As new criminal charges were announced against him, former President Donald Trump again downplayed the indictments he faces. Separately, Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, is also dealing with legal woes that are putting the president himself under some Republican scrutiny. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the story.
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Month: July 2023
‘Barbie’ Tops Box Office Again, ‘Oppenheimer’ in 2nd Place
A week later, the “Barbenheimer” boom has not abated.
Seven days after Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters. “Barbie” took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Oppenheimer” stayed in second with a robust $46.2 million. Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44%, respectably — well shy of the usual week-two drops.
“Barbenheimer” has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza. The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it “a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters.”
“Having two movies from rival studios linked in this way and both boosting each other’s fortunes — both box-office wise and it terms of their profile — I don’t know if there’s a comp for this in the annals of box-office history,” said Dergarabedian. “There’s really no comparison for this.”
Following its year-best $162 million opening, the pink-infused pop sensation of “Barbie” saw remarkably sustained business through the week and into the weekend. The film outpaced Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” to have the best first 11 days in theaters of any Warner Bros. release ever.
“Barbie” has rapidly accumulated $351.4 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, a rate that will soon make it the biggest box-office hit of the summer. Every day it’s played, “Barbie” has made at least $20 million.
And the “Barbie” effect isn’t just in North America. The film made $122.2 million internationally over the weekend. Its global tally has reached $775 million. It’s the kind of business that astounds even veteran studio executives.
“That’s a crazy number,” said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. “There’s just a built-in audience that wants to be part of the zeitgeist of the moment. Wherever you go, people are wearing pink. Pink is taking over the world.”
Amid the frenzy, “Barbie” is already attracting a lot of repeat moviegoers. Goldstein estimates that 12% of sales are people going back with friends or family to see it again.
For a movie industry that has be trying to regain its pre-pandemic footing — and that now finds itself largely shuttered due to actors and screenwriters strikes — the sensations of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have showed what’s possible when everything lines up just right.
“Post-pandemic, there’s no ceiling and there’s no floor,” said Goldstein. “The movies that miss, really miss big time and the movies that work really work big time.”
Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer,” meanwhile, is performing more like a superhero movie than a three-hour film about scientists talking.
Nolan’s drama starring Cillian Murphy as atomic bomb physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer has accrued $174.1 million domestically thus far. With an additional $72.4 million in international cinemas, “Oppenheimer” has already surpassed $400 million globally.
Showings in IMAX have typically been sold out. “Oppenheimer” has made $80 million worldwide on IMAX. The large-format exhibitor said Sunday that it will extend the film’s run through Aug. 13.
The week’s top new release, Walt Disney Co.’s “Haunted Mansion,” an adaptation of the Disney theme park attraction, was easily overshadowed by the “Barbenheimer” blitz. The film, which cost about $150 million, debuted with $24 million domestically and $9 million in overseas sales. “Haunted Mansion,” directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People,” “Bad Hair”) and starring an ensemble of LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito and Rosario Dawson, struggled to overcome mediocre reviews.
“Talk to Me,” the A24 supernatural horror film, fared better. It debuted with $10 million. The film, directed by Australian filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou and starring Sophie Wilde, was a midnight premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and received terrific reviews from critics (95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). It was made for a modest $4.5 million.
While theaters being flush with moviegoers has been a huge boon to the film industry, it’s been tougher sledding for Tom Cruise, the so-called savior of the movies last summer with “Top Gun: Maverick.” “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I,” which debuted the week before the arrival of “Barbenheimer,” grossed $10.7 million in its third weekend. The film starring Cruise and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, has grossed $139.2 million domestically and $309.3 million oveseas.
Instead, the sleeper hit “Sound of Freedom” has been the best performing non-“Barbenheimer” release in theaters. The Angel Studios’ release, which is counting crowdfunding pay-it-forward sales in its box office totals, made $12.4 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its haul thus far to nearly $150 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
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“Barbie,” $93 million.
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“Opppenheimer,” $46.2 million.
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“Haunted Mansion,” $24.2 million.
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“Sound of Freedom,” $12.4 million.
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“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” $10.7 million.
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“Talk to Me,” $10 million.
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“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” $4 million.
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“Elemental,” $3.4 million.
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“Insidious: The Red Door,” $3.2 million.
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“Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani,” $1.6 million.
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AM Radio Fights to Keep Its Spot on US Car Dashboards
There has been a steady decline in the number of AM radio stations in the United States. Over the decades, urban and mainstream broadcasters have moved to the FM band, which has better audio fidelity, although more limited range. Now, there is a new threat to the remaining AM stations. Some automakers want to kick AM off their dashboard radios, deeming it obsolete. VOA’s chief national correspondent, Steve Herman, in the state of Texas, has been tuning in to some traditional rural stations, as well as those broadcasting in languages others than English in the big cities. Camera – Steve Herman and Jonathan Zizzo.
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French Embassy in Niger Attacked as Protesters March Through Capital
Thousands of supporters of the junta that took over Niger in a coup last week marched Sunday through the streets of the capital, Niamey, waving Russian flags, chanting the name of the Russian president and forcefully denouncing former colonial power France.
The protesters marched through the city to the French Embassy, where a door was lit on fire, according to someone who was at the embassy when it happened, and videos seen by The AP. Black smoke could be seen rising from across the city. The Nigerien army broke up the crowd of protesters.
Russian mercenary group Wagner is already operating in neighboring Mali, and Russian President Vladimir Putin would like to expand his country’s influence in the region. However, it is unclear yet whether the new junta leaders will move toward Moscow or stick with Niger’s Western partners.
On Sunday at an emergency meeting in Abjua, Nigeria the West African bloc said it was suspending relations with Niger and authorized the use of force if the president was not reinstated within a week.
“In the event the authorities’ demands are not met within one week, take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger. Such measures may include the use of force. To this effect, the chiefs of defense staff of ECOWAS are to meet immediately,” Omar Alieu Touray, president of the ECOWAS commission, said after the meeting.
Days after the coup, uncertainty is mounting about Niger’s future, with some calling out the junta’s reasons for seizing control.
President Mohamed Bazoum was democratically elected two years ago in Niger’s first peaceful transfer of power since independence from France in 1960.
The mutineers said they overthrew him because he wasn’t able to secure the nation against growing jihadi violence.
But some analysts and Nigeriens say that’s just a pretext for a takeover that is more about internal power struggles than securing the nation.
“Everybody is wondering: why this coup? That’s because no one was expecting it. We couldn’t expect a coup in Niger because there’s no social, political or security situation that would justify that the military take the power,” Prof. Amad Hassane Boubacar, who teaches at the University of Niamey, told The Associated Press.
