Residents near Darrell’s Wharf urged to check security footage
A male suspect has been arrested in connection with the death of Honee Smith, police revealed today.
The arrest comes just one day after the Bermuda Police Service (BPS) said it was treating her sudden death as “suspicious.”
Ms. Smith was found unconscious last Thursday morning on a rocky embankment just off the trails near the Warwick playground on South Road. She later succumbed to her injuries while receiving treatment at the hospital.
A spokesperson for the BPS said the suspect remains in police custody at this time.
They added: “The investigating team is appealing for anyone familiar with Ms. Smith and who can assist in tracing her movements from Monday, May 5 until around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday May 8, 2025, to contact Detective Inspector Leroy Mathurin on 717-2040 or, via e-mail at, lmathurin@bps.bm”
“We would particularly like to speak with persons who live near the Darrell’s Wharf ferry terminal, and have CCTV cameras. Your devices may have captured images which we believe could prove helpful with this ongoing investigation.
“If you would prefer to provide the information anonymously, please call the independent and confidential Crime Stoppers number, 800-8477.”
Tiffany Slaton, a U.S. resident with ties to Bermuda, has now been missing for more than two weeks in California
Images supplied by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said it has scaled back its active search for missing camper Tiffany Slaton, after five days and nights of intensive efforts to locate her or her belongings.
Although originally from Georgia, Ms Slaton is also Bermudian, and has represented Bermuda in archery at several international competitions, including the NatWest Island Games, where she won a silver medal in 2017.
The 27-year-old was last known to be solo camping in the Shaver Lake and Huntington Lake area of California following a workaway programme. Her trip was described by her parents as a “bucket list” adventure before starting medical school.
Ms Slaton had maintained regular contact with her family throughout her travels. However, when they failed to hear from her after April 20, they filed a missing person report with law enforcement.
Speaking to Bermuda Broadcasting last week, her parents, Bobby and Frederina Slaton, described the ordeal as a nightmare, saying, “It’s like time has completely stopped for us.”
The Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team has covered nearly 600 square miles in their efforts – from Mono Hot Springs to Wishon Reservoir, Pine Flat Lake to Auberry, and all areas in between – but have found no trace of Ms Slaton or her belongings.
The last confirmed sighting of her was on April 24, when witnesses reported seeing her near the old Cressman’s General Store.
In a recent media release, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office stated: “Detectives are now asking the public to notify them of any video they may have captured on or around April 24. This includes surveillance cameras, dash cameras, etc. There is a possibility Slaton travelled along Auberry Road and past Pine Ridge School in order to access Highway 168.”
She is believed to have been traveling with a green and gray tent, a blue and black Lectric brand electric bicycle, and a small red trailer – none of which have been located.
“Although the SAR operation has been scaled back, the Sheriff’s Office is not stopping its search for Slaton,” a spokesperson said. “As more leads come in, we continue to investigate.”
Anyone with information or possible sightings is urged to contact the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office at (559) 600-3111, referencing case number 25-4458.
Meanwhile, Ms Slaton’s family has launched a GoFundMe page to support their stay in California during the ongoing search.
The page reads: “We are in need of financial help for any and all expenses while we are in California. If you have the means to help, we would appreciate, any small or large help. Once Tiffany is found, all excess in funds will be given to her for medical help.”
As of this morning, donations have surpassed $16,000.
Owen Darrell, the Minister of Tourism & Transport, Culture & Sport apologised to parents for the mishap
Frustrated parents attempting to register their child for summer camp have received an apology from Owen Darrell, the Minister of Tourism & Transport, Culture & Sport.
Due to an error, the Camp Connect registration website crashed within minutes of going live Monday morning at 9.30am prompting a slew of complaints from members of the public.
Minister Darrell explained that a clerical error affected the number of listed available spaces for students.
He said, “A clerical error resulted to a few camp titles being listed incorrectly and though we caught the issue and corrected it quickly, we know it added unnecessary complications.
