LONDON (Reuters) -- Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has nominated his father Stanley for a knighthood in the list of honors he can grant as an outgoing leader, the Times newspaper reported on Monday, drawing accusations of cronyism. The Times said Johnson had put forward as many as 100 names for awards. His predecessors Theresa May and David Cameron nominated roughly 60 each. The newspaper did not specify what service Stanley Johnson’s nomination was in acknowledgement of. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has the power to block any honors nominations. His science minister, Michelle Donelan, said there were “bigger fish to fry”, when asked if she would have a problem with a knighthood for Johnson’s father. “Obviously it’s the ex-prime minister’s prerogative to be able to make those types of appointments, but we’ll see if this story is true or not,” she told LBC Radio. Opposition Labour’s health policy chief Wes Streeting told the BBC: “I think (his resignation honors list) speaks to a pattern of Boris Johnson’s behavior around cronyism.” As prime minister, Johnson in 2020 elevated his brother Jo Johnson to the House of Lords, the upper chamber of parliament, where he has a seat for life.

 

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WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Four American citizens were shot at and kidnapped by armed men after driving across the US border into northeastern Mexico, the FBI said Sunday. The Americans crossed into Matamoros, in Tamaulipas state, on Friday, driving a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement released by the US embassy in Mexico. “Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the (minivan). All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the FBI said. Matamoros, located across the U.S. border from Brownsville, Texas, has been beset by violence linked to drug trafficking and other organized crime.

 

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ATHENS (AFP) -- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has asked the country’s Supreme Court to give “top priority” to the criminal cases triggered by last week’s fatal train disaster, his office said Monday. “The Greek people want an immediate and thorough clarification of the criminal incidents related to this tragic accident,” Mitsotakis wrote in a letter to the court’s prosecutor about the collision, which killed at least 57 people and stoked public anger. The letter specified that the court investigation into the tragedy was separate from the one already launched by government-appointed experts. On Sunday, Mitsotakis, who is expected to seek re-election in April, asked for forgiveness from the families of those killed in Greece’s worst rail disaster as thousands of furious protesters rallied in Athens and clashed with police. The crash occurred last Tuesday when a freight train collided head-on with a passenger train carrying over 350 passengers, many of them young students.

 

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ISLAMABAD (AFP) -- Pakistan TV stations have been banned from broadcasting speeches by former prime minister Imran Khan, the state media watchdog said, the latest hurdle facing the politician as he campaigns for early elections. Khan was routed from office in a no-confidence motion last year and has been pressuring the fragile coalition which replaced him with daily speeches, regular rallies and allegations of corruption. Meanwhile the 70-year-old former cricketing superstar has been tangled in a slew of elaborate legal cases, a frequent fixture in Pakistan’s mudslinging politics. Late Sunday, as police attempted to arrest Khan in connection with a corruption case, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) banned his live speeches and reruns with immediate effect.

 

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TAIPEI (Dispatches) -- The head of a small Taiwanese political party will next month become the first contender for 2024’s presidential election to visit the United States, to brief officials on his policies should he win office, though that may be a long shot. Taiwanese presidential candidates traditionally go to the United States before elections given Washington’s oversized role in backing Taiwan internationally in challenge to China which views it “sacred” Chinese territory. The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), only founded in 2019, said on Monday its Chairman Ko Wen-je would make a 21-day trip to the United States beginning on April 8 in his capacity as the party’s presidential nominee, though he has yet to formally be declared its candidate. Ko, who served two terms as Taipei mayor until stepping down last year because of term limits, will meet State Department officials - the party declined to say who - and speak at universities included Harvard.

 

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NOUAKCHOTT (AFP) -- Four takfiri prisoners escaped Sunday night after an exchange of fire at the central prison in Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott, in which two national guards were killed, the Interior Ministry said. “The National Guard has tightened its control over the prison and immediately started tracking down the fugitives in order to arrest them as soon as possible,” the ministry said in a statement published by the official news agency early Monday. Meanwhile, between 12 and 14 people were killed last week in northern Burkina Faso, a region that has been battered by takfiri insurgents, local inhabitants said Monday. “A group of terrorists” on Thursday attacked the village of Aorema, near the town of Ouahigouya, they told AFP. The attack was confirmed by a security source, who did not give a toll.