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Two new explosions reported in Cuenca, Ecuador, without casualties

Two new explosions reported in Cuenca, Ecuador, without casualties
Photo: @Sanchezmendieta

September 1|

The National Police (PN) and the Fire Department of Ecuador reported that this Thursday two new explosions were recorded in the city of Cuenca, located in the center-south of the country, with no fatalities.

The first explosion was reported in the structure of a bridge near the parish center of the town of Sayausí, northwest of Cuenca, leaving damage to pipes and asphalt.

The second event was caused by the detonation of an explosive device inside a vehicle in the town of Totoracocha, in the east of the city.

After the events, authorities were deployed throughout the territory to support the work of the National Police and the Armed Forces in search of the perpetrators of the explosions.

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These events are in addition to the detonation of two car bombs in Quito, the capital of the country, on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, without leaving people injured.

The PN reported on Wednesday that six people have been detained, allegedly related to the explosive attacks that occurred in Quito.

Ecuador’s unified command post, together with the PN, the Armed Forces and the National Service of Integral Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI), took a series of decisions to recover order in the penitentiary system.

In a statement, the government of Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso said that until Thursday night seven police officers and 50 prison security and surveillance officers were being held in six detention centers.

He reported that the event would be a response of criminal groups to the interventions of public forces in prisons in the country, whose purpose is the seizure of prohibited objects that are used in violent acts.

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In a message published on the social network X, formerly Twitter, Lasso said that “the measures we have taken, especially in the penitentiary system, have generated violent reactions from criminal organizations that seek to intimidate the state”.

“But we are firm and we will not back down in our objective of capturing dangerous criminals, dismantling criminal gangs and pacifying the country’s prisons,” added the president.

This week, some 2,200 police and military personnel arrived at the Latacunga prison, located in Cotopaxi province, south of Quito, and seized some 49 bladed weapons and two bulletproof vests, among other prohibited objects.

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International

Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.

“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.

The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.

“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”

“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.

Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.

Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.

The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.

In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.

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International

Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.

Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.

Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.

In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.

The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.

Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.

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International

Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people

At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.

“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”

The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.

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