International
Hamas and Fatah bring positions closer on future management of the Gaza Strip
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Fatah, the main governing party of the Palestinian National Authority (ANP), brought positions closer to positions on a future management of the Gaza Strip when the conflict with Israel ends, which preserves the unity of Palestine during its meetings yesterday and today in Cairo.
Egyptian sources close to the negotiations, where the Arab country participates as a mediator, told EFE that both Fatah and Hamas “showed more flexibility and positivity” for the establishment of the so-called “Community Support Committee”, the organization that would govern the Belt, affiliated with the ANP and would administer the territory with the presence of independent figures in its ranks.
“The Community Support Committee will be formed by a presidential decree of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and will be responsible for the administration of the Strip. It will be affiliated with the ANP and will include independent figures,” the source remarked.
Preventing the separation of the West Bank from Gaza
In this sense, he indicated that the meeting that both groups, which faced in a Palestinian “civil war” in Gaza in 2006 when the Islamist group won the elections in the enclave and took control of the area, sought at all times to achieve “unity” of the Palestinian forces and avoid a separation of the West Bank from the Gaza Strip.
“The meetings are a purely Palestinian matter, and Egyptian efforts are aimed at uniting the Palestinian ranks and alleviating their suffering,” the source said.
Yesterday, Friday, delegations from both groups met in Cairo to discuss the future administration of the Gaza Strip and analyze the negotiations with Israel for a ceasefire.
Egyptian security sources close to the negotiations also told EFE that a delegation from the Israeli Mossad and Shin Bet (military intelligence) was expected to arrive in Cairo to address with the mediators of Egypt, Qatar and the United States Hamas’ responses to the proposals for a truce.
Truces
Hamas has already indicated to Egypt that it is willing to enter into a series of “brief truces”, under the premises that the movement accepted on July 2 based on the proposal of US President Joe Biden, on the condition that “Washington provides US guarantees to the movement, that Israel withdraws from the axis of Philadelphia, Netzarim and Rafah after a first truce that will not exceed 28 days.”
The Egyptian source indicated that the Arab country and Qatar, another key mediator, agree with the US assessment of the situation in Gaza after the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar, since with that, “Israel has achieved much of its objectives in Gaza, allowing a serious entry into the ceasefire.”
The next day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would be willing to accept a two-day truce in the Gaza Strip, in exchange for releasing four hostages, if he had received such a proposal from the mediators.
Israel bombs Lebanon and causes 71 new deaths
A total of 71 people were killed and 169 were injured, in the last 24 hours, due to Israeli bombing, bringing to 2,980 the total number of deaths since the conflict began just over a year ago, the Ministry of Public Health of Lebanon reported.
The ministry said that 109 aviation bombings were recorded in the same period of time in various areas of Lebanon, most in Nabatie (57), the South (26), and Baalbek-Hermel (24), bringing the total number of bombings to 11,876, according to a statement.
Israeli bombings left 52 dead yesterday in Baalbek alone, a place that is home to Greco-Roman ruins that are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Known as the City of the Sun, the historic Baalbek, had received its first total evacuation order this week by Israel, which has intensified bombing in the area, threatening some of the best preserved Roman vestiges in the world.
Although the Israeli bombings on Lebanon started almost simultaneously with the conflict in Gaza, in response to the launch of missiles by Hizbula, the Lebanese Shiite group, the situation took a radical change with the intensification of the attacks just over a month ago.
Almost 1.2 million people were displaced by the conflict from the areas where the violence is most intense, the South and the Beeka Valley, areas of Shiite majority.
Israel attacks more than 120 “targets” in Gaza and Lebanon
The Israeli Army attacked more than 120 “targets” of the Islamists of Hamas in Gaza and Hizbula in Lebanon, where it also killed two commanders, according to a military statement, after a deadly day in the Palestinian enclave in which medical sources recorded more than 80 deaths.
“The Armed Forces eliminated (yesterday) two commanders of Hizbulá responsible for firing more than 400 projectiles against Israel in October” in the Tyre area, a military statement detailed today.
