CARACAS, July 5: One of Venezuela’s oldest and most prestigious newspapers has been sold amid increasing government pressure on the country’s press.
The editor in chief of Caracas-based El Universal, Elides Rojas, confirmed that a group of Spanish investors had bought the broadsheet from the family that has run the paper since it was founded 104 years ago.
While neutral reporting in Venezuela is hard to come by after 15 years of polarisation over socialist rule, El Universal has stuck closer than most to the ideal of fact-based, investigative reporting amid a crackdown on media outlets that, like it, have been fiercely critical of the government.
Rojas acknowledged apprehension in the newsroom about whether the paper will follow in the steps of other recently sold news media outlets that have softened their editorial line, but said he had been assured that the paper’s editorial independence would not be compromised.
Partly driving those concerns was the appointment of Jesus Abreu, a former bank manager who is the brother of the famed director of Venezuela’s government-funded system of youth orchestras, to lead the paper.
Yesterday, El Universal employees gathered for a meeting with their new manager. Reporters say Abreu told them that they had been bought by the Spanish company Epalisticia, but deflected most questions about the new owners. After the meeting, reporters hurried to look the company up, but found a scant digital footprint.
President Nicolas Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez have driven most independent journalism from airwaves, using fines and the revocation of licenses to silence critical voices.
Meanwhile, a newsprint shortage combined with government harassment of journalists and media it accuses of plotting its overthrow has made the task of running a Venezuelan newspaper increasingly unappealing. Rumours have been circulating for more than a year that the Mata family, which has run the broadsheet since its founding in 1909, were looking to sell.
In May, El Universal announced that it would cut the size of its daily editions because of the newsprint shortage. The paper now publishes 16 pages a day, down from 24. Circulation has dropped, and newsstands almost immediately sell out of what copies are available.
In the past year, more than a dozen Venezuelan papers have closed or reduced their print editions because of a lack of dollars to buy newsprint. Venezuela’s government has restricted access to foreign currency for 11 years. (AGENCIES)

KILL DEVIL HILLS (US), July 5: Proving far less damaging than feared, Hurricane Arthur left tens of thousands of people without power in a swipe at North Carolina’s dangerously exposed Outer Banks, then brought lousy Fourth of July beach weather to the Northeast as it veered out to sea.
The weather along the narrow barrier islands whose beaches draw hundreds of thousands of tourists every summer had already cleared by yesterday afternoon as Arthur scooted north and its outer bands scraped the Delaware and New Jersey shores. Forecasters predicted the storm would weaken before its centre moves over western Nova Scotia in Canada early today.
While state and local officials worked to restore access to Hatteras Island and help those who had suffered storm and flooding damage, the effects of the hurricane were mostly confined to that part of the state. Farther south, the beaches were once again packed with people soaking up the sun.
Arthur struck North Carolina as a Category 2 storm with winds of 160 kph late Thursday, taking about five hours to move across the far eastern part of the state.
About 40,000 people lost power, and the rush of water from the ocean on one side and the sound on the other side buckled part of North Carolina Highway 12 in a spot on Hatteras Island that was breached in Hurricane Irene in 2011.
Dozens of workers were heading to fix the highway, and the Department of Transportation said it was confident the road would reopen today as long as an underwater sonar test of a key bridge showed no problems.
No injuries or deaths were reported. After praising emergency officials and saying the state dodged a bullet, Gov McCrory noted that all of North Carolina’s beaches were open outside of the Outer Banks and encouraged residents and visitors to enjoy the holiday. He was heading to the beach himself for an Independence Day parade in Southport, a welcome surprise when he expected to be stuck in Raleigh monitoring the storm all day. (AGENCIES)

DAKAR, July 5:  Senegal’s president sacked Prime Minister Aminata Toure, who has only been in power since September, less than a week after her ruling party was beaten in local elections.
“Ms Aminata Toure’s functions have been terminated,” said a decree signed by President Macky Sall yesterday, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
An official at the president’s office said that the resignation of the prime minister “means that the government has been dissolved”.
Toure, who is 51, is the head of the Alliance for the Republic and was named prime minister last year to replace incumbent Abdoul Mbaye.
Her departure comes less than a week after preliminary results from the June 29 local elections showed defeats for the APR in Dakar and a number of key cities across the country. Official results are still being awaited.
Many members of the government who were running in the local polls were beaten in their strongholds — a blow for the APR, which controlled only a few towns before the election and was hoping to reinforce its local support bases.
More than 5.3 million people were eligible to vote for more than 2,700 councillors across the country.
“Since her defeat by Khalifa Sall, (she) has been in the hot seat,” RTS national radio commented.
However, the governing “Benno Bokk Yaakaar” (Together With The Same Hope) coalition reportedly won in more than 70 percent of the country’s constituencies.
Toure has degrees in economy and management from universities in Senegal, France and the United States and worked for the United Nations in several countries.
She was the second woman prime minister in Senegal after Madior Boye, who headed the government between March 2001 and November 2002.
In her government policy statement in October, Toure promised to meet social demands and restart the country’s economy. (AGENCIES)

