ECUADOR
Impeachment trial to go on
Lawmakers have voted to continue an impeachment process against President Guillermo Lasso over embezzlement accusations, potentially moving the labyrinthine process toward its final stage. Lasso has denied accusations that he turned a blind eye to alleged embezzlement related to a contract at state-owned oil transportation company Flopec. Under the resolution, which won the approval of 88 of the 116 legislators present, Lasso and his opposition rivals would each testify to the assembly’s plenary and then he would face a final vote which could result in his removal from office.
PANAMA
Darien crossings soar
The number of people arriving in the treacherous Darien Gap linking Panama with Colombia soared last month and early this month, government data show. According to figures from the Ministry of Public Security seen by Reuters on Tuesday, 40,297 migrants reached the country through the jungle connecting it with Colombia last month, up more than six times from the same time last year. Numbers have kept rising, with 16,246 crossings during the first nine days of this month, already surpassing the total of that month last year, reinforcing fears among authorities of a rise in migrant flows to the US as its COVID-19 restrictions known as Title 42 are lifted. The US, Panama and Colombia on April 11 announced a two-month campaign to tackle undocumented migration through the lawless jungle region. Earlier on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said the border would be “chaotic for a while” after Title 42 is lifted at midnight today. He spent more than an hour speaking to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador about border security. Lopez Obrador said on Twitter they had discussed their commitment to work together on migration, as well as drugs and arms trafficking. Title 42, in place since 2020, allows US authorities to quickly expel migrants to Mexico without the chance of seeking US asylum.
UNITED STATES
De Niro welcomes child
Robert De Niro has welcomed another child. The 79-year-old is now the father of seven. A representative for De Niro confirmed the birth to reporters on Tuesday, but said no other details were expected. At a film premiere, De Niro told reporters about becoming a father again: “It’s always good and mysterious and you don’t know what the hell is going to happen.” The Oscar winner is also a parent to Drena, 51, and Raphael, 46, from his first marriage; and twins, Julian and Aaron, 27; Elliot, 24; and Helen Grace, 11, from his second marriage.
BRAZIL
Telegram decries new bill
Messaging app Telegram on Tuesday said that “democracy is under attack in Brazil,” the latest salvo by tech companies opposed to a bill seeking to stem disinformation online. “Brazil is about to pass a law that will end free speech,” the company said in a message sent to users on Bill 2630, which has passed the Senate and is awaiting a vote in the lower house of Congress. It said the bill “gives the government censorship powers without prior judicial oversight,” calling it “one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation ever considered in Brazil.” Telegram’s statement came a week after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government accused Google of “deceitful and abusive propaganda” against the bill.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) launched a week-long diplomatic blitz of South America on Thursday by inaugurating a massive deep-water port in Peru, a US$1.3 billion investment by Beijing as it seeks to expand trade and influence on the continent. With China’s demand for agricultural goods and metals from Latin America growing, Xi will participate in the APEC summit in Lima then head to the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week, where he will also make a state visit to Brazil. Xi and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte participated on Thursday by video link in the opening
‘CHINA HAWKS’: Rubio and Michael Waltz, who is said to be next national security adviser, view Beijing as a threat and challenge to US economic and military might US president-elect Donald Trump on Monday announced new members of his incoming administration and was expected to pick US Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state. Rubio and US Representative Michael Waltz, who has been lined up for the powerful US national security adviser role, have notably hawkish views on China, which they see as a threat and challenge to US economic and military might. The two appointees, both from Florida, would be key architects of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy, with the incoming president having promised to end the wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East, and avoid any more
HOPEFUL FOR PEACE: Zelenskiy said that the war would ‘end sooner’ with Trump and that Ukraine must do all it can to ensure the fighting ends next year Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom early yesterday suspended gas deliveries via Ukraine, Vienna-based utility OMV said, in a development that signals a fast-approaching end of Moscow’s last gas flows to Europe. Russia’s oldest gas-export route to Europe, a pipeline dating back to Soviet days via Ukraine, is set to shut at the end of this year. Ukraine has said it would not extend the transit agreement with Russian state-owned Gazprom to deprive Russia of profits that Kyiv says help to finance the war against it. Moscow’s suspension of gas for Austria, the main receiver of gas via Ukraine, means Russia now only
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