International
Oil cleanup crews replace bathers on Peru beaches
AFP
At Miramar Beach in Peru’s popular resort of Ancon, there are no bathers despite the summer heat. Instead, it teems with workers in coveralls cleaning up an oil spill.
Almost a million liters (264,000 gallons) of crude spilled into the sea on Saturday when a tanker was hit by waves while offloading at La Pampilla refinery in Ventanilla, 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Lima.
Its owner, Spanish oil company Repsol, attributed the accident to the swell caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga, thousands of miles away.
“Oil reaches the beach during high tide at night… and deposits the oil on the shore,” Martin Martinez of the NGO AMAAC Peru, supervising the cleanup, told AFP.
“We take advantage to remove it from the sea, that and the saturated sand,” he said.
The spill has dealt a blow to tourism in the popular resort, and to businesses who make most of their money in the summer season.
“There were many people until Sunday; the stain arrived on Monday, and since then, no one is swimming anymore,” said 48-year-old Richard Gutierrez, who has a food and soda stand on Miramar beach.
“We cannot sell anything, there are no vacationers, there is no one” apart from about 100 cleanup workers — soldiers, Repsol hired hands and volunteers — removing the polluted sand with spades to be taken to a toxic waste treatment facility.
– ‘Ecological disaster’ –
Peru’s government has declared the spill of some 6,000 barrels of oil an “ecological disaster” and has demanded compensation from Repsol.
The company denies responsibility, saying maritime authorities had issued no warning of freak waves after the Tonga eruption.
The task, which began Tuesday, is an arduous one.
The workers deposit the polluted sand onto blue tarps, which are dragged to a pile further inland, awaiting removal to another site.
Work begins at 8:00 am and finishes at 6:00 pm, with a 30-minute break for lunch.
No one knows how long it will take to clean up the affected stretch of coastline, but in Miramar, it is estimated it will last at least two weeks.
The environment ministry said 174 hectares — equivalent to 270 football fields — of coast were affected, and some 118 hectares at sea.
Marine currents have dispersed the oil all the way to the coast of Chancay district, more than 40 kilometers from where the spill occurred.
The health ministry has identified 21 affected beaches and warned bathers to stay away.
The spill has also affected hundreds of artisanal fishermen who operate on the central Peruvian coast.
They rely on catches of sole, lorna drum and Peruvian grunt — fish commonly used in the local delicacy ceviche, a marinated raw fish dish Peru is famous for.
International
Trump Orders Construction of New ‘Golden Fleet’ to Revitalize U.S. Naval Superiority
President Donald Trump issued an executive order this Monday for the immediate construction of two new warships that will bear his name. These vessels will be the pioneers of what he described as the “Golden Fleet,” a future generation of “Trump-class” battleships that he claimed would be “100 times more powerful” than those currently in service.
The announcement took place at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The President indicated that following the initial two ships, the administration aims to commission up to 25 additional vessels. He is scheduled to meet with Florida-based contractors next week to expedite production, criticizing existing defense firms for failing to deliver results efficiently.
This naval expansion is a cornerstone of Trump’s goal to revitalized the American shipbuilding industry and address the strategic gap between the U.S. and competitors like China.
The move comes amid heightened geopolitical tension. Just last week, Trump ordered the seizure of all sanctioned tankers involved with Venezuela’s “ghost fleet” to cripple the country’s crude oil industry. Since December 10, the U.S. military—deployed in the Caribbean under the guise of counter-narcotics operations—has already detained two tankers linked to Venezuelan oil transport.
International
U.S. Judge Blocks ICE from Re-detaining Salvadoran Erroneously Deported Under Trump Administration
A U.S. federal judge ruled this Monday, December 22, that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is prohibited from re-detaining Salvadoran national Kilmar Ábrego García, who was erroneously deported to El Salvador earlier this year during the administration of President Donald Trump.
During a hearing in Maryland, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Ábrego García must remain free on bail through the Christmas holidays, concluding that his initial detention lacked a legal basis. The ruling follows a request from his legal team for a temporary restraining order to prevent ICE from carrying out a new arrest.
Earlier this month, on December 11, Judge Xinis ordered his release from a Pennsylvania migrant detention center after determining that the government had detained him without a formal deportation order. In 2019, an immigration judge had already ruled that Ábrego could not be returned to El Salvador because his life was in danger.
Despite that protection, Ábrego García was deported in March 2025 following a raid by the Trump administration. Officials argued at the time that he was a gang member, and he was sent directly to the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) in El Salvador. In June, he was returned to the United States to face a new trial for alleged human smuggling—a charge he denies.
On Monday, Judge Xinis also temporarily invalidated a new deportation order issued by an immigration judge following Ábrego’s recent release, granting him legal protection through the coming weeks. His trial is scheduled to begin in Tennessee in January 2026.
International
Fire at substation triggers major blackout in San Francisco
The U.S. city of San Francisco was plunged into darkness Saturday night after a power outage left about 130,000 customers without electricity, although the utility company said service was restored to most users within hours.
Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) said in a statement posted on X that nearly 90,000 homes had their power restored by 9:00 p.m. local time (05:00 GMT on Sunday), while the remaining 40,000 customers were expected to have service restored overnight.
Large areas of the city, a major technology hub with a population of around 800,000, were affected by the blackout, which disrupted public transportation and left traffic lights out of service during the busy weekend before Christmas, a crucial period for retail businesses.
“I know it’s been a difficult day,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a video posted on social media from the city’s emergency operations center. “There has been progress, but for those still without power, we want to make sure they are safe and checking in on their neighbors,” he added.
Lurie said police officers and firefighters advised residents to stay home as much as possible. He also noted that officers and traffic inspectors were deployed to manage intersections where traffic lights were not functioning.
The mayor confirmed that the outage was caused by a fire at an electrical substation. Parts of the city were also covered in fog, further complicating conditions during the incident.
As a result of the blackout, many businesses were forced to close despite it being the weekend before Christmas. The sudden drop in shopper traffic ahead of the holiday is “devastating” for retailers, the manager of home goods store Black & Gold told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Trump Orders Construction of New ‘Golden Fleet’ to Revitalize U.S. Naval Superiority
U.S. Judge Blocks ICE from Re-detaining Salvadoran Erroneously Deported Under Trump Administration
Fire at substation triggers major blackout in San Francisco
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International5 days agoPentagon confirms Trump pick for SouthCom as U.S. military pressure grows
-
International3 days agoU.S. Judge Blocks ICE from Re-detaining Salvadoran Erroneously Deported Under Trump Administration
-
International4 days agoCristina Kirchner recovering after appendicitis surgery in Buenos Aires
-
International4 days agoFire at substation triggers major blackout in San Francisco
-
International3 days agoTrump Orders Construction of New ‘Golden Fleet’ to Revitalize U.S. Naval Superiority
-
International5 days agoArgentina detects first local cases of Influenza A (H3N2) Subclade K