TOKYO, July 5:  A 5.7-magnitude quake hit off the coast of northeast Japan today, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
The earthquake struck at 7:42 am (2242 GMT Friday) eight kilometres east-northeast of the city of Miyako at a depth of 44 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency measured it at 5.8 and said there was no risk of a tsunami.
Japan is situated at the conjuncture of several tectonic plates and experiences a number of relatively violent quakes every year.
But thanks to strict building codes, even powerful quakes that might wreak havoc in other countries frequently pass without causing much damage.
In May a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook buildings in the capital Tokyo, injuring 17 people. (AGENCIES)

DUBLIN, July 5:  Joan Burton was elected leader of the Labour Party, the junior partner in Ireland’s coalition government, and was swiftly installed as the country’s deputy prime minister.
Eamon Gilmore, the previous Labour leader and deputy PM, stepped down from both roles in May following huge losses for the party in the local and European Parliament elections.
Burton, 65, had been Labour’s deputy leader since 2007. She retains her post as minister for social protection, leading welfare reform, but is soon expected to reshuffle the Labour ministers in the government.
Burton beat Alex White, a junior health minister, by 77 per cent to 22 per cent in the vote to become Labour’s new leader, state broadcaster RTE reported.
“I’m deeply honoured and humbled to lead our great Labour Party,” she said.
“Many individuals, families and communities have experienced the worst of times since the economic crisis first struck, but I’m optimistic that the best of times are still ahead of us.”
Labour “will be the force that creates a better future for our country”, she said.
Burton is the first female Labour leader.
After the 2011 general election, centre-left Labour joined with centre-right Fine Gael as the junior partner in a coalition government with the largest majority in Irish political history.
The coalition was mandated with improving the republic’s dire finances just months after the previous government sought an USD 115-billion European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout.
Recent polls had shown Labour voters were unhappy with how the party was performing in government despite Ireland exiting the rescue programme in December.
Fine Gael Prime Minister Enda Kenny said he and Burton had agreed to work closely to fulfil the remainder of the government’s term in office, which must end by April 2016.
“I have congratulated Joan Burton today on her election as leader of the Labour Party and confirmed that I have nominated her as Tanaiste (deputy prime minister),” he said in a statement.
“We will meet early next week to discuss the government’s key priorities for the coming period, and changes in the composition of the government.” (AFP)

MEXICO CITY, July 5: Three miners were rescued after spending more than two days trapped following a collapse at a small, wildcat gold mine in southern Honduras while eight others remain missing.
Moises Alvarado, the head of the country’s emergency commission, said the miners were rescued yesterday and were in “relatively good health, though they are exhausted and showing signs of severe dehydration.” One of the three suffered severe contusions.
Alvarado identified the rescued miners as Byron Maradiaga, Bryan Escalante, 20, and Nehemias Mendez, 28.
A crowd of about 300 residents, volunteers and fellow miners cheered as the rescue workers brought the three miners out one by one in a rescue basket from the mouth of the mine.
Emergency personnel and fellow miners had spent hours supplying water and food to the three miners after hearing their shouts and tunneling small holes into the area where they were trapped.
Marco Tulio Artica, the head of the local fire department, said work to find the remaining miners is slow and hard.
Workers have to use picks, shovels, and small pneumatic drills instead of heavy machinery because of the risk of further collapses.
“We still don’t know anything about the other eight miners who are in other tunnels,” Artica said.
More than 100 police, firefighters, rescue workers and miners were working during the third day of rescue efforts following Wednesday’s cave-in.
The miners were trapped about 90 yards (80 meters) into the mine. It collapsed shortly after 22 miners entered, but half were able to get out on their own. (AGENCIES)
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