He said Bazoum wanted to replace the head of the presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, who is now in charge of the country. Tchiani, who also goes by Omar, was loyal to Bazoum’s predecessor and that sparked the problems, Boubacar said. The AP cannot independently verify his assessment.
While Niger’s security situation is dire, it’s not as bad as neighboring Burkina Faso or Mali, which have also been battling an Islamic insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Last year, Niger was the only one of the three to see a decline in violence, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
Niger had been seen as the last reliable partner for the West in efforts to battle the jihadis in Africa’s Sahel region, where Russia and Western countries have vied for influence. France has 1,500 soldiers in the country who conduct joint operations with the Nigeriens. The United States and other European countries have helped train the nation’s troops.
Regional bodies, including the West African economic bloc ECOWAS, have denounced the coup. Some taking part in Sunday’s rally warned them to stay away. “I would like also to say to the European Union, African Union and ECOWAS, please, please stay out of our business,” said Oumar Barou Moussa, who was at the demonstration.
“It’s time for us to take our lives, to work for ourselves. It’s time for us to talk about our freedom and liberty. We need to stay together, we need to work together, we need to have our true independence,” he said.
Conflict experts say out of all the countries in the region, Niger has the most at stake if it turns away from the West, given the millions of dollars of military assistance the international community has poured in. On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the continued security and economic arrangements that Niger has with the U.S. hinged on the release of Bazoum — who remains under house arrest — and “the immediate restoration of the democratic order in Niger.”
On Sunday, France’s President, Emmanuel Macron said attacks on France and its interests would not be tolerated. Anyone who attacked French nationals, the army, diplomats and French authorities would see an immediate response, he said.
Macron said he’d spoken to Bazoum and his predecessor as Nigerien President, Mahamadou Issoufou, hours earlier, who both condemned the coup and appealed for calm.
The attack follows France’s move Saturday to suspend all development and financial aid for Niger.
The African Union has issued a 15-day ultimatum to the junta in Niger to reinstall the country’s democratically elected government. ECOWAS is holding an emergency summit Sunday in Abuja, Nigeria.
The 15-nation ECOWAS bloc has unsuccessfully tried to restore democracies in nations where the military took power in recent years. Four nations are run by military regimes in West and Central Africa, where there have been nine successful or attempted coups since 2020.
If ECOWAS imposes economic sanctions on Niger, which is what normally happens during coups, it could have a deep impact on Nigeriens, who live in the third-poorest country in the world, according to the latest U.N. data.
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10 Die, Including 3 Children, as Strong Winds Hit Tourist Camp in Central Russia
Ten people — including three children — died after high winds tore through central Russia, emergency services and a local official reported Sunday.
Eight of the dead were part of a group of tourists camping close to Lake Yalchik in the Mari-El region when the storm hit Saturday, Russia’s emergencies ministry said.
The strong winds caused a large number of trees to fall in the area, including where the group’s tents had been pitched on a stretch of wild beach inside the Mariy Chodra National Park, regional leader Yuri Zaitsev wrote on social media. He said that three children were among the dead. Russia’s investigative committee has opened a criminal case to determine whether unsafe or sub-standard services provided by the park’s management company contributed to the deaths.
Across the wider Volga Federal District, 76 people were injured in the storm, with thousands of households losing power, emergency services said.
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US, Australia See Progress in Growing Military Exercises
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is wrapping up a trip to the Indo-Pacific that included stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia.
A day after announcing the U.S. will be sending more troops and capabilities to Australia, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles flew on Austin’s jet from Brisbane to Townsville, to meet with troops taking part in Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Almost a dozen nations have joined the U.S. and Australia for these exercises. And Austin says there is hope that in the future, it will be even bigger.
“This is what we’re about. We’re about interoperability. We’re about working together. Promoting a common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Austin.
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Trump, Amid Legal Perils, Calls on GOP to Rally Around Him
At a moment of growing legal peril, Donald Trump ramped up his calls for his GOP rivals to drop out of the 2024 presidential race as he threatened to primary Republican members of Congress who fail to focus on investigating Democratic President Joe Biden and urged them to halt Ukrainian military aid until the White House cooperates with their investigations into Biden and his family.
“Every dollar spent attacking me by Republicans is a dollar given straight to the Biden campaign,” Trump said at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night. The former president and GOP frontrunner said it was time for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others he dismissed as “clowns” to clear the field, accusing them of “wasting hundreds of millions of dollars that Republicans should be using to build a massive vote-gathering operation” to take on Biden in November.
The comments came two days after federal prosecutors unveiled new criminal charges against Trump as part of the case that accuses him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club and refusing to turn them over to investigators. The superseding indictment unsealed Thursday alleges that Trump and two staffers sought to delete surveillance at the club in an effort to obstruct the Justice Department’s investigation.
The case is just one of Trump’s mounting legal challenges. His team is currently bracing for additional possible indictments, which could happen as soon as this coming week, related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election brought by prosecutors in both Washington and Georgia. Trump already faces criminal charges in New York over hush money payments made to women who accused him of sexual encounters during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Nevertheless, Trump remains the dominant early frontrunner for the Republican nomination and has only seen his lead grow as the charges have mounted and as his rivals have struggled to respond. Their challenge was on display at a GOP gathering in Iowa Friday night, where they largely declined to go after Trump directly. The only one who did — accusing Trump of “running to stay out of prison” — was booed as he left the stage.
In the meantime, Trump has embraced his legal woes, turning them into the core message of his bid to return to the White House as he accuses Biden of using the Justice Department to maim his chief political rival. The White House has said repeatedly that the president has had no involvement in the cases.
At rallies — including Saturday’s — Trump has tried to frame the charges, which come with serious threats of jail time, as an attack not just on him, but those who support him.
“They’re not indicting me, they’re indicting you. I just happen to be standing in the way,” he told the arena crowd in Erie, adding that, “Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxists, communists and fascists indict me, I consider it actually a great badge of honor…. Because I’m being indicted for you.”
But the investigations are also sucking up enormous resources that are being diverted from the nuts and bolts of the campaign. The Washington Post first reported Saturday that Trump’s political action committee, Save America, will report Monday that it spent more than $40 million on legal fees during the first half of 2023 defending Trump and all of the current and former aides whose lawyers it is paying. The total is more than the campaign raised during the second quarter of the year.
“In order to combat these heinous actions by Joe Biden’s cronies and to protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed, the leadership PAC contributed to their legal fees to ensure they have representation against unlawful harassment,” said Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung.
At the rally — held in a former Democratic stronghold that Trump flipped in 2016, but Biden won narrowly in 2020 — Trump also threatened Republicans in Congress who refuse to go along with efforts to impeach Biden. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said this past week that Republican lawmakers may consider an impeachment inquiry into the president over unproven claims of financial misconduct.
Trump, who was impeached twice while in office, said Saturday that, “The biggest complaint that I get is that the Republicans find out this information and then they do nothing about it.”
