NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
_1 Britain fire: Residents of London’s Grenfell Tower highrise were wrongly told to stay in their apartments as fire raged through the building, aided by flammable external cladding and a host of fire-safety failings, according to expert finding released Monday. Firesafety engineer Barbara Lane said the fire department’s “stay put” policy had “effectively failed” barely a half-hour after the fire started on June 14, 2017. But, she said, residents weren’t told to evacuate for more than an hour after that. Lane’s report was published by an inquiry investigating causes of the fire, which killed 72 people. The blaze started in a fourth-floor apartment and raced within minutes up the 25-story building.
_2 Italy politics: The League party on Monday denounced billionaire philanthropist George Soros for having publicly questioned whether the right-wing, anti-immigrant party received financing from Russia. Soros’ comments, delivered Sunday at an economic forum in northern Italy, focused attention on the pro-Moscow agenda of Italy’s new euroskeptic League and 5-Star Movement government. Soros said he was “very worried” that Russia was exercising “negative influence” in Europe, and said Italians had a right to ask if Moscow was financially supporting the League. League leader Matteo Salvini shot back saying the party had “never received a lira, euro or ruble from Russia,” though he said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “one of the best statesman.”
_3 Hungary migrants: Civic groups are asking the government to drop a draft bill seeking to criminalize their work with asylumseekers and refugees. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International said Monday that the bill “criminalizes humanitarian and legal assistance,” threatening them with prison terms of up to a year. The bill is part of right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s campaign to prevent Hungary from “becoming an immigrant country.”
_4 Slovenia election: Slovenia’s president said Monday he will offer a mandate to form the government to a right-wing opposition leader whose party won most votes in weekend parliamentary elections in the European Union nation. Borut Pahor said former prime minister Janez Jansa should be given a chance to gather a parliamentary majority after his anti-immigrant Slovenian Democratic Party won 25 percent of the vote on Sunday. Most other parties that have made it into the 90-member parliament have ruled out a coalition with Jansa because of his extremist position. They are more likely to form a centrist coalition. Observers in Slovenia are predicting long and tough post-election talks because a total of nine parties have entered the parliament, including the far-right National Party.
_5 Japan scandal: Finance Minister Taro Aso has taken a voluntary one-year salary cut after 20 officials were penalized for tampering with documents related to a government property sale linked to the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s wife. The Finance Ministry has acknowledged tampering with hundreds of pages of documents related to the 2016 land sale to a school where Akie Abe once held an honorary position. Aso apologized Monday over the tampering by lower level officials and resulting damage to public trust, but said Akie Abe was not directly involved. The scandal relates to the sale of government land to a school operator at one-seventh of its appraised price. Abe has denied any wrongdoing by him or his wife.