mutilation and asphyxiation.
In a scathing, in-depth report commissioned by the Human Rights Council, the experts said the people responsible for extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and other crimes must be held to account to provide justice for untold thousands of victims and to ensure such crimes don't happen again.
The findings of the report are likely to ratchet up pressure on Maduro's government, which has overseen a country in tatters with runaway inflation, a violent crackdown and an exodus of millions of Venezuelans who have fled to neighboring countries to escape the turmoil since he took power in 2013.
The experts delved into nearly 3,000 cases, looked at more than 5,000 killings and concluded that Maduro and his defense and interior ministers were aware of the crimes committed by Venezuelan security forces and intelligence agencies.
They further alleged that high-level authorities had both power and oversight over the forces and agencies, making the top officials responsible. Venezuelan authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Belarus leader Lukashenko disparages protests as US plan
Belarus' authoritarian leader on Wednesday sought to disparage protesters demanding his resignation for a sixth straight week following a disputed election by accusing the United States of fomenting the unrest.
In a long speech to top officials, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ranted against the alleged U.s.led plan to destabilize the country and claimed that American allies in Europe have participated in the effort that took years to prepare, part of his attempts to cast the opposition as Western stooges.
Lukashenko didn't provide evidence to back his claim that the U.S. had any involvement in the demonstrations.
His main challenger in the election, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, dismissed his comments as an attempt to divert public attention from rigging the vote and the violent crackdown on protests.
Protesters in Belarus have flooded the streets of the Belarusian capital and other cities, denouncing Lukashenko's landslide reelection in the Aug. 9 vote as rigged.
Rockets from Gaza during US ceremony draw Israel retaliation
The Israeli military struck Hamas militant sites in the Gaza Strip early Wednesday in response to rocket fire toward Israel the previous night that coincided with the signing of normalization agreements between Israel and two Arab countries at the White House.
The barrage against Israel began Tuesday night just as the ceremony in Washington was getting underway to formalize the new agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Two Israelis were lightly wounded.
The rocket fire continued overnight, with sirens sounding across southern Israel. The military said five projectiles landed in open areas with the rest intercepted by Israel's rocket defense system. In response, the military said it struck about 10 sites belonging to Gaza's militant Hamas rulers, including a weapons and explosives manufacturing factory, underground infrastructure and a military training compound.
The renewed exchange offered a stark reminder that the festive events in Washington would likely do little to change Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.
Bronze statue of first lady is unveiled in Slovenia
A bronze statue representing U.S. first lady Melania Trump was unveiled Tuesday in her native Slovenia to replace a wooden one that was set on fire in July.
The new sculpture is a replica of one by U.S. artist Brad Downey and placed near Trump's hometown of Sevnica, in central Slovenia.
The original statue was torched by arsonists on July 4th. The rustic figure was cut from the trunk of a linden tree, showing her in a pale blue dress like the one she wore at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.
A plaque next to the new one says it is “dedicated to the eternal memory of a monument to Melania which stood at this location.”
The life-size sculpture bears no obvious resemblance to the U.S. first lady.
Suga named prime minister, succeeding Abe in Japan
Japan's Parliament elected Yoshihide Suga as prime minister Wednesday, replacing long-serving leader Shinzo Abe with his right-hand man.
Suga bowed deeply several times when the results were announced, as fellow governing party lawmakers applauded in parliament's more powerful lower house. He was also confirmed in the upper house.
Suga, who was chief Cabinet secretary and the top government spokesman under Abe, selected a Cabinet with a mix of fresh faces and current or former ministers, a lineup that suggests a continuation of Abe's influence while reflecting Suga's pledge of administrative reforms.
“Response to the coronavirus is the immediate priority,” Suga, wearing a formal suit, said at his first news conference as prime minister Wednesday night. “I will carry on former Prime Minister Abe's policies and push them forward in order to overcome this national crisis and restore safety for the people.”
More than 20 workers hurt in crane accident in Texas
Two cranes collided Wednesday at a construction site in Austin, Texas, causing one of them to partially collapse and injuring at least 22 workers who were sent scrambling for safety, authorities said.
The cranes collided and got tangled several stories above a building under construction a few miles north of downtown in a rapidly growing neighborhood that includes residential, retail and office space. The development also includes a children's hospital near the accident site.
Austin-travis County EMS spokesman Darren Noak said at a news conference that 22 workers were hurt, including 16 who were taken to hospitals with nonlife-threatening injuries. The cause of the accident was still under investigation.
Most of the injuries occurred when workers scrambled away from the accident scene, Noak said.
One of the crane operators was still inside the crane cabin about 150 feet above the ground more than an hour after the accident, though that crane didn't appear to be damaged. Authorities said the operator was safe and that rescuers would go get him if necessary, but that his presence was helping to stabilize the crane.