Day: January 1, 2020

At least 16 inmates in a central Mexico prison were killed and five more were wounded in a riot that closed out a violent 2019 for the country, authorities said. 

Zacatecas state security secretary Ismael Camberos Hernandez told local press that authorities had confiscated four guns believed to have been brought into the Cieneguillas state prison during visits Tuesday. He said the prison had been searched for weapons on Saturday and Sunday and that no guns had been found. 

The melee broke out around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and the prison was brought under control by 5 p.m., according to a statement from the state security agency. Fifteen of the victims died at the prison and one died later at a hospital. 

One prisoner was detained with a gun still in his possession and the other three guns were found inside the prison, the statement said.  

Camberos said not all the victims died from gunshot wounds. Some were stabbed and others beaten with objects. No guards or police were wounded, he said. 

Camberos did not offer a possible motive for the attacks, but such killings frequently involve score settling between rival cartel members or a battle for control of the prison’s illicit business. 

Mexico has a long history of deadly prison clashes. In October, six inmates were killed in a prison in Morelos state. 
In September, Nuevo Leon state closed the infamous Topo Chico prison, the site of many killings over the years. In February 2016, 49 prisoners died there during rioting when two factions of the Zetas cartel clashed. 

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Venice’s mayor says police are investigating an anti-Semitic attack in which youths punched a left-wing Italian politician in the city’s St. Mark’s Square.

Mayor Luigi Brugnaro tweeted Wednesday that fascist-like incidents like the one that happened on New Year’s Eve “won’t be tolerated” in Venice.

Arturo Scotto, a former lawmaker, was walking with his wife Tuesday night when eight youths yelled out, “Duce! Duce!” a reference to Italy’s World War II fascist leader Benito Mussolini. The youths then punched Scotto in the nose.

Scotto told Italian state TV that a young man who tried to help him was also beaten up. He said the youths also shouted disparaging remarks about Anne Frank, a young Jewish woman who perished in a Nazi death camp.

Brugnaro said police are examining surveillance videos to see if the culprits can be identified. Scotto said the attackers wore scarves to hide their faces.

Anti-Semitic incidents have been on the rise in Italy, as far-right political groups, including those with neo-fascist roots, gain traction in the country. Mussolini’s regime had propagated anti-Jewish laws in 1938.

The head of Rome’s Jewish community, Ruth Dureghello, expressed solidarity with Scotto, saying “one mustn’t give in to any form of anti-Semitism and racism.”

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A man wounded in the Hanukkah stabbings north of New York City may have permanent brain damage and be partially paralyzed for the rest of his life, his family said.
 
The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council released a statement from the family of Josef Neumann, 71, and a graphic photograph Wednesday showing severe head injuries he received Saturday at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York.
 
Four other people were injured in the attack, which federal prosecutors say was a hate crime.
 
The photograph shows an intubated Neumann with a swollen and disfigured face lying in a hospital bed. A gash to his head appears to have been stitched up.
 
Neumann’s family released the photograph for the world and “the Jewish community to understand the gravity of hate,” Yossi Gestetner, the council’s co-founder, said in an interview. Neumann has seven children.
 
“These things are vividly and viciously disturbing and have long-term consequences,” Gestetner said.
 
The 18-inch machete used in the attack penetrated Neumann’s skull, the statement said, adding that Neumann’s “right arm has been shattered.”
 
“Our father’s status is so dire that no surgery has yet been performed on the right arm,” the statement said. “Doctors are not optimistic about his chances to regain consciousness, and if our father does miraculously recover partially, doctors expect that he will have permanent damage to the brain, leaving him partially paralyzed and speech-impaired for the rest of his life.”
 
The statement also called on Jewish people around the world to share their own experiences with anti-Semitism on social media using the hashtag (hash)MeJew.
 
“We shall not let this terrible hate-driven attack be forgotten,” the statement said, “and let us all work to eradicate all sorts of hate.”

