MANAGUA (Reuters) – Nicaraguan police say they are investigating several dioceses of the Catholic Church for money laundering, a day after local media reported that the bank accounts of parishes in the Central American country had been frozen. The police, loyal to the government of President Daniel Ortega which has clashed fiercely with Nicaragua’s bishops, said that since May 19 they found “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in Church facilities in various parts of the country. Investigations “confirmed the unlawful removal of resources from bank accounts that had been ordered by law to be frozen,” the police said in a statement. Ortega’s government has intensified attacks against the Catholic Church in the wake of 2018 anti-government protests in which some 360 people died after what human rights groups call police repression. The government accused the bishops, who mediated talks between the government and protesters, of attempting a coup. The police statement said the bank accounts were linked to religious figures convicted of treason and other crimes, and that the investigations confirmed the funds entered the country irregularly.

  

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NEW DELHI (AP) – India’s major opposition parties on Sunday boycotted the inauguration of a new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a rare show of unity against his Hindu nationalist ruling party, which has ruled for nine years and is seeking a third term in next year’s elections. Modi inaugurated the new Parliament in the capital of New Delhi by offering prayers as Hindu priests chanted religious hymns. Opposition parties criticized the event saying Modi had sidelined President Droupadi Murmu, who has only ceremonial powers but is the head of state and highest constitutional authority. Shortly after the inauguration, a visibly beaming Modi entered Parliament amid a rousing applause by his party lawmakers who chanted “Modi, Modi.” He delivered an almost 40-minute speech. The opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “Parliament is the voice of the people. The Prime Minister is considering the inauguration of the Parliament House as a coronation.” At least 19 opposition parties skipped the event, which coincided with the birth anniversary of a Hindu nationalist ideologue.

 

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BRUSSELS (Dispatches) – More than 90 percent of respondents in a global survey strongly oppose NATO’s involvement in the Asia-Pacific region, describing the U.S.-led Western military alliance’s activities in the region as cause for great alarm. According to a poll conducted by CGTN, 93 percent of the respondents strongly agree that the actions of NATO in recent years have violated its stated defense position. More than 92 percent believe NATO has become a tool for the U.S. to maintain hegemony and pursue political interests, according to the poll. “NATO stirs up trouble everywhere and keeps interfering in the affairs of other regions, which will only end up with its own consequences,” said a respondent, as cited by CGTN. The survey was conducted after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his country was considering the establishment of a NATO liaison office. The news sparked widespread concern and great vigilance in the global community, especially among countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan hosted a delegation from the military alliance early this month to discuss ways to step up cooperation. News also emerged back then that the military bloc intends to open a liaison office in Tokyo next year. Both Tokyo and NATO have confirmed the plans.

 

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ISLAMABAD (AP) – At least 11 people have been killed after an avalanche hit members of a nomadic tribe as they crossed a mountainous area in northern Pakistan, the country’s disaster management agency has said. “Such incidents are rising in Pakistan due to the impact of climate change,” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement. Pakistan, which in recent years has faced record monsoon rains and glacier melt in northern mountains, is among the top 10 countries at risk of natural disasters due to rising temperatures. Sharif called on the international community to fulfill its responsibility to save developing countries facing economic challenges from adverse effects of climate change. The incident took place near the Shounter Pass that connects the Gilgit-Baltistan region with Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Gilgit Baltistan, sometimes referred to as the land of glaciers, has frequently seen avalanches and snow landslides in recent years due to glacial melting.

 

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NEW DELHI (Al Jazeera) – A government official in central India has been suspended from his job after he ordered a water reservoir to be drained to retrieve his smartphone, which he had dropped while taking a selfie. Food inspector Rajesh Vishwas dropped his smartphone in Kherkatta Dam in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh state last week, The Times of India newspaper reported. Vishwas first asked local divers to jump into the reservoir to find the device, claiming it contained sensitive government data. But after the initial efforts to retrieve his phone failed, he asked for the reservoir to be emptied using diesel pumps. Over the next three days, more than 2 million liters of water was pumped out from the reservoir, which was enough to irrigate at least 1,500 acres (607 hectares) of land during India’s scorching summer, local media reported. In videos that went viral on social media, Vishwas is seen sitting under a red umbrella as diesel pumps run to drain water from the reservoir.

 

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PARIS (AFP) – French medical bodies on Sunday called on authorities to punish researcher Didier Raoult for “the largest ‘unauthorized’ clinical trial ever seen” into the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19. Raoult, the former head of the IHU Mediterranee research hospital, and his subordinates engaged in “systematic prescription of medications as varied as hydroxychloroquine, zinc, ivermectin and azithromycin to patients suffering from Covid-19... without a solid pharmacological basis and lacking any proof of their effectiveness,” a group of 16 research bodies wrote in an op-ed piece on daily Le Monde’s website. The drugs continued to be prescribed “for more than a year after their ineffectiveness had been absolutely demonstrated,” they added. Endorsement from respected tropical disease specialist Raoult helped push anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine into the public consciousness in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, feeding into its promotion by former U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazil’s then-leader Jair Bolsonaro.