EVERYDAY NEWS

Zelensky Makes Unannounced Visit to Lithuania. | January 10, 2024 During his visit, Zelensky is scheduled to hold discussions with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of the Seimas. by Kyiv Post | January 10, 2024, 11:03 am Zelensky Makes Unannounced Visit to Lithuania Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers an end-of-year press conference in Kyiv on December 19, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky embarked on a tour of Western countries to make the case for more military and political support for Ukraine as Russia's invasion grinds closer to its two-year-anniversary in February 2024. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP) RELATED TOPICS 2022 In Review Servant of the People party Klitschko NATO Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the Lithuanian capital on Wednesday morning, Jan. 10. Zelensky landed at Vilnius airport for an unexpected visit to the Baltic state, a key donor to the war-torn country, as other Kyiv allies waver on fresh aid. During his visit, the Ukrainian leader is scheduled to hold discussions with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Seimas. He will also meet with representatives from political factions and the Ukrainian community. "Security, EU and NATO integration, cooperation on electronic warfare and drones, and further coordination of European support are all on the agenda," Zelensky mentioned on Twitter. Our YouTube 00:00 Play 00:00 / 04:04 Mute Settings Fullscreen Copy video url Play / Pause Mute / Unmute Report a problem Language Share Vidverto Player The Baltic tour marks Zelensky's first official trip abroad this year, AFP reports. The visit comes as other Kyiv allies waver on fresh aid, nearly two years into Russia's invasion. Ukraine has come under intense Russian shelling in recent weeks, retaliating with strikes on Russia's border city of Belgorod. Zelensky has urged allies to keep military support flowing and held in-person talks with officials from the United States, Germany and Norway last month. But an EU aid package worth 50 billion euros ($55 billion) has been stuck in Brussels following a veto by Hungary, while the US Congress remains divided on sending additional aid to Ukraine. "But first and foremost, our gratitude. For the uncompromising support for Ukraine since 2014 and especially now, during Russia’s full-scale aggression," he added.

Ecuador president declares war with criminal gangs amid soaring violence City streets deserted after gangs take prison staff hostage, set off explosions and briefly seize a TV station live on air. Soldiers and police officers stand guard in Ecuador Soldiers and police officers stand guard in Quito after a wave of violence around Ecuador [Karen Toro/Reuters] Published On 10 Jan 2024 10 Jan 2024 Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa says his country is “at war” after drug gangs took more than 130 prison guards and other staff hostage and briefly captured a TV station during a live broadcast. “We are at war, and we cannot cede in the face of these terrorist groups,” Noboa told radio station Canela Radio on Wednesday. KEEP READING list of 3 items list 1 of 3 Armed gang storms Ecuador TV studio after state of emergency declared list 2 of 3 Ten killed, gangs unleash terror as Ecuador declares state of emergency list 3 of 3 Ecuador’s narco gang violence: A timeline of the recent crisis end of list The increase in violence began after Noboa announced a state of emergency following the prison escape of Ecuador’s most powerful narco boss, the Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macias, over the weekend. On Tuesday, Noboa gave orders to “neutralise” criminal gangs after gunmen stormed and opened fire on a TV studio and threatened executions of civilians and security forces. Noboa on Tuesday named 22 gangs as “terrorist” organisations, making them official military targets. Soldiers patrol the perimeter of Inca prison during a state of emergency in Quito, Ecuador Soldiers patrol the perimeter of Inca Prison in Quito, Ecuador, during a state of emergency [Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo] The government said the violence is a reaction to Noboa’s plan to build new high-security prisons for gang leaders. Noboa said the design for two new facilities would be made public on Thursday. “We are making every effort to recover all the hostages,” Noboa said, adding that the armed forces have taken over the rescue efforts. “We are doing everything possible and the impossible to get them back safe and sound.” Riots have erupted in several prisons where 125 guards and 14 administrative staff have been taken hostage, the SNAI prisons agency said. Eleven people were released on Tuesday, it said. Advertisement Sign up for Al Jazeera Americas Coverage Newsletter US politics, Canada’s multiculturalism, South America’s geopolitical rise—we bring you the stories that matter. E-mail address Sign up By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA TV station takeover In the port city of Guayaquil, attackers wearing balaclavas stormed a state-owned TV station on Tuesday, briefly taking several journalists and staff members hostage on live TV. The attackers also kidnapped several police officers, one of whom was forced to read a statement to Noboa at gunpoint. “You declared a state of emergency. We declare police, civilians and soldiers to be the spoils of war,” a terrified officer read. Play Video Video Duration 02 minutes 44 seconds 02:44 The statement added that anyone found on the streets after 11pm would be “executed”. Ecuadorian police said on Wednesday that there have been 70 arrests made since Monday in response to the violence, including the TV station takeover. Advertisement World leaders and international bodies have condemned the unrest in the South American country. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described the increase of gang activity as a “direct attack on democracy and the rule of law”. Brian Nichols, the top United States diplomat for Latin America, said Washington was “extremely concerned” by the events and was in “close contact” with Noboa. France and Russia advised their citizens against travel to Ecuador.

Ecuador president declares ‘war’ with criminal gangs amid soaring violence City streets deserted after gangs take prison staff hostage, set off explosions and briefly seize a TV station live on air. Soldiers and police officers stand guard in Ecuador Soldiers and police officers stand guard in Quito after a wave of violence around Ecuador [Karen Toro/Reuters] Published On 10 Jan 2024 10 Jan 2024 Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa says his country is “at war” after drug gangs took more than 130 prison guards and other staff hostage and briefly captured a TV station during a live broadcast. “We are at war, and we cannot cede in the face of these terrorist groups,” Noboa told radio station Canela Radio on Wednesday. KEEP READING list of 3 items list 1 of 3 Armed gang storms Ecuador TV studio after state of emergency declared list 2 of 3 Ten killed, gangs unleash terror as Ecuador declares state of emergency list 3 of 3 Ecuador’s narco gang violence: A timeline of the recent crisis end of list The increase in violence began after Noboa announced a state of emergency following the prison escape of Ecuador’s most powerful narco boss, the Los Choneros gang leader Adolfo Macias, over the weekend. On Tuesday, Noboa gave orders to “neutralise” criminal gangs after gunmen stormed and opened fire on a TV studio and threatened executions of civilians and security forces. Noboa on Tuesday named 22 gangs as “terrorist” organisations, making them official military targets. Soldiers patrol the perimeter of Inca prison during a state of emergency in Quito, Ecuador Soldiers patrol the perimeter of Inca Prison in Quito, Ecuador, during a state of emergency [Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo] The government said the violence is a reaction to Noboa’s plan to build new high-security prisons for gang leaders. Noboa said the design for two new facilities would be made public on Thursday. “We are making every effort to recover all the hostages,” Noboa said, adding that the armed forces have taken over the rescue efforts. “We are doing everything possible and the impossible to get them back safe and sound.” Riots have erupted in several prisons where 125 guards and 14 administrative staff have been taken hostage, the SNAI prisons agency said. Eleven people were released on Tuesday, it said. Advertisement Sign up for Al Jazeera Americas Coverage Newsletter US politics, Canada’s multiculturalism, South America’s geopolitical rise—we bring you the stories that matter. E-mail address Sign up By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA TV station takeover In the port city of Guayaquil, attackers wearing balaclavas stormed a state-owned TV station on Tuesday, briefly taking several journalists and staff members hostage on live TV. The attackers also kidnapped several police officers, one of whom was forced to read a statement to Noboa at gunpoint. “You declared a state of emergency. We declare police, civilians and soldiers to be the spoils of war,” a terrified officer read. Play Mute Current Time 0:16 / Duration 2:44 Quality Levels Fullscreen The statement added that anyone found on the streets after 11pm would be “executed”. Ecuadorian police said on Wednesday that there have been 70 arrests made since Monday in response to the violence, including the TV station takeover. Advertisement World leaders and international bodies have condemned the unrest in the South American country. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described the increase of gang activity as a “direct attack on democracy and the rule of law”. Brian Nichols, the top United States diplomat for Latin America, said Washington was “extremely concerned” by the events and was in “close contact” with Noboa. France and Russia advised their citizens against travel to Ecuador.

