International
Russia destroys postal infrastructure in Odessa in another ballistic missile attack
After killing a total of nine civilians in two previous attacks this week, Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian port of Odessa again last night with ballistic missiles, this time destroying a warehouse and an office of Ukraine’s main private postal company, Nova Poshta.
According to a statement from the company, there are no employees killed or injured as a result of the attack, but 14 people outside Nova Poshta have been injured in last night’s attack, the third that Russia launches with ballistic missiles against the port of Odessa this week.
“The estimated value of the packages that were destroyed as a result of the attack will be refunded to customers in their entirety,” the company announced, which will send the shipments that were going to reach the hit infrastructure to another of its warehouses in Odessa.
Russian missiles have caused damage to buildings near the damaged postal infrastructure, according to the head of the Military Administration of the Odessa region, Oleg Kiper.
An Iskander ballistic missile launched on Monday in broad daylight by Russia against the tourist district of Arcadia, in southern Odessa, killed six people and set fire to part of a historic building known as ‘Harry Potter Castle’.
According to the Army and the Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, the missile used by Russia in that attack was loaded with cluster munitions.
In videos released by the Ukrainian authorities, you can see the different explosions of the submunitions that make up this type of ammunition designed to cause as much damage as possible in an extended area.
More than thirty people were injured in this attack. Some of them walked along the stretch of the promenade that passes through the place where the explosions occurred.
Russia attacked Odessa again with ballistic missiles on Wednesday, causing the death of three people. The Russian Ministry of Defense said hours later, without giving more details about it, that it had reached the headquarters of the Ukrainian South Command, which is located in Odessa.
The port of Odessa is a common target of Russian missiles and drones. The city’s port and in particular the infrastructure dedicated to the export of cereals have been a priority target for Russia since last summer.
Ukrainian authorities have warned that Russia seeks to decimate the Ukrainian economy and sabotage the daily lives of the inhabitants of Ukraine with attacks on civilian infrastructure such as the one that destroyed Nova Poshta’s warehouse and office last night.
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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