“Any Republican that doesn’t act on Democrat fraud should be immediately primaries and get out — out!” he told the crowd to loud applause. “They have to play tough and … if they’re not willing to do it, we got a lot of good, tough Republicans around … and they’re going to get my endorsement every single time.”
Trump, during the 2022 midterm elections, made it his mission to punish those who had voted in favor of his second impeachment and succeeded in unseating most who had by backing primary challengers.
At the rally, Trump also called on Republican members of Congress to halt the authorization of additional military support to Ukraine, which has been mired in a war fighting Russia’s invasion, until the Biden administration cooperates with Republican investigations into Biden and his family’s business dealings — words that echoed the call that lead to his first impeachment.
“He’s dragging into a global conflict on behalf of the very same country, Ukraine, that apparently paid his family all of these millions of dollars,” Trump alleged. “In light of this information,” Congress, he said, “should refuse to authorize a single additional payment of our depleted stockpiles … the weapons stockpiles to Ukraine until the FBI, DOJ and IRS hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden crime family’s corrupt business dealings.”
House Republicans have been investigating the Biden family’s finances, particularly payments Hunter, the president’s son, received from Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company that became tangled in the first impeachment of Trump.
An unnamed confidential FBI informant claimed that Burisma company officials in 2015 and 2016 sought to pay the Bidens $5 million each in return for their help ousting a Ukrainian prosecutor who was purportedly investigating the company. But a Justice Department review in 2020, while Trump was president, was closed eight months later with insufficient evidence of wrongdoing.
Trump’s first impeachment by the House resulted in charges that he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to dig up dirt on the Bidens while threatening to withhold military aid. Trump was later acquitted by the Senate.
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Late Vanegas Goal Seals Colombia’s 2-1 Upset Over Germany
Manuela Vanegas scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time as Colombia upset Germany 2-1 at the Women’s World Cup on Sunday.
The defender headed in to settle a thrilling game and put her country on the brink of advancing to the knockout stage.
Alexandra Popp had scored an 89th-minute penalty and seemed to have earned two-time champion Germany a 1-1 draw after 18-year-old Linda Caicedo had struck a stunning opener for Colombia.
But Vanegas came up with a late twist to huge celebrations from Colombia fans who dominated the Sydney Football Stadium crowd.
The Germans thought they’d secured a point after Colombia goalkeeper Catalina Perez was penalized for bringing down Lena Oberdorf in the box.
Popp, who scored twice in her country’s 6-0 rout of Morocco in its opening game of the tournament, fired straight down the middle to level the game.
That had disappointed the crowd, which passionately cheered Colombia on throughout and erupted after Caicedo’s goal in the 52nd.
The Real Madrid teenager had suffered a health scare earlier in the week but produced a moment of magic to score her second of the tournament.
It was all the more special coming after she’d dropped to the ground holding her chest in training during the week.
Caicedo scored from distance in the 2-0 win against South Korea on Tuesday. But while that goal involved an error from goalkeeper Yoon Young-geul, on this occasion it was all about individual brilliance.
Collecting the ball from just inside the area after a corner, she worked her way into space by bewildering two German defenders in a fast-stepping move before lashing a shot into the top corner.
Caicedo, followed by her teammates, charged toward the corner to get closer to the crowd as it went wild.
Germany has never failed to advance from the group stage of the World Cup. It is still expected to beat South Korea in its last game of Group H, but will likely have to settle for second place.
The runners up at last year’s Euros should have been ahead in the first half when Popp was guilty of missing the target with a volley from close range —shortly before the break.
Earlier Lina Magull had the chance to test Perez from close range, but mis-kicked and the opportunity was wasted.
What’s next
In the last games in Group H, Germany faces South Korea and Colombia plays Morocco, with three teams still able to advance to the knockout stage.
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Central Africa Vote in Referendum Could Extend Touadera’s Rule
Central African Republic is voting on a constitutional referendum on Sunday which, if it passes, could remove a presidential term limit and allow President Faustin-Archange Touadera to run for a third term in 2025.
Touadera was first elected in 2016 for a five-year term and won reelection in 2020 for what was supposed to be his final term in office.
The new constitution would reset the clock, allowing him to run for a fresh seven-year mandate, and the number of terms he or another candidate could run for president would be unlimited.
Opposition parties and some civil society groups have called for a boycott of the referendum, saying it was designed to keep Touadera in power for life.
Turnout was meagre at a polling station in a northern suburb of the capital Bangui early on Sunday, with around two dozen voters in the queue, according to a Reuters reporter.
“I’m hoping that my friends will come out massively to vote. What I really want is stability for the country to progress,” said Laurent Ngombe, a teacher and one of the first people to vote.
The land-locked country, roughly the size of France and with a population of around 5.5 million, is rich in minerals including gold, diamond, and timber. It has witnessed waves instability, including coups and rebellions, since independence from France in 1960.
Touadera, 66, a mathematician, has struggled to quell rebel groups that have controlled pockets of the country since former President Francois Bozize was ousted by another rebellion in 2013.
Touadera turned to Russia for help in tackling the rebels in 2018. Since then, over 1,500 troops, including instructors and private military contractors from Russia’s Wagner group, have been deployed in the country alongside the national army.
your ad hereMorocco King Appeals for ‘Normality’ With Neighbor Algeria
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has expressed hope for a return to normality and reopening of borders with North African neighbor Algeria, which cut diplomatic ties nearly two years ago.
“We pray to the Almighty for a return to normality and a reopening of the borders between our two neighboring countries and our brotherly peoples,” Mohammed VI, 59, said late Saturday in a speech to mark the anniversary of his accension to the throne in 1999.
The borders have been closed since 1994, leaving families divided after Morocco accused its neighbor of involvement in a jihadist attack on a Marrakesh hotel that killed two tourists. Algeria then sealed the frontiers.
Since then, tensions have persisted between the regional rivals, exacerbated by their dispute over Western Sahara, where the Algiers-backed Polisario Front is seeking independence from Rabat’s rule and has declared the territory a “war zone.”
Algeria severed ties in August 2021, accusing Rabat of “hostile acts,” a move which Morocco said was “completely unjustified.”
Israel’s recognition earlier this month of “Morocco’s sovereignty” over Western Sahara added to tensions between Morocco and Algeria, which called Israel’s move a “flagrant violation of international law.”
In his nationally broadcast speech Saturday, Mohammed VI expressed reassurance to “our brothers in Algeria, their leadership and their people that they will never have to fear malice from Morocco.”
The king calls annually for a rapprochement with Algeria.
your ad hereUS State and Local Governments in Wage War for Workers
At the entrance to Missouri prisons, large signs plead for help: “NOW HIRING” … “GREAT PAY & BENEFITS.”