Federal prosecutors have charged Grafton Thomas, 37, with five federal counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by attempting to kill with a dangerous weapon. He also has pleaded not guilty to five state counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary.
 
Authorities have said Thomas had handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic references and had recently used his phone to look up information on Hitler and the location of synagogues.
 
Thomas’ family has said he was raised in a tolerant home and had a history of mental illness.
 
The Hanukkah attack came amid a string of violence that has alarmed Jews in the region.
 
Former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind said he recently spoke with an Orthodox Jewish man in New York who told him he had taken off his yarmulke out of fear.
 
“Part of what we’re trying to get across to people is that these attacks are not just statistics,” said Hikind, founder of Americans Against Antisemitism. “These people have to live with this the rest of their life.”
 
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday he has directed the state police to increase patrols in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods around New York. Mayor and fellow Democrat Bill de Blasio announced a similar heightened police presence in the city last week.
 
“Everybody feels very upset and disturbed about what happened,” Cuomo said during a New Year’s Day visit to Brooklyn’s heavily Orthodox Williamsburg neighborhood, “and everybody stands in solidarity with you.”

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Haitian President Jovenel Moise broke with tradition on Wednesday and celebrated the country’s independence day in the capital for security reasons following months of political turmoil.

Moise, whose government has been accused of corruption, denounced graft during his speech at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince and urged Haiti’s elite to work with the government and help create employment.

“We’re still extremely poor,” he said. “Those who continue to get rich find it normal that they do not pay taxes, find it normal that there can be no competition, find it normal that they set prices for consumers, especially when this consumer is the state itself.”

Moise also apologized for the country’s ongoing power outages and renewed his 2016 campaign pledge to provide electricity 24 hours a day, saying it was harder to accomplish than he imagined.

The speech that marked the 216th anniversary of the world’s first black republic was originally slated to take place in the northern coastal town of Gonaives, where Jean-Jacques Dessalines declared Haiti’s independence.

But the town, like many others, was hit by violent protests that began in September amid anger over corruption, fuel shortages and dwindling food supplies as opposition leaders and supporters demanded the resignation of Moise.

More than 40 people have been killed and dozens injured.

Large-scale protests in Port-au-Prince have since dissipated, although smaller ones are still occurring elsewhere in the country. On Wednesday, opposition leaders and supporters gathered in Gonaives to attend the funeral of an anti-government protester and then carried his coffin through the streets as more protesters joined them.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said he will ask parliament to grant him immunity from corruption charges, a step that is expected to delay his trial for months.
                   
The step most likely puts the trial on hold until after elections in March, when he hopes to win a majority coalition that will shield him from prosecution.
                   
The announcement essentially turns the upcoming election campaign into a referendum on whether Netanyahu should be granted immunity and remain in office or step down to stand trial.
                   
A recent poll indicated that a majority of Israelis oppose giving him immunity.
                   
Netanyahu was indicted in November on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust after failing to assemble a governing majority following back-to-back-elections last year. He now gets a third shot at holding onto his office in March.
                   
In a nationally televised address, Netanyahu repeated his assertion that he is the victim of an unfair conspiracy and that he would seek to invoke the law that would protect him from prosecution while he remains in office.
                   
“In order to continue to lead Israel to great achievements, I intend to approach the speaker of the Knesset in accordance with chapter 4C of the law, in order to fulfill my right, my duty and my mission to continue to serve you for the future of Israel,” he said.
                   
The request most likely means that parliament will address the matter after March elections.
                   
The current caretaker government is not empowered to make a decision on granting Netanyahu immunity.
                   
In order to debate the matter, parliament would have to appoint a special committee that needs to study the request. But it remains unclear whether it will be allowed to do so.

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The worldwide refugee crisis continues to deepen. According to the United Nations, the world is witnessing “thehighest levels of displacement on record.” Spurred by conflict and persecution, the numbers of displaced are expected to rise further in the future, as climate change pushes people out of their homes. VOA’s Ardita Dunellari reports.

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