US and UK navies repel largest Houthi attack on Red Sea shipping Published January 10, 2024 Share Related Topics Israel-Gaza war Two figures stand in a room of the HMS Diamond, looking out at a fiery scene IMAGE SOURCE,UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE Image caption, The UK's Ministry of Defence shared images of the HMS Diamond deploying Sea Viper missiles and guns By David Gritten BBC News UK and US naval forces have repelled the largest attack yet by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says. Carrier-based jets and warships shot down 21 drones and missiles launched by the Iran-backed group overnight. The Houthis said they targeted a US ship in retaliation for the killing of rebels who tried to attack a container ship by using speed boats last month. Mr Shapps said he had "no doubt" that Iran was heavily behind such attacks. Asked about possible Western strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in response, he said: "Watch this space." The Houthis have carried out 26 attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea since 19 November, according to the US military. The group has claimed - often falsely - that it is targeting ships linked to Tel Aviv in protest at Israeli actions during the war in the Gaza Strip. Houthis defiant after warning over Red Sea attacks What do Red Sea assaults mean for global trade? The US military said Iranian-designed one-way attack drones, anti-ship cruise missiles and anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen towards international shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea at around 21:15 local time (18:15 GMT) on Tuesday. Eighteen drones, two cruise missiles and one ballistic missile were shot down by F/A-18 warplanes from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower, which is deployed in the Red Sea, and by four destroyers, the USS Gravely, USS Laboon, USS Mason and HMS Diamond. HMS Diamond shot down seven Houthi drones using its Sea Viper missiles and guns, a defence source told the BBC. Each of the missiles costs more than £1m ($1.3m). Later, Houthi military spokesman Yahya al-Sarea confirmed that its forces had carried out an operation involving "a large number of ballistic and naval missiles and drones". "It targeted a US ship that was providing support for the Zionist entity [Israel]," he said. "The operation came as an initial response to the treacherous assault on our naval forces by the US enemy forces." He added that the rebels would "not hesitate to adequately deal with all hostile threats as part of the legitimate right to defend our country, people and nation". Mr Sarea also reiterated that the Houthis would continue to "prevent Israeli ships or ships heading towards occupied Palestine from navigating in both the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea until the [Israeli] aggression [on Gaza] has come to an end and the blockade has been lifted". Mr Shapps warned in a statement on Wednesday morning that the UK and its allies had "previously made clear that these illegal attacks are completely unacceptable and if continued the Houthis will bear the consequences". "We will take the action needed to protect innocent lives and the global economy," he added. Later, the defence secretary said in a TV interview that Iran was "behind so much of the bad things happening in the region" and warned the Islamic Republic and the Houthis that there would be "consequences" if the attacks on shipping did not stop. Asked if there could be Western military action against Houthi targets in Yemen, or even targets inside Iran, he replied: "I can't go into details but can say the joint statement we issued set out a very clear path that if this doesn't stop then action will be taken. So, I'm afraid the simplest thing to say [is] 'watch this space'." He was referring to a statement put out a week ago by the UK, US, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore, who launched "Operation Prosperity Guardian" last month to protect Red Sea shipping. They said the attacks posed "a direct threat to the freedom of navigation that serves as the bedrock of global trade in one of the world's most critical waterways". A map showing the Bab al-Mandab strait, which sits between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African coast Almost 15% of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Sea, which is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez canal and is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. The fear is that fuel prices will rise and supply chains will be damaged. The International Chamber of Shipping says 20% of the world's container ships are now avoiding the Red Sea and using the much longer route around the southern tip of Africa instead. The Houthis say they have been targeting Israeli-owned or Israel-bound vessels to show their support for the Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas since the start of the war in Gaza in October. Formally known as the Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), the Houthis began as a movement that championed Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim minority. In 2014, they took control of the capital, Sanaa, and seized large parts of western Yemen the following year, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in support of the international-recognised Yemeni government. The ensuing war has reportedly killed more than 150,000 people and left 21 million others in need of humanitarian assistance. Saudi Arabia and the US have accused Iran of smuggling weapons, including drones and cruise and ballistic missiles, to the Houthis, in violation of a UN arms embargo. Iran has denied the allegation.

10 januari 2024 We should be worried’: Israel faces peril at The Hague in Gaza ‘genocide’ case The bar for ‘plausibility’ in the initial proceedings is quite low, experts warn, while ministers’ inflammatory statements enabled South Africa to allege Israel has genocidal intent Today, 10:57 am 107 A general view of a session of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, on October 1, 2018. (Bas ZERWINSKI/ANP/AFP) A general view of a session of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, on October 1, 2018. (Bas ZERWINSKI/ANP/AFP) Israel, on Thursday, will for the first time in its history find itself in the dock in the International Court of Justice in The Hague — charged with genocide. Although the idea that Israel is committing genocide in the war in Gaza, meaning intentionally murdering Palestinian civilians, might seem outlandish to some, the allegations are extremely serious and even an interim ruling against Israel could have a severe impact on its international status and global reputation, with potentially dire diplomatic and political consequences. A ruling against Israel could even affect the ongoing conduct of the war against the Hamas terror group’s regime in Gaza. The application to the ICJ against Israel by South Africa alleges that Israel has violated the Genocide Convention, to which it is a signatory. It cites the large number of Palestinian civilians killed during the war, and the severely reduced access to food, water, and medical care of the Gazan population, which South Africa alleges are the result of a planned Israeli effort to commit genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Critically, the numerous inflammatory statements made by Israel government ministers about Palestinians in Gaza have given South Africa a platform to allege that the State of Israel has the intent to commit genocide, a crucial aspect of any genocide charges. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Your email GET IT By signing up, you agree to the terms Although a final ruling will likely take years, South Africa has requested the court issue provisional orders against Israel that could range from demanding a total and immediate ceasefire — which Israel and the US firmly oppose because Hamas has yet to dismantled — to more moderate orders such as insisting that more humanitarian aid be allowed in. A fireball erupts during Israeli bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip on October 14, 2023. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP) But it would be the interim ruling itself, that there is even plausibility to South Africa’s allegations, that would be the most damaging to Israel’s standing. Critically for Israel, the bar to establish plausibility of genocidal actions is much lower than a final definitive determination, and this puts the Jewish state in significant potential peril. For a start, it would certainly be more challenging for the US, or any other country inclined to stand with Israel, to do so if the ICJ determines the country might be committing genocide. ADVERTISEMENT The case before the court What has led to this unprecedented and worrying moment in Israel’s history? On October 7, thousand of Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel from Gaza and killed some 1,200 people, the large majority of whom were civilians, while also committing severe atrocities including mass rape, torture, and other crimes. Israeli soldiers walk near the bodies of Israeli civilians killed by terrorists from Gaza in the southern city of Sderot on October 7, 2023. (Oren ZIV / AFP) They took hostage some 240 people, of whom 132 remain in captivity, although not all of them alive. Israel subsequently declared war on Gaza with the goal of eliminating Hamas and its capability to threaten Israel’s security, and releasing the hostages. In this campaign, the Israel Defense Forces faces a situation in which Hamas has placed its fighters and constructed its military installations throughout Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, mosques and homes. Composite of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas after the invasion of 3,000 terrorists into Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were slaughtered and some 240 taken captive. (Courtesy the Kidnapped From Israel campaign website/ Dede Bandaid, Nitzan Mintz & Tal Huber. Designed by Shira Gershoni & Yotam Kellner) The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says over 23,000 people have been killed in the fighting, though these figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and combatants, some as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed over 8,500 Hamas fighters in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. South Africa’s application to the ICJ alleges that Israel has violated several articles of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide — to which Israel is signatory — during the war, including committing genocide, incitement to genocide, attempted genocide and failure to punish incitement to genocide. ADVERTISEMENT It alleges that 70 percent of Gazan casualties are women and children, and details the heavy aerial bombardment of Gaza conducted by the Israeli Air Force and its use of large and sometimes unguided bombs. A woman mourns over the bodies of family members killed during Israeli strikes, at al-Najjar hospital in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip on December 7, 2023 (SAID KHATIB / AFP) It also points to “reports of unarmed people… being shot dead on sight,” noting the incident in December in which three Israeli hostages who managed to escape their captors were mistakenly shot dead by IDF forces even though they were waving white flags. The document also details Gazans’ reduced access to food, water, and medical treatment as a result of the war and Israeli policies regarding the entry of such items, and fuel, into the Gaza Strip. And it lays out what it sees as highly problematic comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, all of whom are members of the critical security cabinet which makes policy decisions on the prosecution of the war. The application alleges that these comments either dehumanized Palestinians, threatened indiscriminate attacks on Gaza or could be understood as threatening Gazan civilians. “The acts and omissions by Israel complained of by South Africa are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group,” the application charges. In the entirety of its 84 pages, South Africa’s application makes no mention of Hamas’s documented practice of embedding its military installations and combatants in all aspects of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, mosques, schools, homes, UN facilities and other similar sites, even when mentioning Israeli attacks on such infrastructure. IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari stands next to what he says are weapons left behind by Hamas inside Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City, on November 22, 2023. (Photo by Ahikam SERI / AFP) Hamas’s massive network of tunnels, much of which is located under civilian locations and which is used exclusively for military purposes, is mentioned once — and then only to raise concerns over the ecological impact of flooding such tunnels, which Israel has carried out. The legal team representing Israel is not speaking to the press, and the Justice Ministry and other relevant Israeli agencies have remained tight-lipped about what line the defense will take. ADVERTISEMENT But it seems likely that the principal legal representative for Israel in the ICJ courtroom in The Hague, British attorney Malcom Shaw, will argue that the civilian casualties are the unintentional result of Israel’s war aim of destroying Hamas and of the fact that the terror group has so deeply entrenched its military facilities and fighters among the civilian population and infrastructure of Gaza. Weapons found inside a mosque in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood by IDF troops, in a handout image published November 20, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces) The defense will also probably point to the millions of leaflets the IDF dropped on the areas of Gaza it targeted, and the tens of thousands of phone calls and text messages it has made, telling civilians to evacuate. These measures were taken in order to comply with the requirement under the Laws of Armed Conflict to adequately warn civilians in a combat zone of the impending danger to their lives. And it will likely be argued that the comments made by Israeli security cabinet ministers were either taken out of context, not directed not at the Palestinian civilian population but at Hamas leaders and fighters, or not reflected in the IDF’s conduct. National legal peril So what is the likelihood the ICJ will rule against Israel? Crucially, the initial proceedings that will take place on Thursday and Friday will deal with South Africa’s request for the court to order provisional measures against Israel on the basis of its genocide charges. Making a determination of this kind requires not a decisive ruling that Israel is guilty of genocide but rather that the claims be considered “plausible,” said Prof. Eliav Lieblich of the Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University. ADVERTISEMENT “It’s a low evidentiary threshold; you just have to show prima facie that what you’re saying is plausible,” explained Lieblich. The South African request for provisional measures therefore revolves to a large extent around the comments of politicians, as well as various videos filmed by IDF soldiers in Gaza in which they make inflammatory comments about Palestinians, said Lieblich. People search for survivors and for bodies of victims through the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli airstrikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 26, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian terror group Hamas. (Mahmud Hams/AFP) Among some of the most incendiary comments made by senior Israeli politicians are remarks by Netanyahu on October 28 in which he referenced the biblical enemy of the ancient Israelites, saying, “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember.” The South African application cited this comment, as well as the biblical verse in Samuel I commanding the Israelites to kill all men, women and children of Amalek. In the same speech, however, Netanyahu insisted that “the IDF does everything to avoid harming noncombatants” and said he was “calling on the civilian population to evacuate” to safe areas in Gaza. The South Africa application also noted Netanyahu’s description of the war in another speech as one between “the children of light and the children of darkness,” which it described as “dehumanizing.” The application also referenced Gallant’s comment that Israel is “fighting human animals” and would “act accordingly,” as well as a remark by Smotrich when he said “we need to deal a blow that hasn’t been seen in 50 years and take down Gaza.” It further referenced a statement by Ben Gvir: “When we say that Hamas should be destroyed, it also means those who celebrate, those who support, and those who hand out candy — they’re all terrorists, and they should also be destroyed.” And it cited an infamous suggestion by Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu that Israel was considering using a nuclear bomb in Gaza, and his comment that “there is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza.” Lieblich describes these various comments as “reckless” and “irresponsible” remarks that should never have been made and that have now landed Israel in a great deal of trouble because of the requirement to prove intent in the genocide charges. “If these comments wouldn’t have been said, then there would have been no intent basis for the case,” he said. Head of the Otzma Yehudit party, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on January 1, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) The professor said that Israel’s legal defense would be engaged in “an uphill struggle” in which it would have to convince the court that the prime minister and other cabinet ministers did not mean what they said and that their words do not reflect what has actually happened on the ground in Gaza. In the case of ministers like Eliyahu, as well as some members of the army and Knesset members who have also made inflammatory comments, the defense team will likely point to the fact that they are not members of the security cabinet and therefore have no control over Israel’s war policies, and that their comments are therefore immaterial to the genocide charges. The steps taken by the IDF to avoid civilian casualties, including training by experts in international law and oversight of IDF operations by legal officials in the IDF, as well as the warnings to evacuate, will also likely be cited in