Violent riots break out in Venezuela detention center

Inmates at a police station in the Venezuelan state of Carabobo have sparked violent riots and taken three guards hostage, demanding a redistribution of inmates from overcrowded cells.

The country's public prosecutor's office said that the incident ended and more than 50 people were transferred to a nearby prison: “Officers from the Public Prosecutor's Office No. 14 and 28 of Carabobo for Human Rights arrived at the coordination center of the Bolivarian National Police in Los Guais ​​to suppress the riots. And they managed to free three hostages and arranging the transfer of 53 prisoners to the Tokito Judicial Prison."

The authorities indicated that three guards released from captivity are now in serious condition, one of whom was diagnosed with a fractured skull, while the other lost his ear.

Local media, citing relatives of prisoners, stated that the reason for the riots was the violation of prisoners' rights and their detention in overcrowded cells.

Source: RIA Novosti

Prince Turki Al-Faisal: The United States failed us

Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former head of Saudi intelligence, said the Saudis feel they have been let down by the United States, and believe that they have had to confront the threats to the Gulf region with Saudi Arabia.

In a statement to "Arab News", Prince Turki Al-Faisal indicated that "the Saudis are frustrated at a time when they believe that the United States and Saudi Arabia must together face threats to the stability and security of the Gulf region," explaining that "these threats are Iran's influence in the region." Yemen and its use of the Houthis as a tool not only to destabilize Saudi Arabia, but also to influence the security and stability of international sea lanes along the Red Sea, the Gulf, and the Arabian Peninsula.

He believed that "US President Joe Biden's removal of the Houthis from the terrorist list encouraged them and made them more aggressive in their attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as on the UAE," alluding to the new US administration on February 12, 2021 to cancel the designation of the Houthi group as a foreign terrorist organization.

Asked whether the Saudis felt betrayed by one of their closest allies, Turki Al-Faisal said: "We have always considered our relationship with the United States strategic," adding: "The US President (Biden) said in his election campaign that he would make Saudi Arabia a pariah. And of course, he continued to practice what he preached by stopping the joint operations that America conducted with the Kingdom to confront the challenge of the Houthi rebellion in Yemen against the Yemeni people. And secondly, announcing publicly that he would not meet with the Saudi crown prince.

On the Yemeni conflict, Al-Faisal explained that "the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always been calling for a peaceful solution to the Yemeni conflict, but unfortunately the Houthis have not always responded to that call, ignored it, or simply opposed it, and the Houthis today continue to encroach on the declared ceasefire."

Al-Faisal ignored the claim that Saudi Arabia did not budge on the issue of the oil problems facing the United States, and the prince confronted it with the argument that Washington itself “is the reason for what it is going through because of its energy policy,” and said: “Biden has reduced oil and gas production in the United States when It was, in the past few years, their biggest producer."

Al-Faisal stressed that Riyadh does not want to be "a tool or a cause of instability in oil prices, and for this reason, the Kingdom and other OPEC members are committed to the production quotas that they set for themselves."

On the other hand, Prince Turki rejected the accusation that Riyadh chose to side with Moscow in the Ukraine conflict, noting that “the Kingdom announced and voted to condemn the Russian military operation in Ukraine approved by the United Nations General Assembly,” noting that “Saudi Arabia offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.” ".

He continued, "As (Saudi Arabia) as a mediator, it has to maintain the link and the ability to talk with the two parties, and we have had good relations with both countries over the years," stressing that "the Kingdom is against the military operation, and contributed to the fund established by the United Nations." To provide support to Ukrainian refugees in Europe. This is where the Kingdom stands."

Source: arab news

A series of mysterious deaths on board an American aircraft carrier raises questions!

Seven deaths within a year among the crew of a US Navy aircraft carrier, including three suicides within weeks, have sparked outrage that prompted lawmakers to demand an investigation.

The aircraft carrier USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class carrier, has now been moored at the Newport News, Virginia, shipyard since 2017.

And between last year and April, 7 sailors working on it died, 4 of whom were apparent or confirmed suicides. Following CBS News' report on the deaths, a Navy spokesperson told The Hill that there were 3 additional suicides before 2021, in November 2019, July 2020 and October 2020.

The ship's sailors spoke to the media about conditions on board, with one of them saying they had also attempted suicide, largely due to working conditions.

For its part, the US Navy acknowledged the problems with this aircraft carrier, and said it was investigating the deaths.

But Crystala Feringia Bushnell, vice president of 22 Till Nothing, a volunteer organization that aims to provide resources to active duty members and veterans, says her group has heard from sailors and their families about the dire conditions in George Washington, and that some fear access to The resources the military provides because their leaders can tell.

"There's a lot of mistrust out there," Viringia Bushnell said. "We get emails and messages daily on all three of our social media platforms and through email asking 'Is there anyone I can talk to about about me who won't find out?'"

Rep. Eileen Luria (D-Virginia), who represents the area where the ship is docked, wrote a letter to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday asking about the weather on board.

Luria, a Navy veteran who retired with the rank of captain, recounted her own experiences working on aircraft carriers moored on lengthy repairs.

"Being in a shipyard, it's an industrial environment," she explained. "You don't have basic services like hot water, lights, heating and cooling, quality food."

Chief of Naval Officer Russell Smith called sailors aboard the USS George Washington on Monday, answering multiple questions about mental health and conditions on board.

But Smith raised eyebrows when he said that while conditions (in the moored ship) could have been better, "what you don't do is sleep in a pit like a Marine."

Virginia Bushnell said Smith had "totally ignored all the continuing concerns of the seafarers on that ship".

"These are the fears that have been constantly brought up and ignored. And those who have suffered in this environment, not only are their fears ignored, but their feelings for it or the hardship it causes them are ignored, as they are ridiculed for it."

Among other measures implemented, the Navy told The Hill that it mobilized a 13-person special rapid intervention team of psychiatrists to provide services aboard the aircraft carrier from April 16 through April 19.

Source: "The Hill"