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☆ Nicaragua freezes bank accounts of top university led by Jesuits - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Ismael Lopez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aug 9 (Reuters) - Nicaraguan authorities froze the bank accounts of the country's top private university, a source from the institution told Reuters, marking the latest move against a Catholic-led institution in an ongoing crackdown by the government. The Jesuit-run Central American University (UCA) is the alma mater of many youth leaders who protested the government of President Daniel Ortega in 2018, which were initially triggered by old-age pension cuts. Earlier on Wednesday, digital news outlet Divergentes reported that UCA officials sent an email to staff and students advising that they were not receiving any payments due to reasons beyond their control. In May, authorities also froze bank accounts belonging to Catholic parishes across the country as prosecutors launched what they called a money laundering investigation. The university had already been singled out for budget cuts and its leaders targeted, including UCA rector and Jesuit priest Jose Idiaquez who last year was barred from returning to Nicaragua after traveling to Mexico.

Persons: Daniel Ortega, Bishop Rolando Alvarez, Ortega, Jose Idiaquez, Ismael Lopez, Sarah Morland, David Alire Garcia, Michael Perry Organizations: Nicaraguan, Reuters, Catholic, Central American University, UCA, Sandinista, Thomson Locations: Nicaragua, Mexico

Mr. Couverthier’s old boss told him the previous super at a building on West 72nd Street was retiring after almost 30 years. The previous super didn’t live in the building full-time, but Mr. Couverthier knew he didn’t only want a full-time job, he wanted to build a home. Since then, his job has been a to-do list that never ends, filled with routine maintenance and the unexpected: A call is a crack on the fifth floor. He usually sends voice notes of incomplete tasks to Ms. Diaz as a way to save them in his phone. Sometimes he writes them on a whiteboard calendar, but mostly, he writes his daily to-do list on his left hand, as he drinks his morning coffee and watches ESPN.

Persons: Ismael Bonilla, Mr, Diaz, Couverthier, didn’t Organizations: New, Riverside Park, ESPN Locations: New York City, Central

☆ Insight: Catholic clergy report surveillance, beatings amid Nicaragua's crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( David Alire Garcia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's five-year campaign against the Catholic church has intensified since February, according to interviews with five priests inside and outside the country. This week's brief release of Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez raised hopes for a turning point. The priests describe heavy surveillance of church services by police or civilian members of government-sponsored community councils, especially since Easter. His latest restrictions seem aimed at silencing priests, Erick Diaz, 33, a Nicaraguan priest in exile in Chicago, said. Nine church leaders inside and outside Nicaragua did not respond to interview requests for this story.

Persons: Daniel Ortega's, Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez, Mexican Bishop Ramon Castro, Pope Francis, Nicaragua's, Ortega, Rosario Murillo, Bishop Alvarez, Alvarez, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, Brenes, Martha Patricia Molina, Molina, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Erick Diaz, David Alire Garcia, Philip Pullella, Ismael Lopez, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: MEXICO CITY, Sunday, Nicaraguan, Catholic, Vatican, Reuters, Organization of American, Thomson Locations: MEXICO, Nicaraguan, Managua, Nicaragua, Mexican, Eastern Europe, Matagalpa, Texas, Leon, Vatican, Chicago, Rome, San Jose

☆ Nicaraguan Catholic Bishop Alvarez freed, talks going on - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 4 (Reuters) - Nicaraguan Catholic Bishop Rolando Alvarez was released from prison late on Monday, a diplomatic source said, marking a possible turning point in the government's prolonged crackdown on the Catholic Church. The diplomatic source said on Tuesday that negotiations between the government and the country's Catholic bishops were going on over Alvarez's future, and the prelate was at the Catholic episcopal compound in the capital. The source, who declined to be identified, added that talks included the possibility that the bishop might be expelled from the Central American country or otherwise sent into exile. If the bishop refused to leave the country, he could be returned to prison, the source said. Earlier in the day, the news outlet Confidencial reported that Alvarez had been released on Monday night, citing church and diplomatic sources.

