KAMPALA (Reuters) - A U.S. couple detained in Uganda on charges of aggravated torture of a 10-year-old boy face an additional charge of aggravated child trafficking which carries the death penalty if they are convicted, the state prosecutor said on Wednesday. Nicholas Spencer and his wife, Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 32, have been in custody in Uganda since Dec. 9 after they were charged with aggravated torture of the child who was living in their home under foster care in the capital Kampala. They have pleaded not guilty to that charge. Prosecutors accuse the couple of having recruited, transported and kept the child through “abuse of position of vulnerability for purposes of exploitation”, according to the charge sheet.

 

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TOKYO (AP) — A key governing party lawmaker in Japan who served in key posts resigned Wednesday over a political funding scandal in a fresh embarrassment for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Kentaro Sonoura, an expert on diplomacy and security, admitted last month that his aide has been investigated by prosecutors over alleged underreporting of political funds. His resignation, later approved by House of Representatives Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda, is a fresh blow to Kishida, who has already replaced three ministers in recent months and seen his support ratings tumble over his party’s deep ties to the controversial Unification Church.

 

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BANJUL, Gambia (AFP) – The Gambia’s government on Wednesday said it had thwarted a coup attempt the previous day and arrested four soldiers. “The situation is under total control,” it added. There was no immediate confirmation of the purported plot from other sources. Scattered witness accounts reported soldier movements around the presidential headquarters in the centre of the capital Banjul on Tuesday evening, and rumors circulated during the night of a possible coup. “Based on intelligence reports that some soldiers of the Gambian army were plotting to overthrow the democratically elected government of President Adama Barrow, the (armed forces) in a swift military operation conducted yesterday arrested four soldiers linked to this alleged coup plot,” the government said.

 

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ALAMEDA COUNTY (AFP) – U.S. law enforcement seized more than enough fentanyl to kill all Americans in 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration said, underscoring the deep threat of the deadly man-made opioid. The DEA said it had captured 50.6 million fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl and 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder during the year, calling it the equivalent of “more than 379 million potentially deadly doses.” The DEA said fentanyl, which caused only a fraction of overdose deaths a decade ago, is now the “deadliest drug threat facing this country.”

 

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LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s Congress tentatively has endorsed a plan  to hold early elections in an attempt to defuse a national political crisis marked by deadly unrest after lawmakers ousted President Pedro Castillo. The proposal, approved by 91 of the legislature’s 130 members, would push up to April 2024 elections for president and congress originally scheduled for 2026. The plan — which seeks to add one article to Peru’s constitution — must be ratified by another two-thirds majority in the next annual legislative session for it to be adopted.