Dozens Killed During Protests Over Fuel Prices in Angola
The upheaval started Monday when a taxi association launched a three-day strike to protest the government's decision in early July to increase gasoline prices by a third. The situation escalated over two days into vandalism and the burning of buildings and cars, with the police responding by firing on angry crowds, according to witnesses.
This was the second time in two years that an increase in gas prices has led to deadly violence in Angola, the second-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa. The abundance of the commodity and heavy government subsidies have long allowed Angolans to pay very low prices at the gas pump. But with the economy struggling, the government, straining under enormous debt, has rolled back the subsidies in recent years at the urging of the International Monetary Fund.
'Obviously, people were in the street about the prices,' said Romario Francisco, 18, who lives on the outskirts of the capital, Luanda. 'But it became something crazy since.'
While order had been restored to Luanda and several other cities by Thursday, the mood remained tense in some places.
Many police officers were still out patrolling roads. Charred vehicles sat on some streets. Shards of glass and goods were scattered on sidewalks and inside shops and other buildings that had been looted during the chaos.
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Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Military base shootings have ranged from isolated incidents to workplace violence and terrorism
ATLANTA (AP) — The shooting of five U.S. Army soldiers at a base in Georgia on Wednesday is the latest in a growing list of violent incidents at American military installations over the years. Shootings have ranged from isolated incidents between service members to attacks on bases to mass-casualty events, such as the shooting by an Army psychiatrist at Texas's Ford Hood in 2009 that left 13 people dead. Here is a look at some of the shootings at U.S. military bases in recent years: In December, a National Guard soldier was charged with murder after authorities said he shot a man at a former girlfriend's residence on the grounds of Fort Gordon. The base outside of Augusta, Georgia, is home to the U.S. Army Cyber Command. It was formerly known as Fort Eisenhower. In June 2020, a woman and a man were killed in a shooting at the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. The woman's parents later told media outlet KJZZ in Phoenix that she was the victim of domestic violence. In May 2020, a gunman tried to speed through a security gate at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, opening fire and wounding a sailor who was a member of base security, authorities said. Security officers shot and killed the attacker, Adam Salim Alsahli, a Corpus Christi resident who had been a student at a local community college. The FBI said at the time that the shooting was being investigated as a 'terror-related incident.' A group that monitors online activity of jihadists said Alsahli voiced support for hard-line clerics. On Dec. 6, 2019, a Saudi Air Force officer who was training at a Navy base in Pensacola, Florida, killed three U.S. sailors and wounded eight other people in a shooting that U.S. officials described as an act of terrorism. The country's top federal law enforcement officials said the gunman, Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, had been in touch with al-Qaida operatives about planning and tactics. Alshamrani was killed by a sheriff's deputy. On Dec. 4, 2019, a U.S. Navy sailor used his service rifle to shoot three civilian shipyard workers at the Pearl Harbor military base in Hawaii, killing two of them before killing himself with his service pistol. Gabriel Antonio Romero, 22, of San Antonio, Texas, was said to be unhappy with his commanders and undergoing counseling, although a motive for the shooting was not determined. In February 2017, a sailor was fatally shot at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach by a security officer after he crashed through a station gate and went to his squadron's hangar. Seaman Robert Colton Wright was reported to be 'yelling and causing damage' and moving aggressively toward security officers until one of the officers fired, striking him. Wright worked as an information systems technician for Strike Fighter Squadron 81. In April 2016, an airman fatally shot his commander before shooting himself at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. Military investigators said Tech Sgt. Steven Bellino, 41, confronted Lt. Col. William Schroeder in an office before the two struggled, and Schroeder was shot multiple times. The men, both veterans of the U.S. Special Operations Command, were in the Air Force's elite Battlefield Airmen program at Lackland. In July 2015, four Marines and a sailor were killed by Kuwait-born Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, of Hixson, Tennessee, who opened fire at a recruiting center in Chattanooga. He then drove several miles away to a Navy and Marine reserve center, where he shot and killed the Marines and wounded the sailor, who later died. Abdulazeez was shot to death by police. In April 2014, an Army soldier gunned down three other military men at Fort Hood in Texas before killing himself. Authorities said that Spc. Ivan Lopez had an argument with colleagues in his unit before opening fire. In September 2013, a defense contract employee and former Navy reservist used a valid pass to get onto the Washington Navy Yard. Authorities said Aaron Alexis killed 12 people before he was killed in a gunbattle with police, authorities said. The Washington Navy Yard is an administrative center for the U.S. Navy and the oldest naval installation in the country. In November 2009, Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 at Fort Hood. He said he was angry about being deployed to Afghanistan and wanted to protect Islamic and Taliban leaders from U.S. troops. It was the deadliest attack on a domestic military installation in U.S. history. The Department of Defense called the attack an act of workplace violence, not terrorism. ___ Finley reported from Raleigh, North Carolina.
