Mexico nabs alleged planner of journalist Breach’s killing

In this May 16, 2017, file photo, a woman places a candle in front of pictures of murdered journalists Miroslava Breach, left, and Javier Valdez during a demonstration against the killing of journalists, outside the Interior Ministry in Mexico City.

Federal police arrested a man early Monday suspected of planning and helping carry out the March murder of Miroslava Breach, one of the highest-profile journalists slain this year amid a wave of such killings in Mexico.

The National Security Commission said in a statement that the 43-year-old suspect was detained along with two others in a morning operation in the town of Bacobampo, Sonora state. It identified him as the presumed head of a criminal gang with a strong presence in parts of Sonora and Chihuahua states.

In a video address, Chihuahua Gov. Javier Corral said the suspect was one of “the presumed material authors of the killing, and the main leader of the planning and execution of Miroslava’s death.” He added that a suspected trigger-man in the murder was himself killed Dec. 19 in Sonora and that authorities were still searching for other suspects.

Breach, 54, was a respected correspondent for the national newspaper La Jornada and also contributed to other papers in the cities of Chihuahua and Juarez. She was shot eight times outside her garage in Chihuahua city the morning of March 23.

A rolled-up cardboard message was reportedly left at the scene that said “for being a tattletale.”

Corral called Breach a “great friend” whose journalism exposed corrupt links between organized crime, politics and security forces in the state. “That led to her murder, which still saddens us,” Corral said.

At least 10 journalists have been murdered this year in the country, one of the world’s deadliest for the profession.

Comments

As many as 12 killed in New York’s deadliest fire in decades

More than 160 firefighters helped bring the blaze under control. (Source: Fire Department New York/Twitter) A massive fire ignited accidentally by a three-year-old boy swept through a five-story apartment building in New York, killing at least 12 people including a toddler and injuring four others in the deadliest blaze to hit the city in decades. The fire broke out around 6:50 pm (local time) yesterday on the first floor of the Prospect Avenue apartment in the Bronx borough of the city and spread quickly, officials said, adding that the cause of the blaze is under investigation. “We found that this fire started in a kitchen on the first floor,” fire commissioner Daniel Nigro said. “It started from a young boy, three and a half years old, playing with the burners on the stove. The fire got started, the mother was not aware of it – she was alerted by the young man screaming.” The boy’s mother fled with her two children, leaving the door to the apartment open – allowing t...

Ukraine crisis: Exchange of hundreds of prisoners takes place

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attends a ceremony to welcome prisoners of war (POWs), released after the exchange with pro-Russian separatists, upon their arrival at an airport in Kharkiv, Ukraine December 27, 2017. (Source: Reuters) Ukraine and separatist rebels in the east of the country have exchanged hundreds of prisoners, in one of the biggest swaps since the conflict began in 2014. Around 230 people were sent to rebel-held areas in return for 74 prisoners who had been held by pro-Russia rebels in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, BBC reported on Wednesday. It was the first swap in 15 months. The release and exchange of prisoners was one of the points in the Minsk peace agreement, signed in 2015. The deal has stalled since and analysts say the swap does not signify wider progress. Both sides continue to hold other prisoners. The number of prisoners swapped was lower than initially announced after dozens of people who were meant to be returned to rebel-held terr...

Nepal declares ban on solo, blind and double amputee climbers from Everest

This ban is likely to irk solo mountaineers, who enjoy the challenge of climbing alone. In a bid to prevent accidents, Nepal has banned solo climbers from climbing its mountains, including Mount Everest, reported news agency AFP. Earlier on Friday, the cabinet declared revised regulations of the Himalayan nation’s mountaineering, where banning solo climbers from scaling its mountains was one of the key measures being flagged ahead of the 2018 spring climbing season. The cabinet also declared a ban on double amputee and blind climbers, even though Everest has drawn multitudes of mountaineers wanting to overcome their disabilities and achieve the formidable feat. “The changes have barred solo expeditions, which were allowed before,” Maheshwor Neupane, secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, told AFP. Neupane added that the law was revised to make mountaineering safer and decrease deaths. Earlier in April this year, an experienced...

I GLOBAL NEWZ

Search This Blog