- Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
- Deal on climate aid hangs in balance at UN COP29 summit
- Royals hit back against Yankees, Tigers maul Guardians
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- Tragedy of Madrid street sweeper highlights how heatwaves kill
- Survivors wait for aid as Trump's lies help cloud Helene response
- Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon's displaced met with suspicion
- Jila Mossaed, from refugee poet to Swedish Academy
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- Drugs, people smuggling at heart of Mexico's raging violence
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
- Musk says he is 'all in' on Trump in US election
- Category 5 Hurricane Milton roars towards storm-battered Florida
- Carpenter bomb stuns Guardians as Tigers level series
- Harris, Trump and Biden mark Oct. 7 attacks as US election looms
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- US judge orders Google to open Android to rival app stores
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights 'sacred' multi-front war
- Nobel scientist uncovered tiny genetic switches with big potential
- Grammy-winning Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney, dies at 91
- UN biodiversity summit in Colombia aims to turn words into action
- Georgia Supreme Court reinstates six-week abortion ban
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights multi-front war
- Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office
- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
RBGPF | 100% | 60.52 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.15% | 6.87 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ |
Behind closed doors, trial starts for Nicaragua opposition figure
Nicaraguan opposition figure Cristiana Chamorro, detained since June last year while planning an election challenge to President Daniel Ortega, went on trial behind closed doors Thursday, a rights group said.
Chamorro, 68, the daughter of ex-president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, was regarded as the favorite to beat Ortega in November polls widely condemned as rigged.
Ortega won a fourth successive mandate with all his challengers in jail.
The senior Chamorro is the only person to have beaten Ortega in an election, in 1990.
Her daughter's court case opened Thursday at a court inside El Chipote prison, where trials have been held since last month for 46 opposition figures arrested since last year.
They include seven presidential hopefuls, including Chamorro who was the first to be arrested to international condemnation.
The independent Human Rights Center of Nicaragua (Cenidh) on Thursday denounced an "exaggerated police presence" around the prison.
"Not satisfied with the illegality of conducting a trial in a prison, they have now also militarized the entire perimeter of the El Chipote judicial complex in an intimidating manner," it said on Twitter.
Chamorro, under house arrest since June 2, is accused by the state of laundering money, property and assets through a free speech foundation named after her mother.
Prosecutors say money held by the now-defunct foundation was intended to destabilize the government.
A journalist not aligned to any political party, Chamorro also faces a host of other charges including promoting "ideological falsehood."
She has described Ortega's government as "a dictatorship capable of anything."
Also in court Thursday were Chamorro's driver, Pedro Vazquez, her brother Pedro Joaquin and two former executives of the foundation.
Defense lawyer Maynor Curtis said the trial could last several days.
He said Chamorro has been "isolated" at her home, with only her children allowed to visit, and has not had contact with her lawyers ahead of the trial.
Of the 46 people detained, over 30 have been found guilty so far, with 18 receiving jail sentences ranging from eight to 13 years.
G.Stevens--AMWN