International
Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Minister of Denmark, was beaten in the center of Copenhagen
The Danish Prime Minister, the Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen, was beaten this Friday in the heart of Copenhagen by an individual who has been arrested, the Ritzau agency reported.
Frederiksen is “shocked” by what happened, the Prime Minister’s office said in a brief letter sent to Ritzau, who also cites police sources to confirm the incident.
The Danish authorities have not given more information about the state of Frederiksen.
“Oh, no, what a surprise. That’s not Denmark. We don’t attack our prime ministers. I send my best thoughts to Mette,” the vice president and minister of Defense, the liberal Troels Lund Poulsen, wrote on the social network X.
The leaders of the main Danish parties and several ministers have also reacted on social networks condemning what happened and sending messages of support to Frederiksen.
Mette Frederiksen, 46, has been head of government since June 2019: the first legislature, at the head of a center-left coalition; and since December 2022, at the head of a center executive with two right-wing forces.
The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, expressed his support for the Danish prime minister, the social democrat Mette Frederiksen, after the aggression against her.
“Mette Frederiksen is a committed leader, a magnificent person and a great friend. The attack he has suffered tonight is an attack against all of us who believe in a Europe of freedom, tolerance and peace,” Sánchez published on his social network X.
Sánchez sent Frederiksen his support “and that of Spanish citizenship in these difficult times.”
“Violence has no place in the EU,” he concluded.
The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, also condemned the aggression against her counterpart from Denmark and expressed her solidarity with the Danish president.
“I am shocked by the news of the attack on the Danish prime minister,” the Italian leader said in a statement, which described what happened as “an act of intolerable violence that represents an attack on the heart of democratic values.”
“My solidarity is with my colleague Mette,” Meloni added.
International
U.S. allows Venezuela to fund Maduro and Cilia Flores’ legal defense
Until now, the U.S. administration had blocked the Venezuelan government from covering the legal fees of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who is also jailed and facing drug trafficking charges, due to international sanctions imposed on Venezuela.
The couple’s legal team had relied on that argument in an attempt to have the indictment dismissed, claiming that preventing a defendant from accessing counsel of their choice violates rights guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
However, the U.S. Treasury Department will now allow “defense attorneys to receive payments from the Government of Venezuela under certain conditions,” New York prosecutor Jay Clayton wrote in a letter dated Friday to Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case.
According to the letter, the funds must have become available after March 5, 2026, and cannot come from Venezuelan oil sales regulated in the United States.
Since Maduro’s removal from power in early January, former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has served as Venezuela’s interim leader.
The United States effectively controls Venezuelan crude exports, with revenues deposited into special accounts supervised by Washington.
Court documents filed on Friday show that the defense acknowledged the sanctions exemption and, for now, withdrew its motion seeking dismissal of the charges.
International
U.S. Sanctions Network Linked to Fentanyl Trafficking Across India, Guatemala and Mexico
The United States Department of State announced sanctions on Thursday against 23 individuals and companies allegedly linked to an international fentanyl production and smuggling network operating in India, Guatemala and Mexico.
According to the State Department, the network supplied precursor chemicals to the Sinaloa Cartel, which the United States has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Washington declared fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, a weapon of mass destruction last year due to its role in the ongoing overdose crisis in the United States.
“By targeting the entire supply chain — from chemical suppliers in Asia to logistical intermediaries in Central America and cartel-linked networks in Mexico — the Trump Administration is dismantling networks that destabilize governance across our hemisphere and threaten U.S. security,” the State Department said.
In a separate statement, the Office of Foreign Assets Control detailed sanctions against three Indian chemical and pharmaceutical companies: Sutaria, Agrat and SR Chemicals, along with a sales executive accused of supplying precursor chemicals to contacts in Guatemala and Mexico.
In Guatemala, authorities sanctioned J and C Import and Central Logística de Servicios, as well as intermediary Jaime Augusto Barrientos.
The OFAC also designated several intermediaries and import companies operating in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
As part of the investigation, U.S. authorities identified Ramiro Baltazar Félix as a member of Los Mayos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Alejandro Reynoso, accused of operating clandestine drug laboratories in Guadalajara.
International
Pope Leo XIV Says Countries Have Border Rights but Migrants Deserve Respect
Pope Leo XIV said Thursday that migrants must be treated with dignity as he addressed the global migration crisis during a press conference aboard the plane returning from his tour of Africa.
The pontiff answered questions from journalists regarding his upcoming trip to Spain, which will include a visit to the Canary Islands, a region heavily affected by migration flows and growing political polarization surrounding the issue.
“Obviously, migration is a very complex issue and affects many countries — not only Spain, not only Europe, but also the United States. It is a global phenomenon,” the pope said.
Pope Leo XIV also questioned the role of developed nations in addressing the crisis.
“My response begins with a question: What is the Global North doing to help the Global South and those countries where young people no longer see a future and dream of going north, even when the North sometimes has no answers to offer?” he asked.
While acknowledging that “a state has the right to establish rules for its borders,” the pope insisted that the debate must go beyond border control and address the structural causes that force people to leave their home countries.
U.S. allows Venezuela to fund Maduro and Cilia Flores’ legal defense
U.S. Sanctions Network Linked to Fentanyl Trafficking Across India, Guatemala and Mexico
Pope Leo XIV Says Countries Have Border Rights but Migrants Deserve Respect
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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