“Additionally, some camps filled within minutes, which we understand left many feeling disappointed.
“Despite offering thousands of camp spaces, the demand continues to exceed the capacity provided. Our team is now carefully reviewing applications and removing duplicate entries to make sure all spaces are correctly allocated.”
He said all registrations are due to be finalised this week.
K. Charyse Bean, Director of the Department of Sport and Recreation explained how the summer day camp program has expanded to be more accessible to students over the years.
The department said limited spaces are still available for families to register for: Camp Bermudez, Camp Chameleon, Mini Cupmatch Camp and Teen Camp.
Runs in support of the Ministry of Health’s Mental Health Anti-Stigma Month
Mount Saint Agnes Academy school counsellor, Bellina Hunjan
Mount Saint Agnes Academy’s Mental Health Week putting emotional and psychological wellbeing in the spotlight—it’s a 7 day campaign that underscores the Ministry of Health’s Mental Health Anti-Stigma Month.
M.S.A. and the Bermuda Government joining forces next Monday May 19th to host a public Youth Mental Health Panel. Speaking to M-S-A school counsellor Bellina Hunjan, she says that mental healthcare has taken massive strides over the last 10 years.
Xi also announced visa-free travel would be rolled out to five countries
China’s President Xi Jinping delivers a speech during the opening ceremony for the China-CELAC Forum ministerial meeting in Beijing, China May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool
International news via Reuters:
President Xi Jinping vowed on Tuesday to boost China’s footprint in Latin America and the Caribbean with a new $9 billion credit line and fresh infrastructure investment, although Brazil warned the region not to become overly reliant on foreign funding.
The world’s second-largest economy will disburse 66 billion yuan ($9.18 billion) in credit to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States’ (CELAC) members, Xi told delegates from around 30 nations gathered in Beijing for the three-yearly China-CELAC Forum Ministerial Meeting.
“China and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are important members of the Global South. Independence is our glorious tradition, development and revitalisation our natural right, and fairness and justice our common pursuit,” Xi said.
Xi promised leaders including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro that China would also import more from Latin America and encourage its firms to boost investment.
Beijing has stepped up efforts in recent years to displace the United States as the region’s primary development partner, although Xi’s global “Belt and Road” infrastructure initiative (BRI) has encountered challenges in some countries.
China also sees courting the region as a way to squeeze self-ruled Taiwan. Seven of the 12 countries that have official diplomatic ties with the island, which Beijing considers one of its provinces, hail from Latin America or the Caribbean.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chile President Gabriel Boric, Colombia President Gustavo Petro and other CELAC representatives attend a group photo session before the opening ceremony for the China-CELAC Forum ministerial meeting in Beijing, China May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool
Haiti and Saint Lucia, which both recognise Taiwan, sent representatives to Beijing for the CELAC summit. Panama’s ambassador to China was also in attendance, although the Central American country has announced it does not intend to renew its BRI membership, which is set to expire in two to three years.
The fresh credit line, denominated in yuan, will be welcomed in many regional capitals, analysts say, although the funding is not immediately useful to countries struggling to service dollar-denominated debt.
“They are doing a lot more yuan-based deals like this, particularly for credit swap agreements that make it easier for the borrowing country to transact in RMB rather than USD,” said Eric Orlander, co-founder of the China-Global South Development Project.
“I think there is a case to be made that it is a win for Latin America in the sense that getting access to capital is now not as easy as it used to be.”
The funding is just under half the amount Beijing offered during the inaugural China-CELAC Forum in 2015, although, as its $19 trillion economy has slowed, so has its willingness to lend.
Xi also announced visa-free travel would be rolled out to five countries, without specifying which ones.
After the opening ceremony, delegates adopted a joint action plan covering cooperation through to 2027, a Chinese foreign ministry statement said.
