A Colombian court on Monday found Alvaro Uribe guilty of witness tampering, making him the South American country’s first ex-president to be convicted of a crime.The 73-year-old — who led Colombia from 2002 to 2010 — was found guilty of asking right-wing paramilitaries to lie about their alleged links to him.As the judge started reading out her verdict Monday, Uribe — who attended the trial virtually — sat shaking his head.The still-powerful ex-president is expected to hear his sentence on Friday. He risks 12 years in prison.The judgement brought rapid condemnation from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who decried “the weaponization of Colombia’s judicial branch by radical judges.”A law-and-order hardliner, Uribe was a close ally of the United States and retains close ties to the American right. At home his popularity has waned as alleged rights abuses during his tenure have come to light.Even before the ruling and Rubio’s high-profile attack, a Colombian lawyers’ guild asked for more protection for Judge Sandra Heredia, who is presiding over this case.Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro shot back at Rubio’s criticism and insisted the judiciary was independent.Allegations “to the contrary were an insult that would not be tolerated”, he said.- Dirty war -Paramilitary groups emerged in the 1980s in Colombia to fight Marxist guerrillas that had taken up arms against the state.A plethora of armed groups that emerged in the standoff adopted cocaine as their main source of income — the genesis of a deadly rivalry for resources and trafficking routes that continues to this day.Uribe led a relentless military campaign against drug cartels and the FARC guerrilla army, which signed a peace deal with his successor Juan Manuel Santos in 2016 — much to Uribe’s chagrin.After leftist senator Ivan Cepeda accused him of ties with paramilitary groups responsible for human rights violations, Uribe is alleged to have contacted jailed ex-fighters to lie for him.The judge Monday found him guilty on two charges: interfering with witnesses and “procedural fraud.”- Popular politician -Uribe remains popular in Colombia for his anti-FARC campaigns, and is still a prominent voice on the right. Recent opinion polls revealed him to be the South American country’s best loved politician.In 2019, thousands protested in Bogota and Medellin when he was indicted in the case, and on Monday, a smaller group of followers gathered outside the court wearing masks fashioned after his image and chanting: “Uribe, innocent!”They clashed with a group of critics.The investigation against Uribe began in 2018 and has had numerous twists and turns, with several attorneys-general seeking to close the case.It gained new impetus under Attorney General Luz Camargo, picked by Petro — himself a former guerrilla and a political arch-foe of Uribe.More than 90 witnesses testified in the trial, which opened in May 2024.Prosecutors produced evidence during the trial of least one paramilitary ex-fighter who said he was contacted by Uribe to change his story.- ‘Vengeance’ -The former president is also under investigation in other matters.He has testified before prosecutors in a preliminary probe into a 1997 paramilitary massacre of farmers when he was governor of the western Antioquia department.A complaint has also been filed against him in Argentina, where universal jurisdiction allows for the prosecution of crimes committed anywhere in the world.That complaint stems from Uribe’s alleged involvement in the more than 6,000 executions and forced disappearances of civilians by the military when he was president.Uribe insists his trial is a product of “political vengeance.”

Palantir, an American data analysis and artificial intelligence company, has emerged as Silicon Valley’s latest tech darling — one that makes no secret of its macho, America-first ethos now ascendant in Trump-era tech culture.The company’s reach spans the global economy, with banks, hospitals, the US government, and the Israeli military among its ever-expanding client roster.”We want and need this country to be the strongest, most important country in the world,” Alex Karp, Palantir’s CEO, recently declared at a client conference in Palo Alto, California, where AFP was the only media outlet present.In armed conflicts — most notably in Ukraine — Palantir’s tools help evaluate potential targets in real-time, using multiple sources, including biometric data and intercepted phone calls.”I’m super proud of… what we do to protect our soldiers… (using our AI) to kill our enemies and scare them, because they know they will be killed,” the graying, curly-haired billionaire continued, wearing a tight white T-shirt.Washington has been filling Palantir’s coffers.In the first quarter, the company received $373 million from the US government — a 45 percent jump from the previous year — and it’s not all miltary spending.This spring, federal immigration authorities (ICE) awarded the company a $30 million contract to develop a new platform for tracking deportations and visa overstays.