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Washington Post
17 hours ago
- Washington Post
Wander Franco's attorney to ask court to exonerate his client in sexual abuse case
PUERTO LA PLATA, Dominican Republic — The attorney for Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco said Monday he will ask the court to exonerate his client of all charges in a sexual abuse case involving a girl who was 14 years old at the time of the alleged crimes. Franco, who was charged in July 2024 and is on supervised release, could face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty. 'He didn't commit the acts he's accused of,' Teodosio Jáquez told The Associated Press at the end of the fourth hearing at the Collegiate Court of Puerto Plata, a tourist city in northern Dominican Republic where the girl is from. 'They're playing their part, because their job is to accuse. However, what they have to do is prove it,' Jáquez said of the witnesses presented by prosecutors. The prosecutors say the witnesses' testimony has been vital in proving that Franco sexually abused a minor and paid her mother money for her consent. 'Today, each of these expert witnesses' statements was vital. They established not only the fact of child sexual abuse, but also that they reinforced commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering,' prosecutor Claudio Cordero said. Documents that prosecutors presented to the judge last year and were viewed by The Associated Press alleged that Franco, through his mother Yudelka Aybar, transferred 1 million pesos ($17,000) to the mother of the minor on Jan. 5, 2023, to consent to the purported abuse. The mother of the minor has been charged with money laundering and is under house arrest. Franco also has been charged with sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking. Also, on Sunday he was charged with illegal possession of a handgun, prosecutors said. Franco was arrested Nov. 10 in San Juan de la Maguana after an altercation in a parking lot . No one was injured during the fight, and the handgun, a semiautomatic Glock 19, was found in Franco's vehicle, according to a statement from the Dominican Public Prosecutor's Office. Franco's attorney says the player did not have the weapon, that it belongs to someone else. 'This is a celebrity, and some media outlets are perverse in trying to harm that young man,' Jáquez added. Franco, who turned 24 on March 1, was in his third major league season when his career was halted in August 2023. He agreed to an 11-year, $182 million contract in November 2021. He is currently on Major League Baseball's restricted list after initially being placed on administrative leave. ___ AP MLB:
New York Times
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- New York Times
Why Immigration Raids in Puerto Rico Hit Differently
Immigration raids have been so rare in Puerto Rico that its only detention facility, in an office building next to a mall, can hold only about 20 detainees. Yet federal authorities in the U.S. territory have detained more than 500 people since President Trump took office in January. The escalation has upset many Puerto Ricans, who are American citizens, and has underscored their uneasy relationship with Washington. Nearly three-quarters of the detainees have hailed from one country, the Dominican Republic, which lies 80 miles west of Puerto Rico by boat. Many Dominicans share the same ethnic background, language and culture as Puerto Ricans, and the detentions of Dominicans have felt to many Puerto Ricans like an affront. 'It's a historical aberration,' said Néstor Duprey, an associate professor of social sciences at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico. Generations of Dominicans, as well as some Haitians, have migrated to the Puerto Rico archipelago on rickety boats from Hispaniola island, starting families and filling critical jobs in housekeeping, home health care and construction. Other than interdictions at sea and occasional raids in the capital, San Juan, federal authorities largely avoided mass immigration enforcement on the island before now. Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic 'have stronger cultural and linguistic links than, I think, most countries in the world,' said Jorge Duany, an expert on Caribbean migration, citing their accents, Catholicism and shared love of baseball. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Cuban families devise ingenious solutions to endure frequent power shortages
HAVANA — For Marylín Álvarez and her family, like countless other Cubans, the question is no longer if the power will go out, but when — forcing them to implement ingenious alternatives to sustain daily life as the island undergoes its most severe energy crisis in decades . Since December, when the government stopped supplying their cooking gas, the family had relied on an electric burner — until persistent blackouts made that solution impractical.
