Brazilian military simulates security drill ahead of BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro
Brazil's military conducted a security drill on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro in preparation for the BRICS Summit, which will take place in the city in early July. (AP/ Mario Lobao)
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San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
North Carolina Gov. Stein vetoes his first bills. They are on concealed carry and immigration
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein vetoed his first bills on Friday, blocking for now Republican legislation that would let adults carry concealed handguns without a permit and make state agencies and local sheriffs more active in Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Stein, who took office in January, issued his formal objections to three measures backed by the GOP-controlled General Assembly presented to him last week. The former attorney general also had the option to sign any of them into law, or let them become law if he hadn't acted on the legislation soon. The vetoed measures now return to the legislature, where Republicans are one House seat shy of holding a veto-proof majority. Its leaders will decide whether to attempt overrides as early as next week. Voting so far followed party lines for one of the immigration measures, which in part would direct heads of several state law enforcement agencies, like the State Highway Patrol and State Bureau of Investigation, to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But one House Democrat ended up voting for the other immigration bill that Stein vetoed. It toughens a 2024 law that required sheriffs to help federal agents seeking criminal defendants. GOP prospects for enacting the permitless concealed gun measure, a longtime aspiration for gun-rights advocates, appear dimmer, because two House Republicans voted against the bill and 10 others were absent. Gun bill would let 18-year-olds carry concealed handgun In one veto message, Stein said the gun legislation, which would allow eligible people at least 18 years old to carry a concealed handgun, "makes North Carolinians less safe and undermines responsible gun ownership." Democratic lawmakers argued the same during legislative debate. Current law requires a concealed weapons holder to be at least 21 to obtain a permit. The person must submit an application to the local sheriff, pass a firearms safety training course and cannot 'suffer from a physical or mental infirmity that prevents the safe handling of a handgun" to obtain the permit. No safety training would be required if getting a permit is no longer necessary. 'Authorizing teenagers to carry a concealed weapon with no training whatsoever is dangerous,' Stein wrote. Gun-control groups praised the veto. Conservative advocates for the bill say removing the permit requirement would strengthen the safety of law-abiding citizens. 'Law-abiding North Carolinians shouldn't have to jump through hoops to effectively exercise their Second Amendment rights," Senate leader Phil Berger said in a press release criticizing the veto and planning for an override vote in his chamber. Permitless carry is already lawful in 29 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. North Carolina would also be one of the last states in the Southeast to implement that legislation. Immigration bills focus on state agencies, sheriffs One vetoed immigration bill would require four state law enforcement agencies to officially participate in the 287(g) program, which trains officers to interrogate defendants and determine their immigration status. An executive order by President Donald Trump urged his administration to maximize the use of 287(g) agreements. Stein wrote Friday the bill takes officers away from existing state duties at a time when law enforcement is already stretched thin. The measure also would direct state agencies to ensure noncitizens don't access certain state-funded benefits. But Stein said that people without lawful immigration status already can't receive them. The other vetoed bill attempts to expand a 2024 law — enacted over then-Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto — that directed jails to hold temporarily certain defendants whom ICE believe are in the country illegally, allowing time for immigration agents to pick them up. The vetoed bill would expand the list of crimes that a defendant is charged with that would require the jail administrator to attempt to determine the defendant's legal status. A jail also would have to tell ICE promptly that it is holding someone and essentially extends the time agents have to pick up the person. Stein said Friday while he supports sheriffs contacting federal immigration agents about defendants charged with dangerous crimes that they are holding, the law is unconstitutional because it directs sheriffs to keep defendants behind bars 48 hours beyond when they otherwise could be released for a suspected immigration violation. With the veto of this bill, House Speaker Destin Hall said, Stein sided with the 'most radical elements of his party's base over the safety and security of North Carolinians.' Latino advocates and other bill opponents had urged Stein to veto both immigration measures. They say the legislation would cause Hispanic residents to feel intimidated and fear law enforcement.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Argentina's Kirchner urges backers not to gather as police deploy
Argentine ex-president Cristina Kirchner urged supporters Friday not to gather outside her Buenos Aires apartment, where she is serving a six-year fraud sentence, saying she feared police violence. Kirchner alleged on social media the government had "orchestrated a police operation at the door of my house with the sole purpose of provoking conflicts." She called on her backers, who held a days-long vigil outside her flat, to exercise "wisdom and restraint" and to organize a demonstration planned for Friday elsewhere. AFP witnessed police barriers around the building, with several police trucks stationed nearby. The 72-year-old, convicted of "fraudulent administration" over public works contracts awarded during her 2007-2015 two-term presidency, had an appeal overturned by the Supreme Court last week. The court upheld her sentence and a life ban on holding public office. A different judge allowed Kirchner to serve her sentence at home, which quickly became the scene of solidarity demonstrations. On Wednesday, tens of thousands of people marched on a central square under the banner "Argentina with Cristina." The following day, a judge ruled Kirchner may use her second-floor balcony, under which supporters had been keeping vigil and where she made several brief appearances. A ban on "any behavior that could disturb the peace of the neighborhood" had led to fears she could be confined indoors. Kirchner has challenged limited visitation rights ordered by the court, restricted to family members, doctors and lawyers in what her team described as "a totally arbitrary exclusion regime." There has been speculation Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva could try and visit her when he travels to Buenos Aires for a summit in July. He would have to request a court's permission. sa/dga/ial/lpt/mlr/sms
2 hours ago
Former mayor from Haiti gets prison time for lying to get into the US
CONCORD, N.H. -- CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former mayor from Haiti convicted of lying about his violent past on his visa application was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison and three years of supervision, after which he will be subject to deportation proceedings. Jean Morose Viliena, of Malden, Massachusetts, was the mayor of Les Irois, Haiti, from December 2006 until February 2010. He was convicted of three counts of visa fraud in March and sentenced Friday in federal court in Boston. 'For more than a decade, he lived freely and comfortable in this country while the victims of his brutality lived in fear, exile and pain,' U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in statement. 'Today's sentence brings a measure of justice for the lives he shattered and sends a clear message: the United States will not be a safe have for human rights abusers.' According to prosecutors, Viliena committed 'violent atrocities' against his political foes in an isolated, rural community of about 22,000 residents on Haiti's western tip. In 2007, he was accused of leading a group of his allies to the home of a political opponent, where he and his associates shot and killed the opponent's younger brother, then smashed his skull with a rock. In 2008, Viliena and his allies went armed with guns, machetes, picks and sledgehammers to shut down a community radio station that he opposed, prosecutors said. Authorities said he pistol-whipped and punched a man and ordered an associate to shoot and kill the man and another person. Both survived, but one of the men lost a leg and the other was blinded in one eye. When he applied for a visa to enter the U.S., however, Viliena denied having 'ordered, carried out or materially assisted in extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people.' He later received a permanent resident card and has raised a child who is a U.S. citizen by birth, prosecutors said. Defense attorneys argued in court that it was members of a rival political party — including some who they say are government witnesses — who committed the violence. They described the former mayor as the son of a farmer who became a teacher and eventually ran for mayor to improve conditions in town. In 2023, Viliena was found liable by an American jury in a civil trial
