International
Kiev suffers power cuts again due to Russian attacks on the electricity sector
After more than a year of normality, the Ukrainian capital is experiencing power cuts again this week as a result of the latest campaign of Russian air strikes against the Ukrainian electricity system, which has lost much of its generation capacity in just one week.
The blackouts – programmed throughout the country to save energy by the national electricity company, Ukrenergo, and by other suppliers – began this Wednesday, coinciding with the increase in demand throughout the country due to the drop in temperatures.
Other regions such as Kharkov (northeast) or Sumi (northeast) had already suffered cuts for weeks, after the Russian attacks destroyed generation and distribution infrastructures on which the service depended.
The return of the blackouts in Kiev – which are applied in different time intervals depending on the area and at the moment do not affect critical infrastructures – brings with it the return of electric generators to which many small businesses such as hairdressers, grocery stores, restaurants or pharmacies turn to continue serving their customers.
“It is the first time we have power cuts this year and at the moment we are putting the generator on to be able to continue offering people medicines and live normally,” Nadiya Turchyna tells EFE while setting up a mobile electric generator at the doors of the pharmacy where she works.
At nightfall, and among the noise of the generators, many residents of Kiev resort to the mobile flashlight to see and be seen in the twilight.
Given the lack of light, the phosphorescent patches and badges with which the neighbors of the Ukrainian capital adorned their backpacks, fanny packs or clothing in the fall of 2022 are also useful to be visible to the vehicles that then began to circulate in the dark through the streets of Kiev.
Russia began its first major bombing campaign against the Ukrainian energy system at the end of October 2022, leaving millions of Ukrainians without electricity or electricity during some of the coldest months of the year.
This same year, since last March, there have been five major attacks that the Ukrainian energy sector has suffered, which have destroyed some of the thermal and hydroelectric power plants that generated the most electricity in
According to the Ukrainian authorities, the damage caused to the system by these attacks exceeds that caused by the wave of bombings of 2022.
The Ukrenergo electricity company has warned that the power cuts that Kiev and the rest of the country suffer again could also continue in winter.
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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