International
Israel accuses Sánchez of “inciting Jewish genocide” for recognizing Palestine
The Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, accused on Tuesday the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, of being “accomplice of inciting Jewish genocide” for recognizing the Palestinian State and for not ceasing Vice President Yolanda Díaz when he said that “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.”
Vice President Díaz later clarified her words and said that when she assured that “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea” she meant that the two States, Israel and Palestine, must “share a future of peace and prosperity,” after the Israeli ambassador in Madrid, Radica Radian-Gordon, accused her of using “a Hamas slogan.”
However, in a message on social network X, both in Spanish and Hebrew, Katz accused Díaz of seeking the elimination of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian “terrorist state” and compared it to the supreme Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei, and the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
“President @sanchezcastejon – by not firing @yolanda_diaz_ and announcing the recognition of the Palestinian State – is complicit in inciting the murder of the Jewish people and war crimes,” the Israeli Foreign Minister wrote today, also labeling the account of the leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
Israel has reacted with anger to the official recognition of the Palestinian State made today by Spain, Ireland and Norway and has even prohibited the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem from providing consular services to Palestinians residing in the occupied West Bank in retaliation.
But the Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, thanked on Tuesday for the official recognition of Palestine by three European countries, a decision that he described as “brave” and that he assured demonstrates an “international consensus” to end the war in the Gaza Strip.
“The Palestinian Presidency welcomes the courageous and bold European political positions, especially those adopted by Spain, Ireland and Norway that recognized the State of Palestine,” Abás said today in a statement released by the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa.
In that same text, Abás also alluded to the statements of the High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, who on Sunday said from Brussels that the solution of the two States “is not a painful concession” or a threat to the security of Israel, but “the only long-term guarantee” for its security and prosperity.
“(That) is consistent with the official Palestinian position, which has repeatedly stressed that military and security solutions have failed,” Abás said today, who also thanked Borrell’s criticism of Israel for not complying with the latest order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered him to “immediately stop” his military offensive in Rafah, in southern Gaza.
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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