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Honduras ex-president sentenced to 45 years for helping drug traffickers
Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras once seen as an important US ally with tough-on-crime politics, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for his conviction on drugs and weapons charges.
A Manhattan jury in March found Hernandez, 55, guilty of accepting millions of dollars in bribes to protect United States-bound cocaine shipments belonging to traffickers he once publicly proclaimed to combat.
US District Judge Kevin Castel passed down the sentence in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday.
“I am innocent,” the 55-year-old Hernandez, who led the Central American nation from 2014 until 2022, said at his sentencing. “I was wrongly and unjustly accused.”
Hondurans at home and abroad had cheered the conviction, celebrating it as a rare instance of accountability for corruption and deceit by a member of the country’s ruling class.
In March, the jury found that the former leader, often known by his initials JOH, had taken millions of dollars in bribes to shield large shipments of cocaine bound for the US.
Prosecutors had asked for a life sentence, arguing that it would send a firm message to other politicians who use their power to protect powerful criminal groups.
“Without corrupt politicians like the defendant, the kind of large-scale, international drug trafficking at issue in this case, and the rampant drug-related violence that follows, is difficult if not impossible,” prosecutors wrote on Monday.
During a two-week trial, prosecutors said Hernandez used drug money to bribe officials and manipulate voting results during Honduras’s 2013 and 2017 presidential elections. Several convicted traffickers testified they bribed Hernandez.
Testifying in his own defence, Hernandez denied taking bribes from drug cartels.
His lawyers, meanwhile, accused the convicted traffickers of being out for revenge over Hernandez’s anti-drug policies.
JOH’s brother Tony Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison in the US in 2021 on drug charges.
[Aljazeera]
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Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern and Southern provinces and in Monaragala district
Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 15 April 2026, valid for 16 April 2026.
The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern
and Southern provinces and in Monaragala district.
The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.
Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.
ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.
Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491
Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has landed in Iran as part of a delegation to hold high-level talks on the resumption of talks between Iran and the US.
Iran’s army has warned it will block trade through the Red Sea along with the Gulf and Sea of Oman if the US naval blockade on Iranian ports continues.
The US military says it has “completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea” as its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz continues for a second day.
US President Donald Trump says the war is “close to over” after hinting at a second round of face-to-face talks with Iran in Pakistan in the coming days.
(Aljazeera)
More than 200 Iranian sailors left stranded in Sri Lanka after a US torpedo attack are returning home after being stuck in the country for more than a month.
On Wednesday, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Defence Minister, Aruna Jayasekara, confirmed 32 sailors rescued from the Iris Dena and 206 from Irins Bushehr, had left the country.
The Iranian warship, Iris Dena, sank on 4 March about 40km (25 miles) from Sri Lanka’s southern coastline after it was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine, killing 104 sailors.
On March 5, Sri Lanka took control of the Iranian naval vessel, Irins Bushehr, after it had requested to dock at one of country’s ports after one of its engines malfunctioned.
Speaking to Reuters, Jayasekara confirmed the crew of both ships were flown out on Tuesday night.
The stranded sailors were granted 30-day entry visas by the Sri Lankan government and were housed in navy and air force camps.
The Iris Dena had been returning from a military exercise hosted by India when it was attacked.
Video released by the US Department of Defense after the incident showed a ship being struck, causing the stern to rise up before exploding.
The bodies of 84 Iranian sailors killed in the attack were recovered and later repatriated in a chartered plane arranged by Iran.
Its sinking in international waters came just a few days into the current US-Israeli war with Iran and marked a dramatic widening of the conflict.
Iran has since launched retaliatory strikes across the Middle East – targeting Gulf countries allied with the US.
About 15 Iranian sailors will remain in Sri Lanka to operate the Irins Bushehr, which is anchored off Trincomalee in the northeast of the island.
Sri Lankq had allowed the Iranian vessel to dock at a north-eastern port on 5 March after hours of discussion, with its president saying they would “never hesitate to protect humanity”.
“Our position has been to safeguard our neutrality while demonstrating our humanitarian values,” President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said in a statement at the time.
“[Sri Lanka] intervened in a way that demonstrated our commitment to international conventions, protecting the reputation and dignity of our country, and protecting human lives,” he said.
Sri Lanka has maintained a long-standing policy of non-alignment since it became independent in 1948.
It has strong economic and diplomatic ties with both Iran and the US.
(BBC)
Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern and Southern provinces and in Monaragala district
Pakistani army chief in Tehran amid bid to restart US talks
Sri Lanka repatriates 238 Iranian sailors stranded after US torpedo attack
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