International
US congressman, wife charged with $600,000 bribe tied to Azerbaijan, Mexican bank
US congressman, wife charged with $600,000 bribe tied to Azerbaijan, Mexican bank
US congressman Henry Cuellar and his wife have been charged with accepting around $600,000 (£478,000) in bribes, the justice department says.
It is alleged the couple corruptly received money from an Azerbaijani government-owned oil company and a Mexican bank.
The Texas Democrat has denied the charges in a statement.
The couple were bailed after appearing in court in Houston. If found guilty, they could face decades in prison.
“I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations,” Mr Cuellar, 68, said on Friday.
The couple are each charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and violating a ban on acting as agents of a foreign organisation.
The justice department said bribes were laundered from 2014-21 via a series of “sham consulting contracts” through middlemen and front companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, 67.
In exchange for the money, the indictment alleges Mr Cuellar agreed to influence US foreign policy in favour of Azerbaijan and push measures beneficial to the bank headquartered in Mexico City, including changes to money-laundering laws and attempts to block regulation of the payday lending industry.
The Cuellars allegedly used the proceeds from the bribery schemes to pay off a number of debts and make purchases for their family.
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Among the outgoings were more than $58,000 (£46,000) on credit card payments, some $11,000 in car payments, $18,000 at wholesale stores and $12,000 for a custom gown, according to the indictment.
Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, faces similar charges. He and his wife are accused of taking bribes in exchange for the senator using his influence to benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
In the statement released by his office, Mr Cuellar vowed to keep campaigning for re-election in November.
“Before I took any action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm,” he said.
“The actions I took in Congress were consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people.”
Mr Cuellar was a lawyer and former customs broker before entering politics. He was first elected to Congress in 2004 and is a former co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.
Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic party leader in the House of Representatives, said Mr Cuellar would take a leave of absence from his post on a homeland security subcommittee while the case continues.
Mr Cuellar’s home and campaign office in Laredo were raided in January 2022.
Authorities said at the time the raid was part of a federal investigation into Azerbaijan and US businessmen who have links to the country.
Mr Cuellar is widely considered a centrist and has been described as the lone anti-abortion House Democrat.
In 2022, he narrowly survived a primary challenge from a progressive candidate, Jessica Cisneros, who once worked as an intern in his office.
US congressman, wife charged with $600,000 bribe tied to Azerbaijan, Mexican bank
BBC
International
$100m coin collection buried for decades to be auctioned
$100m coin collection buried for decades to be auctioned
A coin collection, much of which remained buried underground for over 50 years, is expected to surpass $100 million at auction, according to experts.
Named the Traveller Collection, this extraordinary assemblage is believed to be the most valuable coin collection ever brought to auction.
The coins will be sold gradually over the next three years, with the first auction set for May 20.
Beyond its immense value, the collection’s origins make for a fascinating tale.
Spanning over 100 territories and encompassing coins from ancient times to the modern era, the collection is being auctioned by Numismatica Ars Classica.
What sets it apart is that most of the coins remained hidden underground for half a century before resurfacing.
According to a press release shared with CNN, the anonymous collector behind the collection began acquiring gold coins after the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
Over time, he developed “a taste for coins with great historical interest, beauty and rarity” and eventually amassed approximately 15,000 coins.
During the 1930s, he and his wife traveled extensively across the Americas and Europe, acquiring rare and historically significant coins while meticulously documenting their purchases.
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Despite settling in Europe at a time when Hitler’s Nazi party loomed over the continent, the collector sensed the impending danger. In response, he carefully packed the coins into cigar boxes, which were then placed inside aluminum containers and buried underground, where they remained undisturbed for five decades.
Among the collection is a 50 Toman coin, part of an “exceedingly rare” set minted in Tehran and Isfahan during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
International
AI will replace doctors, teachers, others in 10 years – Bill Gates
AI will replace doctors, teachers, others in 10 years – Bill Gates
Bill Gates, a co-founder of Microsoft, has claimed that improvements in artificial intelligence (AI) over the next decade may render humans superfluous for the majority of work.
In a recent interview with comedian Jimmy Fallon on NBC’s The Tonight Show in February, the billionaire philanthropist discussed how AI may take over many facets of life and business.
Gates remarked that expertise is currently “rare”, emphasising the continuous reliance on human specialists in industries such as medicine and education.
For example, we continue to rely on highly trained individuals, such as “a great doctor” or “a great teacher”, whose knowledge cannot be simply replaced by AI.
However, “with AI, over the next decade, that will become free, commonplace — great medical advice, great tutoring,” Gates said.
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In other words, Gates believes that the world is entering a new era of “free intelligence”, as he described in a recent interview with Harvard University professor and happiness specialist Arthur Brooks.
According to Gates, this transition will result in rapid breakthroughs in AI-powered technology, making them more accessible and affecting almost every part of our lives.
These breakthroughs will vary from more effective treatments and diagnoses to widely available AI instructors and virtual assistants.
“It’s very profound and even a little bit scary — because it’s happening very quickly, and there is no upper bound,” Gates told Brooks.
The discussion of how humans will fit into an AI-powered future continues.
Some analysts suggest that artificial intelligence will improve human productivity rather than completely replacing labour, hence driving economic growth and creating new jobs.
However, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman cautions that technological improvements in the coming years will disrupt the nature of most occupations across nearly all industries, potentially exerting a “hugely destabilising” influence on the workforce.
AI will replace doctors, teachers, others in 10 years – Bill Gates
International
Poland suspends migrants’ right to apply for asylum
Poland suspends migrants’ right to apply for asylum
Poland has temporarily suspended the right of migrants arriving in Poland via its border with Belarus to apply for asylum.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced it would be happening after the controversial bill, which will allow Polish authorities to suspend this right for up to 60 days at a time, was signed into law by President Andrzej Duda.
Tusk had said it would be adopted “without a moment’s delay” while Duda said the changes were needed to strengthen security on the country’s borders.
But the law has been criticized by rights groups including Human Rights Watch, which said the EU should take legal action against Poland if it was implemented.
The group urged the country’s parliament last month to reject the bill, saying it “flies in the face of Poland’s international and EU obligations” and could “effectively completely seal off the Poland-Belarus border, where Polish authorities already engage in unlawful and abusive pushbacks”.
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The government said previously the suspension would only be applied temporarily to people who pose a threat to state security, for example large groups of aggressive migrants trying to storm the border.
Exemptions will be made for unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, the elderly or unwell, anyone exposed to “real risk of serious harm” by being returned and citizens of countries accused of conducting the instrumentalization of migration – like Belarus
Tusk has dismissed criticism from human rights groups.
“Nobody is talking about violating human rights, the right to asylum, we are talking about not granting applications to people who illegally cross the border in groups organised by Lukashenko,” he said in October.
Since 2021, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland have seen a huge increase in the number of people crossing into their countries illegally from Belarus and Russia.
Polish authorities have sent thousands of troops and border guards to police its border with Belarus and built a 5.5-metre-high steel fence along 186 km of the frontier where at times several thousand migrants have been left stranded.
Rights groups estimate more than one hundred people have died on the borders between Belarus and Poland, Lithuania and Latvia since 2021.
EU eastern flank countries and the European Commission have accused the Belarusian and Russian authorities of weaponising migration to create a new route into the EU to destabilize the bloc.
Poland suspends migrants’ right to apply for asylum
BBC
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