International
Argentine president testifies for deputy in corruption trial
AFP
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez came to the defense Tuesday of his deputy Cristina Kirchner, testifying in a trial for alleged corruption committed when she was at the country’s helm from 2007 to 2015.
Fernandez appeared as a defense witness in a court in Buenos Aires, giving evidence of events that occurred when Kirchner was president and he her chief of staff.
The president could have provided testimony in writing, but opted to attend the hearing in person in what is interpreted as a show of support for his deputy.
The partnership of Fernandez and Kirchner was severely tested when their center-left Frente de Todos (Everyone’s Front) coalition suffered a battering in parliamentary primary elections in September.
Kirchner pressured her boss into a cabinet reshuffle in the hopes of appeasing an electorate increasingly frustrated with escalating economic woes.
But in a vote in November, their coalition lost control of the Senate — the upper house of Congress. The lower house was already in opposition control.
The pair have a bit more than a year left in office until the next presidential election in 2023.
– Several investigations –
Kirchner is on trial for the alleged fraudulent awarding of public works contracts in her fiefdom in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, which allegedly benefited businessman Lazaro Baez.
Prosecutors say Baez overcharged for the projects, several of which remain unfinished.
Kirchner, 68, is the target of about a dozen investigations for crimes including bribe-taking, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
Some cases have been thrown out, but at least five are at the trial phase.
She claims political persecution and abuse of a politicized and right-leaning judicial system that her and Fernandez’s coalition have set out to reform.
Fernandez told the court Tuesday there had been no “arbitrary” spending under Kirchner’s presidency.
“Those decisions that were made in budgetary matters and in public works, were never arbitrary,” he testified.
Asked about decisions made to benefit Baez, Fernandes replied: “I am not aware that this is the case.”
He also argued it was impossible for a president to know the nitty gritty of each spending decision.
Fernandez left the court after three hours, without talking to waiting journalists.
Last year, a court dismissed a case alleging that Kirchner, as president, had obstructed an investigation into an attack on a Jewish center in 1994 that killed 85 people.
International
Police investigate deaths of Rob Reiner and wife as apparent homicide
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is investigating the deaths of Hollywood actor and filmmaker Rob Reinerand his wife as an “apparent homicide,” amid a wave of tributes to the director of classics such as When Harry Met Sally.
According to U.S. media reports on Sunday, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their Los Angeles mansion with what appeared to be stab wounds.
Several political figures shared messages of condolence following the reported deaths of the director of A Few Good Menand his wife.
While the LAPD did not officially confirm the identities of the victims, it stated that homicide detectives were dispatched to the Reiner residence.
“At this time, no additional details are available and the investigation into an apparent homicide is ongoing,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement posted on social media.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters that no arrests have been made and that no individuals are currently being questioned as suspects.
“I’m not going to confirm whether anyone is being questioned at this moment or not. We are going to try to speak with as many family members as we can,” Hamilton said.
CNN reported that a family spokesperson confirmed the deaths of Reiner and his wife.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, former U.S. President Barack Obama, and former Vice President Kamala Harrisissued statements expressing their condolences.
International
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to comply with current water obligations affecting U.S. farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to cover its water deficit to Texas under the 1944 Water Treaty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The department уточified that the agreement applies to both the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Mexico of failing to comply with the water-sharing treaty between the two countries, which requires the United States to deliver 1.85 billion cubic meters of water from the Colorado River, while Mexico must supply 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande.
Mexico is behind on its commitments. According to Washington, the country has accumulated a deficit of more than one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years.
“This violation is severely harming our beautiful crops and our livestock in Texas,” Trump wrote on Monday.
The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that Mexico had agreed to supply 250 million cubic meters of water starting next week and to work toward closing the shortfall.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted in the statement, said Mexico delivered more water in a single year than it had over the previous four years combined.
Trump has said that if Mexico continues to fall short of its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose 5% tariffs on imported Mexican products.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Roberto Velasco, said that a severe drought in 2022 and 2023prevented the country from meeting its commitments.
International
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Several people were shot on Saturday in an attack on the campus of Brown University, in the northeastern United States, local police reported.
“Shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice,” the Providence Police Department urged in a post on X. Brown University is located in Providence, the capital of the state of Rhode Island.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been briefed on the situation and that the FBI was on the scene.
At 5:52 p.m. local time (11:52 p.m. GMT), Brown University said the situation was still “ongoing” and instructed students to remain sheltered until further notice.
After initially stating that the suspect had been taken into custody, Trump later posted a second message clarifying that local police had walked back that information. “The suspect has NOT been apprehended,” the U.S. president said.
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