News in Brief
LONDON (AFP) -- The British government on Monday took back control of a privately-run prison after a watchdog found "a dramatic deterioration" and "appalling" conditions.
The justice ministry assumed control of HMP Birmingham from private security company G4S, following a damning inspection that found "squalor, violence and the prevalence of drugs and looming lack of control".
In a first since Britain began contracting the running of some prisons to private companies in the early 1990s, it will run the jail in central England, one of the largest in the country, for an initial six-month period.
The moves follow a scathing critique from Britain's Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke, who warned Birmingham had "slipped into crisis".
He found problems ranging from widespread drug-use and associated violence, to vermin, uncollected rubbish and dilapidated buildings, with staff found asleep or locked in offices during an inspection.
Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon said the situation at Birmingham "should be a nail in the coffin for the flawed idea of prison privatization".
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MADRID (Reuters) -- Three people were injured when a car mounted a pavement in the northern Spanish town of Casetas Monday, before its driver fled, a Civil Guard police spokesman said.
The spokesman could give no more details.
The local unit of COPE radio station tweeted that two people in the car were detained shortly afterwards.
The injured included a 45-year-old man who was taken to a nearby hospital. Two other people were taken to a different hospital, a civil protection agency spokeswoman said.
No details of the victims' medical conditions have been given, the spokeswoman added.
Earlier, police said they had shot a man armed with a knife as he tried to attack a police station in the northeastern region of Catalonia.
Regional police said on Twitter the man had entered the police station in Cornella, near Barcelona, just before 0400 GMT "with the aim of attacking the officers," adding he had then been shot.
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MOSCOW (AFP) -- Daesh Monday claimed responsibility for several attacks against policemen in Russia's Chechnya, the SITE monitoring group reported, citing the militants’ main propaganda agency Amaq.
"Fighters from the Daesh attacked Chechen police officers and elements in Grozny and Shali in Mesker-Yurt," Amaq said, according to SITE. Officials in Russia confirmed that several policemen were injured by attacks in Grozny and Shali.
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RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) -- At least 14 people were killed Monday in Rio de Janeiro during operations by soldiers and police against drug gangs in impoverished favelas and a suburb, officials and media reports said.
The military command heading security in Brazil's second biggest city said eight people died in the sweep of favelas "and there could be more." Local media reported six suspected armed gang members were killed after a car chase in the suburb of Niteroi.
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GENEVA (Reuters) -- The UN rights chief said Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump bears "a heavy responsibility" for how the media is portrayed and that his remarks could have a knock-on effect that make the situation for journalists more difficult in other countries.
"To label the press in this way is very worrisome," Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said in an interview before his four-year term ends.
"Because it also has a demonstration effect, other leaders in authoritarian settings will do same thing. We've seen now how they mimic President Trump and so what could already be a difficult situation in other countries becomes even more difficult for the press to operate and for journalists to uncover stories and for lawyers to do their work and for human rights defenders to do their work," Zeid said.
***
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) -- At least 19 people were killed in a Takfiri militant attack on a village in northeast Nigeria in the early hours of Sunday, a survivor of the attack said.
The strike is the latest blow to Nigeria's efforts to defeat insurgencies by the Nigerian Boko Haram group and Daesh in West Africa. In recent months, the military has suffered its heaviest defeats in years, commanders have been repeatedly replaced, and special forces soldiers have mutinied.
The militants attacked the village of Mailari in the Guzamala region of Borno state at around 2 a.m., according to the survivor, Abatcha Umar. He said he had not been able to tell whether they belonged to Boko Haram or to Daesh in West Africa.
Umar said he had counted 19 people killed, including his younger brother. An aid worker at a camp that received the survivors, and who declined to be identified, put the death toll at 63.
***
BRASILIA (Reuters) -- The government of the northern Brazilian state of Roraima Monday asked the country's supreme court to halt the entry of Venezuelan immigrants, as the border state struggles to cope with a flow that has already sparked violent confrontations.
Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have poured over the border into Roraima state over the last few years, fleeing economic and political turmoil in their country. The influx has overwhelmed the state's social services and brought a rise in crime, prostitution and disease, and has sparked incidents of xenophobia, Brazilian government officials say.
