6 NEWS The world at aglanceTHE WEEK 24 August 2019New York
Epstein suicide confirmed:The New
York City medical examiner has ruled
that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide
by hanging himself. The billionaire’s
death in prison on 10 August, while
awaiting trial on sex trafficking
charges, prompted speculation that he
had been killed to stop him revealing
information that might damage his
powerful friends. The ruling scotches
that, but there remain questions about
why he was left unsupervised in custody. This week, it emerged
that just before his death, Epstein signedanew will leaving
$577m in assets toaprivate trust in the US Virgin Islands–which
may make it harder for his alleged victims to get compensation.
Pressure is now growing on the Duke of York to tell
investigators what he knows about Epstein. Prince Andrew
invited Epstein to Balmoral in 1999 and remained in
touch with the financier even after he was convicted
of sex withaminor in 2008. This week, footage
emerged of him inside Epstein’s New York mansion
in 2010, onaday when various women were reportedly
seen coming and going. The Palace insists that the Prince has
never been sexually inappropriate withaminor, and that he
is “appalled” by Epstein’s alleged crimes.Ottawa
PM “broke ethics law”:Canada’s official ethics watchdog has
ruled that Justin Trudeau breached the country’s ethics laws, by
putting pressure on his former attorney general not to prosecute
aCanadian construction giant on charges of corporate
corruption. Jody Wilson-Raybould, who was also Trudeau’s
justice minister, resigned in February saying the PM’s office had
urged her to abandon her planned prosecution of SNC-Lavalin,
to protect jobs. The affair has dominated Canadian politics for
months, and the damning report–ineffect confirming Wilson-
Raybould’s account of events–isamajor blow to Trudeau ahead
of October’s election. The PM said he took “full responsibility”
for his actions, but that he would not “apologise for standing up
for Canadian jobs”. Opposition politicians are now calling for an
investigation into whether Trudeau violated criminal law.Washington DC
US tests formerly banned missile:The United States has
successfully tested an intermediate-range cruise missile just weeks
after pulling out ofaSoviet-era treaty with Russia banning such
weapons. The Pentagon said the US military testedamodified
ground-launched version ofanavy Tomahawk cruise missile off
the coast of California last Sunday, which hit its target more than
500km away. The Trump administration withdrew the US from
the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on2August,
saying that Russia had routinely broken its terms. The INF treaty,
the signing of which wasakey landmark in the ending of the
Cold War, had banned all missiles with ranges between 500km
and 5,500km. In response to the test, both Russia and China
accused the US of stokinganew arms race.San Salvador
Rape victim acquitted:An appeals court
in El Salvador has acquitteda21-year-
old rape victim who had been convicted
of killing her stillborn baby, in a
landmark case that has attracted global
attention to the country’s draconian
abortion laws. Evelyn Hernández gave
birth, aged 18, toastillborn baby boy
in the outside latrine at her family home.
She had not realised she was pregnant,
and lost consciousness owing to heavy
bleeding–yet was convicted of killing the baby. She was freed in
February after serving 33 months of her original 30-year prison
sentence. Hernández has called on her supporters to now fight for
at least 16 other women still in jail in the country in similar cases.Brasília
Bolsonaro on the attack:Brazil’s
president, Jair Bolsonaro, has
lashed out at Norway over its
decision to suspend its payments toaBrazilian environmental
protection fund, due to the surge in Amazon deforestation since
he came to office. The biggest donor to the Amazon Fund,
Norway has given it some £985m in the past decade. However,
last week Oslo announced it was suspending payments on the
grounds that under Bolsonaro, Brazil “no longer wants to stop
deforestation”. Germany, another donor, has also ceased its
payments. “Norway, isn’t that the country that kills whales up
there, at the North Pole?” tweeted Bolsonaro. “Let them keep
their money and let them help Angela Merkel reforest Germany.”Washington DC
Israel blocks visit:The first two Muslim women to sit in the
House of Representatives–Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and
Rashida Tlaib of Michigan–have urged their fellow legislators
to visit Israel to stop Donald Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin
Netanyahu “hiding the cruel reality of the occupation”. Last week
Israel blocked an official visit from the pair, at Trump’s urging,
citing their support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
campaign for Palestinian rights. Omar called this “an attempt
to suppress our ability to do our jobs as elected officials”, and
questioned the billions in aid the US sends to the country. Israel
later said Tlaib could visit her grandmother in the West Bank, if
she agreed not to promote the boycott, but she decided not to,
saying these were “oppressive conditions meant to humiliate me”.©T
HE SUN, NEWS LICENSING, JAE DONNELLY