US-CHINA COMPETITION
The Forum comes as many Latin American and Caribbean states seek to negotiate better trade terms with the United States, following President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.
Xi reiterated China’s opposition to the levies, while the Brazilian President urged the region not to become overly reliant on the world’s top economies.
“It’s important to understand, (the fate of Latin America) doesn’t depend on anyone else. It does not depend on President Xi Jinping, it does not depend on the United States, it does not depend on the European Union, it depends solely and simply on whether we want to be great or continue to be small,” Lula said.
But Brazil, for one, has been aligning more closely with China, sensing an opportunity to sell more agricultural goods to the world’s top food importer as it winds down purchases from the U.S.
Xi and Lula held talks later on Tuesday and signed a series of cooperation documents covering agriculture, nuclear energy and broader technical cooperation, Brazilian state TV reported.
Of the $240 billion worth of goods China bought from the CELAC countries last year, just under half came from Brazil, the region’s largest economy.
Two-way trade between China and the CELAC bloc was $515 billion in 2024, according to Chinese customs data, up from $450 billion in 2023 and just $12 billion in 2000.
($1 = 7.1925 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Reporting by Eduardo Baptista, Joe Cash, Liz Lee and Qiaoyi Li; Writing by Joe Cash; Editing by Stephen Coates and Kate Mayberry
Germany’s domestic intelligence service put the broader movement under observation in 2016
Police officers search the headquarters of far-right organization “Kingdom of Germany” in Halsbruecke near Dresden, Germany May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
International news via Reuters:
Police arrested four members of a radical group seeking to replace the modern German state, the interior minister and prosecutors said on Tuesday, in the latest operation against a far-right movement flagged as a potential threat to democracy.
The raids against the Koenigreich Deutschland, or ‘Kingdom of Germany’, came after the interior ministry banned the group, which prosecutors said had established shadow institutions for a new state in line with a far-right ideology known as the ‘Reichsbuerger’ movement.
One of the four people arrested was the ‘Kingdom’s’ self-declared sovereign, the prosecutors said.
Germany’s domestic intelligence service put the broader Reichsbuerger movement under observation in 2016 after one of its members shot dead a policeman during a raid at his home.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt gives a statement on the ban of the right-wing “Kingdom of Germany” organization, in Berlin, Germany, May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Scrutiny of the movement, which covers a number of conspiratorial theories questioning the legitimacy of the modern German state, intensified in December 2022 when authorities thwarted advanced plans for an armed coup.
Its adherents believe that German democracy is an illegitimate facade and that they are citizens of a monarchy which, they maintain, endured after Germany’s defeat in World War One, despite its formal abolition.
The aim of the decade-old ‘Kingdom of Germany’ faction, which says it has about 6,000 supporters, is to secede from Germany and establish a counter-state with its own police force and jurisdiction, said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt.
“We are not talking about a group of harmless nostalgics but about criminal structures and a criminal network,” Dobrindt told reporters, adding their criminal economic network was long a focus for German authorities. No weapons were seized, he said.
Police acted on four arrest warrants for suspects identified as Mathias B., Peter F., Benjamin M. and Martin S., omitting their surnames in line with German privacy laws.
Prosecutors said the four men were suspected ringleaders of the group that had set up “pseudo-state-like structures and institutions”, including a bank and insurance system, an authority printing “fictional documents” and its own currency.
Peter F. was the group’s “supreme sovereign”, with oversight and decision-making powers over the group’s key areas, prosecutors said.
Additional reporting by Madeline Chambers, Writing by Friederike Heine and Rachel More; Editing by Andrew Heavens, William Maclean
A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to regular wage growth of 5.7%
Workers walk through the Canary Wharf financial district, ahead of a Bank of England decision on interest rate changes, in London, Britain, August 3, 2023. REUTERS/Toby Melville
International news via Reuters:
Britain’s jobs market cooled again last month, according to data that showed the impact of a tax hike on employers and Donald Trump’s trade tariffs but is likely to give some reassurance to the Bank of England that inflation pressures are waning.