the defense. A fair trial? A crucial component of the ICJ proceedings is whether Israel can receive a fair hearing. The 15 permanent judges who serve on the court are appointed by the United Nations General Assembly, and come from countries with greatly differing levels of judicial independence. The president of the court is Judge Joan Donoghue from the United States, and other judges come from democratic countries such as France, Germany, Australia, India, Slovakia, Jamaica, Japan and Brazil. Both South Africa and Israel are sending judges they have nominated as ad hoc members of the panel hearing the case. Israel’s judge will be former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak. But other judges come from Russia, China, Morocco, Somalia, Lebanon and Uganda, which are all either autocracies or very flawed democracies where judicial independence from those countries’ political leadership is dubious, to say the least, said Prof. Robbie Sabel of the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University. Presiding judge Joan Donoghue, center, and other judges enter the World Court in The Hague, Netherlands, June 6, 2023, as four days of hearings open in a case brought by Ukraine against Russia at the UN’s top court alleging that Russia breached treaties on terrorist financing and racial discrimination in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) “If it [the ICJ proceedings] was strictly legal, then it wouldn’t be possible to say this is genocide,” said Sabel. “But since there is a bloc of anti-Israel judges, we should be worried,” he continued, arguing that the selection of judges in the UN General Assembly is political and pointing out that no Israeli judge has ever been elected to the court. Sabel contended that if Israel wanted to commit genocide against Gazans it could have caused far greater civilian casualties given the power of the army, and that combined with the IDF’s efforts to avoid such casualties and the humanitarian aid Israel has allowed into the territory, “an impartial court” could not determine that it was plausible that Israel was committing genocide. Prof. Amichai Cohen, an expert in the international law of armed conflict at the Israel Democracy Institute, agreed that it was troublesome that some of the judges come from countries with a subpar level of judicial independence. But he noted that China and Russia, despite not being well disposed to Israel diplomatically, are likely to be cautious about genocide proceedings in the ICJ given that they have themselves been accused of genocidal acts in recent years. There is currently a pending case against Russia in the ICJ on genocide charges for its actions during its invasion and occupation of parts of Ukraine, while China has faced allegations, albeit not in the ICJ yet, that it has committed acts of genocide against its Uighur Muslim minority. “The majority of justices do not necessarily represent the interests of their states, but rather international law… and this is why Israel is cooperating with the court,” said Cohen. In terms of the charges themselves, Cohen said that because Israel’s actions, and their consequences, in Gaza can be explained in a way other than intending to commit genocide — that is, attempting to neutralize Hamas’s military threat — it may be possible to convince the court that the allegations are wrong. A convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid enters the Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on October 21, 2023. (Eyad Baba/AFP) “The claim does not have a lot of substance; Israel is not anywhere near committing genocide,” Cohen said. He concurred with Lieblich, however, in that the comments by senior Israeli cabinet ministers had made it much easier for South Africa to bring its case to the ICJ, and likewise described those who made such remarks as “completely irresponsible” and said they had caused Israel significant harm. The professor also noted that even if the court does not find that there is plausibility to South Africa’s charge of committing genocide, it could find Israel guilty of incitement to genocide and failing to punish such incitement, both of which are violations of the Genocide Convention. Cohen said that he thought it “improbable” that the court would order Israel to halt its combat operations and said the issue of incitement might be the focus of any provisional measures the court might order. The potential legal, diplomatic and political fallout Should the ICJ find that there is plausibility to South Africa’s allegations of genocide, it could theoretically order a series of measures against Israel, including a halt to combat operations, an increase of humanitarian aid and the supply of fuel into Gaza, and action against those deemed to be inciting genocide. There are no enforcement measures at the court’s disposal, but should Israel refuse to comply with court orders, the case could be referred to the UN Security Council, which is empowered to impose sanctions of various kinds. These could include trade sanctions, an arms embargo, or other punitive actions. Hebrew University’s Sabel contended that the US, a permanent member of the Security Council, would be highly likely to veto such sanctions. Visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that the charge of genocide brought by South Africa in the ICJ is “meritless,” and called it “particularly galling” because “Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and their supporter Iran continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews.” The UN Security Council meets about the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at UN headquarters in New York on December 22, 2023. (Charly Ttriballeau/AFP) He pointed out that there are no criminal implications of an ICJ ruling since the ICJ is not a criminal court. The primary impact of a decision against Israel, he said, would be to its international standing. “It would be a stain on our reputation; it won’t add to our diplomatic health,” he said wryly. Lieblich made similar comments, saying that a ruling that Israel was “plausibly” committing genocide would be “a very grave result” with serious political implications. And the professor was less sanguine about the reaction of the US to such a ruling, noting that US President Joe Biden would be put in a difficult spot because of the progressive wing of his Democratic party. Severe objections could be made within his party to ongoing US arms sales to Israel and the diplomatic support the Biden administration has given to Israel, as well as the political cover it has provided in the Security Council. “This is a big story,” said Lieblich. “People should have to answer why no one anticipated this [case], and how come [some in] government acted in such an irresponsible and reckless way.”

Ecuador deems drug gangs 'terrorist groups' after live TV attack This screen grab of live video from the TC Television network shows a masked, armed person standing over journalists during a live broadcast, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, 9/1/24. By Euronews with agencies Published on 10/01/2024 - 10:28•Updated 13:00 Share this article Comments The country has been plunged into chaos after its most notorious gang leader and drug lord, Adolfo Macías, escaped from prison on Sunday. Facing a surge in violence, Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa on Tuesday issued a revised decree designating 20 drug gangs as terrorist groups. It also authorised the military to “neutralise” them “within the bounds of international humanitarian law”. The country has been plunged into chaos after its most notorious gang leader and drug lord, Adolfo Macías, escaped from prison on Sunday. He was due to be transferred to a maximum security facility that day. Macias’ whereabouts remain unknown. On Monday, Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency in response to a wave of attacks inside and outside prisons that have seen police and prison guards murdered. Men lie face down on the ground, detained by police outside TC Television, after a producer told police that they were part of a group who broke onto their set on live TV. Men lie face down on the ground, detained by police outside TC Television, after a producer told police that they were part of a group who broke onto their set on live TV.Cesar Munoz/Copyright 2024. The AP. All rights reserved Then on Tuesday, there was a string of violent incidents, including one in which masked men broke onto the set of a public television channel waving guns and explosives during a live broadcast. This prompted the president to revise his initial decree recognising an “internal armed conflict” and identifying the gangs as terrorist groups. ADVERTISING The takeover of the TV studio was broadcast live for more than 15 minutes. The national police chief later announced that authorities had arrested all 13 of the masked intruders. They will be charged with terrorism, a crime that could see them face up to 13 years in prison. Ecuador has been seen as a relatively peaceful country in the past. But in recent years it has seen an explosion of violence. Noboa, who took office in November, has promised to stem drug trade-related violence. In a message on Instagram, he said he would not stop until he “brings back peace to all Ecuadorians”.