Persons: Nicaraguan Catholic Bishop Rolando Alvarez, Alvarez, Daniel Ortega, Pope Francis, Ortega's, Ismael Lopez, David Alire Garcia, Robert Birsel Organizations: Nicaraguan Catholic, Catholic Church, Central American, Thomson Locations: Nicaraguan, Matagalpa, United States

☆ Why this in-flight magazine is the fashion industry’s new must-read
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Nick Remsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Model Ismael Savane pictured in an Air Afrique T-shirt during Paris Fashion Week Mens Spring-Summer 2023 on June 23, 2022 in Paris. “We want to revive the African transcendence that Air Afrique represented,” Lamine Diaoune, the founder and creative director of the Air Afrique collective, said in a statement. It really was about more than just flights.”An Air Afrique stewardess, pictured during training in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in 1971. The cover of Air Afrique magazine's first issue, featuring the French rapper Tiakola (far right). (All members of the Air Afrique collective have backgrounds in creative fields; each also has projects outside of the group, too.)

Persons: Michel Renaudeau, Côte, Senegal —, Ismael Savane, Melodie Jeng, ” Lamine Diaoune, ”, Djibi Kébé, ” Kébé, “, Côte d’Ivoire, they’ve, Bottega, Tiakola, Lamine Diaoune, Djiby Kébé, Jeremy Konko, Amandine Nana, Zhedy Nuentsa, Bamba Thiam, Axel Pelletanche, ” Nana, Paul Kodjo, Marie, Hélène Tusiama, Tusiama, ’ ” Pope Jean, Paul II, Jean, Claude Delafosse, Pope Jean, Abdel El Tayeb, El Tayeb, Matthieu Blazy, El Tayeb’s Organizations: France CNN, Afrique, Air, Central African, Paris, Centre Pompidou, Air Afrique, “, Air Afrique Air Afrique’s, Franco, El Locations: Paris, France, New York City, Mauritania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Niger, Republic of, Congo, Senegal, West Africa, New York, Abu Dhabi, Europe, Abidjan, Côte, Dakar, West, Africa, Ivory Coast, ”, ‘, Sudanese, El

☆ Nicaragua accuses Catholic Church of money laundering, freezes accounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 27 (Reuters) - Nicaraguan police said on Saturday they are investigating several dioceses of the Catholic Church for money laundering, a day after local media reported that the bank accounts of parishes in the Central American country had been frozen. Investigations "confirmed the unlawful removal of resources from bank accounts that had been ordered by law to be frozen," the police said in a statement. Ortega's government has intensified attacks against the Catholic Church in the wake of 2018 anti-government protests in which some 360 people died after what human rights groups call police repression. The police statement said the bank accounts were linked to religious figures convicted of treason and other crimes, and that the investigations confirmed the funds entered the country irregularly. "People have their bank accounts here, this is how they carried out their work," Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes said in an article posted on news website despacho505.com.

☆ How El Chapo’s sons built a fentanyl empire poisoning America
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +23 min

Headed by Iván, El Chapo’s oldest son, the siblings have emerged as key figures in the Sinaloa Cartel, U.S. and Mexican anti-narcotics officials said. But he was killed in 2008 in Culiacán in a hail of bullets amid infighting between warring factions of the Sinaloa Cartel. The agency in April placed Iván on the list of its 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, joining Jesús Alfredo and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a Sinaloa Cartel legend and El Chapo’s alleged former business partner. They also kidnapped eight soldiers and surrounded military housing where wives and children of Mexican soldiers lived, Mexican officials said. Despite that blow to the Sinaloa Cartel, fentanyl keeps flowing north.