Provisional tax office figures published on Tuesday showed the number of employees fell by almost 33,000 in April after a 47,000 drop in March.
Vacancies dipped further below their pre-COVID pandemic level, sliding by 42,000 – the biggest decline in more than a year – in the three months to April to 761,000.
Average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 5.6% from January to March compared with the same period last year, the slowest increase since the three months to November last year, the Office for National Statistics said.
A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to regular wage growth of 5.7%.
Sterling and bets in financial markets on the pace of BoE rate cuts over the remainder of this year were little changed after the data was published.
“While the labour market continues to slow, and there is some evidence of the impact of the increase in national insurance … there is nothing to suggest it immediately fell off a cliff in response to the shock,” Luke Bartholomew, deputy chief economist at fund management firm Aberdeen, said.
“Combined with the better trade news recently, there is nothing here to make the Bank of England regret its decision to say the easing cycle will continue to be only ‘gradual’,” Bartholomew said.
PAY PRESSURES EASING BUT STILL STRONG
The BoE is monitoring the inflation pressures in Britain’s labour market closely as it considers whether to speed up its pace of interest rate cuts to shield the economy from the fallout from Trump’s policies.
Last week, the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee split three ways on its May interest rate decision with five members backing a quarter-point cut, two favouring a bigger half-point reduction and two voting to keep rates on hold.
On Monday, interest rate-setters Clare Lombardelli and Megan Greene pointed to inflation risks in the labour market where pay growth remains too high for the BoE’s 2% target. A third MPC member, Alan Taylor, said the “quite perilous” trade situation was one reason for his vote for a half-point cut.
The ONS said private-sector pay excluding bonuses – a gauge of domestic inflation pressure tracked by the BoE – rose by 5.6%, weaker than a 5.9% increase in the three months to February.
Jack Kennedy, senior economist at global jobsite Indeed, said the BoE was likely to remain on guard about the risks posed by still high wage growth in Britain.
“A more material and sustained cooling of wage pressures would open the door to faster interest rate cuts, but the MPC’s split vote in May underlines the continued caution over persistent inflation pressures,” Kennedy said.
The ONS said Britain’s unemployment rate, which is based on a survey that is being overhauled and is no longer considered an accurate gauge of the jobs market, rose to 4.5% from 4.4%, in line with the Reuters poll and the highest since mid-2021.
The ONS said it had seen an improvement in response rates to its Labour Force Survey but cautioned there was still some volatility in the quality of detailed estimates.
The agency is aiming to transition its labour market statistics to a new approach in November next year, but it has warned the change could be delayed to 2027.
Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Sarah Young, Andrew Heavens and Hugh Lawson
The country’s wealth fund is the largest in the world at just under $2 trillion dollars
FILE PHOTO: Newly-built power lines and pylons that will transport electricity to Western Europe’s largest liquefied natural gas plant Hammerfest LNG and other parts of Finnmark county stand near the road between Alta and Skaidi, Norway, March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
International news via Reuters:
Norway’s $1.8 trillion wealth fund, the world’s largest, should invest more money in sectors addressing global challenges such as climate change and health and accept it may get lower returns on these investments, a citizens’ panel said on Tuesday.
The initiative, a nationwide consultation on what the country should do with its wealth, was the brainchild of seven non-governmental organisations who wanted to bring into the public debate voices from society that are not usually heard.
The 56 Norwegians selected to represent the population – based on age, gender, place of residence, education and attitude towards climate change – met between January and May to create recommendations for lawmakers.
They discussed how to spend the cash from the fund, which pools state oil and gas revenue and has a current value equivalent to each man, woman and child owning $326,000.
“A specific percentage of the oil fund should be set aside for sustainable investments where we accept higher risk and lower returns to promote social and economic development in developing countries,” said the panel’s report, seen by Reuters.