- ‘Like a drug’ -The company then secured an investment of nearly $800 million from the US military, adding to the $480 million contract signed in May 2024 for its AI platform supporting the Pentagon’s “Project Maven” target identification program. This marked Palantir’s first billion-dollar contract, elevating it alongside government contracting stalwarts like Microsoft and Amazon’s AWS.However, financial results “are not and will never be the ultimate measure of the value, broadly defined, of our business,” Karp wrote in his letter to shareholders in early May, where he tossed in quotes from Saint Augustine, the Bible and Richard Nixon.”We have grander and more idiosyncratic aims.”Palantir was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel — Silicon Valley’s preeminent conservative — Karp, and others with CIA backing. The company takes its name from the magical seeing stones in Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.””Young people would say we’re like pure drugs — very expensive, highly sought after… that make you stronger and better,” Karp boasted on stage.Palantir’s expanding footprint at the highest levels of government has raised eyebrows.Several members of the Trump administration’s “DOGE” cost-cutting commission, originally headed by Elon Musk, came from the company.Recent reports from The New York Times, Wired, and CNN have detailed secret government projects to create, with Palantir’s help, a central database combining data from different federal agencies.- ‘Deeply proud’ -This development has created “a lot of concerns about how that information might be used,” warned Elizabeth Laird from the Center for Democracy & Technology.Palantir maintains it isn’t building “surveillance technology” or a “central database on Americans.”Unlike most traditional Silicon Valley companies that have kept military projects discreet, Palantir now embraces its defense work openly.Sasha Spivak, director of strategy, said that when she joined Palantir ten years ago, the company kept its sense of purpose behind closed doors.”Today we’re not ashamed, we’re not afraid, and we’re deeply proud of what we do and our clients,” said Spivak. Some employee groups are pushing back. In early May, 13 former Palantir employees published a letter accusing tech giants of helping to “normalize authoritarianism under the cover of a ‘revolution’ led by oligarchs.”They argue that by supporting the Trump administration and DOGE, Palantir has betrayed its stated values of ethics, transparency, and defending democracy.”When I joined the company… there were many smart, motivated people — that’s pretty rare,” said one of the letter’s signatories, who wishes to remain anonymous, for fear of reprisal.After months of seeking management explanations about Palantir’s collaboration with Israel and ICE, several of these employees resigned.”They said, ‘We’re a company that’s very responsive to employees,’ but people asking about Israel were quickly shut down and told, ‘That’s what we do — if you don’t like it, you can leave,'” the former staffer recalled.Jeremy David, co-director of the Health division, plays down the controversies.”My daily life is more about nurses and doctors who often hate us at first and are very grateful at the end,” he told AFP at the conference. On stage, Joe Bonanno, head of data analysis at Citibank, celebrated how one operation that previously required “nine days and sometimes 50 people” now “takes just a few minutes for one person.””Like I said, and like Alex said, I came to dominate, crush and annihilate. So if you’re JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, sorry,” he concluded with a broad smile.Some potential clients quietly admit they don’t appreciate the war-like rhetoric, but they see no alternative to Palantir’s capabilities.

Five people including a police officer and the suspected gunman were dead following a shooting Monday in central Manhattan, US media reported.”Four people, including a New York Police Department officer, were killed in today’s shooting in Midtown Manhattan,” a law enforcement source told broadcaster CNN, adding that the suspected gunman died from what is believed to be a “self-inflicted injury.”Mayor Eric Adams said on X an officer had been “struck down” and expressed his “deepest sympathies” to the family of the officer, although a department spokeswoman said she could neither confirm nor deny an officer had been killed. Police said the scene, around Park Avenue and East 51st Street, had been “contained and the lone shooter is dead,” without providing details about the identity of the suspect.”At this time, the scene has been contained and the lone shooter has been neutralized,” police commissioner Jessica Tisch wrote on X.Office worker Shad Sakib told AFP that he was packing his things to leave work when a public address announcement warned him and his colleagues to shelter in place.”Everyone was confused with like, ‘wait, what’s going on?’ And then someone finally realized that it’s online, that someone walked in with a machine gun,” said the witness who wore a grey suit jacket.”He walked right into a building right next door. We saw the photo of him walking through the same area that I walked through to get lunch here.”You would think it won’t happen to you, and then it does.”- ‘Floor by floor’ -Another witness, a woman who declined to give her name as she left the vicinity of the shooting, told AFP “I was in the building. He went floor by floor.” Witnesses told AFP the incident happened in an office block that is home to the Blackstone investment company.Police officers deployed a drone near Park Avenue at the height of the evening rush-hour as dozens of officers swarmed the area, some carrying long guns and others wearing ballistic vests.A number of ambulances had gathered in the vicinity and several helicopters hovered above the scene.Police repeatedly pushed back journalists and members of the public who gathered to see what was happening in the normally calm but busy area of Midtown Manhattan.The area is home to several five-star business hotels, as well as a number of corporate headquarters, including Colgate Palmolive and auditor KPMG.Earlier the mayor had told New Yorkers that “there is an active shooter investigation taking place in Midtown right now. Please take proper safety precautions if you are in vicinity and do not go outside if you are near Park Avenue and East 51st Street.”New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she has been briefed on the shooting.

