International
Oldest human relative walked upright 7 mn years ago: study
AFP
The earliest known human ancestor walked on two feet as well as climbing through trees around seven million years ago, scientists said Wednesday after studying three limb bones.
When the skull of Sahelanthropus tchadensis was discovered in Chad in 2001, it pushed back the age of the oldest known representative species of humanity by a million years.
Nicknamed “Toumai”, the nearly complete cranium was thought to indicate that the species walked on two feet because of the position of its vertebral column and other factors.
However the subject triggered fierce debate among scientists, partly due to the scarcity and quality of the available bones, with some even claiming that Toumai was not a human relative but just an ancient ape.
In a study published in the Nature journal on Wednesday, a team of researchers exhaustively analysed a thigh bone and two forearm bones found at the same site as the Toumai skull.
“The skull tells us that Sahelanthropus is part of the human lineage,” said paleoanthropologist Franck Guy, one of the authors of the study.
The new research on the limb bones demonstrates that walking on two feet was its “preferred mode of getting around, depending on the situation,” he told a press conference.
But they also sometimes moved through the trees, he added.
– ‘Not a magical trait’ –
The leg and arm bones were found alongside thousands of other fossils in 2001, and the researchers were not able to confirm that they belonged to the same individual as the Toumai skull.
After years of testing and measuring the bones, they identified 23 characteristics which were then compared to fossils from great apes as well as hominins — which are species more closely related to humans than chimpanzees.
They concluded that “these characteristics are much closer to what would be seen in a hominin than any other primate,” the study’s lead author Guillaume Daver told the press conference.
For example, the forearm bones did not show evidence that the Sahelanthropus leaned on the back of its hands, as is done by gorillas and chimpanzees.
The Sahelanthropus lived in an area with a combination of forests, palm groves and tropical savannahs, meaning that being able to both walk and climb through trees would have been an advantage.
There have been previous suggestions that it was the ability to walk on two feet that drove humans to evolve separately from chimpanzees, putting us on the path to where we are today.
However the researchers emphasised that what made Sahelanthropus human was its ability to adapt to its environment.
“Bipedalism (walking on two legs) is not a magical trait that strictly defines humanity,” paleontologist Jean-Renaud Boisserie told the press conference.
“It is a characteristic that we find at the present time in all the representatives of humanity.”
– Our ‘bushy’ family tree –
Paleoanthropologist Antoine Balzeau of France’s National Museum of Natural History said the “extremely substantial” study gives “a more complete image of Toumai and therefore of the first humans”.
It also bolstered the theory that the human family tree is “bushy”, and was not like the “simplistic image of humans who follow one another, with abilities that improve over time,” Balzeau, who was not involved in the research, told AFP.
Daniel Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University, said in a linked paper in Nature that the study’s “authors have squeezed as much information as possible from the fossil data”.
But he added that the research will not offer “full resolution” of the debate.
Milford Wolpoff, a paleoanthropologist at the US University of Michigan cast doubt on whether Toumai is a hominin, telling AFP that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”.
Wednesday’s study was carried out by researchers from the PALEVOPRIM paleontology institute, a collaboration between France’s CNRS research centre and Poitiers University, as well as scientists in Chad.
Guy said the team hopes to continue its research in Chad next year — “security permitting”.
Chadian paleontologist Clarisse Nekoulnang said the team was “trying to find sites older than that of Toumai”.
International
Peruvian Court Orders Definitive Dismissal of Money Laundering Case Against Keiko Fujimori
A court of Peru’s National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice ordered the definitive dismissal of the criminal proceedings for alleged money laundering and criminal organization against presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, authorities reported on Tuesday, January 13, 2026.
The ruling was issued by the Tenth National Preparatory Investigation Court in compliance with a previous decision by the Constitutional Court (TC). The decision was confirmed by Fujimori’s attorney, Giuliana Loza, who said on social media platform X that “there was no money laundering nor criminal organization.”
According to the defense, the case was closed for lacking legal grounds and for violating due process. “The proceedings concluded because they lacked a legal basis and constituted clear prosecutorial persecution,” Loza stated.
Judge Wilson Verastegui, whose ruling was reported by local media, said the Constitutional Court determined that the facts alleged in the so-called ‘Cocktails Case’ do not constitute a criminal offense under the principle of legality. The court noted that the crime of illegal financing of political organizations was not in force at the time the alleged acts occurred.
The dismissal also applies to other leaders of the Fuerza Popular party, including Pier Figari, Ana Rosa Herz, Jaime Yoshiyama and José Chlimper, as well as the party itself.
Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000), had been under investigation for the alleged irregular financing of her 2011 and 2016 presidential campaigns, a case that exposed her to a possible 30-year prison sentence. However, one year ago the National Superior Court annulled the trial and returned the case to the intermediate stage.
Fujimori is currently pursuing her fourth presidential bid, ahead of Peru’s general elections scheduled for April.
International
Colombian Defense Chief Meets U.S. Officials to Advance Bilateral Narcotics Strategy
Colombia’s Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez Suárez, is in the United States this Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking, Colombian officials said, in a visit that comes as ties between Bogotá and Washington begin to ease after a period of diplomatic tension.
The trip is seen as a prelude to a scheduled visit by Colombian President Gustavo Petro to Washington, where he is expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time in early February. Sánchez will remain in Washington through Wednesday, according to Colombian government sources.
During his stay, Sánchez is slated to meet with senior U.S. officials, including representatives from the Department of Defense, members of the U.S. Senate, and White House advisors, to outline a joint strategy to “defeat drug trafficking” and expand cooperation on intelligence against transnational crime.
According to a statement from the Colombian Defense Ministry, the agenda will include strengthening collaboration on technology, intelligence sharing, and efforts to disrupt criminal networks that operate across borders. Officials said the discussions will also help set the stage for Petro’s upcoming talks with Trump.
The visit follows a period of strained U.S.–Colombia relations last year, when Washington revoked Petro’s visa and withdrew Colombia’s certification as a key partner in anti-drug efforts — moves that coincided with disagreements over counter-narcotics strategy and broader diplomatic frictions. However, a recent phone call between Petro and Trump, described as cordial by officials, helped lower tensions and reopened channels for dialogue ahead of the presidential meeting.
International
Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case
A Dominican court on Monday postponed until March a preliminary hearing against the owners of a nightclub that collapsed last year, killing more than 200 people.
The roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed in the early hours of April 8, 2025, during a concert by popular merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who died along with 235 other people.
Jet Set owner and manager Antonio Espaillat and his sister Maribel, who served as the club’s administrator, were arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter but were later released on bail after posting approximately $842,500.
Both appeared at the Palace of Justice, where they were met by a small protest from relatives and friends of the victims.
“Thirty years in prison is not enough” and “President, we want JUSTICE,” read signs held by demonstrators.
The preliminary hearing determines whether there is sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. The court decided to reschedule the hearing for March 16.
“We don’t want money and we’re not demanding anything else, only justice for those who died,” said Secundino Pérez, a 75-year-old shopkeeper who lost 12 friends in the Jet Set tragedy.
“Antonio and his family celebrated Christmas sitting at a table, celebrating their freedom,” said Edgar Gómez, who lost his daughter in the collapse.
The Dominican Republic’s Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the defendants “significantly altered” the structure of the nightclub. Prosecutors filed formal charges in November and requested that the case proceed to trial.
The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of three months to two years in prison.
“May your conscience never let you sleep. I lost my son,” a woman shouted through tears before the hearing, while others chanted, “Murderers, murderers, murderers.”
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