Other advice included having guidelines on how the fund should be spent in times of crises, such as pandemics and wars, and having new guidelines on how the fund should be used in the national budget.
Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, the operator of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, poses for a picture at his office in Oslo, Norway, April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Gwladys Fouche
Currently up to 3% of the fund’s value can be used in the budget without specifying what it should be spent on.
The panel said it should be spent on “fundamental social structures” such as education, research and innovation, and not on “administrative expenses”.
The fund should also move faster to invest the 2% of its value earmarked for direct stakes in renewable projects abroad, like wind and solar farms. It has spent just 0.1% of its value on such investments.
“The idea was that we were different people from different parts of the country. My experience is that we had all the same fundamental values,” panellist Lill Synnoeve Ludvigsen, a 17-year-old high school student, told Reuters in a phone interview from her home in Trondheim, Norway’s third-largest city.
The fund divests from companies deemed in breach of its ethical guidelines adopted by parliament.
On Sunday, it divested from Israel’s Paz Retail and Energy for supplying fuel to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as well as from Mexico’s Pemex for what it called an unacceptable risk that it is involved in corruption.
Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
Warsaw Mayor is leading in opinion polls ahead of the presidential election first round next week
FILE PHOTO: Civic Coalition presidential candidate, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski speaks during an election rally in Plock, Poland, May 11, 2025. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
International news via Reuters:
“Let’s shoot,” said Karol Nawrocki, before a heavy rock soundtrack kicked in and the camera switched to scenes of the presidential candidate backed by Poland’s main nationalist opposition party firing a variety of weapons.
The video shared on the historian and amateur boxer’s social media accounts was designed to contrast his tough-talking image with that of his more urbane opponent, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski from the liberal ruling Civic Coalition (KO), who had also taken part in voluntary military training.
The fact that both Nawrocki, who is backed by Law and Justice (PiS), and Trzaskowski felt compelled to show themselves preparing for a potential armed conflict underscored the importance of security for voters in a country that aims to more than double the size its army to half a million to ward off what it sees as the threat from Russia.
Trzaskowski is leading in opinion polls ahead of the presidential election first round on May 18, and is likely to face second-placed Nawrocki in a run-off vote on June 1.
Whether breaking a sweat in the boxing gym or getting his hands dirty helping a flood victim repair their house, Nawrocki has been at pains to cultivate the image of being both strong and down-to-earth.
Though he has faced a deluge of criticism from liberal media outlets, with his campaign being rocked by allegations that he acquired a second property from a elderly man in return for a promise of care which he did not provide, the strategy is working with some voters.
FILE PHOTO: Karol Nawrocki, a candidate for Polish presidential election supported by Poland’s main opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), gestures during his speech at a campaign meeting with supporters in Garwolin, Poland, May 5, 2025. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
“He would be a better… leader of the army,” said Elzbieta Jozwiak, a 65-year-old retired teacher attending a Nawrocki rally in the eastern town of Garwolin. “Why? Because he is manly, strong, he fights off the attacks which are always targeting him.”
For others, Trzaskowski, who has previously served as a deputy foreign minister and member of the European parliament, would make a better leader in uncertain times due to his experience in international affairs.
“The guy is intelligent… educated, he has international contacts,” said engineer Monika Kwasniewska as she walked through a food hall in central Warsaw.
TRUMP MEETING
Nawrocki met U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House in early May, in a visit his supporters said showed that the candidate already had the ear of the leader of Poland’s most powerful military ally.
“Such a gesture from the president of the United States says a lot,” said PiS lawmaker Michal Wojcik. “Karol Nawrocki from the perspective of strengthening Polish-American relations is the best candidate.”
PiS has positioned itself as a vocal supporter of Trump, and rejects KO’s arguments that the European Union needs to play a bigger role in ensuring the bloc’s security.