No experience is necessary. Anyone 18 and older can apply. Long hours are guaranteed.
Though the assertion of “great pay” for prison guards would have seemed dubious in the past, a series of state pay raises prompted by widespread vacancies has finally made a difference. The Missouri Department of Corrections set a record for new applicants last month.
“After we got our raise, we started seeing people come out of the woodwork, people that hadn’t worked in a while,” said Maj. Albin Narvaez, chief of custody at the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center, where new prisoners are housed and evaluated.
Public employers across the U.S. have faced similar struggles to fill jobs, leading to one of the largest surges in state government pay raises in 15 years. Many cities, counties and school districts also are hiking wages to try to retain and attract workers amid aggressive competition from private sector employers.
The wage war comes as governments and taxpayers feel the consequences of empty positions.
In Kansas City, Missouri, a shortage of 911 operators doubled the average hold times for people calling in emergencies. In one Florida county, some schoolchildren frequently arrived late as a lack of bus drivers delayed routes. In Arkansas, abused and neglected kids remained longer in foster care because of a caseworker shortage. In various cities and states, vacancies on road crews meant cracks and potholes took longer to fix than many motorists might like.
“A lot of the jobs we’re talking about are hard jobs,” said Leslie Scott Parker, executive director of the National Association of State Personnel Executives.
Lingering vacancies “eventually affects service to the public or response times to needs,” she added.
Workforce shortages worsened across all sorts of jobs due to a wave of retirements and resignations that began during the pandemic. Many businesses, from restaurants to hospitals, responded nimbly with higher wages and incentives to attract employees. But governments by nature are slower to act, requiring pay raises to go through a legislative process that can take months to complete — and then can take months more to kick in.
Meanwhile, vacancies mounted.
In Georgia, state employee turnover hit a high of 25% in 2022. Thousands of workers left the Department of Corrections, pushing its vacancy rate to around 50%. The state began a series of pay raises. This year, all state employees and teachers got at least a $2,000 raise, with corrections officers getting $4,000 and state troopers $6,000.
The Georgia Department of Corrections used an ad agency to bolster recruitment and held an average of 125 job fairs a month. It’s starting to pay off. In the first week of July, the department received 318 correctional officer applications — nearly double the weekly norm, said department Public Affairs Director Joan Heath.
Almost 1 in 4 positions — more than 2,500 jobs — were empty in the Missouri Department of Corrections late last year, which was twice the pre-pandemic vacancy rate in 2019.
Missouri gave state workers a 7.5% pay raise in 2022. This spring, Gov. Mike Parson signed an emergency spending bill with an additional 8.7% raise, plus an extra $2 an hour for people working evening and night shifts at prisons, mental health facilities and other institutions. The vacancy rate for entry level corrections officers now is declining, and the average number of applications for all state positions is up 18% since the start of last year.
At the Fulton prison, where staff shortages have led to a standard 52-hour work week, newly hired employees can earn around $60,000 annually — an amount roughly equal to the state’s median household income. The prison also is proposing to provide free child care to correctional officers willing to work nights.
If prison staffing is too low, “it can get dangerous” for both inmates and guards, Narvaez said.
Public safety concerns also have arisen in Kansas City, where a country music fan attacked before a concert last month waited four minutes for a 911 call to be answered and an hour for an ambulance to arrive. About one-quarter of 911 call center positions are vacant — “a huge factor” in the longer wait times to answer calls, said Tamara Bazzle, assistant manager of the communications unit for the Kansas City Police Department.
In Biddeford, Maine, a 15-person roster of 911 dispatchers dipped to just eight employees in July as people quit a “pressure cooker job” for less stress or better pay elsewhere, Police Chief JoAnne Fisk said. The city is now offering fully certified dispatchers $41 an hour to help plug the gaps on a part-time basis — $10 an hour more than comparable new workers normally would earn.
This month, Biddeford also launched a $2,000 bonus for city employees who refer others who get jobs. That comes a year after Biddeford adopted a four-day work week with paid lunch periods to try to make jobs more appealing, said City Manager Jim Bennett.
To attract workers, other governments have dropped college degree requirements and spiced up drab job descriptions.
Nationally, the turnover rate in state and local governments is twice the average of the previous two decades, according federal labor statistics.
Uncompetitive wages were the most common reason for leaving cited in exit interviews, according to a survey of 249 state and local government human resource managers conducted by MissionSquare Research Institute, a Washington, D.C. -based nonprofit. The hardest positions to fill included police and corrections officers, doctors, nurses, engineers and jobs requiring commercial driver’s licenses.
Along Florida’s east coast, the Brevard County transit system and school district have been competing for bus drivers. On days when drivers are lacking, the transit system has cut the frequency of bus stops on some routes. The school system, meanwhile, has asked some bus drivers to run a second route after dropping children off at school, often resulting in the second busload arriving late.
Since 2022, the county has twice raised bus driver wages to a current rate of $17.47 an hour. The school board recently countered with a $5 increase to a minimum $20 an hour for the upcoming school year. The goal is to hire enough drivers to regularly get kids to class on time, said school system communications director Russell Bruhn.
In Arkansas, the goal is to get foster kids into permanent homes in less than a year. But during the first three months of this year, the state met that target for just 32% of foster children — well below the national standard of over 40%. More than one-fifth of the roughly 1,400 positions in the Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services are vacant.
Many new employees leave in less than two years because of heavy caseloads and the “very difficult, emotionally tolling work,” Mischa Martin, the Department of Human Services’ deputy secretary of youth and families, told lawmakers last month.
“If we had a knowledgeable, experienced workforce,” she said, “they would be able to work cases in a better way to get kids home quicker.”
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Rise and Fall of a Russian Ultranationalist
The arrest and disappearance of dissidents and anti-war activists has become a common occurrence in Russia. But the detention in July of former Federal Security Service officer Igor Girkin has marked a turning point in how the government of President Vladimir Putin treats even those who support its military goals.
Known by the nickname Strelkov, meaning “shooter,” Girkin’s journey from key operative to political threat sheds light on the Kremlin’s complex history with ideological extremists.
Long before he became a wanted war criminal in the West, Girkin was a student at the Moscow State Institute for History and Archives, where he began his hobby of reenacting military history, especially that of the czarist White Army.
An avowed monarchist, Girkin fell in with far-right circles that were arising amid the Soviet collapse, writing for the newspaper Zavtra, which combined the idolization of Soviet militarism with antisemitic Russian nationalism and opposition to Western democracy.
However, his interest in war went beyond historical costume. He would fight in Russia’s brutal campaign against Chechen independence, as well as the 1992 intervention in Moldova that left the region of Transnistria as Russian-occupied territory.
