Border Patrol chief condemns agents’ offensive Facebook posts
CLINT, Texas — The director of the U.S. Border Patrol on Monday slammed as “completely inappropriate” sexually explicit posts about U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and comments questioning the authenticity of a photo of a drowned man and his young daughter in a secret Facebook group for agents.
The existence of the group was reported by ProPublica as roughly a dozen members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, including Democrats Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Veronica Escobar of Texas, toured border facilities where attorneys said they had found migrant children living in fetid, filthy conditions.
Some of the posts were graphic, doctored images of Ocasio-Cortez, including one that shows a smiling President Donald Trump forcing her head toward his crotch. Other comments refer to Ocasio-Cortez and Escobar as “hoes,” and one member encouraged agents to throw a “burrito at these bitches.”
Ocasio-Cortez said she wasn’t surprised by the posts, especially after the treatment of migrants she said she witnessed at the facility.
“It’s just indicative of the violent culture that we saw,” she said.
Iran breaches uranium stockpile limit set by nuclear deal
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran broke the limit set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, international inspectors and Tehran said Monday, marking its first major departure from the unraveling agreement a year after the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the accord.
The announcement by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and later confirmation by the U.N. nuclear watchdog puts new pressure on European nations trying to save the deal amid President Donald Trump’s maximalist campaign targeting Tehran. Iran separately threatened to raise its uranium enrichment closer to weapons-grade levels on July 7 if Europe fails to offer it a new deal.
It also further heightens tensions across the wider Middle East in the wake of Iran recently shooting down a U.S. military surveillance drone, mysterious attacks on oil tankers that America and the Israelis blame on Tehran, and bomb-laden drone assaults by Yemen’s Iranian-backed rebels targeting Saudi Arabia. Those rebels claimed a new attack late Monday on Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport that the kingdom said wounded nine people, including one Indian.
The European Union urged Iran to reverse course and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the action “a significant step toward making a nuclear weapon.” Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, despite Western fears about it.
At the White House, Trump told reporters Iran was “playing with fire,” and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on the international community to require Iran to suspend all enrichment, even at levels allowed under the nuclear deal.
Taliban bombing in Afghan capital kills 6, wounds scores
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban set off a powerful bomb in downtown Kabul on Monday, killing at least six people and wounding more than a hundred, and sending a cloud of smoke billowing over the Afghan capital.
At least 26 children were among the wounded, many of whom were cut by shards of glass when the bomb shattered nearby windows, government spokesman Feroz Bashari said. He said a total of 105 people were hurt.
An education ministry spokeswoman, Nooria Nazhat, later raised the number of students who were slightly wounded to 51, from two schools.
The Taliban claimed the attack, which came as the insurgents were holding their latest round of talks with U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the Gulf state of Qatar, where they have a political office.
The attack ended nearly 10 hours after it began with all five attackers dead, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi.
Two police, a child, a private security guard and two passers-by were killed in the attack that began with a powerful car bomb, followed by a series of smaller explosions and a daylong gun battle, said Rahimi.
The Italian-run Emergency Hospital in Kabul — one of the largest hospitals in the Afghan capital treating war victims — said in a statement that it had received two bodies, including a child. Dozens more injured were treated, many of them later released.
The insurgents struck during the morning commute, and ambulance sirens wailed across the downtown area.
Riot police clear away protesters from Hong Kong legislature
HONG KONG — Hundreds of protesters swarmed into Hong Kong’s legislature Monday night, defacing portraits of lawmakers and spray-painting pro-democracy slogans in the chamber before vacating it as riot police cleared surrounding streets with tear gas and then moved inside.
The three-hour occupation, which ended early Tuesday, came on the 22nd anniversary of the former British colony’s return to China, a city holiday, and reflected mounting frustration with Hong Kong’s leader for not responding to protesters’ demands after several weeks of demonstrations. The protests were sparked by a government attempt to change extradition laws to allow suspects to be sent to China for trial.
Protesters whacked away at thick glass windows until they shattered and then pried open steel security gates. Police initially retreated as the protesters entered, avoiding a confrontation and giving them the run of the building.
Demonstrators stood on lawmakers’ desks and painted over the territory’s emblem on a wall. The crowd also wrote slogans calling for a democratic election of the city’s leader and denouncing the extradition legislation. Many wore yellow and white helmets, face masks and the black T-shirts that have become their uniform.
Police then announced that they would soon move in. A spokesman had earlier broadcast a warning that “appropriate force” would be used. Officers approached shortly after midnight and entered the legislative chambers after protesters had already left. There was no immediate word on any arrests or injuries.
The actions prompted organizers of a separate peaceful march against the extradition bill to change the endpoint of their protest from the legislature to a nearby park, after police asked them to call it off or change the route. Police wanted the march to end earlier in the Wan Chai district, but organizers said that would leave out many people who planned to join the march along the way.
Police estimated 190,000 people joined the peaceful march, the third major one in as many weeks. Organizers estimated the number at 550,000.