International
Lula to travel to Egypt for climate summit
| By AFP |
Brazil’s president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday he would travel to Egypt to take part in the COP27 global climate summit next week to meet international leaders.
“I will travel to Egypt on Monday. I will have more conversations with world leaders in a single day than (Jair) Bolsonaro did in four years,” Lula said during a meeting with legislators in Brasilia, in a dig at the current president, whom he beat in last month’s election.
The Workers’ Party (PT) leader did not specify which leaders he would meet with.
He was invited to the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh by Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
“We will reposition Brazil at the center of international geopolitics,” added Lula, 77.
He said his re-election after two previous mandates from 2003-2010, was generating much “expectation” in the world after he defeated the far-right Bolsonaro in a tight run-off in October.
In the first three years under Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic, average annual deforestation in the Amazon rainforest increased 75 percent on the previous decade.
Lula has made environmental protection a key part of his platform and has vowed to achieve “zero deforestation.”
He is due to assume the presidency for his third term on January 1.
When COP27 ends on November 18, Lula will travel to Portugal to meet President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa, according to Brazilian media.
International
Tensions Escalate in Middle East as U.S. Bombs Iran After Maritime Attacks
The United States launched new strikes against Iran on Wednesday, following President Donald Trump’s warning that Washington would “hit hard” against the Islamic Republic. While Trump ordered the retaliation after attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, he also said he hoped the latest wave of bombings would end soon and left the door open for renewed negotiations.
U.S. forces “have begun carrying out additional strikes against Iran to further reduce its ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” the United States Central Command said in a post on X.
Washington blamed Iran for what it described as “recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping.”
Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that explosions were heard in the port cities of Bandar Abbas, Konarak, and Chabahar.
“This is in retaliation for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will be much worse,” Trump wrote on social media alongside an image showing what appeared to be a bombing at an Iranian location.
Before ordering the strikes, the U.S. president said that the ceasefire with Iran had ended. Mediators Pakistan and Qatar called for de-escalation, while the United Nations also urged both sides to reduce tensions.
The Strait of Hormuz remains a critical flashpoint in the Middle East conflict, which began in late February after U.S. and Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran-linked attacks on at least three vessels in recent days triggered a U.S. offensive against Iranian targets on Tuesday. Tehran responded by launching attacks against Gulf countries that are allies of Washington.
International
Deadly Drug Trade Rivalry Suspected After Eight Bodies Discovered in Southern Mexico
Eight bodies were found Wednesday along a highway in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, in an incident authorities believe may be linked to a dispute over local drug sales.
The victims — six men and two women — were found abandoned on a road in a mountainous area of the municipality of El Bosque, according to the state prosecutor’s office in a statement published on Facebook.
Initial investigations indicate that the killings may be connected to “a dispute over retail drug sales between local criminal groups operating in the region,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Local media reports that several criminal incidents have increased in the area since the beginning of the year.
The road where the bodies were discovered is located in a mountainous region largely inhabited by Indigenous communities. Authorities have not released further details about the victims or possible suspects as the investigation continues.
Central America
Regional Naval Operations Strike Drug Cartels, Disrupting Cocaine and Weapons Trafficking Routes
Transnational operations carried out by regional naval forces, including El Salvador’s National Navy, the United States Coast Guard, and Mexico’s Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR), have dealt significant blows to international drug trafficking organizations.
The operations have not only led to the seizure of massive cocaine shipments, such as the 6.68 metric tons of cocaine valued at approximately $167 million presented last Wednesday by El Salvador’s Security Cabinet, but have also resulted in the confiscation of high-powered weapons allegedly intended as payment to criminal organizations, according to Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro.
“Based on the strength of the data, not just the narratives, we can state that our National Navy has documented the only known operation in the Pacific Ocean in which a criminal organization from the south was transporting drugs and exchanging them with a group from the north for firearms,” Villatoro said.
The exchange of weapons for drugs between criminal groups in the Pacific Ocean represents a logistical method in which South American cartels from countries such as Colombia and Ecuador negotiate with Mexican and Central American organizations to trade military-grade weapons for cocaine shipments.
Regional naval authorities have identified that meeting points located farther from the coastline in international waters make it easier for armed groups to receive supplies and carry out exchanges undetected. As a result, El Salvador’s National Navy deploys teams from the Trident Naval Task Force (FTNT) aboard maritime patrol vessels to intercept these operations.
Initially, the patrol units are ordered to travel up to 200 nautical miles offshore, but later receive instructions from the Maritime Operations Center to extend their missions beyond 1,000 nautical miles, reaching coordinates used by drug trafficking vessels operating in the open sea.
“We cannot lose focus on the routes these criminal organizations use to move drugs,” Minister Villatoro said, emphasizing the importance of maintaining surveillance over the various maritime corridors used for narcotics trafficking.
Tensions Escalate in Middle East as U.S. Bombs Iran After Maritime Attacks
Deadly Drug Trade Rivalry Suspected After Eight Bodies Discovered in Southern Mexico
Regional Naval Operations Strike Drug Cartels, Disrupting Cocaine and Weapons Trafficking Routes
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
-
International1 day agoWildfires Burn Nearly 7,800 Hectares in France as Extreme Heat Fuels Fire Risk
-
International1 day agoUN Appeals for $296 Million in Emergency Aid Following Venezuela Earthquakes
-
International1 day agoUSAR El Salvador Helps Rescue Dogs Trapped for 12 Days Beneath Earthquake Rubble
-
International1 day agoGerman Doctor Sentenced to Life for Murdering 15 Patients in Serial Killing Case
-
International6 hours agoDeadly Drug Trade Rivalry Suspected After Eight Bodies Discovered in Southern Mexico
-
Central America6 hours agoRegional Naval Operations Strike Drug Cartels, Disrupting Cocaine and Weapons Trafficking Routes
-
International3 days agoVenezuela Earthquake Death Toll Rises to 3,535 as Search for Victims Continues
-
Central America3 days agoViolent Killings of Women in Honduras Remain High During First Half of 2026
-
International6 hours agoTensions Escalate in Middle East as U.S. Bombs Iran After Maritime Attacks