Girkin also volunteered alongside ethnic Serb forces in the Bosnian War and was present at the massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslim civilians in Visegrad. Afterward, he is believed to have served in the FSB, where he reportedly rose to the rank of colonel before retiring in 2013.
But this would not be the end of Girkin’s military career.
Following the 2014 Euromaidan protests that toppled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Girkin appeared in Crimea among the so-called Russian volunteers — later revealed to be active-duty soldiers — who brought the peninsula under Russian control.
Next, he would surface in Ukraine’s Donbas region as the head of militants who seized government offices in Sloviansk to establish the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic.
Despite claiming to be a local uprising with no Kremlin involvement, much of the militants’ leadership was composed of Russian citizens with close ties to the security services, such as Girkin’s old newspaper colleague Alexander Borodai. Girkin himself would later admit that the war in the Donbas would not have occurred without direct Russian support.
As defense minister of the small, breakaway state, Girkin imposed harsh discipline on enemies and allies alike, torturing and executing supporters of Ukraine, as well as petty criminals and even fellow separatist fighters, for infractions such as looting or abandoning their post.
His biggest war crime was yet to come.
On July 17, 2014, a Malaysia Airlines jet carrying 298 people was shot down over the Donetsk region, killing everyone on board. Evidence showed that the plane had been hit by a Russian-made BUK surface-to-air missile fired from rebel-controlled territory.
Deleted social media posts suggested Girkin had knowledge of the deliberate attack. He was found guilty in November 2022 by a Dutch court in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Publicly, Girkin denied any responsibility for the shooting and claimed it had been a false flag operation — a military action meant to blame an opponent or rival — mirroring Russian media’s own shifting explanations and conspiracy theories about the crash.
But this high-profile international attention made him a liability for Russia, which still denied involvement in the conflict. To make their denial more plausible, Girkin and other Russian citizens were removed from power and replaced with local separatist leaders.
Upon his return to Russia in late 2014, Girkin criticized Russian leadership. As a true believer, he viewed the Donbas as historic Russian land and had expected the Kremlin to fully commit to annexing the region, as they had with Crimea.
But for Putin, an ongoing stalemate in the Donbas provided a low-cost way to impede Ukraine’s integration into Western institutions while maintaining enough plausible deniability to avoid the full weight of international sanctions.
Dismayed by what he viewed as a betrayal of the cause, Girkin became an increasingly vocal critic of Putin. His media statements and interviews often undercut the official Kremlin line by revealing the extent of Russia’s involvement in the conflict.
With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Girkin gained renewed prominence as one of the country’s top military bloggers.
While ordinary citizens and liberal activists were jailed for even referring to the “special military operation” as a war, Girkin and other far-right nationalists openly offered frank condemnation of the military strategy, as well as the top leadership, accusing them of incompetence and insufficient preparation.
The bloggers’ criticisms, which did not oppose the invasion but called for a more aggressive campaign, allowed for the venting of discontent without disrupting Kremlin narratives, while also positioning Putin as a relative moderate.
That calculus appears to have changed, however, with Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s aborted mutiny in late June. In the face of such a public challenge to his authority, experts believe Putin can no longer afford to tolerate criticism, even from so-called patriots.
Jailed liberal opposition figure Alexei Navalny has also weighed in, noting that despite his other crimes, Girkin should nevertheless be considered a political prisoner.
It remains to be seen what will become of other ultranationalist Putin critics, some of whom have already rushed to distance themselves from Girkin. His arrest, coming on the heels of the Wagner mutiny, underscores the Kremlin’s struggle to control the very forces it has unleashed.
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Footballer Details ‘Scary’ Toll on Ukrainian Children’s Mental Health
PARIS – Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko says he only had to look into the eyes of Ukrainian children who lived under Russian occupation in a village to find the motivation to raise money to rebuild their school.
“You realize the mental injuries they will carry for the rest of their lives,” he told AFP.
The 26-year-old Ukraine international went home in May for his first trip since Russia invaded in February 2022 — “even the air smelt different,” he said — and visited the village and the school, the Mykhailo-Kotsiubynsky Lyceum in Chernihiv oblast, northern Ukraine.
It was heavily damaged in a rocket attack on March 4 last year killing a 62-year-old female cleaner — the death toll could have been a lot worse as there were around 100 civilians, the youngest aged 2 months, living in the basement.
“I was really upset, it was very hard for me morally to understand it,” the school’s headmaster Mykola Shpak told AFP.
“When I saw the level of destruction, I understood how much work will be needed to renovate it and restart education.”
The estimated cost of the rebuilding work is $1.7 million (1.54 million euros).
Zinchenko and Ukrainian football great Andriy Shevchenko, who accompanied him on the visit, played with some of the 412 pupils and chatted to them about their experiences when the Russians occupied the village from Feb. 28-March 31 last year.
As a result of the visit, the star pair decided with the charity United24 to organize an all-star match, Game4Ukraine, at the Stamford Bridge home of one of Shevchenko’s former clubs, Chelsea, on Aug. 5 to raise funds for the school.
The charity was launched by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to collect donations to cover Ukraine’s most pressing needs, among them rebuilding the country which has been devastated since Vladimir Putin launched the invasion.
“Around 800 schools have been damaged by the Russians, more than 200 of them we are not able to rebuild,” Zinchenko told AFP earlier this month.
“This school was important because 10 villages are using it.”
It was, though, not just that which left such a mark on Zinchenko but listening to the children and their accounts of life under Russian occupation.
“A few were telling us about the Russian army in their houses, you look in their eyes and you realize the mental injuries they will suffer from for the rest of their lives.
“That is a scary thing.”
‘Never understand’
Neither Zinchenko nor Shevchenko have a personal connection with the school — “I changed schools three times” explains Zinchenko with a wry smile — which makes it even more touching for Shpak, the headmaster.
“I feel what a person can feel when he receives hope,” he said.
“And of course this hope is great when it is initiated by such people as those two.
“I was filled with even more hope when they played football with our boys and girls on the field which was destroyed by missiles.”
Shpak speaks with the emotion of someone with deep ties to the school — his parents were both teachers there and after studying he returned as a geography teacher in 1993 and became head in 2015.
Although he would go home at night, he ensured the 100 or so people housed in the basement were fed — visits from the Russians were for him mercifully few.
“They only entered the school after the shelling of our district, I cannot say why they came to the school. I think they wanted to see the results of what they did,” he said.
“We had prepared food for our children, about 30 pieces of bread. But after their visit we could not find it as they had taken it.”
Shpak — who has two grown-up sons — feels enormous loss at the former pupils who have died in the war.
“There are a lot of children who graduated from this school who I will never see again and that is terrible,” he said.
Zinchenko has not lost any close friends but says he “will never understand” the invasion.
“When one has been born and raised on land where you know every single stone and tree and then one day someone comes from another place and they can do what they want, they can kill women, men and children and destroy everything around, in the 2020s, it is absolutely incredible.”
Zinchenko — whose wife, Vlada, is expecting their second child — is pleased he did not take up arms but is doing his bit for his country in a field he knows better.
“I hope if my children ask me ‘Daddy what did you do in that time, how did you help?’ I will be able to look them in their eyes and reply I was doing my best.”
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Drone Attack on Moscow Injures 1, Temporarily Shuts Airport
Russian authorities say three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure for traffic of one of four airports around the Russian capital.
It was the fourth such attempt at a strike on the capital region this month and the third this week, fueling concerns about Moscow’s vulnerability to attacks as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.
The Russian Defense Ministry referred to the incident as an “attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime” and said three drones targeted the city. One was shot down in the surrounding Moscow region by air defense systems and two others were jammed. Those two crashed into the Moscow City business district in the capital.
Photos from the site of the crash showed the facade of a skyscraper damaged on one floor. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attack “insignificantly damaged” the outsides of two buildings in the Moscow City district. A security guard was injured, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.
No flights went into or out of the Vnukovo airport on the southern outskirts of the city for about an hour, according to Tass, and the air space over Moscow and the outlying regions was temporarily closed for any aircraft. Those restrictions have since been lifted.
Moscow authorities have also closed a street for traffic near the site of the crash in the Moscow City area.
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who rarely if ever take responsibility for attacks on Russian soil.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported shooting down a Ukrainian drone outside Moscow on Friday. Two more drones struck the Russian capital on Monday, one of them falling in the center of the city near the Defense Ministry’s headquarters along the Moscow River about 3 kilometers from the Kremlin. The other drone hit an office building in southern Moscow, gutting several upper floors.
In another attack on July 4, the Russian military said four drones were downed by air defenses on the outskirts of Moscow and a fifth was jammed by electronic warfare means and forced down.
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West African Leaders Meet Over Niger Coup
NIAMEY, NIGER/ABUJA, NIGERIA – Niger’s military leaders warned against any armed intervention in the country as West African leaders are set to gather Sunday in Nigeria’s capital for an emergency summit to decide on further actions to pressure the army to restore constitutional order.
Heads of state of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the eight-member West African Economic and Monetary Union could suspend Niger from its institutions, cut off the country from the regional central bank and financial market, and close borders.
Niger’s eastern neighbor Chad, a non-member of both regional organizations, has been invited to the ECOWAS summit, a statement from the Chadian president’s office said Saturday.
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, receiving close to $2 billion a year in official development assistance, according to the World Bank. It is also a security partner of former colonial power France and the United States. Both nations use it as a base to fight an Islamist insurgency in West and Central Africa’s wider Sahel region.
The West African leaders could also for the first time, consider a military intervention to restore President Mohamed Bazoum who was ousted when General Abdourahamane Tchiani was declared the new head of state Friday.
Ahead of the Sunday summit, the military leaders in Niger warned in a statement read on Niger national television on Saturday night against any military intervention.
“The objective of the (ECOWAS) meeting is to approve a plan of aggression against Niger through an imminent military intervention in Niamey in collaboration with other African countries that are non-members of ECOWAS, and certain western countries,” junta spokesperson Colonel Amadou Abdramane said.
“We want to once more remind ECOWAS or any other adventurer, of our firm determination to defend our homeland,” he said.
The junta issued a second statement on Saturday night inviting citizens in the capital take to the streets from 7 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) to protest ECOWAS and show support for the new military leaders.
The military coup in Niger has been widely condemned by its neighbors and international partners who have refused to recognize the new leaders and have demanded that Bazoum be restored to power.
Bazoum has not been heard from since early Thursday when he was confined within the presidential palace, although the European Union, France and others say they still recognize him as the legitimate president.
The European Union and France have cut off financial support to Niger and the United States has threatened to do the same.
After an emergency meeting Friday, the African Union issued a statement demanding that the military return to their barracks and restore constitutional order within 15 days. It did not say what would happen after that.
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American Nurse, Child Kidnapped in Haiti, Aid Group Says
WASHINGTON – An American nurse and her child have been kidnapped in Haiti, a Christian aid group said Saturday, days after the U.S. government ordered its nonessential personnel out of the impoverished Caribbean country because of spiraling insecurity.
Alix Dorsainvil and her child were kidnapped Thursday morning near Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, El Roi Haiti said in a statement on its website.
She is the wife of the group’s director, who is Haitian, and the mother and child were taken from the El Roi campus “while serving in our community ministry.”
“Alix is a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family,” El Roi said.
“Alix has worked tirelessly as our school and community nurse to bring relief to those who are suffering as she loves and serves the people of Haiti in the name of Jesus,” the group said.
Their kidnapping came after the U.S. State Department issued an updated travel advisory Thursday, saying Americans in Haiti should depart “as soon as possible … in light of the current security situation and infrastructure challenges.”
The U.S. government is “extremely limited in its ability” to assist Americans in the country who may need emergency help, it said, warning that “kidnapping is widespread.”
Washington also ordered its nonessential personnel and family of government employees to leave Haiti, which has seen compounding humanitarian, political and security crises.
Gangs control most of the capital and terrorize the population with kidnappings, rape and murder.
The State Department said Saturday it was aware of reports of two citizens kidnapped in Haiti.
“We are in regular contact with Haitian authorities and will continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners,” a spokesperson said.
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Kenya Says Its Ready to Lead Multinational Force in Haiti
NAIROBI, KENYA | Kenya is ready to lead a multinational force in Haiti and will deploy 1,000 police officers to the strife-torn Caribbean nation once its offer is accepted, the foreign minister said Saturday.
Gangs control about 80% of the Haitian capital, and violent crimes such as kidnappings for ransom, armed robbery and carjackings are common.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry have for nearly a year sought international intervention to help support the police, but no country had stepped forward.
“Kenya has accepted to positively consider leading a Multi-National Force to Haiti,” Kenya’s Foreign Minister Alfred Mutua said in a statement late Saturday.
“Kenya’s commitment is to deploy a contingent of 1,000 police officers to help train and assist Haitian police restore normalcy in the country and protect strategic installations,” the statement said.
Its proposed deployment still required a mandate from the U.N. Security Council and approval from domestic authorities, he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone Friday night to Kenyan President William Ruto, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Kenya is seen as a democratic anchor in East Africa and has participated in peacekeeping operations in its immediate region including in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.
No other details about the Haiti deployment were immediately available.
Spiraling violence
Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation, has seen compounding humanitarian, political and security crises, with gangs controlling most of Port-au-Prince.
Guterres said this month that violence had continued “to escalate and spread,” citing killings, kidnappings, rape of women and girls, looting, and the displacement of thousands of people.