☆ Israel demolishes Palestinian West Bank school
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Emily Rose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Israeli troops take position during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops after Israeli machinery demolish a school near Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 7, 2023. REUTERS/Mussa QawasmaJERUSALEM, May 7 (Reuters) - Israeli authorities demolished a Palestinian school in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, drawing harsh condemnation from the European Union. "We got ready to come to school and when we arrived we didn't find the school," student Mohammed Ibrahim told Reuters. Israel has often cited a lack of building permits, which Palestinians and rights groups say are nearly impossible to obtain, in destroying Palestinian structures in the West Bank, an area it captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The Gush Etzion Regional Council, which represents a nearby block of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, welcomed the demolition.

☆ Milan lead Napoli after Bennacer goal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Soccer Football - Champions League - Quarter Finals - First Leg - AC Milan v Napoli - San Siro, Milan, Italy - April 12, 2023 AC Milan's Ismael Bennacer celebrates scoring their first goal with Davide Calabria REUTERS/Daniele MascoloMILAN, April 12 (Reuters) - AC Milan took a step towards their first Champions League semi-final appearance for 16 years as Ismael Bennacer's goal earned them a 1-0 win over Napoli in the quarter-final first leg at the San Siro on Wednesday. On a rainy night, Serie A leaders Napoli's first European clash with seven-times European champions Milan was also their first appearance in the quarter-finals of Europe's most prestigious club competition. Attempting to avenge their 4-0 home defeat by Milan in Serie A this month, Napoli began pressing immediately, but the hosts took the lead five minutes before the interval when Brahim Diaz teed up Bennacer who struck a low shot inside the far post. Napoli's situation worsened 16 minutes from time when midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa received a second yellow card for pushing Theo Hernandez. The second leg of the quarter-final is in Napoli on April 18.

☆ Ahead of Easter, Nicaraguan Catholics press on despite procession ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Ismael Lopez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ortega's tough stance on the church has been met by a mix of fear and determination among the Central American nation's Catholics. "What's most important is to live our faith," said Maria Flores, who noted that the canceled street procession this Friday - when Christians worldwide mark the crucifixion of Jesus - will be the first time in over four decades she will miss it. Eliseo Nuñez, a Nicaraguan political analyst in exile in neighboring Costa Rica, said government officials banned the processions to quash the prospect of further unrest. In 2005, former Marxist rebel Ortega converted to Catholicism ahead of winning the presidential election the following year. Reporting by Ismael Lopez; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nicaragua closes Vatican embassy in Managua, Nicaraguan embassy to Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] A bishop sprinkles water on the catholic parishioners at the Metropolitan Cathedral, as a suspension of diplomatic ties between Nicaragua and the Vatican has been proposed according to a Nicaragua's foreign ministry statement, in Managua, Nicaragua March 12, 2023. REUTERS/StringerVATICAN CITY, March 12 (Reuters) - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has ordered the closure of the Vatican Embassy in Managua and that of the Nicaraguan Embassy to the Vatican in Rome, a senior Vatican source said on Sunday. Nicaragua signalled that the move, which came a few days after Pope Francis compared the Nicaraguan government to a dictatorship, was "a suspension" of diplomatic relations. The Vatican source said that while the closures do not automatically mean a total break of relations between Managua and the Holy See, they are serious steps towards that possibility. A year ago, the Vatican protested to Nicaragua over the effective expulsion of its ambassador, saying the unilateral action was unjustified and incomprehensible.

☆ Nicaragua closes Vatican embassy in Managua, Nicaraguan embassy to Vatican - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

☆ Fleeing drought, Somalis face malnutrition and cholera in Kenya
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Ayenat Mersie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In a ward for severely malnourished children, Ismael said her baby's condition had not improved since arriving at Dadaab. Severe malnourishment had made the baby's head swell with liquid - a common effect of malnutrition in children. In the past two years, the drought has displaced one million Somalis and about 100,000 have fled to Kenya, according to the United Nations. In the past year, 32 children have died of malnutrition in the section of the camp run by the IRC, Ngao said. "This was the worst drought I have ever seen," he said.

☆ Nicaraguan political prisoners' families seek their release after others freed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANAGUA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The relatives of 35 political prisoners in Nicaragua called for their release on Tuesday, days after 222 others in the same category were freed and expelled to the United States following a surprise deal with Washington. The prisoners, considered political by human rights groups, include 56-year-old anti-government Bishop Rolando Alvarez, one of the Central American country's most influential church leaders. He refused to board the U.S.-bound plane last week and was returned to jail, stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship and then sentenced to a 26-year term. "Our relatives were on the official list of political prisoners and were not taken into account for release," the Committee of Relatives of Political Prisoners told a news conference. After the prisoner release, President Daniel Ortega said two prisoners refused to board the plane while Washington rejected four others.

☆ Nicaraguan Catholic bishop sentenced to decades in prison, citizenship stripped
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Ismael Lopez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Alvarez, bishop of the Matagalpa diocese, was convicted of treason, undermining national integrity and spreading false news, among other charges. During Friday's court hearing it was also announced that he would be fined and stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship. Originally scheduled for late March, the sentencing of the bishop, widely known by the Catholic honorific monsignor, was sped up without explanation. Rolando Alvarez is irrational and out of control," Silvio Baez, a senior Nicaraguan bishop exiled in Miami, wrote on Twitter after the sentence. A cameraman for a Catholic television channel was also arrested with them.

☆ Nicaraguan Catholic bishop sentenced to prison, stripped of citizenship
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Rolando Alvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and Esteli and critical of the Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, prays at a Catholic church where he is taking refuge alleging he had been targeted by the police, in Managua, Nicaragua May 20, 2022. REUTERS/Maynor ValenzuelaMANAGUA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A Nicaraguan court sentenced Catholic Bishop Rolando Alvarez to a more than 26-year prison term on Friday, a day after the cleric and critic of President Daniel Ortega declined to be expelled to the United States as part of a prisoner release. Alvarez was convicted on charges of undermining national integrity and spreading false news, and during Friday's court hearing it was also announced that he would be fined and stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship. Last August, police arrested Alvarez, bishop of the Matagalpa diocese, after dislodging him after he had barricaded himself in church property for several weeks along with other priests. Reporting by Ismael Lopez; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Anthony EspositoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Spain offers freed Nicaraguans citizenship after move to make them stateless
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueMADRID/MANAGUA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The Spanish government offered citizenship to more than 200 Nicaraguan political prisoners who were freed and flown to the United States on Thursday, Spain's top diplomat said on Friday. Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares made the announcement to Servimedia news agency, following the surprise release of 222 Nicaraguan prisoners later expelled to the United States. After their release, lawmakers loyal to authoritarian President Daniel Ortega voted to strip them of their Nicaraguan citizenship, which could thwart plans to return home someday. He added that Spain stood ready to receive others, noting that Madrid's decision had been made "after news reports that proceedings had begun to declare them stateless." Spanish authorities will reach out to the prisoners, who were allowed into the United States under a temporary humanitarian visa, so they can formally apply for citizenship.

[1/5] A few of the more than 200 freed political prisoners from Nicaragua disembark from a bus after they arrived in the United States at Dulles International Airport in Virginia near Washington, U.S., February 9, 2023. A Nicaraguan judge denounced the 222 prisoners released as "traitors" in a televised statement, and said they had been "deported." The released prisoners will be allowed to enter the United States on emergency humanitarian grounds, the administration of President Joe Biden said in a note to Congress. She added: "This sovereign decision of the Nicaraguan state has been taken in the supreme interest of our country, to live in harmony." In addition to the 222 individuals who went to the United States, two others were freed but chose not to travel, the State Department said.

☆ Over 200 Nicaraguan prisoners, including top Ortega critics, freed and sent to U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Ismael Lopez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MANAGUA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - More than 200 political prisoners in Nicaragua were released and flown to the United States on Thursday, including leading critics of President Daniel Ortega, in what Washington described as a "constructive step" towards improving human rights. The mass release "opens the door to further dialogue between the United States and Nicaragua regarding issues of concern," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. A Nicaraguan judge denounced the 222 prisoners as "traitors" in a televised statement, and said they had been "deported." The released prisoners will go through the humanitarian parole process, the Biden administration said in a note to Congress. It added that the Nicaraguan government had made "its own decision" to release the prisoners, and urged further steps to ensure human rights in Nicaragua.

