CENTRAL AMERICA
Quake hits Gulf of Darien
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck in the Gulf of Darien near the border of Panama and Colombia late on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, with tremors felt in both countries. Nine minutes later, the USGS reported a magnitude 4.9 aftershock at the same location. In Panama, civil protection agency Sinaproc said there had been no immediate reports of damage and it was monitoring the situation. In the Colombian city of Medellin, local officials said no damage had been reported. The quakes struck at a depth of 10km, the USGS said.
UNITED STATES
Memorial marks shooting
An emotional President Joe Biden marked the first anniversary of the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre on Wednesday, saying that mass shootings have spread “killing fields” across the US. Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visibly struggled to hold back tears at the ceremony in the White House in front of 21 white candles representing the 19 children and two school staff killed at Robb Elementary School.
HONG KONG
Four arrested in bomb plot
Four Hong Kong students, including two minors, were yesterday sentenced over their roles in an anti-government plot to set off bombs in public spaces. A court sentenced the oldest of the four to more than five years in prison, and sent the other three to juvenile rehabilitation centers in a case handled under the National Security Law, which China imposed on the territory in 2020 to quell dissent. The four defendants, aged 17 to 21, were members of a group called “Returning Valiant,” which promoted independence from China and had called for resistance after the security law was imposed.
DENMARK
Abortion rules unveiled
The government plans to allow women aged 15 to 17 to get an abortion without consent from their parents, as the Nordic country marked the 50th anniversary of the right to choose. “Abortion can be associated with many emotions, guilt and shame,” Minister for Equality Marie Bjerre wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “It can be humiliating and have major consequences to have to ask for parental consent when you are under 18. We want to put an end to that.” Women living in Denmark have the right to an abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy and do not have to provide a justification.
VIETNAM
Noodle vendor jailed
A noodle vendor famous for imitating a celebrity chef to allegedly mock a top government official was yesterday sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison, police said, after a court found him guilty of anti-state propaganda. The conviction is the latest in what rights groups say is the government’s wide-ranging attempt to silence voices critical of the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party. A video of Bui Tuan Lam, 39, went viral in November 2021 when it was posted days after a top Vietnamese official was caught on camera eating gold-encrusted steak at the London restaurant of Turkish chef Nusret Gokce, known as “Salt Bae.” Lam, who described himself in a Facebook post uploaded alongside the video as “Green Onion Bae,” was convicted of “making, storing, distributing, or disseminating information, documents, and items against the state,” the Da Nang Police Department said after a one-day trial.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
RELEASE: The move follows Washington’s removal of Havana from its list of terrorism sponsors. Most of the inmates were arrested for taking part in anti-government protests Cuba has freed 127 prisoners, including opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer, in a landmark deal with departing US President Joe Biden that has led to emotional reunions across the communist island. Ferrer, 54, is the most high-profile of the prisoners that Cuba began freeing on Wednesday after Biden agreed to remove the country from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors — part of an eleventh-hour bid to cement his legacy before handing power on Monday to US president-elect Donald Trump. “Thank God we have him home,” Nelva Ortega said of her husband, Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the
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