Guterres, relaying a request from Henry, began calling in October for an international, non-U.N. deployment to help support police in the troubled nation.
The Security Council this month adopted a unanimous resolution encouraging member states “to provide security support to the Haitian National Police,” including through “the deployment of a specialized force.”
But the text, which was focused on a one-year extension of the mandate for the special U.N. political mission to Haiti, BINUH, stopped short of making any direct plans for such a force.
The council has asked Guterres to present by mid-August a report on all possible options, including a U.N.-led mission.
Earlier this month, Blinken said the U.S. remained active in its search for a country to head a multinational force in Haiti.
This week, Washington ordered nonessential personnel and family members of government employees to leave the country.
Staff at the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince already live under tight security — confined to a protected residential area and forbidden to walk around the capital or use any public transport or taxis.
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More Wagner Fighters Move Closer to Polish Border, Poland Says
WARSAW – About 100 soldiers from the Russian Wagner group have moved closer to the Belarusian city of Grodno near the Polish border, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Saturday.
Poland, a former Warsaw Pact member that has been a full member of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance since 1999, has been concerned about the possibility that the war could spill over onto its territory since Russian invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Earlier this month, Poland began moving more than 1,000 troops to the east of the country amid rising concerns that the presence of Wagner fighters in Belarus could lead to increased tension on its border.
“The situation is getting increasingly dangerous. … Most likely they (the Wagner personnel) will be disguised as the Belarusian border guard and help illegal migrants get to the Polish territory (and) destabilize Poland,” Morawiecki said at a press conference in Gliwice, western Poland.
“They will most likely try to enter Poland pretending to be illegal migrants and this poses additional threats,” Morawiecki said.
However, he did not disclose the source of his information on the Wagner movements, and Anton Motolko, founder of the Belarusian opposition Hajun project, which monitors military activity in the country, told Reuters his group had not seen any evidence of the Wagner group moving closer to Grodno.
The city has a potentially significant position because it is near the Suwalki Gap, a strategic strip of land along the Polish-Lithuanian border that divides Belarus, Russia’s ally, from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
Earlier in July, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa, where they are involved in a number of conflicts, while they train the Belarusian army.
The following day, some Wagner fighters arrived at the training ground of the 38th airborne assault brigade outside the city of Brest, just a few miles from the Polish border.
Wagner’s move to Belarus was part of a deal that ended the group’s mutiny attempt in June, when they took control of a Russian military headquarters, marched on Moscow and threatened to tip Russia into civil war, President Vladimir Putin has said.
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US Tells Australia Assange Accused of ‘Very Serious Criminal Conduct’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday pushed back against Australian demands for an end to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s prosecution, saying the Australian citizen was accused of “very serious criminal conduct” in publishing a trove of classified documents more than a decade ago.
Australia’s center-left Labor Party government has been arguing since winning the elections last year that the United States should end its pursuit of the 52-year-old, who has spent four years in a British prison fighting extradition to the United States.
Assange’s freedom is widely seen as a test of Australia’s leverage with President Joe Biden’s administration.
Blinken confirmed on Saturday that Assange had been discussed in annual talks with Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Brisbane, Australia.
“I understand the concerns and views of Australians. I think it’s very important that our friends here understand our concerns about this matter,” Blinken told reporters.
“Mr. Assange was charged with very serious criminal conduct in the United States in connection with his alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of our country,” he added.
Wong said Assange’s prosecution had “dragged for too long” and that Australia wanted the charges “brought to a conclusion.”
Australia remains ambiguous about whether the United States should drop the prosecution or strike a plea bargain.
Assange faces 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic and military documents in 2010.
American prosecutors allege he helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal classified diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks later published, putting lives at risk.
Australia argues there is a disconnect between the U.S. treatment of Assange and Manning. Then-U.S. President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence to seven years, which allowed her release in 2017.
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Ilestedt Scores Twice, Sweden Beats Italy
After leaving it to the last minute against South Africa, Sweden left nothing to chance Saturday in a 5-0 win over Italy which sealed its place in the knockout rounds of the Women’s World Cup.
Sweden relied on Amanda Ilestedt’s 90th-minute winner to salvage a 2-1 win from a sub-par performance in its opener against South Africa.
Ilestedt was Sweden’s first scorer Saturday, this time in the 39th, and her glancing header from a corner sparked a flood of four Swedish goals in 11 minutes on either side of halftime. Her second goal came in the 50th and was a mirror image of the first.
Rebecka Blomqvist finished it off in stoppage time with Sweden’s fifth goal.
The Swedish attack again looked hesitant in the first 20 minutes. Italy appeared more composed over the ball in that period and more threatening with Sofia Cantore particularly dangerous on the right.
But as the first half progressed, Sweden began to look more composed, more organized and then more ruthless. The crowd of just over 29,000 appeared to sense the change.
Joanna Andersson curled the ball in from the right in the 39th, and Ilestedt rose highest at the near post to glance the ball on a narrow angle into the net.
Fridolina Rolfo looked certain to score in the 43rd, one-on-one with Francesca Durante, but the goalkeeper threw herself toward Rolfo’s feet and snuffed out the threat.
Rolfo had to wait only moments for her second goal of the tournament. Another corner and this time the delivery eluded Durante and found Rolfo on the far post who headed home.
Rolfo turned deliverer in the first minute of stoppage time. Sent clear by a neat back-heel she passed low and beyond Durante, finding Stina Blackstenius, who tapped in; her goal was her 29th for the national team.
Sweden led 3-0 at halftime, and the scoring continued after the break. On a corner in the 50th, Ilestedt was on station at the near post to head home.
The clinical nature of Sweden’s attack was highlighted by the fact possession was almost evenly shared. But Sweden had 14 shots on target, Italy four and the Italians will be haunted by Sweden’s seven corners, all of which represented an immediate danger.
Ilestedt was player of the match and in every sense a towering figure in attack. Blackstenius, Rolfo and Asllani also were back in form and there was every sign Saturday the third-ranked Swedes are peaking at the right time.
Italy heads back to the drawing board with the first order of business to address its defense from set pieces.
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Flag Japanese Soldier Carried in WWII Returns From US
TOKYO — Toshihiro Mutsuda was only 5 years old when he last saw his father, who was drafted by Japan’s Imperial Army in 1943 and killed in action. For him, his father was a bespectacled man in an old family photo standing by a signed good-luck flag that he carried to war.
On Saturday, when the flag was returned to him from a U.S. war museum, where it had been on display for 29 years, Mutsuda, now 83, said: “It’s a miracle.”
The flag, known as “Yosegaki Hinomaru,” or Good Luck Flag, carries the soldier’s name, Shigeyoshi Mutsuda, and the signatures of his relatives, friends and neighbors wishing him luck. It was given to him before he was drafted by the army. His family was later told he died in Saipan, but his remains were never returned.
The flag was donated in 1994 and displayed at the museum aboard the USS Lexington, a WWII aircraft carrier, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Its meaning was not known until it was identified by the family earlier this year, said the museum director Steve Banta, who brought the flag to Tokyo.
Banta said he learned the story behind the flag earlier this year when he was contacted by the Obon Society, a nonprofit organization that has returned about 500 similar flags as non-biological remains to the descendants of Japanese servicemembers killed in the war.
The search for the flag’s original owner started in April when a museum visitor took a photo and asked an expert about the description that it had belonged to a “kamikaze” suicide pilot. When Shigeyoshi Mutsuda’s grandson saw the photo, he sought help from the Obon Society, group co-founder Keiko Ziak said.
“When we learned all of this, and that the family would like to have the flag, we knew immediately that the flag did not belong to us,” Banta said at the handover ceremony. “We knew that the right thing to do would be to send the flag home, to be in Japan and to the family.”
The soldier’s eldest son, Toshihiro Mutsuda, was speechless for a few seconds when Banta, wearing white gloves, gently placed the neatly folded flag into his hands. Two of his younger siblings, both in their 80s, stood by and looked on silently. The three children, all wearing cotton gloves so they wouldn’t damage the decades-old flag, carefully unfolded it to show to the audience.
The soldier’s daughter, Misako Matsukuchi, touched the flag with both hands and prayed. “After nearly 80 years, the spirit of our father returned to us. I hope he can finally rest in peace,” Matsukuchi said later.
Toshihiro Mutsuda said his memory of his father was foggy. However, he clearly remembers his mother, Masae Mutsuda, who died five years ago at age 102, used to make the long-distance bus trip almost every year from the farming town in Gifu, central Japan, to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, where the 2.5 million war dead are enshrined, to pay tribute to her husband’s spirit.
The shrine is controversial, as it includes convicted war criminals among those commemorated. Victims of Japanese aggression during the first half of the 20th century, especially China and the Koreas, see Yasukuni as a symbol of Japanese militarism. However, for the Mutsuda family, it’s a place to remember the loss of a father and husband.
“It’s like an old love story across the ages coming together … It doesn’t matter where,” Banta said, referring to the Yasukuni controversy. “The important thing is this flag goes to the family.”
That’s why Toshihiro Mutsuda and his siblings chose to receive the flag at Yasukuni and brought framed photos of their parents.
“My mother missed him and wanted to see him so much, and that’s why she used to pray here,” Toshihiro Mutsuda said. “Today her wish finally came true, and she was able to be reunited.”
Keeping the flag on his lap, he said, “I feel the weight of the flag.”
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Somali Officials Confirm Arrests Linked to Military Camp Suicide Bombing
Somali authorities have confirmed Saturday the arrest of 14 people, including officers and soldiers, in connection with a suicide bombing Monday that targeted the Jalle Siyad military academy in Mogadishu. The attack killed 30 soldiers and injured 70 others.
Deputy Defense Minister Abdifitah Qasim made the announcement during a session of Somalia’s Lower House of Parliament. He reported that security agencies, including the National Security Agency and the police and military command, are actively investigating the attack on the Jalle Siyad military camp. Among those arrested was the camp commander.
Qasim underscored the government’s commitment to a thorough investigation, expressing the sentiment that the fallen soldiers are like “our own children,” and that those responsible for facilitating the attack will be held accountable.
The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack the day after in a statement on Telegram, stating one of its suicide bombers carried out the strike.
The bomber detonated a suicide vest as the soldiers lined up after breakfast. The soldiers had been recently deployed to Mogadishu for additional training and re-equipping, officials confirmed.
Concerns have arisen about potential ties between senior members of the security forces and al-Shabab, which has been orchestrating various assaults. This incident marks the largest number of officers and soldiers arrested in connection with an al-Shabab attack on a heavily guarded military facility.
On a separate note, Somalia’s Deputy Minister of Information, Abdirahman Yusuf Al-Adala, informed the media Saturday of a joint operation involving Somali government forces and friendly countries. The operation targeted an area between the Middle Shabelle and Galgaduud regions, killing 100 al-Shabab militants, he said. The identities of the foreign forces involved in this operation were not disclosed.
During the past several months, Somali forces have been actively combating al-Shabab in a series of military operations, focusing on central regions where the group has held control over certain areas for many years.
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Turkey Urges Denmark to Take Urgent Action to Prevent Quran Burnings: Source
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday urged Denmark to take urgent action to prevent burnings of the Quran, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.
In a phone call with his Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Fidan condemned the “continuous vile attacks against the Quran.” He told Rasmussen it was unacceptable to allow such actions under the guise of freedom of expression, the source said.
Rasmussen on Saturday wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter: “Turkey and Denmark are close allies. Important to not let these acts succeed in creating division.”
He also reiterated Denmark’s “strong condemnation of these provocative acts by few individuals.”
The comments came after a small group of anti-Islam activists set fire to Qurans in front of the Egyptian and Turkish embassies in Copenhagen on Tuesday, after similar protests in Denmark and Sweden over recent weeks.
Denmark and Sweden have deplored the burning of Islam’s holy book but say they cannot prevent it under rules protecting free speech.
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Two Supermoons in August Mean Double the Stargazing Fun
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons culminating in a rare blue moon.
Catch the first show Tuesday evening as the full moon rises in the southeast, appearing slightly brighter and bigger than normal. That’s because it will be closer than usual, just 357,530 kilometers (222,159 miles) away, thus the supermoon label.
The moon will be even closer the night of Aug. 30 — a scant 357,344 kilometers (222,043 miles) distant. Because it’s the second full moon in the same month, it will be what’s called a blue moon.
“Warm summer nights are the ideal time to watch the full moon rise in the eastern sky within minutes of sunset. And it happens twice in August,” said retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak, dubbed Mr. Eclipse for his eclipse-chasing expertise.
The last time two full supermoons graced the sky in the same month was in 2018. It won’t happen again until 2037, according to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project.
Masi will provide a live webcast of Tuesday evening’s supermoon as it rises over the Coliseum in Rome.
“My plans are to capture the beauty of this … hopefully bringing the emotion of the show to our viewers,” Masi said in an email. “The supermoon offers us a great opportunity to look up and discover the sky.”
This year’s first supermoon was in July. The fourth and last will be in September. The two in August will be closer than either of those.
Provided clear skies, binoculars or backyard telescopes can enhance the experience, Espenak said, revealing such features as lunar maria — the dark plains formed by ancient volcanic lava flows — and rays emanating from lunar craters.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the August full moon is traditionally known as the sturgeon moon. That’s because of the abundance of that fish in the Great Lakes in August hundreds of years ago.
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