UFC 283 will stream live on January 21, with the main card starting at 10 p.m. How to watch UFC 283You can watch the main event of UFC 283 on ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+, ESPN, and ABC. Ways to save on the UFC 283 pay-per-view priceIf you plan on signing up for ESPN+ to watch UFC 283, you can take advantage of a special discounted package. Here's the fight card for UFC 283: Teixeira vs. HillESPNEarly Prelims — 5:30 p.m.

☆ Ovidio Guzmán's arrest may be the start of a campaign against El Chapo's sons and the Sinaloa cartel
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Chris Dalby | Insight Crime | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Mexican authorities arrested Ovidio Guzmán, son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, earlier this month. The US has demanded action on fentanyl, and Ovidio's arrest may prompt Mexico to continue a targeted campaign. Ovidio Guzmán López is one of the four sons of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias "El Chapo," who is seeking to continue their father's legacy. Vehicles torched during a January 5 operation to arrest Ovidio Guzman in Culiacan on January 7. In the last couple of years alone, they have mounted targeted operations at rivals within the Sinaloa Cartel and beyond.

☆ Detained Nicaraguan Catholic bishop, Ortega critic to face trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MANAGUA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - A prominent Catholic bishop in Nicaragua who has sharply criticized authoritarian President Daniel Ortega will go to trial while under house arrest, a judge ruled on Tuesday, in the latest clamp down on dissent in the country. Human rights organizations accuse Ortega's government of persecuting the Catholic Church. Another prominent cleric, Bishop Silvio Baez, is in exile in the United States along with a number of other priests who have fled. The president has accused Catholic leaders of trying to overthrow him in a "coup" following anti-Ortega street protests that began in 2018. But as tensions have intensified, Ortega officials have expelled Catholic nuns and missionaries and shuttered more than a dozen Catholic radio and television stations.

☆ Violence hits Mexican cartel stronghold after arrest of El Chapo's son
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Ovidio Guzman Lopez during his arrest in Culiacan, Mexico, on Oct. 17, 2019. An escaped Mexican cartel kingpin known as “El Neto” meanwhile died after a shootout early on Thursday, four days after he fled prison in a violent mass break-out, authorities said. Police arrive on the scene after a store was looted in Culiacan, Mexico, on Jan. 5, 2023. Martin Urista / APAt Culiacan’s airport, a Mexican military flight was able to spirit Guzmán away to Mexico City. Asked if the attempt to capture Guzmán was worth another day of tension and uncertainty in Culiacan, Téllez said, “If they caught him, it was worth it.”

☆ Mexico nabs son of drug lord 'El Chapo' before Biden visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said Army and National Guard personnel had captured a son of "El Chapo." Ovidio Guzmán, nicknamed "the Mouse," had not been one of El Chapo's better-known sons until an aborted operation to capture him three years ago. "This is a significant blow to the Sinaloa cartel and major victory for the rule of law. A burning truck is seen across a street during an operation to arrest the son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Ovidio Guzman, in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico, on January 5, 2023. Marcos Vizcarra | AFP | Getty ImagesVigil said that Ovidio Guzmán was involved in all of the cartel's activities, especially the production of fentanyl.

☆ Mexico's Mayan Train a threat to ancient areas, scientists warn
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

MEXICO CITY — Parts of Mexico’s remote southern jungles have barely changed since the time of the ancient Maya. But the railway and its hasty construction also critically endanger pristine wilderness and ancient cave systems beneath the jungle floor, droves of scientists and environmental activists say. Construction costs are seen at up to $20 billion, López Obrador said in July. “The Mayan Train project is of course safe, monitored and regulated by the environmental authorities as has happened up to now,” the agency told Reuters. A spokesman for López Obrador did not respond to a request for comment.

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