From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
On Wednesday, crude prices fell to their lowest level since November as growing US production is undermining supply cuts by OPEC and Russia.
Brent was trading 26 cents down at $45.76 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate dropped 20 cents to $43.31. Continue reading “Oil prices sink to 7-mo lows on growing global oversupply”
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The trial of 11 men indicted in the case of 71 migrants who died in the back of a refrigerated truck in 2015 started in Hungary on Wednesday. Prosecutors have asked for life sentences for the four alleged human smugglers who are facing murder charges. The other defendants are facing shorter prison terms and expulsion from Hungary.
Migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were among those who suffocated in the back of a refrigerated truck with Hungarian license plates abandoned in the emergency lane of the A4 highway near Parndorf, Austria, near the Hungarian border, on Aug. 27, 2015. Continue reading “Hungary: Trial starts in case of 71 migrants killed in truck”
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s prime minister and his government were ousted Wednesday in a no-confidence vote submitted by members of his own party. A total of 241 lawmakers approved the motion, more than the 233 votes required. The governing Social Democratic Party filed the motion to oust Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, saying that he had failed to implement the party’s political agenda.
Grindeanu, in office since January, had refused to resign and rejects the assessment of his performance. He claims powerful party leader Liviu Dragnea wants to replace him with a party loyalist. “This is a sad day for us. The premier did not perform,” Dragnea told lawmakers before the vote Wednesday. “It didn’t go badly, it went quite well, but that’s not enough.” Continue reading “Romanian prime minister, gov’t ousted in no-confidence vote”
BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium tightened security even more on Wednesday to counter fears that lone attackers could strike anywhere and at any time, a day after a failed bombing by a man shouting “Allahu akbar” at a Brussels train station put the nation on edge.
A soldier killed the attacker, who had tried to set off a powerful nail bomb that could have led to fatalities among the two dozen or so travelers checking train times on a public display board at Brussels Central Station on Tuesday, officials said. Continue reading “Belgium tightens security after failed Brussels bombing”
A violent brawl laid waste to half of a gas station convenience store in Florida on Sunday after a man demanded the clerk hand over the cash in the register. The brave clerk attempted to fight the suspect off with a baseball bat before he was overpowered.
The suspect, identified by police as Dwayne Eubanks, fought the Sunoco gas station clerk at approximately 5:45am local time on June 18. Initially it was just hand-to-hand combat before things quickly escalated when the unnamed clerk reached for a baseball bat to defend himself. Continue reading “Clerk stabs suspect while defending his store in violent robbery”
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — At least 15 people are dead after a suicide car bomber posing as a milk delivery van detonated at a district headquarters in Somalia’s capital, police said Tuesday. The death toll may rise, as some were badly hurt in the explosion at Wadajir district headquarters in Mogadishu, Capt. Mohamed Hussein told The Associated Press.
Most of the dead were civilians, Hussein said. Aamin Ambulance service said it had transported 18 wounded, seven of them women. Two of the eight bodies it transported were women, it said. The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack via its Shahada News Agency, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist groups. Continue reading “Car bomb in Somalia capital kills at least 15, police say”
PARIS (AP) — French police detained four family members of a man who was killed after ramming his car into a Paris police convoy, as authorities struggled Tuesday to explain how the Champs-Elysees attacker was able to keep his gun permit despite being monitored for links to extremism.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said Tuesday that the four suspects were detained overnight in the anti-terrorism investigation into Monday’s attack. The incident on one of the French capital’s busiest shopping and tourist districts rattled the city anew after multiple attacks targeting security forces. Continue reading “Paris: 4 family members detained after Champs-Elysees attack”
PARIS (AP) — Two French government ministers, including the new defense chief, announced Tuesday that they are stepping down as President Emmanuel Macron reshuffles the Cabinet and works to fulfill a campaign pledge to put more ethics into politics.
Defense minister Sylvie Goulard, the most prominent woman in the Cabinet Macron named a little more than a month ago, suggested in a statement she decided to quit the government to avoid hurting Macron’s efforts to clean up corruption. Continue reading “2 French government ministers step down amid investigations”
US defense contractor Lockheed Martin is in the final stages of negotiating a multibillion-dollar deal to sell a record 440 F-35 fighter jets to a group of 11 countries including the United States; Reuters reports.
The contract will be the biggest yet for the F-35 jets and will consist of three tranches over fiscal years 2018-2020.
According to people familiar with the talks, the pricing of the jets is not final, although the average price of the 440 jets was expected to be $85 million each. Continue reading “Lockheed Martin about to close $37bn+ deal for F-35 jets”
Saudi Arabia has detained three members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards near the offshore Marjan oil field, the Saudi Information Ministry has said in a statement. The military reportedly seized a boat packed with “weapons for [a] subversive purpose.”
