International
South African court says Zuma can appeal return to jail
AFP
South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma can appeal a court ruling last week that he should not enjoy medical parole and should return to jail.
High Court Judge Elias Matojane ruled last Wednesday that the September decision to place the 79-year-old on medical parole was “unlawful”.
The same judge on Tuesday decided to allow an appeal.
“In my view, this matter merits the Supreme Court of Appeal’s attention,” he said at the end of a virtual hearing.
He said another court may find that Zuma should be treated with “compassion, empathy and humanity” because of his ill health and advanced age.
The former president was handed a 15-month jail sentence in July for contempt of court after he refused to give testimony to corruption investigators.
His jailing sparked violent protests and looting in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal that spread to South Africa’s financial hub Johannesburg in July, claiming more than 350 lives.
It was the deadliest violence in South Africa since the end of white-minority rule in 1994.
The former president was granted medical parole on September 5, but the exact reasons were never revealed. He has since returned to his $17 million estate in rural Nkandla.
While he was in prison, he was taken to hospital for surgery to treat an undisclosed ailment.
International
Regional mexican music mourns the death of Banda Gota de Oro singer Giovanni Vera
Regional Mexican music is mourning the death of Giovanni Vera, lead vocalist of the band Banda Gota de Oro, who was among the victims of an armed attack that occurred on Sunday, December 28, in the Mexican state of Guanajuato.
The incident took place inside a residence located in the Los Presidentes neighborhood, in the municipality of Irapuato.
According to preliminary reports, several people were gathered at the house when armed men burst in and opened fire on those present. The attack left five people dead, including the singer.
Hours after the shooting, Banda Gota de Oro confirmed Vera’s death through its official Instagram account. In one of the posts, the group expressed its grief with an emotional message: “Today, the sky is dressed for a celebration because you are singing up there. Your voice and your joy will live on forever within us.”
Messages of support and condolences from fans and fellow musicians quickly flooded social media, paying tribute to the artist and expressing solidarity with his family and bandmates.
International
One Dead, Three Injured in Shooting at Cree Nation in Saskatchewan
One person was killed and three others were injured in a shooting reported early Tuesday in the Big Island Lake Cree Nation, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, according to local media.
Police said they were alerted to the incident in a remote area located approximately 392 kilometers northwest of the city of Saskatoon. Authorities issued a dangerous persons alert for two suspects, who were described as armed.
Saskatchewan police urged residents to seek shelter immediately, lock their doors, and avoid the area while the situation remains under investigation. Officers are working to determine whether the shooting was a targeted attack or a random act of violence.
As a precautionary measure, seven health-care facilities in the surrounding area were placed under lockdown, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in a post on X.
International
Mexico’s President Visits Victims After Train Derailment Kills 13 in Oaxaca
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum visited on Monday the victims injured in a train accident that left 13 people dead in the southern state of Oaxaca and announced financial assistance for those affected by the derailment of the Interoceanic Train, which was inaugurated in 2023.
The train, carrying 241 passengers and nine crew members, derailed on Sunday while traveling along the Interoceanic Corridor, a major infrastructure project that connects the Pacific coast with the Gulf of Mexico across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The corridor was one of the flagship initiatives of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration (2018–2024).
Sheinbaum visited three hospitals in the neighboring towns of Tehuantepec and Salina Cruz, where around 20 injured passengers remain hospitalized. She also went to a funeral home to accompany the families of those who lost their lives in the accident.
According to Mexico’s Navy Secretary, Raymundo Morales, the accident occurred when one of the locomotives derailed, causing all four railcars to leave the tracks.
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