Dissidents accuse Cuba of ‘social cleansing’ for pope visit
HAVANA (Reuters) – A dissident human rights group yesterday accused the Cuban government of “social cleansing” ahead of a three-night visit by Pope Francis, saying police had rounded up thousands of beggars and homeless people in three cities where the pope will travel.
Cuban officials do not comment on police activity.
The Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation expressed its “deep indignation and concern” for the police operation it said was under way in Havana, Holguin and Santiago, where the pope will visit from Saturday to Tuesday.
“According to our estimates, this has resulted in the internment of thousands of beggars, panhandlers, ragamuffins, the mentally ill and other vulnerable wanderers, most of them homeless,” the commission said in a statement, contending the operation was conducted with approval from Cuba’s highest authorities.
New Yorkers in favour of raising minimum wage to $15 per hour: poll
New York (Reuters) – A solid majority of New York state residents are in favour of raising the minimum wage over the next several years to $15 an hour, according to a new poll released yesterday.
According to the survey conducted by Quinnipiac University, 62 per cent of New York voters, across every gender, age and regional group, supported raising the minimum wage.
Republican voters surveyed were the sole exception, with 65 per cent opposing the idea, while 85 per cent of Democrats said they would support such an initiative.
Police to review handling of Texas student handcuffed over clock
DALLAS (Reuters) Texas police will review decisions made when a Muslim teenager was taken away in handcuffs after high school staff mistook his homemade clock for a bomb, the Irving police chief said yesterday.
“One thing is clear to me, regardless of what we did, no matter what decision was made, there would’ve been people who agreed with it and people who disagreed with it,” police Chief Larry Boyd told CNN.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Ahmed Mohamed, 14, is Muslim and the case was an example of the climate of hate and manufactured fear around the religion.
The bespectacled ninth grader in a NASA t-shirt was led away in handcuffs from MacArthur High School on Monday after school officials discovered the clock.
By Wednesday, the Dallas-area student had become an Internet sensation and won several invitations, including one from President Barack Obama to visit the White House.