Washington Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is being treated for prostate cancer and suffered complications that led to him being taken to hospital on New Year’s Day where he is still being treated, according to a statement Tuesday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. January 9, 2024. CNN. The statement revealed that the cancer was discovered in early December. He underwent a “minimally invasive surgical procedure” on December 22 called a prostatectomy to treat the cancer. “He was under general anesthesia during this procedure. Secretary Austin recovered uneventfully from his surgery and returned home the next morning. His prostate cancer was detected early, and his prognosis is excellent,” the statement read. On January 1, Austin was readmitted to the hospital due to complications “including nausea with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain.” He was found to have a urinary tract infection, the statement said. The Pentagon had been facing intense questions after it was revealed on Friday that he had been admitted to Walter Reed on January 1 and had been hospitalized for days without notifying the public. It was subsequently reported that President Joe Biden, senior national security officials and even Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks – who had assumed Austin’s duties – were not aware of the defense secretary’s hospitalization until three days after he was admitted. Biden learned Tuesday morning – hours before it was disclosed publicly – that Austin had prostate cancer, according to a National Security Council spokesman. “Nobody in the White House knew that Secretary Austin had prostate cancer until this morning, and the President was informed immediately after,” John Kirby told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday afternoon. Biden was informed by chief of staff Jeff Zients about Austin’s condition Tuesday morning, Kirby said. Asked why Austin did not disclose that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer — Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the situation was “deeply personal.” “[I]t’s prostate cancer and the associated procedures are obviously deeply personal,” Ryder said Tuesday during a news briefing at the Pentagon. “And so, again, you know, we’ll continue to work hard to make sure that we’re being as transparent as possible moving forward, and again, wish the secretary speedy recovery.” For the last eight days of Austin’s time at Walter Reed in treating the infection, he “never lost consciousness and never underwent general anesthesia.” Ryder did not answer a question about who decided to not inform Biden that Austin had prostate cancer. “When this happened in December, whose decision was it not to alert the President that the defense secretary had prostate cancer?” a reporter asked during the briefing. “You know, as far as the situation in terms of what the elective surgery was, and the Secretary’s condition, we’re providing that information to you as we’ve received it. We received that this afternoon and we’re providing it to you now,” Ryder said, appearing to say he did not know about the diagnosis until the statement from Walter Reed was released on Tuesday. “So I’ll just leave it there.” Ryder also declined to say if Austin’s chief of staff — who is being identified as the person who failed to notify officials of Austin’s hospitalization last week because she had the flu — knew about Austin’s condition. Ryder did not say if the secretary’s travel would be affected by his procedure or complications, but said Austin is “actively engaged in his duties” and in regular communication with his staff. Whether the procedure was considered elective or more urgent is a matter of how soon it needed to take place, Dr. Benjamin Davies, urologic oncologist and professor of urology at University of Pittsburgh, told CNN. He said it’s also possible there were other options for treatment, such as radiation. It may have been characterized as “essential,” meaning the procedure should take place within three months, he said — but it wasn’t an emergency situation. The complications the secretary experienced, Davies said, are very rare, with a “less than 1% chance this can happen.” According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind lung cancer. While it can be serious, most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it, and the death rate has declined sharply over the last few decades.

Violence rocks Ecuador after drug lord’s disappearance from jail Wave of kidnappings and bombings follow new president’s declaration of state of emergency Soldiers deployed in Ecuador’s capital Quito on Tuesday after the 60-day state of emergency was declared in response to the gang violence © Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images Violence rocks Ecuador after drug lord’s disappearance from jail on x (opens in a new window) Violence rocks Ecuador after drug lord’s disappearance from jail on facebook (opens in a new window) Violence rocks Ecuador after drug lord’s disappearance from jail on linkedin (opens in a new window) Save current progress 98% Joe Daniels in Bogotá AN HOUR AGO 12 Print this page Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A wave of gang violence has rocked Ecuador after the disappearance of a powerful drug gang boss from jail, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency as it struggles to tackle a crime wave in the Andean nation. Adolfo Macías, leader of the feared Los Choneros gang who is better known by his alias Fito, was first reported missing from his cell in the Regional prison complex in the violent port city of Guayaquil on Sunday. Authorities said two prison officials had been charged for alleged involvement in a probable escape, while 3,000 police officers and soldiers have been dispatched for the manhunt, which continued on Tuesday. President Daniel Noboa declared a 60-day nationwide state of emergency, which includes a nightly curfew and the authorisation of soldiers to assist in quelling prison violence after riots broke out in six jails and an unknown number of guards were taken hostage following Fito’s disappearance. “We are not going to negotiate with terrorists,” Noboa, a 36-year-old business heir who took office in November promising to halt the country’s spiralling security crisis, said late on Monday. “These narcoterrorist groups intend to intimidate us and believe that we will give in to their demands.” On Tuesday afternoon, in an updated decree that recognised the Choneros and other gangs as terrorist groups, Noboa said that Ecuador was living through an “internal armed conflict”. Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa, who took office in November, plans to build a large maximum-security jail in the Amazon jungle © Presidencia Ecuador/AFP/Getty Images Once a relatively peaceful country surrounded by more violent neighbours, Ecuador has struggled to contain a surge in crimes driven by drug gangs competing to secure profitable trafficking routes and build links with cartels from Mexico, Albania and other countries. The country’s per capita murder rate in 2023 — 46.5 per 100,000 people — has increased eightfold since 2018 and is among the highest in the region. Despite the state of emergency, the country was rocked by several violent incidents, the police said on Tuesday. A television station in Guayaquil was stormed by masked gunmen live on-air. The broadcast showed staffers sitting and lying prone as their assailants stalked the set, brandishing firearms and grenades. Yells of “no police” could be heard before the signal eventually cut out. The police later said that all the intruders had been arrested after a task force was dispatched to the scene. In the 24-hours before the raid, at least seven Ecuadorean police officers were kidnapped by criminals around the country, including in Machala, a south-western city, and the capital Quito, where a vehicle carrying liquefied petroleum gas was set ablaze at a petrol station. In Cuenca, a hilltop city popular with tourists, unknown assailants launched an explosive at a military truck, according to authorities. In Esmeraldas, a coastal province that has suffered some of the worst of the violence, three attacks with explosives were reported by police. Another jailbreak took place in Riobamba, in the central Andes, with 32 inmates escaping, including Fabricio Colón, one of the leaders of the Los Lobos gang, the town’s mayor told local website Primicias. Twenty escapees were recaptured, though Colón is among those still at large. The nation was traumatised in August when centre-right presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated by gunmen ahead of November’s snap election. Before his assassination at a rally in Quito, Villavicencio said the Choneros had threatened him, though authorities have not connected the group with his murder. Amid the violence, prisons have fallen under the control of the gangs, who often use them as bases for their operations and staging grounds for street battles. More than 400 inmates have died in the past four years, with many massacres taking place within the Regional complex where Macías was being held. Roberto Izurieta, a government spokesperson, said in a television interview on Monday that the country’s penitentiary system had “completely failed”, and that Macías was expected to be transferred to a maximum-security facility just