The dead in Gaza
The number of deaths from the war in Gaza increased this Saturday to 43,314, after at least 55 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health of the strip, dependent on Hamas and which put the total number of injured since October 7, 2023 at more than 102,000.
International
Noboa once again entrusts the Vice President of Ecuador to the vice president he appointed by decree
The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, returned this Thursday to delegate – for the second time – the Presidency to the Secretary of Public Administration and Cabinet of the Presidency Cynthia Gellibert, whom he himself appointed by decree vice president in charge, in the face of the open confrontation he maintains with the vice president, Verónica Abad.
As he did last week, Noboa again issued a decree in which he announces that he is absent from the Presidency from Thursday to Sunday, to make an electoral campaign in search of his re-election in the elections of February 9, and during that period of time it will be Gellibert who will be in charge of the head of the State.
This action of the president of Ecuador is a matter of evaluation by the ordinary and constitutional justice at the request of the vice president, Verónica Abad, who claims to assume the presidential functions during the full period of the electoral campaign, in which according to the Constitution the head of state must ask for leave for being a candidate for re-election.
In his decree, Noboa argues that, although the Constitution determines that the Vice Presidency must assume the head of State in the event of the absence of the president, this “is not limited to the elected vice-president, but to the person who to date is exercising the functions of the Vice Presidency.”
Before appointing Gellibert as vice president in charge by decree, Noboa sent Abad to the Ecuadorian Embassy in Turkey, after a judge annulled the five-month suspension that the same Government had imposed on him. Until now, the vice president remains in Ecuador to claim to be the one who temporarily assumes the Presidency.
The new period of Gellibert with presidential powers began at 18:00 local time (23:00 GMT) this Thursday and is scheduled to end at 22:00 (03:00 GMT) next Sunday, time at which the debate between presidential candidates is expected to end where Noboa is summoned to participate.
After the debate, Noboa plans to travel to Washington to attend Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, according to the Ecuadorian Presidency.
After the first assignment of the Presidency to Gellibert, Abad denounced a “coup d’état” and urged the Organization of American States (OAS) to apply the Democratic Charter, considering that the constitutional order had been broken because it had not received the presidential powers, as contemplated in the Ecuadorian Constitution.
In addition, he filed a protection action with which he seeks that the Justice annul the decrees in which Noboa appointed Gellibert as vice president in charge and delegated the Presidency to him. A court admitted the appeal on Friday, but did not accept some precautionary measures that Abad also asked for to suspend those effects immediately.
Controversies like this will be part of the analysis and evaluation of the electoral observation mission (EOM) of the European Union (EU) for the Ecuadorian elections, as anticipated on Wednesday by its leader, Spanish MEP Gabriel Mato.
The confrontation between Noboa and Abad began in the electoral campaign for the second round of elections for the extraordinary elections of 2023, and was reflected when he assumed the charges, when in one of his first decisions, the president sent the vice president to Israel as ambassador, with the mission of seeking peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Abad has denounced Noboa for alleged political gender violence and has accused her of leading a harassment against her to force her to resign and thus avoid having to delegate the Presidency to her during the electoral campaign period, which runs from January 5 to February 6.
The titular vice president has also accused the Government of being behind the corruption investigation in the offices of the Vice Presidency that involves her son in a case where the Prosecutor’s Office also sought to indict Abad, but the National Assembly (Parliament) voted mostly against lifting the jurisdiction, although the ruling party voted in favor.
The general elections in Ecuador are called for Sunday, February 9 and, according to the polls published so far, Noboa and the candidate of the correismo Luisa González appear as prominent favorites to move on to the second round.
International
Musk’s Starship was lost after a smooth takeoff
The second stage of the Starship spacecraft, the largest and most powerful rocket in the world, was lost this Thursday after a smooth takeoff from the SpaceX base in Boca Chica, in southern Texas (USA), on the border with Mexico.
Before confirming the news, the company of technology tycoon Elon Musk pointed out during the live broadcast that it had lost contact with the rocket, which was supposed to dwell in the Indian Ocean.
