AFP, Washington:
US southern border detentions plunged for the second straight month in July after a deal with Mexico to block Central American migrants, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday.
US Border Patrol agents detained or blocked 82,049 migrants at the frontier with Mexico last month, down from 104,367 in June and a 13-year peak of 144,266 in May, they said.
Kyrgyz court holds ex-president
after raid
AFP, Kyrgyzstan
A court in Kyrgyzstan has ordered the country’s former president to be held in pretrial detention after he was seized from his compound in raids that left one person dead and plunged the country in crisis.
The Central Asian state, which has seen two revolutions in less than two decades, is caught in a standoff between ex-leader Almazbek Atambayev and his protege-turned-foe President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.
Six Western countries urge Russia to
withdraw from Georgia
AP, United Nations
The United States and five European countries on Thursday marked the 11th anniversary of the conflict between Russia and Georgia with an appeal to Moscow to implement agreements reached in 2008 to withdraw its military forces to positions held before hostilities began.
After closed U.N. Security Council consultations, the ambassadors of Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, Britain and the United States issued a statement supporting Georgia’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Iraqi national dies 2 months after being deported from US
AP, Detroit
A 41-year-old Iraqi-born man who had lived in the U.S. since he was an infant but was deported in June for committing multiple crimes died in Baghdad, American Civil Liberties Union officials said Thursday.
Ann Mullen, a spokeswoman for the ACLU of Michigan, said relatives of Jimmy Al-Daoud told the organization that he died this week. She said the ACLU doesn’t know what day he died or the exact cause, but that he had suffered from mental health issues and diabetes.
Egypt forces killed 17 Islamic militants
AP, Cairo
Security forces killed at least 17 suspected militants in raids in Cairo and in another province, Egypt officials said Thursday, four days after a car filled with explosives wrecked outside the county’s main cancer hospital, killing at least 20 people in the ensuing explosion.
The Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, said in a statement that eight of the militants were killed when security forces stormed their hideout in the town of Atsa in Fayoum province, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Cairo.