US President Donald Trump on Monday issued Moscow with a dramatic new deadline to end the war in Ukraine or face tough new sanctions, as he met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland.Saying he was not very interested in talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin anymore, the US leader also shifted his tone on Gaza, acknowledging there were signs of “real starvation” in the conflict-ravaged Palestinian territory.Trump, sitting alongside Starmer at the US leader’s luxury golf resort in Turnberry, south of Glasgow, said he was “very disappointed” with Putin over continued strikes against Ukrainian civilian targets.He announced that he was reducing an earlier 50-day deadline set on July 14 for Putin to bring the Ukraine conflict to an end to “about 10 or 12 days”, starting immediately.”There is no reason in waiting,” Trump said, adding he thought Putin would want to end things quickly.”I really felt it was going to end. But every time I think it’s going to end he kills people.”I’m not so interested in talking (to him) anymore,” he added.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky swiftly praised the US president’s stand, thanking Trump for his “clear stance and expressed determination”.”Right on time, when a lot can change through strength for real peace. I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war,” Zelensky said on social media.The talks between Trump and Starmer focused on ending the suffering in Gaza and reviving stalled ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.Trump announced the United States would set up walk-in “food centres” in Gaza, and said he believed a ceasefire was still possible.- Golf diplomacy -“We’re going to be getting some good strong food, we can save a lot of people. I mean, some of those kids — that’s real starvation stuff,” he said.Starmer, under domestic pressure to follow France’s lead and recognise a Palestinian state, called the situation unfolding in Gaza an “absolute catastrophe”.The pair also discussed the implementation of a UK-US trade deal that was signed on May 8 that lowered tariffs for certain UK exports but has yet to come into force.Trump hosted Starmer and his wife Victoria under tight security at Turnberry, where he had spent two days playing golf since landing in Scotland on Friday night for a five-day visit.They then flew by Air Force One to Prestwick, near Glasgow, where they boarded the helicopter Marine One to fly to Trump’s other golf resort in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, northeast Scotland, for a private dinner.Their talks came after the United States and the European Union reached a landmark deal to avert a full-blown trade war over tariffs, when EU chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Trump at the resort on Sunday.Trump hinted that he would not impose heavy tariffs on British pharmaceuticals.”We certainly feel a lot better with your country working on pharmaceuticals for America than some of the other countries,” he told Starmer.”With the relationship we have, you would not use that as a cudgel. You wouldn’t be using it as a block,” he added.Trump set out early in his second term to fulfil a decades-long desire of reshaping US trade with the world, with his administration predicting his aggressive strategy of punitive tariffs could bring “90 deals in 90 days.”After months with very little to show, he is now enjoying some success, landing accords with Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and, most importantly, the European Union.The deals are expected to kick in on August 1 to replace the current tariff regime these economies face, a White House spokesperson told AFP.The US president is due to open a new golf course at his Aberdeenshire resort on Tuesday, before heading back to the United States later in the day.

Police swarmed Midtown Manhattan on Monday as the mayor of New York City said there was “an active shooter investigation” amid reports a police officer had been struck.”New Yorkers: there is an active shooter investigation taking place in Midtown right now. Please take proper safety precautions if you are in vicinity and do not go outside if you are near Park Avenue and East 51st Street,” Mayor Eric Adams wrote on X.Police officers deployed a drone near Park Avenue at the height of the evening rush-hour as dozens of officers gathered in the area, some carrying long guns and others wearing ballistic vests.A number of ambulances had gathered in the vicinity.Officers at the scene confirmed to an AFP correspondent that there was a shooter but gave no other details.CNN reported that a police officer and at least one civilian had been shot, but AFP was unable to immediately confirm that.Police repeatedly pushed back journalists and members of the public who gathered to see what was happening in the normally calm but busy area of Midtown Manhattan.The area is home to several five-star business hotels, as well as a number of corporate headquarters, including Colgate Palmolive and KPMG, the auditor.