hours before his disappearance. Adolfo Macías, aka Fito, leader of the Los Choneros gang, under police escort at the prison complex in Guayaquil in August © Ecuadorean Armed Forces/AFP/Getty Images On the campaign trail, Noboa pledged to house criminals on a prison ship, and since taking office his administration has said it would seek to build a large maximum-security jail in the Amazon jungle. Criminal activity began to flourish in Ecuador in the past decade during the leftwing government of Rafael Correa, who took a lax approach to drug trafficking so long as violent crime was kept low. Lenin Moreno and Guillermo Lasso, his more moderate successors, failed to stop violence in jails from spreading to the streets, with their faltering security policies partly responsible for their low popularity rates when they left office. The Choneros gang, one of Ecuador’s largest, is heavily involved in drug trafficking and extortion and, according to authorities, has links with Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel as well as several Colombian trafficking groups. An alleged leader of the powerful Los Lobos drug gang, a splinter group of Choneros, was arrested in November. Macías, who was serving a 34-year sentence, was convicted of drug trafficking, organised crime and murder in 2011. In February 2013, he escaped from prison but was recaptured weeks later. Noboa’s government aims to hold a referendum that would allow for the extradition of citizens accused of crimes abroad and the seizure of suspects’ assets. The vote still requires approval from the country’s constitutional court before it can go ahead. January 9, 2024 Ecuador (/ˈɛkwədɔːr/ ⓘ EK-wə-dor; Spanish pronunciation: [ekwaˈðoɾ] ⓘ; Quechua: Ikwayur; Shuar: Ecuador or Ekuatur),[16][17] officially the Republic of Ecuador (Spanish: República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: Ikwayur Ripuwlika; Shuar: Ekuatur Nunka),[18][19] is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometers (621 mi) west of the mainland. The country's capital is Quito and its largest city is Guayaquil. The territories of modern-day Ecuador were once home to a variety of Indigenous groups that were gradually incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was colonized by Spain during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, from which it emerged as its own sovereign state in 1830. The legacy of both empires is reflected in Ecuador's ethnically diverse population, with most of its 17.8 million people being mestizos, followed by large minorities of Europeans, Native American, African, and Asian descendants. Spanish is the official language and is spoken by a majority of the population, though 13 Native languages are also recognized, including Quechua and Shuar. The sovereign state of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic and a developing country[20] whose economy is highly dependent on exports of commodities, namely petroleum and agricultural products. It is governed as a democratic presidential republic. The country is a founding member of the United Nations, Organization of American States, Mercosur, PROSUR, and the Non-Aligned Movement. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, between 2006 and 2016, poverty decreased from 36.7% to 22.5% and annual per capita GDP growth was 1.5 percent (as compared to 0.6 percent over the prior two decades). At the same time, the country's Gini index of economic inequality decreased from 0.55 to 0.47.[21] One of 17 megadiverse countries in the world,[22][23] Ecuador hosts many endemic plants and animals, such as those of the Galápagos Islands. In recognition of its unique ecological heritage, the new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights.[24] Etymology The country's name means "Equator" in Spanish, truncated from the Spanish official name, República del Ecuador (lit. "Republic of the Equator"), derived from the former Ecuador Department of Gran Colombia established in 1824 as a division of the former territory of the Royal Audience of Quito. Quito, which remained the capital of the department and republic, is located only about 40 kilometers (25 mi), 1⁄4 of a degree, south of the equator. History Main articles: History of Ecuador and Indigenous peoples in Ecuador This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ecuador" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This section may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page. (June 2023) Pre-Inca era A Venus (2,300-2,000 BCE) of the Valdivia culture (from Santa Elena Province) displayed in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence. Figure of the Jama Coaque culture (300 BCE-800 CE) (from Manabí Province). Walters Art Museum.[25] Ruins of Ingapirca, was an outpost and supplier for the Incan troops, and also was a coricancha, a place of worship to the Sun (Inti), the main god Various peoples had settled in the area of future Ecuador before the arrival of the Incas. The archeological evidence suggests that the Paleo-Indians' first dispersal into the Americas occurred near the end of the last glacial period, around 16,500–13,000 years ago. The first people who reached Ecuador may have journeyed by land from North and Central America or by boat down the Pacific Ocean coastline. Even though their languages were unrelated, these groups developed similar groups of cultures, each based in different environments. The people of the coast combined agriculture with fishing, hunting, and gathering; the people of the highland Andes developed a sedentary agricultural way of life; and peoples of the Amazon basin relied on hunting and gathering, in some cases combined with agriculture and arboriculture. Many civilizations[26] arose in Ecuador, such as the Valdivia Culture and Machalilla Culture on the coast,[27][28] the Quitus (near present-day Quito),[29] and the Cañari (near present-day Cuenca).[30] Each civilization developed its own distinctive architecture, pottery, and religious interests.[citation needed] In the highland Andes mountains, where life was more sedentary, groups of tribes cooperated and formed villages; thus the first nations based on agricultural resources and the domestication of animals formed. Eventually, through wars and marriage alliances of their leaders, groups of nations formed confederations. When the Incas arrived, they found that these confederations were so developed that it took the Incas two generations of rulers—Topa Inca Yupanqui and Huayna Capac—to absorb them into the Inca Empire. People belonging to the confederations that gave them the most problems were deported to distant areas of Peru, Bolivia, and north Argentina. Similarly, a number of loyal Inca subjects from Peru and Bolivia were brought to Ecuador to prevent rebellion. Thus, the region of highland Ecuador became part of the Inca Empire in 1463 sharing the same language.[31] In contrast, when the Incas made incursions into coastal Ecuador and the eastern Amazon jungles of Ecuador, they found both the environment and indigenous people more hostile. Moreover, when the Incas tried to subdue them, these indigenous people withdrew to the interior and resorted to guerrilla tactics. As a result, Inca expansion into the Amazon Basin and the Pacific coast of Ecuador was hampered. The indigenous people of the Amazon jungle and coastal Ecuador remained relatively autonomous until the Spanish soldiers and missionaries arrived in force. The Amazonian people and the Cayapas of Coastal Ecuador were the only groups to resist both Inca and Spanish domination, maintaining their languages and cultures well into the 21st century.[32] Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Inca Empire was involved in a civil war. The untimely death of both the heir Ninan Cuyochi and the Emperor Huayna Capac, from a European disease that spread into Ecuador, created a power vacuum between two factions and led to a civil war.[33] The army stationed north[34][35] headed by Atahualpa marched south to Cuzco and massacred the royal family associated with his brother. In 1532, a small band of Spaniards headed by Francisco Pizarro reached Cajamarca and lured Atahualpa into a trap (battle of Cajamarca). Pizarro promised to release Atahualpa if he made good his promise of filling a room full of gold. But, after a mock trial, the Spaniards executed Atahualpa by strangulation.[36] Spanish colonization The colonial Quito, capital of the Real Audiencia of Quito, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. New infectious diseases such as smallpox, endemic to the Europeans, caused high fatalities among the Amerindian population during the first decades of Spanish rule, as they had no immunity. At the same time, the natives were forced into the encomienda labor system for the Spanish. In 1563, Quito became the seat of a real audiencia (administrative district) of Spain and part of the Viceroyalty of Peru and later the Viceroyalty of New Granada. The 1797 Riobamba earthquake, which caused up to 40,000 casualties, was studied by Alexander von Humboldt, when he visited the area in 1801–1802.