Board approves Arkansas site for planned 3,000-inmate prison despite objections

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Board approves Arkansas site for planned 3,000-inmate prison despite objections

2024-11-13 00:16 Last Updated At：00:21

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Board of Corrections on Friday approved an 815-acre site for a planned prison to hold 3,000 inmates, despite objections from residents and local officials that they were blindsided by the state's purchase of the land.

The board voted to accept the land that the state had purchased for nearly $3 million to build a prison that Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and corrections officials say is needed to ease a backlog of state inmates in county jails.

Officials have not said how much the prison will cost or given a timeline for its construction. Sanders, a Republican, called for 3,000 new prison beds and lawmakers set aside $330 million for that last year. An additional $75 million that was originally intended for the expansion of a prison unit is also available for the project.

“This vote today, it starts a lot of studies and a lot of thought processes,” Chairman Benny Magness said during the meeting, which was held via Zoom with nearly 300 people. “There's probably a slim possibility, but it's a possibility, that this site won't work. But we're at the point where we need to accept the site where we can move on and check some of that information.”

The state last week announced it had purchased the land in Charleston, located about 106 miles (170 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock. The purchase prompted complaints from residents and officials from the area who said they did not know about the decision until the day it was announced or shortly before.

“A formal public hearing should have been held before the state committed millions of dollars to a project in Franklin County,” Rosemary Underwood, a resident of the area, said at a packed town hall held on Thursday night.

Former Corrections Secretary Joe Profiri, a senior adviser to Sanders, said at Thursday's town hall that the property had been optioned for 90 days before the state closed on the purchase.

Sanders on Friday thanked the board for approving the prison site, saying she was committed to work with the community throughout the construction process.

“We kicked this can down the road for far too long - it’s time to make the first investment in our prison system in two decades and finally address our failed system of catch-and-early-release of violent offenders,” Sanders said in a statement.

One member of the board, Lee Watson, abstained from voting on the measure and said he believed there needed to be more public discussion about the purchase and the site.

“Given the magnitude of the decision that we have at hand, I don't feel like I've had sufficient time to make a decision," Watson said.

Protests erupt in Paris over pro-Israel gala organized by far-right figures

2024-11-14 10:34 Last Updated At：10:40

PARIS (AP) — Protests erupted in Paris on Wednesday against a controversial gala organized by far-right figures in support of Israel. The event, intended to raise funds for the Israeli military, included Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich among its invited guests.

The demonstrations came on the eve of a high-stakes soccer match at France's national stadium against the Israeli national team, overshadowed by tensions around the wars in the Middle East. Authorities in Paris announced that more than 4,000 police officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be deployed for the game.

Smotrich, a vocal advocate of Israeli settlements, had been expected to attend Wednesday's gala, dubbed “Israel is Forever,” which was planned by an association of the same name. The group’s stated goal is to “mobilize French-speaking Zionist forces.”

After days of growing criticism of the event, Smotrich's office confirmed Wednesday that the minister would not travel to Paris to participate.

But the invitation to Smotrich drew sharp criticism from local associations, unions and left-wing political parties, prompting two protests in the French capital. The minister, a hard-line settler leader, has been accused of inflaming tensions in the West Bank and drew international condemnations this week by saying he hopes the election of Donald Trump will clear the way for Israeli annexation of the West Bank — a step that would extinguish Palestinian statehood dreams.

The French Foreign Ministry called Smotrich’s remarks “contrary to international law” and counterproductive to efforts to reduce regional tensions.

“France reiterates its commitment to the implementation of the two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security, which is the only prospect for a just and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the ministry said in a statement.

Critics also pointed at Nili Kupfer-Naouri, president of the “Israel is Forever” association, who sparked outrage in 2023, after the Israel-Hamas war started, when she tweeted that “no civilian in Gaza was innocent.”

On Wednesday night, several hundred protesters marched through central Paris, denouncing the event as a “gala of hatred and shame.”

“Imagine if an association were hosting a gala for Hezbollah or Hamas — there’s no way the police would allow that,” said Melkir Saib, a 30-year-old protester. “The situation is just unfair.”

The march was largely peaceful, but some demonstrators broke windows at a McDonald's along the route.

A separate group, including Jewish leftist organizations opposed to racism and antisemitism, gathered near the Arc de Triomphe chanting slogans against the gala and Smotrich.

French authorities defended the event, with Paris police chief Laurent Nunez stating that the gala posed “no major threat to public order.”

The protests came days after tensions flared in Paris and Amsterdam related to the conflicts in the Mideast. A massive “Free Palestine” banner was displayed during a Paris Saint-Germain Champions League match against Atletico Madrid, while violence broke out in Amsterdam last week targeting fans of an Israeli soccer club.