Nawrocki told private broadcaster TV Republika in March that cooperation with the European Union should focus on economic matters and not stray into “areas of strategic, existential importance for the Polish state”.
“No to calling into question the North Atlantic alliance!” he added.
A source in the Trzaskowski campaign said that they had sought to emphasise their candidate’s experience and connections in Europe’s corridors of power, contrasting it with Nawrocki’s more low-profile role running Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance.
In contrast to his opponent, Trzaskowski advocates a stronger role for the EU in parallel with NATO.
“Today equally the United States and the European Union, the strong North Atlantic alliance, together ensure our security,” he told a rally in the central city of Lodz on Friday.
For Filip Pazderski, an analyst at the Stefan Batory Foundation in Warsaw, these differences could affect Poland’s approach to any potential peace talks involving Ukraine.
“For sure if Rafal Trzaskowski is president, then Poland will support the position of the European Union and will work on strengthening the European presence in these discussions,” he said.
“Whereas it may not be that important for Mr Nawrocki, because for Mr Nawrocki it would be more important to support the position of the USA in this situation, and the USA says that maybe the European Union is not that important to be at the table during these discussions.”
Reporting by Alan Charlish, Justyna Pawlak, Kuba Stezycki and Kacper Pempel; Editing by Alex Richardson
CCTV footage of Combs beating his former partner in a hotel has been submitted as evidence
FILE PHOTO: Singer Casandra Elizabeth Ventura arrives on the red carpet ahead of the screening of the film “Killing Them Softly”, in competition at the 65th Cannes Film Festival, May 22, 2012. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler/File Photo
International news via Reuters:
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura, a rhythm and blues singer known as “Cassie,” is expected to testify on Tuesday as the prosecution’s star witness in the hip-hop mogul’s sex trafficking case, a day after jurors saw a video of Combs hitting and kicking her in a hotel in 2016.
Prosecutors say Combs lured women into romantic relationships, forced them to take part in days of drug-fueled sex parties and then blackmailed them with videos he recorded of the encounters.
Combs “viciously attacked” women when they resisted taking part in the parties, known as “Freak Offs” or otherwise upset him, prosecutor Emily Johnson said during her opening statement on Monday in Manhattan federal court.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to five felony counts of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted on all counts, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and could face life in prison.
Combs is known for turning rap and rhythm and blues artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige into stars, and in the process elevating the mainstream appeal of hip-hop in American culture in the 1990s and early 2000s.
His lawyers say prosecutors want to criminalize the rapper’s “swingers” lifestyle in which he and his girlfriends invited other men to join them for sex.
Defense lawyer Teny Geragos conceded to jurors on Monday that Combs had a bad temper and jealousy problems but said this had nothing to do with sex trafficking or racketeering.
“Domestic violence is not sex trafficking,” Geragos said. “He is not charged with being a flawed individual.”
Prosecutors introduced the video of Combs and Ventura on Monday, the first day of evidence in the high-profile trial.
In the video, Combs throws Ventura to the ground and kicks her in the hallway of a Los Angeles area hotel as she tries to enter an elevator.
Combs, wearing only a towel, is then seen grabbing Ventura’s belongings and dragging her into the hallway. Combs apologized after the video first aired on CNN last year.
Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lead lawyer, has said the 2016 hotel incident depicted the aftermath of a dispute over infidelity. In a court hearing on Friday, Agnifilo said Ventura had a history of domestic violence, signaling he plans to use that to undermine Ventura’s credibility with jurors.
Over the course of a two-month trial, jurors are expected to hear testimony from Ventura and two or possibly three of Combs’ other female accusers, as well as his former employees who prosecutors say helped arrange and cover up his actions.
Johnson told jurors they would hear testimony from victims who said Combs routinely beat them and exploded with rage at the smallest slights.
“They will tell you about some of the most painful experiences of their lives. The days they spent in hotel rooms, high on drugs, dressed in costumes to perform the defendant’s sexual fantasies,” Johnson said.
