International
Education and young people are key to a “responsible digital future,” say the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Colombia
Education and young people are the keys to a “responsible digital future,” defended the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan, in Colombia where they advance a visit focused on cyberbullying and online violence.
The dukes participated in the Responsible Digital Future Forum in Bogotá, where together with the vice president and minister of Equality of Colombia, Francia Márquez, and the journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, they addressed technological challenges and how to build a digital future that works for all people, taking into account the most vulnerable.
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is scary, and one of the solutions is education, since it is becoming increasingly difficult to stop this force from the source. It is up to us to determine the true of the false” in the digital world, said the Duke of Sussex.
The prince added that they were impressed with the visit they made to a school in the Colombian capital with the children and “the knowledge and awareness they have,” and concluded that: “responsibility and accountability are the things that I think would make the most difference” for a more responsible digital future.
“When you look at the statistics, young people in Latin America review social networks above the average, a total of 67 times a day (…) The digital age has created a culture in which if you don’t have something cruel, don’t say it, and that has radically changed the way we relate,” lamented the Duchess of Sussex.
In this sense, Meghan spoke from her mother’s perspective, being concerned about “how our children are going to adapt and how to keep them safe” in the digital age, something that has been “fundamental” in the activism that the couple is the flag.
“We have a responsibility to be an example for children,” the Duchess insisted.
“In this country young people are committing suicide, and many times it is the fault of social networks where they suffer harassment (…) When I reached the Vice Presidency I did not measure to what I was exposing myself, the amount of aggressions and violence that I have had to endure in these two years, not only me but my children and my partner, it is huge, many times I hate with severity,” lamented Márquez, who also attributed online violence to “the lack of laws.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan, began a four-day visit to Colombia this Thursday, where they will tour different parts of the country, learn about their biodiverse culture and wealth, and address current problems such as cyberbullying and online violence in schools and forums.
The duke and the duchess visited, along with the Colombian vice president, on their first day a school in the south of Bogotá, where they talked with students and teachers about how digital in education transforms lives and the importance of technology to close social gaps.
The visit “aims to open doors and lay doors to make visible and address a problem that today concerns all humanity: cyberbullying, violence in digital environments and discrimination,” the vice president told the media at a press conference at the Casa de Nariño (presidential headquarters).
But this visit, which is the first made by the dukes to Latin America and that occurs after the mother of the prince of Harry, Lady Di, did not make the trip she had planned to Colombia due to her hasty death, is “a great opportunity to visit our nation and show what we Colombians and Colombians are: people who in the midst of adversity do their best to give their best,” Márquez explained.
The visit will continue tomorrow with a tour of another school in Bogotá and from there on Saturday and Sunday the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will leave first for Cartagena de Indias, where they will be in San Basilio de Palenque, the first free town in Colombia, and on Sunday the city of Cali.
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.
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.
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.
-
Central America4 days ago
Amnesty International condemns Nicaragua’s unprecedented repression of dissent
-
Sports4 days ago
Real Madrid clinches fourth Intercontinental Cup with 3-0 victory over Pachuca
-
Central America4 days ago
El Salvador’s MARN monitors ongoing seismic activity in La Unión department
-
International4 days ago
Mexico requests extradition of ‘Mini Lic’ for murder of journalist Javier Valdez
-
International3 days ago
The Court of the IADH rules out measures in favor of Gustavo Petro amid investigations into his campaign
-
International4 days ago
Mexican government to use church atriums for gun surrender program to combat violence
-
International3 days ago
Trump links Mike Johnson’s re-election to meeting his budget requirements
-
International4 days ago
Cuba’s government stresses openness to serious, respectful U.S. relations
-
International3 days ago
The Constitutional Court of Peru annuls the sentence against the leader of Dina Boluarte’s former party
-
International4 days ago
Begoña Gómez defends her actions as investigations into her role at Complutense University continue
-
International3 days ago
Guterres calls for “avoiding at all costs” the integration of AI into nuclear weapons
-
International4 days ago
NASA delays return of two astronauts stranded on ISS until at least March
-
International5 days ago
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
-
International5 days ago
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
-
International5 days ago
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
-
International1 day ago
At least ten dead in Iran in a bus accident in the west of the country
-
International1 day ago
Helene, the violent hurricane that destroyed the southeastern United States
-
International4 days ago
Ukraine’s security a priority as NATO discusses future of conflict with Russia
-
International1 day ago
At least 21 dead and 61 injured after Israel’s last attacks in Gaza
-
International4 days ago
Patient hospitalized with severe avian flu case in Louisiana, CDC reports
-
International3 days ago
An appeals court disqualifies the prosecutor in the election case against Trump in Georgia
-
International1 day ago
Milei closed about 200 areas of the Public Administration in its first year of Government
-
International1 day ago
The piangua, the mangrove mollusk that empowers women in the Colombian Pacific
-
International3 days ago
The new French prime minister launches an ultimatum to the moderate parties and the left rejects his offer
-
International1 day ago
New Syrian leader addresses with the United States the lifting of sanctions for reconstruction
-
International5 days ago
Ecuador announces debt swap of $1.527 billion to protect Amazon rainforest
-
Internacionales4 hours ago
Sinaloa security secretary resigns amid wave of violence and cartel infighting
-
International4 hours ago
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
-
International4 hours ago
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
-
International4 hours ago
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway