What to know about the African kingdom of Eswatini, where the US sent 5 deportees

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The United States has deported five immigrants from Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos to Eswatini, a small country in southern Africa where the king still holds absolute power.

Eswatini says it is holding the men in correctional facilities until they can be sent to their home countries, after it became the latest nation to accept third-country deportees from the U.S.

Here's what to know about Eswatini:

Eswatini is one of a handful of countries that are still absolute monarchies, and the only one in Africa. That means the king has absolute power over government and is not just a figurehead or a ceremonial ruler.

King Mswati III has ruled Eswatini since 1986, when he turned 18 and was allowed to take his place as the monarch. He can make decisions by decree. He succeeded his father, Sobhuza II, who died in 1982.

The 57-year-old Mswati III has long been criticized for ruling over a government that suppresses political dissent while he lives a lavish lifestyle in one of the poorest countries in the world.

The king is reported to have 11 wives and has been the subject of scrutiny for buying luxury cars. His wealth has been estimated at between $200 million and $500 million, while the World Bank says more than half of Eswatini's 1.2 million people live on less than $4 a day.

Political parties were banned by Sobhuza II in 1973. Some exist now, but they are not allowed to play any role in elections or the political process and have been reduced to civic society groups. Candidates seeking public office in Eswatini's Parliament or Senate have to stand as individuals without any party affiliation and are generally approved by traditional leaders loyal to Mswati III.

Pro-democracy protests have grown in recent years and Eswatini authorities under Mswati III have been accused of crushing them using the security forces. Many dissidents live in exile.

The country was previously known as Swaziland but changed to Eswatini in 2018 after the king announced it should revert to its traditional name in the Swazi language. It was Swaziland when it was under British colonial rule, which ended in 1968.

Eswatini has been severely affected by HIV and has the highest prevalence in the world, with an estimated 26% of the adult population HIV positive, according to the United Nations AIDS agency.

It has made significant progress in confronting that scourge but has been highly reliant on foreign aid to do that, including assistance from the U.S., which has now been cut by the Trump administration.

Cloths with King Mswati III's image sit for sale at a market in Lobamba, Eswatini, Friday, Aug. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Jon Orbach)

FILE - Voters queue to cast their votes in Manzini, Eswatini, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (AP Photo, file)

FILE - King Mswati III of Eswatini arrives for the swearing-in ceremony of Cyril Ramaphosa at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, on May 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

FILE - Eswatini's King, Mswati III, front, dances during a Reed Dance in Mbabane, Monday Sept. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

FILE - Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, left, shakes hands with Eswatini's King Mswati III at the royal palace in Ludzidzini, Eswatini Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. (AP Photo, file)

Retired professional baseball player Lenny Dykstra faces charges after Pennsylvania State Police said a trooper found drugs and paraphernalia in his possession during a traffic stop on New Year's Day.

Dykstra, 62, was a passenger when the vehicle was pulled over by a trooper with the Blooming Grove patrol unit in Pike County, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Scranton, where Dykstra lives.

Police said in a statement that charges will be filed but did not specify what they may be or what drugs were allegedly involved.

Matthew Blit, Dykstra’s lawyer, said in a statement that the vehicle did not belong to Dykstra and he was not accused of being under the influence of a substance at the scene.

“To the extent charges are brought against him, they will be swiftly absolved,” Blit said.

Dykstra's gritty style of play over a long career with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies earned him the nickname “Nails.” He spent years as a businessman before running into a series of legal woes.

Dykstra served time in a California prison for bankruptcy fraud, sentenced to more than six months for hiding baseball gloves and other items from his playing days. That ran concurrent with a three-year sentence for pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. He claimed he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets.

In April 2012, Dykstra pleaded no contest to exposing himself to women he met through Craigslist.

In 2019, Dykstra pleaded guilty on behalf of his company, Titan Equity Group, to illegally renting out rooms in a New Jersey house that it owned. He agreed to pay about $3,000 in fines.

That same year a judge dropped drug and terroristic threat charges against Dykstra after an altercation with an Uber driver. Police said they found cocaine, MDMA and marijuana among his belongings. Dykstra's lawyer called that incident “overblown” and said he was innocent.

And in 2020 a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit that Dykstra filed against former Mets teammate Ron Darling over his allegation that Dykstra made racist remarks toward an opponent during the 1986 World Series.

Justice Robert D. Kalish said Dykstra’s reputation “for unsportsmanlike conduct and bigotry” had already been so tarnished that it could not be damaged further.

“Based on the papers submitted on this motion, prior to the publication of the book, Dykstra was infamous for being, among other things, racist, misogynist, and anti-gay, as well as a sexual predator, a drug-abuser, a thief, and an embezzler,” Kalish wrote.

FILE - Former baseball player Lenny Dykstra sits during his sentencing for grand theft auto in Los Angeles, on Dec. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)