[37] After nearly 300 years of Spanish rule, Quito still remained small with a population of 10,000 people. On 10 August 1809, the city's criollos called for independence from Spain (first among the peoples of Latin America). They were led by Juan Pío Montúfar, Quiroga, Salinas, and Bishop Cuero y Caicedo. Quito's nickname, "Luz de América" ("Light of America"), is based on its leading role in trying to secure an independent, local government. Although the new government lasted no more than two months, it had important repercussions and was an inspiration for the independence movement of the rest of Spanish America. Today, 10 August is celebrated as Independence Day, a national holiday.[38] Independence Main article: Ecuadorian War of Independence Venezuelan independence hero Antonio José de Sucre The Guayaquil Conference between the two main Hispanic South American independence heroes, in which they debated, San Martín wanted a monarchical unified South America, while Bolívar wanted a republican unified South America. On 9 October 1820, the Department of Guayaquil became the first territory in Ecuador to gain its independence from Spain, and it spawned most of the Ecuadorian coastal provinces, establishing itself as an independent state. Its inhabitants celebrated what is now Ecuador's official Independence Day on 24 May 1822. The rest of Ecuador gained its independence after Antonio José de Sucre defeated the Spanish Royalist forces at the Battle of Pichincha, near Quito. Following the battle, Ecuador joined Simón Bolívar's Republic of Gran Colombia, also including modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama. In 1830, Ecuador separated from Gran Colombia and became an independent republic. Two years later, it annexed the Galapagos Islands.[39] The 19th century was marked by instability for Ecuador with a rapid succession of rulers. The first president of Ecuador was the Venezuelan-born Juan José Flores, who was ultimately deposed. Leaders who followed him included Vicente Rocafuerte; José Joaquín de Olmedo; José María Urbina; Diego Noboa; Pedro José de Arteta; Manuel de Ascásubi; and Flores's own son, Antonio Flores Jijón, among others. The conservative Gabriel García Moreno unified the country in the 1860s with the support of the Roman Catholic Church. In the late 19th century, world demand for cocoa tied the economy to commodity exports and led to migrations from the highlands to the agricultural frontier on the coast. Ecuador abolished slavery in 1851.[40] The descendants of enslaved Ecuadorians are among today's Afro-Ecuadorian population. Liberal Revolution Main article: Liberal Revolution of 1895 The Liberal Revolution of 1895 under Eloy Alfaro reduced the power of the clergy and the conservative land owners. This liberal wing retained power until the military "Julian Revolution" of 1925. The 1930s and 1940s were marked by instability and emergence of populist politicians, such as five-time President José María Velasco Ibarra. Loss of claimed territories since 1830 Main article: History of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute vte Ecuadorian–Peruvian territorial dispute After Ecuador's separation from Colombia on 13 May 1830, its first President, General Juan José Flores, laid claim to the territory that had belonged to the Real Audiencia of Quito, also referred to as the Presidencia of Quito. He supported his claims with Spanish Royal decrees, or real cedulas, that delineated the borders of Spain's former overseas colonies. In the case of Ecuador, Flores based Ecuador's de jure claims on the Real Cedulas of 1563, 1739, and 1740; with modifications in the Amazon Basin and Andes Mountains that were introduced through the Treaty of Guayaquil (1829) which Peru reluctantly signed, after the overwhelmingly outnumbered Gran Colombian force led by Antonio José de Sucre defeated President and General La Mar's Peruvian invasion force in the Battle of Tarqui. In addition, Ecuador's eastern border with the Portuguese colony of Brazil in the Amazon Basin was modified before the Wars of Independence by the First Treaty of San Ildefonso (1777) between the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire. Moreover, to add legitimacy to his claims, on 16 February 1840, Flores signed a treaty with Spain, whereby Flores convinced Spain to officially recognize Ecuadorian independence and its sole rights to colonial titles over Spain's former colonial territory known anciently to Spain as the Kingdom and Presidency of Quito. Ecuador during its long and turbulent history has lost most of its contested territories to each of its more powerful neighbors, such as Colombia in 1832 and 1916, Brazil in 1904 through a series of peaceful treaties, and Peru after a short war in which the Protocol of Rio de Janeiro was signed in 1942. Struggle for independence During the struggle for independence, before Peru or Ecuador became independent nations, a few areas of the former Vice Royalty of New Granada – Guayaquil, Tumbez, and Jaén – declared themselves independent from Spain. A few months later, a part of the Peruvian liberation army of San Martín decided to occupy the independent cities of Tumbez and Jaén with the intention of using these towns as springboards to occupy the independent city of Guayaquil and then to liberate the rest of the Audiencia de Quito (Ecuador). It was common knowledge among the top officers of the liberation army from the south that their leader San Martín wished to liberate present-day Ecuador and add it to the future republic of Peru, since it had been part of the Inca Empire before the Spaniards conquered it. However, Bolívar's intention was to form a new republic known as the Gran Colombia, out of the liberated Spanish territory of New Granada which consisted of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. San Martín's plans were thwarted when Bolívar, with the help of Marshal Antonio José de Sucre and the Gran Colombian liberation force, descended from the Andes mountains and occupied Guayaquil; they also annexed the newly liberated Audiencia de Quito to the Republic of Gran Colombia. In the south, Ecuador had de jure claims to a small piece of land beside the Pacific Ocean known as Tumbes which lay between the Zarumilla and Tumbes rivers. In Ecuador's southern Andes Mountain region where the Marañon cuts across, Ecuador had de jure claims to an area it called Jaén de Bracamoros. These areas were included as part of the territory of Gran Colombia by Bolivar on 17 December 1819, during the Congress of Angostura when the Republic of Gran Colombia was created. Tumbes declared itself independent from Spain on 17 January 1821, and Jaén de Bracamoros on 17 June 1821, without any outside help from revolutionary armies. However, that same year, 1821, Peruvian forces participating in the Trujillo revolution occupied both Jaén and Tumbes. Some Peruvian generals, without any legal titles backing them up and with Ecuador still federated with the Gran Colombia, had the desire to annex Ecuador to the Republic of Peru at the expense of the Gran Colombia, feeling that Ecuador was once part of the Inca Empire. On 28 July 1821, Peruvian independence was proclaimed in Lima by San Martín, and Tumbes and Jaén, which were included as part of the revolution of Trujillo by the Peruvian occupying force, had the whole region swear allegiance to the new Peruvian flag and incorporated itself into Peru. Gran Colombia had always protested Peru for the return of Jaén and Tumbes for almost a decade, then finally Bolivar after long and futile discussion over the return of Jaén, Tumbes, and part of Mainas, declared war. President and General José de La Mar, who was born in Ecuador, believing his opportunity had come to annex the District of Ecuador to Peru, personally, with a Peruvian force, invaded and occupied Guayaquil and a few cities in the Loja region of southern Ecuador on 28 November 1828. The war ended when a triumphant heavily outnumbered southern Gran Colombian army at Battle of Tarqui dated 27 February 1829, led by Antonio José de Sucre, defeated the Peruvian invasion force led by President La Mar. This defeat led to the signing of the Treaty of Guayaquil dated 22 September 1829, whereby Peru and its Congress recognized Gran Colombian rights over Tumbes, Jaén, and Maynas. Through protocolized meetings between representatives of Peru and Gran Colombia, the border was set as Tumbes river in the west and in the east the Maranon and Amazon rivers were to be followed toward Brazil as the most natural borders between them. However, what was pending was whether the new border around the Jaén region should follow the Chinchipe River or the Huancabamba River. According to the peace negotiations Peru agreed to return Guayaquil, Tumbez, and Jaén; despite this, Peru returned Guayaquil, but failed to return Tumbes and Jaén, alleging that it was not obligated to follow the agreements, since the Gran Colombia ceased to exist when it divided itself into three different nations – Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. Map of the former Gran Colombia in 1824 (named in its time as Colombia), the Gran Colombia covered all the colored region. The Central District of the Gran Colombia, known as Cundinamarca or New Granada (modern Colombia) with its capital in Bogota, did not recognize the separation of the Southern District of the Gran Colombia, with its capital in Quito, from the Gran Colombian federation on 13 May 1830. After Ecuador's separation, the Department of Cauca voluntarily decided to unite itself with Ecuador due to instability in the central government of Bogota. The Venezuelan born President of Ecuador, the general Juan José Flores, with the approval of the Ecuadorian congress annexed the Department of Cauca on 20 December 