"Tropical Storm Erin (Invest 97L) brought extreme rainfall to Cape Verde on August 11, with the island of São Vicente recording 192.3 mm (7.57 inches) in just 5 hours between midnight and 05:00 local time, according to the National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics (INMG).
The resulting flash floods killed at least nine people, including four children, and caused significant damage to property and infrastructure. According to government officials, five people are still missing, 1 500 have been displaced and a total of 3 000 affected in São Vicente Island." W
"President Joe Biden unleashed a firestorm of controversy and further eroded public trust in his already damaged party by giving a shocking blanket pardon to his son, Hunter, on Sunday.
Biden fled from the controversy by jetting to Angola, one of the most corrupt nations in the world.
Biden was wheels-up for Angola within a few hours of pardoning his son for all crimes, both known and yet to be revealed, over a ten-year period. He refused to answer questions about the pardon from reporters during a stopover in Cape Verde." Breitbart
"The U.S. on Wednesday released a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro inexchange for Caracas releasing 31 people from prison, including 10 Americans, according to a senior U.S. administration official.
Driving the news: As part of the deal, a former U.S. Navy contractor who organized one of the largest bribery scandals in U.S. military history was arrested and returned to the U.S.
Leonard Francis, also known as "Fat Leonard," pleaded guilty in 2015 to doling out more than $500,000 in bribes in exchange for the ability to overcharge the Navy by at least $35 million for his services.
He escaped house arrest in San Diego in 2022 after cutting his ankle monitoring bracelet.
Details: In exchange for the prisoner releases and Leonard's extradition, the U.S. let go of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who was accused of stealing $350 million as part of a bribe scheme against the Venezuelan government.
The U.S. has also accused him of being a financial fixer for Maduro.
Saab was arrested on money laundering charges in Cape Verde in 2020 while he was on his way to negotiate an oil deal with Iran as a representative of Maduro's government.
In response to Saab's extradition to the U.S. in 2021, Venezuela's government called off political negotiations with opposition officials and placed six U.S. oil executives under house arrest." MS
