International
Arce and Putin agree that joint lithium and nuclear projects in Bolivia will operate in 2025
The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, said that he agreed with his Russian peer, Vladimir Putin, that the joint projects undertaken by both nations in Bolivia for the exploitation of lithium and the development of nuclear technology will be fully underway in 2025.
The ruler explained to the media in La Paz the agreements reached with Putin during his recent visit to Russia, where he also participated in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
According to Arce, it was agreed that the project applied by the Russian firm Uranium One, one of the three that signed an agreement with Bolivia to apply its direct lithium extraction (EDL) technology in Bolivian salt salts, “has to go into operation in the 2025 management.”
The president assured that the state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) and Uranium One “are going to take all the precautions so that this decision can be reached” adopted “between both presidents.”
The same will happen in the case of the Center for Research and Development in Nuclear Technology (Cidtn) set up in El Alto, a neighbor of La Paz. Its operation includes three phases, the president recalled.
The first phase was the nuclear medicine and radiotherapy center inaugurated in 2022 and the second, the irradiation center for seed improvement and pest control launched last year, he said.
“They are the two stages that are complete and we have the third stage, which is the temperature of the nuclear reactor. Undoubtedly, this is the most delicate and longest. And we have also agreed with President Vladimir Putin that this project will be completed by June 2025,” Arce said.
With this, it is expected that the entire nuclear complex will be “in full operation by the middle of next year,” he added.
Other agreements reached between Arce and Putin include Russian support for Bolivia to buy liquid hydrocarbons to ensure its domestic supply. In turn, the expansion of the South American nation’s export “commercial base” to the Russian market will be promoted with products such as coffee, pineapple, quinoa, palm heart and chocolate, among others.
Arce also pointed out that Russia showed its “total predisposition” to provide medicines to Bolivia and offered half scholarships for Bolivians who want to study in that country, with one year included so that they can learn the language.
In addition, it was agreed with the University of St. Petersburg to send professors to teach Russian at the state language institute of Bolivia, and the recognition of the degrees achieved by Bolivian professionals in Russia will be facilitated, he said.
There is also an agreement for cooperation in sports, to improve the performance of Bolivian athletes, he added.
Arce highlighted his participation in the St. Petersburg forum, in which he presented about the so-called ‘productive community social economic model’ that he conceived together with other left-wing economists and that was launched in Bolivia in the governments of the ruling Movement to Socialism (MAS).
He assured that with his model, Bolivia is “showing the world” that it is possible to have economic development and “reduction of poverty and inequalities” in an adverse global context.
Bolivia and Russia have a marked political affinity that has even led the South American country to refrain from voting in United Nations resolutions regarding the condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
International
Pope Francis meets former Gaza hostages
Pope Francis met on Thursday at the Vatican with 16 Israelis who had been held hostage in Gaza for months by the Islamist group Hamas, according to the official Vatican news website.
The group consisted of ten women, four men, and two children, as reported by the same source. Several of the former hostages showed the Argentine pontiff banners or photos of their loved ones who remain in captivity.
Francis had previously met with the families of hostages in April this year and November 2023, but this was the first time he had met with individuals who had personally endured captivity.
Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, the pope has repeatedly called for the immediate release of Israeli hostages, while also condemning the suffering of the Palestinian population.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Islamist militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,206 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that include hostages who died in captivity.
Of the kidnapped, 97 are still being held in Gaza, but the Israeli military estimates that 34 of them have died.
The military offensive launched by Israel in response has killed at least 43,736 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-governed territory.
International
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on residential buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and its surroundings on Thursday, resulting in at least 15 deaths and 16 injuries, according to Syria’s Ministry of Defense and state television.
The ministry stated that around 3:20 p.m. local time (12:20 GMT), the Israeli military launched an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several residential buildings in the Mazzeh neighborhood in western Damascus and the Qudsaya suburb to the northwest of the capital.
The airstrikes “resulted in the death of 15 people and injuries to 16 others, including women and children,” based on initial estimates, in addition to significant damage to private property and civilian buildings, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, state television reported Israeli airstrikes on three buildings in Mazzeh and another on a building in an educational complex located in a residential area of Qudsaya.
Following the strikes, loud explosions were heard throughout the city, and thick plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the targeted locations. Ambulances and emergency services rushed to the scene to attend to the victims.
International
Drug trafficker dies after boat collision with Guardia Civil Vessel in Sanlúca
Three people were on the boat that collided with a Guardia Civil vessel around midnight at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near the Andalusian city of Cádiz, a spokesperson for the Civil Guard reported.
Two officers sustained “contusions,” the spokesperson explained.
The drug traffickers managed to bring the boat to shore, where one of them was “abandoned” severely injured. The other two fled.
The Civil Guard officers attempted to resuscitate the victim before transporting him to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, but he ultimately died early in the morning.
The other two suspects took advantage of the officers’ absence while they were taking the victim and returned to set their boat on fire.
The collision occurred very close to the site of another accident on September 1, where a drug trafficker died following a Guardia Civil pursuit.
The suspects’ boat traveled “400 meters” before crashing head-on and “at full speed” into the riverbank, where a hundred bundles of hashish were found.
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