NEW YORK  –  Prosecutors reportedly began to share evidence in their case against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, with a grand jury last Thursday. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office hopes to move quickly in their effort to obtain an indictment in New York City where Mangione allegedly shot and killed Thompson on 4 December, according CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported. Mr Mangione’s lawyer is continuing to fight his extradition from Pennsylvania – where the suspected shooter was arrested on gun-related charges – to New York. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said last Thursday that she is also working to get Mr Mangione back to her state from Pennsylvania “because that horrific attack occurred on our streets”. “The people of our city deserve to have that sense of calm that this perpetrator has been caught and he will never see the light of day again,” she added. But Mr Mangione’s lawyer, Thomas Dickey, has said he plans to fight the extradition and maintains he has not seen evidence that link Mr Mangione’s gun with the crime. “A lot of guns look the same,” he said earlier this week on ABC News. Last Wednesday, however, police found a positive match between Mr Mangione’s fingerprints and those discovered at the scene of the crime, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Investigators are also looking at how Mr Mangione travelled into and out of New York City. They initially believed that he had taken a bus out of the city, but they now suspect he may have taken the subway to Penn Station – where they suspect he may have caught a train to Pennsylvania. While Mr Mangione awaits his fate in the New York court system, he remains in in his own cell under maximum security at Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.

He was denied bail at his hearing last Thursday. His next court appearance is 30 December. (BBC)

Photo: Luigi Mangione. (Getty Images)

OKINAWA  –  A US serviceman was sentenced to five years in prison for kidnapping and raping an underage girl last year, an official from Naha District Court on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa told CNN. The sentence was made on the grounds that the crime was a “major sexual infringement,” Judge Tetsuro Sato of Naha District Court said on Friday, according to public broadcaster NHK. “The girl’s testimony that she told her age by gestures and other means is sufficiently credible from the security camera footage,” the judge said. “The defendant was aware that the girl was under 16 years old. The defendant was aware that the girl may have said ‘stop’ and may not have consented. Given the relationship and age difference between the two, who had never met each other, it is a crime of great sexual violation that stands out for its maliciousness.”

The US Air Force member, Brennon R. E. Washington, was indicted on March 27 on charges of “non-consensual sexual intercourse” and “indecent kidnapping” after he was discovered to have taken a 16-year-old Japanese girl to his residence last December and sexually assaulting her, Japanese prosecutors said. The US military handed the 25-year-old serviceman over to Japanese authorities on the same day. He was later released on bail and transferred to Kadena for custody, a government spokesperson told CNN. His trial began on July 12. “We are heartbroken and deeply regret the damage done to the victims and their families,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Nicholas Evans, commander of Kadena Air Base, told local media on Friday. “Sexual assault is a serious crime and in no way reflects the values of US military personnel.” The incident is the latest in a history of criminal cases involving US personnel in Okinawa, home to several US military installations. It could exacerbate tensions with residents who have long opposed the presence of American troops and weaponry on the island.

It also comes nearly 30 years after three US servicemen raped a 12-year-old Okinawa schoolgirl in 1995, sparking a backlash against the US military on the island. In 2016, the rape and murder of a 20-year-old woman by a former US base worker in Okinawa triggered mass protests in the island’s capital, with tens of thousands of residents demanding the US move its bases outside of Okinawa. The fallout resulted in curfews for US personnel on the island. In another crime involving US personnel in Japan, a US Navy officer killed two Japanese nationals while driving down Mount Fuji in 2021.

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki told reporters in June this year that the allegations of rape and kidnap against Washington were “extremely regrettable,” adding it was necessary “to strongly protest against the US military and other related organizations.” The governor also said his office will “take a tough stance in dealing with the situation.” “We understand and share the local community’s concerns regarding this case,” 18th Wing 1st Lt. Alvin G. Nelson III, spokesperson for the US Air Force 18th Wing at Kadena, told CNN earlier this year, adding that wing leadership was “deeply concerned by the severity of this alleged crime” and has been working with local authorities to investigate the allegations. “All US service members are expected to uphold the highest standards, and the US military is committed to holding accountable those who are convicted of criminal acts,” Nelson said. (CNN)

Photo: Kadena Air Base in Kadena, Okinawa. (Reuters)

GOMA  –  Just four months after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency over mpox – which has overwhelmed health systems in Democratic Republic of the Congo this year –  a new mystery flu-like illness that’s killed dozens of people has raised fears among many Congolese. Forty-year-old Denise Kabeya lives in the Panzi area in DRC’s western Kwango province – where health authorities say most cases of the unknown disease have emerged since October. That month, Kabeya’s 12-year-old daughter Diane fell ill. “My beloved little one had headaches, runny nose, no appetite and was physically weak,” Kabeya told Al Jazeera by telephone. “I thought it was malaria and typhoid fever,” she shared, explaining that those diseases are endemic in the region. When Diane developed a blocked nose, Kabeya hoped the worst was over and that she would make a speedy recovery, as was usually the case when she developed such symptoms. But the child complained about more aches and pains, and eventually passed away from her illness in late October.