The incident happened on Friday, when three boats entered Saudi territorial waters and headed towards offshore structures at the oilfield, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Monday, citing an official source. Continue reading “Saudi Arabia detains three members of Iranian elite forces”
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that the United States is “an important part” of the Group of 20 summit, which her country is hosting next month, and that “they will be most welcome by the German government despite all differences in opinion.”
Despite the warm words, Merkel, who was speaking at a pre-summit event in Hamburg on Monday, nonetheless renewed her criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, which she called a “bitter blow.” Continue reading “Merkel says US ‘most welcome’ at G20 summit in Germany”
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Islamic extremists who stormed a resort area in Mali popular with foreigners killed five people, including a Portuguese soldier who had been serving in the European Union mission to stabilize this West African country wracked by mounting extremism, authorities said Monday.
The death toll rose after a Malian soldier who was wounded in the Sunday afternoon attack died of his injuries. Three civilians — a Chinese citizen, a Malian, and a French-Gabonese dual national — also were slain in the worst terror attack to strike Bamako since late 2015. Continue reading “5 killed in jihadi attack on Mali resort outside capital”
Oil prices are down over 10 percent since May 25, when OPEC, Russia and other producers agreed to extend oil output cuts. The reason is reports of growing US crude stockpiles – something Saudi Arabia would like to change.
The oil-rich kingdom owns a large refinery on the US Gulf Coast, and in order to manipulate the numbers, Saudi could slow down exports to America.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) provides a weekly update on US oil storage data, including imports and exports. The data from the EIA has been crucial to changes in oil prices lately. Continue reading “Saudi Arabia may be targeting US inventories to prop up oil prices”
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and allies are hailing a federal judge’s decision that the Dakota Access Pipeline’s permits shall be remanded until further notice. The court found that the controversial project’s permitting process was insufficient.
The tribe and others bringing the lawsuit have long called for the Dakota Access Pipeline to be shut down. US District Court Judge Boasberg of the District of Columbia did not order any interruption in the DAPL’s oil transporting operations on Wednesday, but he did issue a 91-page decision that states the US Army Corps of Engineers did not adequately consider various potential impacts of oil spills on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, when it issued the permits. Continue reading “Federal Judge strikes down Dakota Access Pipeline permits, orders re-assessment of risks”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The special counsel appointed to investigate Russian influence in the 2016 presidential campaign is now examining whether President Donald Trump tried to obstruct justice, it has been reported.
Accusations of obstruction arose last month when Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Last week, Comey testified in a Senate hearing that he believed he was fired “because of the Russia investigation.” Comey also testified he had told Trump he was not under investigation. Continue reading “Reports say Mueller probe now examining possible obstruction”
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — At least 17 people were killed in the night-long siege of a popular Mogadishu restaurant by al-Shabab Islamic extremists that was ended Thursday morning by security forces. Somali survivors early described harrowing scenes in which attackers hunted patrons of the popular Pizza House restaurant. The injured were taken by ambulances.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility as the restaurant was under siege. Soldiers surrounded the restaurant building and used guns mounted on the backs of vehicles to neutralize the militants. Troops entered the ground floor while the insurgent snipers held positions upstairs. Continue reading “Somali survivors tell of restaurant siege by rebels; 17 dead”
BERLIN (AP) — A 37-year-old man alleged to have shot a police officer in a Munich subway station after randomly attacking another passenger had been living with his father in Colorado and was on a European trip, German officials said Wednesday.
Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae told reporters the suspect, identified only as a Bavarian-born German citizen, flew to Munich airport from Athens on Monday and spent the night in the airport. Witnesses told police as the man rode the subway toward the city Tuesday he was talking to himself in English, then suddenly began punching another, apparently randomly chosen, passenger in the face, pummeling him until he was bloody. Continue reading “German police: Munich shooting suspect lived in Colorado”
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Two days after widespread anti-government rallies, protesters in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, are facing a severe crackdown with local courts sending dozens of them to jail.
Tens of thousands took to the streets across Russia’s 11 time zones on Monday to protest government corruption. Some of the protests, like in Moscow and St. Petersburg, were explicitly banned by authorities and nearly 2,000 people were detained. Continue reading “Dozens sent to jail for protest in Russia’s St. Petersburg”
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission on Wednesday launched legal action against the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland for failing to respect their commitment to take in refugees. The Commission, which polices EU agreements, sent formal letters of notice to the three states giving them one month to respond to its concerns. They could be taken to Europe’s top court, the European Court of Justice, if the matter is not resolved.
EU countries agreed in September 2015 to relocate 160,000 refugees from Greece and Italy as the two countries struggled to cope with more than a million migrants who entered Europe mostly through their borders that year. Continue reading “EU launches legal action against 3 countries over refugees”
Administrators in Missouri’s foster care system failed to monitor and oversee the use of psychotropic drugs on foster children, according to a lawsuit filed by two children’s watchdog groups.
The complaint argues the drugs were used often to sedate children to control behavior and left them exposed to risk of side effects, from diabetes to seizures. Continue reading “‘Chemical straightjackets’: Missouri sued for overmedicating foster kids”