“Hundreds of people in Cuba’s second-largest city, Santiago, staged a rare public protest on Sunday over chronic power blackouts and food shortages. The island is facing its worst economic crisis for three decades, with large parts of Cuba being left without power for more than 14 hours a day. Videos on social media show people chanting ‘power and food’. Its president blames the situation on US sanctions, but critics say it is down to government mismanagement. Since 1960, the US has maintained an economic embargo against Cuba which puts strict rules on trade between the countries. The economy in Cuba, a communist-run island with a population of about 11 million, has been in dire straits in recent years. The coronavirus pandemic put further strain on the cash-strapped nation, which has led to vast shortages of food, fuel and medicine.” (03/18/24)
“Uber has agreed to pay a $178 million to settle a class action lawsuit involving thousands of Australian drivers who lost income and license values over the rideshare giant’s business practices. The case, which was to be tried before the Supreme Court of Victoria starting Monday, was filed by attorneys with the Maurice Blackburn Lawyers firm in 2019 on behalf of 8,000 taxi and hire car drivers. The lawsuit argued that Uber acted unlawfully when it began operating in Australia by failing to meet specific regulations on operating passenger transportation services to the detriment of their clients.” (03/18/24)
“Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is expected to include Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager he pardoned, as a campaign adviser later this year, the Washington Post reported on Monday, citing four people familiar with the talks. … Trump pardoned Manafort in 2020, seven months after he was released to home confinement, sparing the long-time Republican operative from serving the bulk of his 7-1/2-year prison term for federal tax evasion and bank fraud.” (03/18/24)
“Authorities in the northern Chinese city of Handan have detained three teenage boys over the brutal death of their classmate, local media report. The case of the 13-year-old boy, identified only by his surname Wang, has sparked anger and furious debate on juvenile crime. Authorities found his remains buried in an abandoned vegetable garden. The boy was bullied in school, according to his father. Police are investigating the case as an intentional homicide, state-run Global Times said. All three detained teens are under 14. Under Chinese law, those above 12 years of age but under 14 can face criminal prosecution only when allowed by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the country’s highest public prosecutor. The victim and his classmates are ‘left-behind children,’ a term used to describe kids in China who live with their grandparents in rural areas while their parents work in the cities.” (03/18/24)
“Eight civilians were killed Monday in ‘reckless’ air strikes by Pakistan’s military in the border regions of Afghanistan, prompting Afghan forces to retaliate against Pakistani military outposts, Taliban officials said. Border tensions between the two countries have risen since the Taliban government seized power in 2021, with Islamabad claiming militant groups are carrying out regular attacks from Afghanistan. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani aircraft ‘bombed civilian homes’ in Khost and Paktika provinces near the border with Pakistan at around 3:00 am (2230 GMT Sunday), adding that all of the dead were women and children.” (03/18/24)
“Gunmen in Nigeria have kidnapped at least 87 people, including women and children in Kaduna state, residents and police said on Monday, in a fresh attack after an armed gang seized 286 students and staff from a school in early March. Kidnappings by criminal gangs demanding ransom payments have become an almost daily occurrence in Nigeria, especially in the north, with authorities seemingly powerless to stop them. Kaduna police spokesperson Mansur Hassan confirmed the incident in Kajuru Station village on Sunday night but could not give a figure of those missing. He said security agents had been deployed to try to rescue the villagers. Tanko Wada Sarkin, a village head, said 87 people were taken. ‘We have so far recorded the return of five people back home who fled through the bush. This attack makes it five times that these bandits are attacking this community,’ he told Reuters by phone.” (03/18/24)
“The sale of U.S. Steel to its Japanese rival Nippon Steel is being scrutinized by the Justice Department over potential antitrust concerns, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The $14.1 billion deal has drawn fire from lawmakers, unions and others who argue the storied U.S. industrial titan should not be owned by a foreign company — even one based in Japan, one of America’s closest allies. President Joe Biden on Thursday echoed that in a highly unusual statement, saying it must ‘remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated.’ The United Steelworkers union — whom Biden and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump are both courting on the campaign trail — opposes the deal, saying it puts U.S. jobs at risk.” (03/18/24)
“The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was kicked out of office over his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Former Otero County commissioner Couy Griffin, a cowboy pastor who rode to national political fame by embracing then-President Donald Trump with a series of horseback caravans, is the only elected official thus far to be banned from office in connection with the Capitol attack, which disrupted Congress as it was trying to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory over Trump. At a 2022 trial in state district court, Griffin received the first disqualification from office in over a century under a provision of the 14th Amendment written to prevent former Confederates from serving in government after the Civil War.” (03/18/24)
“Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday suspended a ceasefire with one of a handful of armed groups with which he hoped to negotiate peace accords, saying its fighters violated the truce by attacking an Indigenous community. The government said that starting Wednesday it would resume military operations against Estado Mayor Central, a group of fighters who broke away from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia when it signed a peace pact in 2016. Indigenous leaders in the war-torn western region of Cauca said an attack by the dissident group Saturday wounded at least three people and a young student was taken away by force.” (03/17/24)
“Israeli forces have launched an overnight raid on al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, with reports of tanks and heavy gunfire at the facility. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said the IDF was carrying out a ‘high precision operation in limited areas’ of the hospital. The IDF said ‘senior Hamas terrorists have regrouped’ inside the hospital and are using it to launch attacks. Eyewitnesses described a state of panic inside the complex in Gaza City. … A statement from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry called the operation a ‘flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.’ Hundreds of displaced Palestinians are sheltering at the hospital, which was raided by Israeli forces earlier in the conflict.” (03/18/24)