A male stripper testified on Monday that he had sex for money multiple times in 2012 and 2013 while Combs watched and masturbated.
Stripper Daniel Phillip recounted an episode in a New York City hotel where Combs threw a liquor bottle in Ventura’s direction, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her screaming into another room.
Defense lawyer Teny Geragos said on Monday that prosecutors were trying to twist Combs’ romantic relationships into a racketeering and sex trafficking case.
“Sean Combs is a complicated man, but this is not a complicated case. This case is about voluntary choices made by capable adults in consensual relationships,” Geragos said in her opening statement.
Reporting by Jack Queen; Writing by Noeleen Walder; Editing by Howard Goller
Trump has invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport suspected gang members
Venezuelan migrants react after arriving on a deportation flight from the United States at Simon Bolivar International Airport, in Maiquetia, Venezuela May 9, 2025. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo
International news via Reuters:
The United Nations has information that over 100 Venezuelans deported from the United States are being held at a high-security centre in El Salvador, where they face potential human rights violations, the U.N. human rights chief said on Tuesday
The fate and whereabouts of at least another 245 Venezuelans and some 30 Salvadorans sent to El Salvador during U.S. President Donald Trump’s deportation drive remain unclear, the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) added.
The governments of the United States and El Salvador did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Trump has invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport suspected members of criminal gangs, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, that his administration labels terrorist groups.
At least 142,000 people were deported from the U.S. between January 20 and April 29, according to OHCHR, citing official U.S. data.
OHCHR said information from family members and lawyers for deported Venezuelans indicated many are now detained at El Salvador’s Centre for Terrorism Confinement.
President Nayib Bukele offered to incarcerate criminals deported from the U.S. at the centre, a mega-prison intentionally isolated from urban areas that can accommodate up to 40,000 inmates.
“This situation raises serious concerns regarding a wide array of rights that are fundamental to both U.S. and international law,” Volker Turk said in a statement.
He added that those deported to El Salvador had not yet been able to effectively challenge their detention.
Turk said detainees at the facility were being treated harshly and many had not been informed of U.S. authorities’ intention to deport them for detention in a third country.
The OHCHR said it is urging El Salvador’s government to grant it access to the centre.
Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Editng by Joe Bavier
The 1,000-store retailer is reported to have been the victim of a ransomware attack
FILE PHOTO: A Marks and Spencer (M&S) logo is seen on the outside of a store in Cheshire, Britain August 18, 2020. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff/File Photo
International news via Reuters:
British retailer Marks and Spencer said on Tuesday some personal customer information was taken in the cyber attack that has crippled its online operation for more than three weeks.
M&S, one of the best known names in British business, stopped taking online orders on April 25, and its share price has fallen 15% since the Easter weekend, when problems with orders first started.
The retailer, whose 1,000 stores remain open, is widely reported to have been the victim of a ransomware attack, where criminals infiltrate companies’ computer systems, encrypt them and demand payment before allowing them to resume control.
M&S said some customer details had been taken, blaming the “sophisticated nature” of the incident, and said it would inform customers of the issue.
“Importantly, the data does not include useable payment or card details, which we do not hold on our systems, and it does not include any account passwords,” M&S said in its statement. “There is no evidence that this data has been shared.”
Advising customers there was no need to take any action, the company said work was continuing to get operations back to normal. It said it had taken steps to protect is systems, while working with cybersecurity experts, law enforcement and government agencies.
M&S has declined to quantify the financial impact, which is growing by the day as it misses out on sales of new season ranges with much of the UK basking in warm May temperatures. It makes around one-third of its clothing and home sales online.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank estimated earlier this month that the profit hit would have been at least 30 million pounds and the run rate at about 15 million pounds a week.
They said cyber insurance would likely cover most of the impact but that cover is generally provided for a limited amount of time.
Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar, Paul Sandle and Sarah Young
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