Morning bird: US will ban entry to citizens of 12 countries and limit it from seven others. The House will exceptionally discuss the case of donated bitcoins.
The American President Donald Trump approved travel restrictions for citizens of certain countries. He marked it as a measure to prevent terrorist attacks in the United States. The meeting of deputies will discuss today the case of donated bitcoins, because of which the Justice Minister Pavel Blažek resigned.
Trump announced travel ban and restrictions for 19 countries
US President Donald Trump signed a decree on Wednesday, with which the United States will ban the entrance of citizens from 12 countries including Afghanistan, Iran, or Yemen from June 9, and will significantly restrict the entry of citizens from seven more countries, reported by AP. The bans and restrictions are due to security risks posed by these countries to the United States. This entry restriction applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Partial restrictions then apply to citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
Extraordinary session will discuss the bitcoin case
MPs today are anticipating an extraordinary session called at the behest of the opposition movement ANO regarding the case of bitcoins donated to the Ministry of Justice. The case has already managed to oust the Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek, who resigned due to the scandal. He is due to end his term as minister on Monday.
The Ministry of Justice accepted bitcoins worth a billion crowns from Tomáš Jiřikovský, who ended up in prison in 2017 for embezzlement, drug trafficking, and illegal armament. According to Blažek, there was nothing illegal about the billion crown transaction for cryptocurrency, and it has not been proved that the donation came from a criminal act, as stated by the server Ceskenoviny.cz.
Kyrgyz court sentenced former president in absentia to 11 years in prison
A court in Kyrgyzstan sentenced in absentia former exiled President Almazbek Atambayev to more than 11 years in prison on charges of corruption and participation in mass riots in this Central Asian country. The court found him guilty of illegal enrichment, illegal acquisition of land, and participation in mass riots in August 2019, which resulted in the death of one of the protesting persons and many injuries. Atambayev was the president of the country in 2011 to 2017, Al Jazeera reported.
Chinese scientists wanted to smuggle a biological pathogen
Two Chinese scientists were accused of smuggling a biological pathogen, which they planned to study in the laboratory of the University of Michigan. Jun-ching Tien and Zu-nyong Liu were accused of conspiracy to commit a crime, smuggling goods, false statements, and visa fraud, stated CNN. The mentioned pathogen can cause disease in certain plants, such as wheat, corn, rice, and barley, which can subsequently lead to large economic losses.
Sources: Ceskenoviny.cz, AP, CNN, Al Jazeera
