Islam in America Part 1

Three Kidnapped Red Cross Workers Released in Congo

KINSHASA – The International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC, announced on Saturday that three of its staff members kidnapped last Tuesday in North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC, have been freed.

“We are relieved that their ordeal is over and that they are now back, safe and sound, with their families,” said Alessandra Menegon, the head of the ICRC delegation in the DRC.

The humanitarian organization refused to comment on the perpetrators or motives of the kidnapping and simply condemned the incident.

The three ICRC workers were part of an aid convoy heading to the northeastern town of Kyaghala to distribute supplies to some 8,000 people affect by the ongoing conflict in the African country.

The northeastern DRC has been plagued for decades by ongoing violence between numerous rebel groups and the Congolese army and United Nations forces.

Suspected Killer of Mexican Journalist Arrested

VERACRUZ, Mexico – The killer of journalist Anabel Flores Salazar, who was murdered on Feb. 8, has been arrested, the attorney general of the Mexican Gulf state of Veracruz, Luis Angel Bravo, said Thursday.

Flores Salazar, a police reporter for the El Sol de Orizaba newspaper, “was deprived of her liberty and life for publishing stories that affected the interests of a criminal organization to which the material author of the crime belonged,” Bravo said.

The journalist was kidnapped from her home in a residential area in Mariano Escobedo, a city located in Veracruz’s mountainous central region.

Officials said several days after the killing that Josele Marquez, the regional Zetas drug cartel boss who ordered the killing, had been arrested.

Flores Salazar’s body was found on Feb. 10 on the Cuacnopalan-Oaxaca highway in Puebla state about 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from the Veracruz border.

The suspect, identified only by the initials A.G.P.V., was ordered held in preventive detention by a judge, the attorney general said.

The man was driving a stolen vehicle when he was arrested by police.

Sixty-nine attacks on journalists occurred in Mexico in the first quarter of 2016, with three members of the media murdered, the Articulo 19 press rights organization said.

Veracruz is one of the most dangerous states in Mexico for members of the press, with 15 journalists murdered in the Gulf state between January 2005 and July 2015.

Four members of the media have also gone missing in the state.

Mexico Prepares for “Trump Emergency”

MEXICO CITY – Mexico is preparing for the “Trump Emergency,” as the government of Enrique Peña Nieto has called the presumptive Republican presidential nomination of Donald Trump, which is seen as a threat by analysts and the business sector in the country.

“Here there is a Mexican government analysis triangle to know how to confront what we’ve been calling the Trump Emergency,” said the assistant secretary for Population, Migration and Migration Affairs within the Government Secretariat, Humberto Roque.

Roque is the only official so far to speak out about the withdrawal of all other Republican candidates from the GOP race, leaving Trump as the party’s likely White House candidate, a situation that has set off alarm bells in Mexico.

The official expressed concern over the “threat” of a possible Trump victory in the November election after the real estate magnate has called for the deportation from the United States of the more than 11 million undocumented foreigners and the construction of wall along the mutual border to block illegal immigration.

The Mexican government in April named experienced diplomat Carlos Sada as ambassador to Washington, Paulo Carreño as assistant secretary for North America and Carlos Perez Verdia, who had served in that post before Carreño, as coordinator of Peña Nieto’s advisors.

In addition, Mexico is seeking to strengthen its role in the United States, its main trading partner.

Proof of that is the visit made this week by Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu to California, where she mentioned the need to “reposition” Mexico’s image in its northern neighbor and noting the “valuable” contributions of Mexican migrants there.

The Mexican Business Council, or CMA, also expressed concern and claimed that Trump’s remarks harm the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“A candidate like Trump, who has been so virulent toward Mexico, against Mexican migrants and who has discredited NAFTA, remains a concern,” said CMN president Alejandro Ramirez.

Disabled Bolivian Protesters Hang Themselves from Bridge in Wheelchairs

LA PAZ – Disabled persons hung themselves in their wheelchairs from a footbridge and a tree in two Bolivian cities to pressure the government to pay them a monthly benefit of $72.

Lesbian Kicked Out Of Women’s Restroom By Police (VIDEO)

Border Patrol Agents Rescue Men Locked in Trunk

Release Date: 

April 27, 2016

PINE VALLEY, Calif. — U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a woman at the Interstate 8 checkpoint Tuesday for smuggling two Mexican nationals inside the trunk of her car.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a woman at the Interstate 8 checkpoint Tuesday for smuggling two Mexican nationals inside the trunk of her car.

At approximately 1 p.m., a 19-year-old female arrived at the checkpoint near Pine Valley driving a 2003 Acura TL.  Agents referred the woman for a secondary inspection and, when they opened the trunk of the Acura, they discovered two men inside.  The men had been in the trunk for an extended period and were disoriented by the daylight and had difficulty speaking.  After providing aid to the men, agents determined both were Mexican nationals illegally present in the U.S.

Agents arrested the female driver, who faces federal charges for human smuggling. The two Mexican nationals were transported to a nearby Border Patrol station for processing.

Campo Patrol Agent in Charge David BeMiller said, “Due to the extraordinary vigilance of the Campo Station agents, many smugglers have tried and failed to get their human cargo through the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 8.”

Since October 1, 2015, Border Patrol agents in San Diego Sector have intercepted 14,449 individuals who attempted to illegally enter the U.S.

To prevent the illicit smuggling of humans, drugs, and other contraband, the U.S. Border Patrol maintains a high level of vigilance on corridors of egress away from our Nation’s borders. To report suspicious activity to the U.S. Border Patrol, contact San Diego Sector at (619) 498-9900.