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Blazing new trails: 13 Minnesota cities are considering municipal cannabis stores
As some Minnesota cities fret over regulating newly legalized and normalized marijuana sales, others see an opportunity. Elk River is among 13 Minnesota cities considering opening municipally owned cannabis stores. They would be blazing new trails in this regard, as government-run pot shops aren't currently in use anywhere else in the country. City Administrator Cal Portner talks about Elk River's approach as making the most of a situation. 'I don't sense that our council is enthusiastic about the law to legalize, but they're accepting of reality,' he said. Revenue potential from cannabis sales, and how it can be put to use in the community, is part of the appeal. Assuring compliance is also part of it. 'Our liquor stores never fail compliance tests, whether for tobacco or liquor,' Portner said. 'We feel we can do the same thing within the cannabis industry.' Liquor munis as a model The only state with any track record of a government-run cannabis shop is Washington, where a store in North Bonneville opened in 2015 and operated until 2021. Where Minnesota differed from Washington and other legalized-cannabis states was in the defined path it created for cities to pursue cannabis munis. Despite being a new concept, Minnesota's established muni model for liquor, also novel nationally, gives Portner confidence in the feasibility. Cities have entrepreneurial experience on their sides, he said, including already selling hemp-based THC products in liquor stores. 'We've had practice time basically to understand the products and understand the customer service side of it,' Portner said. Municipal liquor sales add nearly $1 million to Elk River's annual budget. The city's two liquor munis keep profits home, Portner said, rather than going to corporations based out of town or state. 'We're among the top Minnesota liquor store operations within the state and are proud of that,' he said. 'It puts a lot of money back in our community.' Minnesota had 176 cities running liquor munis as of 2023, according to the latest annual report on them by the Office of the State Auditor. Most munis come out ahead, combining for $31.6 million in net profits in 2023. Elk River generated $962,190 of it. Buffalo brought in $710,505. St. Anthony Village was $426,385 in the positive. Even modest net profits, say $10,000 per year, are good deals for small towns, said Paul Kaspszak, executive director of the Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association. 'You could say it's not very much money, but there's nothing else happening in that community that will generate that $10,000,' he said. In his hypothetical, 100 homeowners in the community could be looking at $100 in savings on their property taxes. In Elk River, Portner said it might take an additional 45 businesses in town to generate enough property taxes to equal net profits from city liquor sales. Cannabis sales projections are highly speculative, but Portner said it'll likely take a couple years to turn profits. Between investments in capital, inventory, marketing and education, an estimate prepared for the city in January put first-year losses at $184,698. All but 18 of the state's liquor munis are in Greater Minnesota. For cannabis muni applicants, seven of the 13 are in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area. St. Joseph's mayor, Adam Scepaniak, and other officials from cities on the list confirmed they were still waiting on OCM approval to get their cannabis licenses as of last week. Plans are taking shape in the interim, with St. Joseph, Elk River and others looking into possible locations for cannabis retail. Elk River is considering a building to house both cannabis sales and one of its two municipal liquor stores. Northbound would remain the name of the liquor muni, while the cannabis side would assume the name Cannabound. Owatonna applied for a muni cannabis permit on March 13, said Deanna Sheely, the city's communications manager, in an email. No decisions will be made on it until the license process is completed. When Byron moved forward with an application in February, City Administrator Al Roder noted it didn't bind the city to the idea. 'Applying for the license and even receiving one, doesn't lock us into going ahead with a dispensary,' he stated on the city's Facebook post. 'But the window to apply for a license is very small.' Wide spectrum of attitudes toward cannabis industry As opposed to the 13 cities exploring cannabis munis, Albert Lea sits on the opposite end of the spectrum. A City Council vote last week stopped a privately run cannabis store from opening — an apparent violation of state statute. An update by the city posted on Facebook afterward described the vote being based on 'questions of enforcement, liability and responsibility' necessitating further review. Adopting zoning restrictions on where cannabis businesses are allowed, a lever given to cities in state law, is more of a middle-ground strategy. Combined with caps on the maximum number of businesses allowed to operate, almost all cities implemented some form of this approach or another. The cap is an area of contrast between the state's cannabis and liquor muni regulations. A city with muni liquor doesn't need to allow private liquor stores within its limits, but it can't monopolize cannabis in the same way. Muni cannabis stores don't count toward the cap. ___ This story was originally published by MinnPost and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Five Soldiers Shot at US Army's Fort Stewart Base in Georgia
FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — Five soldiers were shot at Fort Stewart Wednesday, prompting a short lockdown at one of the country's largest Army bases before a suspect was taken into custody, military officials said. Few details were immediately available about what led to the gunfire, but this latest act of violence on a U.S. military installation — sites that are supposed to be among the most secure in the country — again raised concerns about safety and security within the armed forces' own walls.
