Migrants ashore; Italy threatens rescuers
MILAN -- Italy's hard-line Interior Minister Matteo Salvini threatened possible legal action Monday after 47 migrants rescued at sea by a humanitarian aid ship landed on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa despite his explicit ban against them.
The German aid group Sea-Watch said the 47 migrants were transferred to Lampedusa on Sunday evening with the cooperation of the coast guard and financial police. They were among 65 migrants rescued off the coast of Libya last week.
Salvini had given permission for 18 migrants -- mostly families with young children -- to be brought to land on Friday. But he told a campaign rally that the rest would not be allowed into Italy as long as he remained on the job.
Salvini reacted angrily to the transfer of the remaining 47, saying on Facebook that if "there was a ploy to disembark the migrants, I will take action, because that is aiding and abetting human trafficking."
Salvini pledged that the vessel, the Sea-Watch 3, would be confiscated and threatened the ship's crew with arrest, referring to them as "deputy human traffickers."
Sea-Watch said its ship was too big to enter Lampedusa, requiring the transfer from the Italian vessels, and had been ordered to another port on a "probationary confiscation."
Salvini said the rescue ship should be taken out of use permanently and sunk.
U.S.' China envoy plans visit to Tibet
BEIJING -- The U.S. ambassador to China is making a rare visit to Tibet to meet local officials and raise concerns about restrictions on Buddhist practices and the preservation of the Himalayan region's unique culture and language.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Terry Branstad is visiting the Tibetan Autonomous Region and neighboring Qinghai province from Sunday through Saturday. Qinghai is a traditionally Tibetan region also known as Amdo and the birthplace of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader.
Branstad's visit will include official meetings along with visits to religious and cultural heritage sites, schools, and "other places of interest," the embassy said in a statement.
The embassy called the visit "a chance for the ambassador to engage with local leaders to raise longstanding concerns." It said Branstad would also "learn first-hand about the region's unique cultural, religious, and ecological significance."
China tightly restricts access to Tibet by foreigners, especially journalists and diplomats. In response to the lack of access, the U.S. Congress last year passed the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which denies entry to the United States for anyone "substantially involved in the formulation or execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas."
Swedish court asked to hold Assange
COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Swedish authorities on Monday issued a request for a detention order against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is now jailed in Britain, a Swedish prosecutor said.
Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson says if the Swedish court decided to detain Assange "on probable cause suspected for rape ... I will issue a European Arrest Warrant."
The development sets up a possible future tug-of-war between Sweden and the United States over any extradition of Assange from Britain.
Assange was evicted last month from the Ecuadorian Embassy where he had been holed up in political asylum since 2012. He was then immediately arrested by British police on April 11 and is currently serving a 50-week sentence in Britain for jumping bail in 2012.
The Australian also faces a U.S. extradition warrant over allegations he conspired to hack into a Pentagon computer.
Persson said Monday that British authorities will decide any conflict between a European arrest warrant and U.S. extradition request for Assange.
On May 13, Swedish prosecutors reopened a preliminary investigation against Assange, who visited Sweden in 2010, after two Swedish women said they were the victims of sex crimes committed by Assange.
Afghan deaths at 10 after attack, strike
KABUL, Afghanistan -- An Afghan official says gunmen stormed a checkpoint in Kabul, killing at least three police officers.
Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid says three other policemen were wounded in Sunday night's attack on the outskirts of the city. He added that the attackers first threw hand grenades then opened fire on the police in the city's Doghabad area.
Separately, a provincial official in southern Helmand province says at least seven civilians were killed in an airstrike as Afghan forces battled the Taliban late Sunday.
Provincial council chief Attahullah Afghan says three civilians were also wounded in the attack in Greshk district.
Afghan says a gunbattle was underway with the Taliban at that time and that the incident is under investigation.
It's unclear who carried out the strike, U.S. or Afghan forces.
-- COMPILED BY DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS
A Section on 05/21/2019