International

The Government of Peru proposes to qualify extortion, kidnapping and hitman as terrorism

The Government of Peru presented this Thursday a bill that qualifies as “urban terrorism” the crimes of extortion, kidnapping and hitman, in response to the wale of crime denounced by carriers and business unions.

The bill includes modifying several articles of the Criminal Code “in order to strengthen actions to combat citizen insecurity,” for which it proposes a tougher sentence, which includes life imprisonment if whoever commits this type of crime belongs to the Armed Forces or the National Police.

The Peruvian Executive announced that it was going to send this project to the Legislature a week ago, when the transport union made a strike in Lima to protest against the wave of extortion.

For its part, the business union affirmed that organized crime has formed a “parallel government” that is “winning the battle” against the State and destroying the country.

The legislative document, signed by President Dina Boluarte, will have to be debated and voted on in Parliament.

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‘Urban terrorism’

He defines urban terrorism as the conduct consisting of “acts that generate terror or anxiety in the population or in a sector of it” through the crimes of hitman, conspiracy, offering for hitman and extortion.

For this, article 315-C is incorporated into the Criminal Code, proposing that the penalty of imprisonment applied to said offense should not be less than 30 years.

It will be life imprisonment, when those who commit it belong to the Armed Forces or Police, “weapons, war material or explosives are used, this type of weapon owned by the Armed Forces or the Police is used and those who use minors or unimputable people to commit the crimes.”

It proposes to modify article 200 of the Criminal Code so that anyone who commits extortion receives a prison sentence of between 15 and 20 years.

“Anyone who, through violence or threat, forces a person or a public or private institution to grant the agent or a third party, an undue economic advantage or other advantage of any other nature, will be punished with a prison sentence of not less than fifteen years or more than twenty years,” the document specifies.

Members of the Armed Forces and the Police

As for the hitman, it establishes that “the one who kills another by order, commission, or agreement with the purpose of obtaining for himself or for another economic benefit or of any other nature will be repressed with a penalty of imprisonment of not less than 30 years and disqualification.”

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In the same way, it will be life imprisonment if “a minor or another unimpeachable person is used,” he orders a criminal organization, weapons of war are used, when the victims are two or more people or two or more people intervene in the execution.

Finally, the legislative initiative includes a final complementary provision, which establishes that members of the Armed Forces and the Police who are denounced during states of emergency for acts carried out in fulfillment of their functions “will be investigated and, if applicable, prosecuted as provided for in article 173 of the Constitution.”

This implies that they will submit to the jurisprudential jurisdictions corresponding to the Police and the Military Justice.

International

Hiroshima survivor who embraced Obama dies at 88

The emotional embrace between Barack Obama and Hiroshima survivor Mori—who was eight years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb in 1945—resonated around the world.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other local media, Mori died on Saturday at a hospital in Hiroshima.

Mori, known for his research on the fate of American prisoners of war in Hiroshima, was thrown into a river by the force of the explosion on August 6, 1945, during the atomic bombing of the city.

In a past interview with AFP, ahead of his meeting with Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in 2016, Mori recalled the chaos and desperation that followed the blast.

He described how, after emerging from the water, he encountered injured civilians seeking help amid the devastation, an experience that stayed with him throughout his life.

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In 2016, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where he paid tribute to the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare. During the visit, Mori was visibly moved as he met the president, sharing a brief but powerful moment that symbolized remembrance and reconciliation.

The bombing of Hiroshima resulted in the deaths of approximately 140,000 people, including those who succumbed to radiation exposure in the aftermath.

Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people and contributing to the end of World War II.

International

Colombia seeks ‘total suffocation’ of armed groups with regional support

Colombia is advancing a strategy aimed at the “total suffocation” of illegal armed groups, seeking to corner them in border regions with the support of Ecuador and Venezuela, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said in an interview with AFP.

According to the minister, coordinated pressure from neighboring countries—backed by United States—aims to dismantle criminal networks that use cross-border routes to traffic Colombian cocaine toward North America and Europe.

For decades, armed groups involved in Colombia’s internal conflict have relied on border territories as strategic rear bases to evade military operations and maintain logistical support.

However, Sánchez said that dynamic is beginning to change.

“We expect a total suffocation between both nations so they have no spaces where they can live or feel safe […] to close off any room they might have,” he stated during the interview in Bogotá, less than five months before the end of President Gustavo Petro’s term.

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Regional developments have reinforced this strategy. Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation, Washington has increased its influence in Caracas, where interim leader Delcy Rodríguez has implemented a renewed anti-narcotics policy.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa—a key U.S. ally in the region—has launched a two-week security plan under strict curfews to combat criminal gangs, with U.S. support.

Sánchez argued that these combined efforts leave illegal organizations with fewer escape routes and operational spaces, effectively placing them in a “dead end.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.