Between October 24 and December 11, there were 514 cases of the undiagnosed disease reported in eight of the 30 health areas in Panzi health zone, according to figures from the local health authorities. Earlier this week, the WHO, which has sent experts to the region to investigate the cause of the outbreak and help with the response, said more than 30 people had died in hospitals from the disease. There were another 44 deaths recorded in remote communities in Panzi, Congolese Minister of Health Roger Kamba said last week. Kamba said the outbreak was first reported in October, with the alert level raised to high at the end of November. Most of the cases and deaths are in children under 14, national health authorities said, with children under five presenting with the majority of cases. Because so little is known about this mystery disease, it is difficult to know why children are so vulnerable, experts said. Al Jazeera reached out to the WHO branch in the DRC for further details, but was told that investigations are still continuing to understand the reasons. Speaking at a media conference last week, Kamba said that the disease is flu-like.

“Respiratory distress was noted in some children and some other people who died,” Kamba, said, noting that some patients were anaemic, which was the cause of some of the deaths linked to the disease. Cases of severe malnutrition have aggravated the disease in some children, according to local sources in Panzi, information also corroborated by the national Ministry of Health. “Symptoms are flu-like. Patients suffer from high fever, headaches, coughing, runny nose and aches and pains,” Serges Zenga, an attending physician in the Kenge health zone, near Panzi, told Al Jazeera. This week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said laboratory samples from infected people were being collected and tested. So far, most of the samples had tested positive for malaria, he said, but added that it was possible more than one disease was involved. Meanwhile, the remoteness of the epicentre of the outbreak, as well as a lack of infrastructure, was jeopardising the fight against the disease. (Al Jazeera)

Photo: A view of the Panzi General Referral Hospital in southwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has seen an outbreak of a mystery disease. (AP)

PARAMARIBO – “The president keeps playing the same old song by saying that Suriname was isolated for the ten years. But the fact is that the current policy has isolated Suriname from its old friends,” MP Rabindre Parmessar (NDP) told Times of Suriname.
Parmessar pointed out that the president of the republic of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, claims that a lot has been achieved. “The cold truth is that the government has neglected so much and that it is trying to fix things that it ignored for the past four and a half years. The president and his administration keep insisting that Suriname was isolated for ten years whilst he current foreign policy has created a distance between Suriname and his old friends. Everything that was achieved by the previous administration has to be destroyed even the friendships with South American countries,” said MP Parmessar who criticized the president for telling beautiful stories in parliament but failing to give clear answers regarding the actual situation.
The president recently spoke about a recovery and stable phase and claimed that Suriname is currently in a growth phase with improved living conditions for the people. “But the reality is quite the opposite. Property and crime are on the rise while the quality of education, healthcare and the infrastructure are deteriorating,” said MP Parmessar.

The Police Force Suriname (KPS) recently announced that three men who are suspected of armed robbery namely R.M., D.J. en J.L., were arrested last Sunday after they had been tracked down by detectives and the Regional Support Team (RBT) Paramaribo. A fourth suspect namely 22-year-old C.A. surrendered herself to the police the next day. She had reportedly given the robbers the opportunity to hide from the police in her house.
All four suspects were allegedly involved in the armed robbery of a 57-year-old customs officer and her family. The victim called the Geyersvlijt Police Department on November 6th to report a home invasion and armed robbery. She told the police that five masked robbers had barged into her house before attacking her and her family. One of the robbers was armed with a gun. The police officers found out that the robbers had attacked and tied up the security guard before entering the private residence and attacking the residents who were asleep. The man of the house and his son put up a fight and sustained injuries. Their determination to offer resistance scared off the robbers who fled the scene.
While the robbers were fleeing the scene, they fired several warning shots. The robbers fled to the house of C.A., who lives several blocks away from the victim’s house. Security footage clearly shows C.A. allowing the suspects to enter and hide in her house. The police are still looking for the other suspects. The investigation is ongoing.