U.S. Botched a Deal to Swap Venezuelans Held in El Salvador for Americans
The Trump administration’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was overseeing a deal to free several Americans and dozens of political prisoners held in Venezuela in exchange for sending home about 250 Venezuelan migrants the United States had deported to El Salvador. But the deal never happened. Part of the reason: President Trump’s envoy to Venezuela was working on his own deal, one with terms that Venezuela deemed more attractive. In exchange for American prisoners, he was offering to allow Chevron to continue its oil operations in Venezuela, a vital source of revenue for its authoritarian government.
One Year After Sonya Massey was Killed by Deputy, is Police Reform Taking Shape in Springfield?
It’s been one year since a Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed Sonya Massey in her home just outside Springfield. Massey was a 36-year-old mother of two and she was Black. The killing sparked protests locally and became national news. In the aftermath, the officer, Sean Grayson, was charged with first-degree murder in Massey’s killing. The trial for Sean Grayson begins in October. So what’s changed since then, what hasn’t, and where do we go from here?
U.S. Imposes Sanctions on U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States would impose sanctions on Francesca Albanese, a United Nations expert on the occupied Palestinian territories, for “efforts to prompt” the International Criminal Court to investigate U.S. companies and Israeli officials. The decision to impose sanctions on a U.N.-affiliated lawyer was highly unusual. Mr. Rubio linked the sanctions decision to a broader American effort to retaliate against the International Criminal Court, which issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister and Yoav Gallant, the former defense minister, last year, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
Ex-Bangladesh Leader Authorised Deadly Crackdown, Leaked Audio Suggests
A deadly crackdown on student-led protests in Bangladesh last year was authorised by then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, according to audio of one of her phone calls verified by BBC Eye. In the audio, which was leaked online in March, Hasina says she authorised her security forces to “use lethal weapons” against protesters and that “wherever they find [them], they will shoot”. Prosecutors in Bangladesh plan to use the recording as crucial evidence against Hasina, who is being tried in absentia at a special tribunal for crimes against humanity.