Associated Press
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
UN warns of 'ongoing tragedy' as Indigenous groups in Colombia face extinction
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The United Nations human rights office in Colombia warned Tuesday that five Indigenous groups in a storied mountain range face 'physical and cultural' extinction, a critical threat that stems from armed groups fighting over their territory and insufficient state protection. Scott Campbell, Colombia's representative for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement that the risk of physical and cultural extinction of Indigenous People of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is 'an ongoing tragedy that we can and must prevent.' Campbell urged the Colombian government to protect the Kogui, Wiwa, Kankuamo, Arhuaco, and Ette Naka Indigenous groups, whose combined population is approximately 54,700 people. Campbell's statement followed a visit to the Sierra Nevada region, where U.N. officials spoke with representatives of these Indigenous tribes. 'These groups are under various forms of cruel attack from non-state armed groups,' Campbell said, highlighting the 'devastating repercussions on their lives, their land, their territory, their self their spirituality.' In 2022, UNESCO added the ancestral knowledge of these Indigenous groups to its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. The recognition highlights the 'fundamental role' their traditions play in preserving the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta — a mountain range that emerges directly from the Caribbean Sea and boasts snowy peaks reaching nearly 6,000 meters. But for many years, the Indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada have been under attack from settlers, and now from rebel groups. Campbell said that rebel groups in the area are imposing curfews on Indigenous communities and interfering with their local assemblies. He added that hundreds of Indigenous people from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta have been forcibly displaced, while last year an Arhuaco community leader was murdered and a member of the Kogui tribe disappeared. Colombia's government has struggled to pacify rural areas where rebel groups and drug trafficking gangs fight for territory abandoned by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the large guerilla group that made peace with the government in 2016. President Gustavo Petro has launched peace talks with most of the nation's remaining rebel groups, but the negotiations have yielded few results so far. Campbell urged the government to protect Indigenous people in the Sierra Nevada not only through military force, but by providing better access to healthcare, education and employment opportunities. 'The violent situation has its roots in disputes over control of territory, drug trafficking routes and various forms of illicit economic activity by non-state armed groups.' Campell said. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
National Geographic
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- National Geographic
5 of the best cookbooks for spring
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). 1. Monsoon by Asma Khan The third cookbook from Asma Khan — chef and owner of London restaurant Darjeeling Express — is split into six sections, one for each of the Bengali seasons: the familiar four, plus monsoon and dry season. Cooking this way is intuitive for Khan, who grew up eating seasonally in Kolkata, the capital of India's West Bengal state. Starting with grishsho (summer), light dishes like courgette paratha give way to beef isthu (a mild beef stew) and pumpkin dal, before readers progress into the bôrsha (monsoon) and shôrot (autumn) sections. Monsoon also explores the six ayurvedic flavours — sweet, sour, bitter, tangy (astringent), spicy (pungent) and salty (umami) — and how to combine them during each of the seasons. Suggested menus incorporate an array of dishes: the 'Winter Fuel' selection, for instance, matches spicy, twice-marinated dahi murgh (chicken) kebabs with sour karonda aur khajur ki (cranberry and date) chutney and salty tawa (griddled) naans. Khan encourages readers to create their own seasonal menus, too, and covers techniques such as how to roast spices before grinding them and making ghee from scratch. £26, DK Red 2. Lugma by Noor Murad Its title meaning 'a bite' in Arabic, this book combines anecdotes from Murad's Bahraini upbringing and her stint in the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen with a variety of Middle Eastern recipes. Vermicelli chicken soup is inspired by Bahraini cuisine, while charred courgettes with saffron, kefir and onions is a play on a classic Iranian dip. £28, Quadrille 3. La Cocina Vasca by María José Sevilla Sevilla's new cookbook offers insights into Basque culinary traditions and features well-known pintxos, including olive-anchovy-pepper gildas. Dishes like pastelón de morcilla — black pudding pie with pine nuts, sultanas and pears — offer a fresh perspective on the cuisine. £22, Ryland Peters & Small 4. Cook Korea! by Billy Law In the former MasterChef Australia contestant's new cookbook, Korean cuisine's big hitters, such as bulgogi and bibimbap, rub shoulders with his takes on street-food staples, including pan-fried tteokbokki (rice cakes). Law also includes sections on kimchi and anju (food eaten with alcohol). £27, Smith Street Books 5. Caribe by Keshia Sakarah In Caribe, British chef Sakarah draws on her heritage, sharing family recipes such as Uncle Jerry's fish tea: her Montserratian relative's soup with snapper, scotch bonnet and yam. She also explores the stories behind dishes such as Jamaican ackee and saltfish, and Guyanese-Chinese chow mein. £30, Hardie Grant Food by National Geographic Traveller (UK). To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click Published in Issue 27 (spring 2025) of(UK).To subscribe to(UK) magazine click here . (Available in select countries only). Unlimited Access for Less Subscribe now and save $10 SUBSCRIBE
