International
The Baltimore Fallen Bridge: 2,632 meters in length immortalized in the series ‘The Wire’
The Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed on Tuesday after a freighter crashed into it, is the largest in Baltimore, the capital of the state of Maryland: it has a length of 2,632 meters and more than 11 million vehicles travel through it a year.
This bridge was immortalized by “The Wire”, the successful American television series set in Baltimore about judicial telephone interventions against a police group and in which many of its characters are based on real people from the city.
Named in honor of the poet Francis Scott Key, author of the lyrics of the American anthem, the construction of the current bridge began in 1972 and was inaugurated on March 23, 1977.
The structure crosses the lower part of the Patapsco River between Hawkins Point and Sollers Point and runs through it by the I-695 motorway (Baltimore Beltway).
The bridge that collapsed this Tuesday is, according to the organization Historic Sites, heir to the one built between 1833 and 1843 with stone pillars, demolished in 1915, as well as the one that replaced it, a concrete arch inaugurated in 1923.
He already had the name of Francis Scott Key because the artist lived in an area near the beginning of the 19th century. Originally the bridge was known as ‘Outer Harbor Crossing’.
Every summer, in addition, the U.S. Coast Guard deploys the commemorative buoy of the poet Francis Scott Key on the Patapsco River, in the vicinity of the bridge.
The star-covered buoy marks the approximate location where Francis Scott Key wrote the national anthem, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’, while trying to facilitate the release of a prisoner held on a British ship during the bombing of Fort McHenry in 1814.
The piles of the bridge and other components form an underwater reef that attracts fish, such as striped sea bass or perch, so the place is appreciated by sports fishing enthusiasts.
The area also attracts recreational boats, and tourist boats and local cruises offer travel routes near the bridge.
Near the western end of the bridge, in Fort Armistead Park, there are ramps for launching boats, a fishing dock and views of the bridge.
Baltimore, an important seaport even before the American Revolution settled in Chesapeake Bay, is the most populous city in the state of Maryland.
It has just over 600,000 inhabitants in the urban center and 2,700,000 in its metropolitan area.
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.
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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