However, the takeoff itself had no problems, and even the first stage, the Super Heavy, managed to return to land, to the base, and be caught by the clamps in a spectacular way, for the second time.
“The Starship spacecraft suffered a rapid and unforeseen dismantling during its ascent. The teams will continue to review the data from today’s flight test to better understand the root cause,” SpaceX said on the social network X.
He added that in a test like this, “success depends on what we learn, and today’s flight will help us improve the reliability of the Starship spacecraft.”
The rocket had been improved for this seventh test flight and the part that was lost was carrying cargo into space for the first time, in this case a dozen replicas of Starlink internet satellites.
The lost spacecraft was to fly in a suborbital trajectory for about an hour, after which it planned to land in the Indian Ocean, as in the last tests.
In these initial test flights, the idea is not to reach orbit but to go around the planet and descend by the tail ahead and propelled by rockets in the Indian Ocean.
The SpaceX company signed up for a new success on Thursday with the launch of the seventh test flight of the Starship, the largest and most powerful rocket in the world, which this time was improved, took cargo into space for the first time and also managed to catch the propeller on the ground for the second time on its return to the base in Texas.
The rocket had taken off today at 16:37 local time (22:37 GMT) powered by the Super Heavy as planned after several delays due to unfavorable weather conditions.
SpaceX proposed in this new Starship test to launch a ship with significant improvements, and attempt the first payload deployment test, the Starlink.
He also wanted to fly multiple reentry experiments aimed at capturing and reusing ships, and launching and returning the Super Heavy thruster to the base in Texas, as he succeeded.
As in the most recent test flights, the first stage propelled the upper one out of the dense lower atmosphere before returning in a controlled manner.
Remains of the Starship ship, the largest and most powerful rocket in the world, passed through the north of the Dominican Republic, according to electronic news pages from the United States and according to images spread on social networks.
International
Mark Carney announces his candidacy to replace Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada
Former Bank of Canada governor (2008-2013) Mark Carney announced on Thursday that he will present his candidacy to lead the Liberal Party and become the country’s prime minister.
Carney, 59, who was also governor of the Bank of England (2013-2020), is the first of the main candidates to publicly communicate his desire to replace Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation in December.
In a speech in the city of Edmonton, in the west of the country, he acknowledged that “the system is not working as it should” and that many people do not find affordable housing or a family doctor.
With a centrist and nationalist language, Carney declared that “these are normal times for us” and warned that “in just four days Donald Trump will become the 47th president (of the United States), a man who threatens his closest and most faithful allies, including Canada, with economic strength.”
In this sense, he explained that he wants to be the leader of the Liberal Party and Canadian Prime Minister because Canada faces “unprecedented challenges.”
Carney also referred to the leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, whom polls point so far as the winner of the next general elections, and criticized that he is worried “looking for the support of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.”
“Sending Poilievre to negotiate with Trump is the worst possible idea,” he added.
The former governor of the Bank of Canada recalled the seven years he spent at the head of the Bank of England: “In the United Kingdom I saw from the front row what happened there after years in which the conservatives shouted that the country was broken.”
“Conservatives don’t shout that Canada is broken because they want to fix it, what they want is permission to destroy it,” he said.
Carney concluded by pointing out that he will win the next elections to “build a strong economy for all and to defend Canada against Trump.”
The Liberal Party will reveal on March 9 the name of Trudeau’s substitute, who on December 16 announced that he will resign when the political formation chooses his substitute.
Chrystia Freeland, until December vice prime minister of the country, is expected to announce her candidacy next week, which will make her Carney’s main rival.
The opposition parties, which have a majority in Parliament, have already announced that as soon as the sessions of Parliament resume on March 24, they will present a motion of censure to hold early elections.
Noboa once again entrusts the Vice President of Ecuador to the vice president he appointed by decree
Musk’s Starship was lost after a smooth takeoff
Mark Carney announces his candidacy to replace Trudeau as Prime Minister of Canada
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
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