The justice ministry assumed control of HMP Birmingham from private security company G4S, following a damning inspection that found "squalor, violence and the prevalence of drugs and looming lack of control".
In a first since Britain began contracting the running of some prisons to private companies in the early 1990s, it will run the jail in central England, one of the largest in the country, for an initial six-month period.
The moves follow a scathing critique from Britain's Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke, who warned Birmingham had "slipped into crisis".
He found problems ranging from widespread drug-use and associated violence, to vermin, uncollected rubbish and dilapidated buildings, with staff found asleep or locked in offices during an inspection.
Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon said the situation at Birmingham "should be a nail in the coffin for the flawed idea of prison privatization".
***
MADRID (Reuters) -- Three people were injured when a car mounted a pavement in the northern Spanish town of Casetas Monday, before its driver fled, a Civil Guard police spokesman said.
The spokesman could give no more details.
The local unit of COPE radio station tweeted that two people in the car were detained shortly afterwards.
The injured included a 45-year-old man who was taken to a nearby hospital. Two other people were taken to a different hospital, a civil protection agency spokeswoman said.
No details of the victims' medical conditions have been given, the spokeswoman added.
Earlier, police said they had shot a man armed with a knife as he tried to attack a police station in the northeastern region of Catalonia.
Regional police said on Twitter the man had entered the police station in Cornella, near Barcelona, just before 0400 GMT "with the aim of attacking the officers," adding he had then been shot.
***
MOSCOW (AFP) -- Daesh Monday claimed responsibility for several attacks against policemen in Russia's Chechnya, the SITE monitoring group reported, citing the militants’ main propaganda agency Amaq.
"Fighters from the Daesh attacked Chechen police officers and elements in Grozny and Shali in Mesker-Yurt," Amaq said, according to SITE. Officials in Russia confirmed that several policemen were injured by attacks in Grozny and Shali.
***
RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) -- At least 14 people were killed Monday in Rio de Janeiro during operations by soldiers and police against drug gangs in impoverished favelas and a suburb, officials and media reports said.
The military command heading security in Brazil's second biggest city said eight people died in the sweep of favelas "and there could be more." Local media reported six suspected armed gang members were killed after a car chase in the suburb of Niteroi.
***
GENEVA (Reuters) -- The UN rights chief said Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump bears "a heavy responsibility" for how the media is portrayed and that his remarks could have a knock-on effect that make the situation for journalists more difficult in other countries.
"To label the press in this way is very worrisome," Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said in an interview before his four-year term ends.
"Because it also has a demonstration effect, other leaders in authoritarian settings will do same thing. We've seen now how they mimic President Trump and so what could already be a difficult situation in other countries becomes even more difficult for the press to operate and for journalists to uncover stories and for lawyers to do their work and for human rights defenders to do their work," Zeid said.
***
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) -- At least 19 people were killed in a Takfiri militant attack on a village in northeast Nigeria in the early hours of Sunday, a survivor of the attack said.
The strike is the latest blow to Nigeria's efforts to defeat insurgencies by the Nigerian Boko Haram group and Daesh in West Africa. In recent months, the military has suffered its heaviest defeats in years, commanders have been repeatedly replaced, and special forces soldiers have mutinied.
The militants attacked the village of Mailari in the Guzamala region of Borno state at around 2 a.m., according to the survivor, Abatcha Umar. He said he had not been able to tell whether they belonged to Boko Haram or to Daesh in West Africa.
Umar said he had counted 19 people killed, including his younger brother. An aid worker at a camp that received the survivors, and who declined to be identified, put the death toll at 63.
***
BRASILIA (Reuters) -- The government of the northern Brazilian state of Roraima Monday asked the country's supreme court to halt the entry of Venezuelan immigrants, as the border state struggles to cope with a flow that has already sparked violent confrontations.
Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have poured over the border into Roraima state over the last few years, fleeing economic and political turmoil in their country. The influx has overwhelmed the state's social services and brought a rise in crime, prostitution and disease, and has sparked incidents of xenophobia, Brazilian government officials say.