1830, since the government of Cauca had called for union with the District of the South as far back as April 1830. Moreover, the Cauca region, throughout its long history, had very strong economic and cultural ties with the people of Ecuador. Also, the Cauca region, which included such cities as Pasto, Popayán, and Buenaventura, had always been dependent on the Presidencia or Audiencia of Quito. Fruitless negotiations continued between the governments of Bogotá and Quito, where the government of Bogotá did not recognize the separation of Ecuador or that of Cauca from the Gran Colombia until war broke out in May 1832. In five months, New Granada defeated Ecuador due to the fact that the majority of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces were composed of rebellious angry unpaid veterans from Venezuela and Colombia that did not want to fight against their fellow countrymen. Seeing that his officers were rebelling, mutinying, and changing sides, President Flores had no option but to reluctantly make peace with New Granada. The Treaty of Pasto of 1832 was signed by which the Department of Cauca was turned over to New Granada (modern Colombia), the government of Bogotá recognized Ecuador as an independent country and the border was to follow the Ley de División Territorial de la República de Colombia (Law of the Division of Territory of the Gran Colombia) passed on 25 June 1824. This law set the border at the river Carchi and the eastern border that stretched to Brazil at the Caquetá river. Later, Ecuador contended that the Republic of Colombia, while reorganizing its government, unlawfully made its eastern border provisional and that Colombia extended its claims south to the Napo River because it said that the Government of Popayán extended its control all the way to the Napo River. Struggle for possession of the Amazon Basin South America (1879): All land claims by Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia in 1879 When Ecuador seceded from the Gran Colombia, Peru contested Ecuador's claims with the newly discovered Real Cedula of 1802, by which Peru claims the King of Spain had transferred these lands from the Viceroyalty of New Granada to the Viceroyalty of Peru. During colonial times this was to halt the ever-expanding Portuguese settlements into Spanish domains, which were left vacant and in disorder after the expulsion of Jesuit missionaries from their bases along the Amazon Basin. Ecuador countered by labeling the Cedula of 1802 an ecclesiastical instrument, which had nothing to do with political borders. Peru began its de facto occupation of disputed Amazonian territories, after it signed a secret 1851 peace treaty in favor of Brazil. This treaty disregarded Spanish rights that were confirmed during colonial times by a Spanish-Portuguese treaty over the Amazon regarding territories held by illegal Portuguese settlers. Peru began occupying the missionary villages in the Mainas or Maynas region, which it began calling Loreto, with its capital in Iquitos. During its negotiations with Brazil, Peru claimed Amazonian Basin territories up to Caqueta River in the north and toward the Andes Mountain range. Colombia protested stating that its claims extended south toward the Napo and Amazon Rivers. Ecuador protested that it claimed the Amazon Basin between the Caqueta river and the Marañon-Amazon river. Peru ignored these protests and created the Department of Loreto in 1853 with its capital in Iquitos. Peru briefly occupied Guayaquil again in 1860, since Peru thought that Ecuador was selling some of the disputed land for development to British bond holders, but returned Guayaquil after a few months. The border dispute was then submitted to Spain for arbitration from 1880 to 1910, but to no avail.[41] In the early part of the 20th century, Ecuador made an effort to peacefully define its eastern Amazonian borders with its neighbours through negotiation. On 6 May 1904, Ecuador signed the Tobar-Rio Branco Treaty recognizing Brazil's claims to the Amazon in recognition of Ecuador's claim to be an Amazonian country to counter Peru's earlier Treaty with Brazil back on 23 October 1851. Then after a few meetings with the Colombian government's representatives an agreement was reached and the Muñoz Vernaza-Suarez Treaty was signed 15 July 1916, in which Colombian rights to the Putumayo river were recognized as well as Ecuador's rights to the Napo river and the new border was a line that ran midpoint between those two rivers. In this way, Ecuador gave up the claims it had to the Amazonian territories between the Caquetá River and Napo River to Colombia, thus cutting itself off from Brazil. Later, a brief war erupted between Colombia and Peru, over Peru's claims to the Caquetá region, which ended with Peru reluctantly signing the Salomon-Lozano Treaty on 24 March 1922. Ecuador protested this secret treaty, since Colombia gave away Ecuadorian claimed land to Peru that Ecuador had given to Colombia in 1916. On 21 July 1924, the Ponce-Castro Oyanguren Protocol was signed between Ecuador and Peru where both agreed to hold direct negotiations and to resolve the dispute in an equitable manner and to submit the differing points of the dispute to the United States for arbitration. Negotiations between the Ecuadorian and Peruvian representatives began in Washington on 30 September 1935. The negotiations turned into intense arguments during the next 7 months and finally on 29 September 1937, the Peruvian representatives decided to break off the negotiations.[citation needed] Four years later in 1941, amid fast-growing tensions within disputed territories around the Zarumilla River, war broke out with Peru. Peru claimed that Ecuador's military presence in Peruvian-claimed territory was an invasion; Ecuador, for its part, claimed that Peru had recently invaded Ecuador around the Zarumilla River and that Peru since Ecuador's independence from Spain has systematically occupied Tumbez, Jaén, and most of the disputed territories in the Amazonian Basin between the Putomayo and Marañon Rivers. In July 1941, troops were mobilized in both countries. Peru had an army of 11,681 troops who faced a poorly supplied and inadequately armed Ecuadorian force of 2,300, of which only 1,300 were deployed in the southern provinces. Hostilities erupted on 5 July 1941, when Peruvian forces crossed the Zarumilla river at several locations, testing the strength and resolve of the Ecuadorian border troops. Finally, on 23 July 1941, the Peruvians launched a major invasion, crossing the Zarumilla river in force and advancing into the Ecuadorian province of El Oro. Map of Ecuadorian land claims after 1916 During the course of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, Peru gained control over part of the disputed territory and some parts of the province of El Oro, and some parts of the province of Loja, demanding that the Ecuadorian government give up its territorial claims. The Peruvian Navy blocked the port of Guayaquil, almost cutting all supplies to the Ecuadorian troops. After a few weeks of war and under pressure by the United States and several Latin American nations, all fighting came to a stop. Ecuador and Peru came to an accord formalized in the Rio Protocol, signed on 29 January 1942, in favor of hemispheric unity against the Axis Powers in World War II favoring Peru with the territory they occupied at the time the war came to an end. The 1944 Glorious May Revolution followed a military-civilian rebellion and a subsequent civic strike which successfully removed Carlos Arroyo del Río as a dictator from Ecuador's government. However, a post-Second World War recession and popular unrest led to a return to populist politics and domestic military interventions in the 1960s, while foreign companies developed oil resources in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In 1972, construction of the Andean pipeline was completed. The pipeline brought oil from the east side of the Andes to the coast, making Ecuador South America's second largest oil exporter. In 1978, the city of Quito and the Galápagos Islands were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, making the first two properties in the world to become listed sites. Ecuadorian troops during the Cenepa War The Mirage F.1JA (FAE-806) was one aircraft involved in the claimed shooting down of two Peruvian Sukhoi Su-22 on 10 February 1995. The Rio Protocol failed to precisely resolve the border along a little river in the remote Cordillera del Cóndor region in southern Ecuador. This caused a long-simmering dispute between Ecuador and Peru, which ultimately led to fighting between the two countries; first a border skirmish in January–February 1981 known as the Paquisha Incident, and ultimately full-scale warfare in January 1995 where the Ecuadorian military shot down Peruvian aircraft and helicopters and Peruvian infantry marched into southern Ecuador. Each country blamed the other for the onset of hostilities, known as the Cenepa War. Sixto Durán Ballén, the Ecuadorian president, famously declared that he would not give up a single centimeter of Ecuador. Popular sentiment in Ecuador became strongly nationalistic against Peru: graffiti could be seen on the walls of Quito referring to Peru as the "Cain de Latinoamérica", a reference to the murder of Abel by his brother Cain in the Book of Genesis.[42] Ecuador and Peru signed the Brasilia Presidential Act peace agreement on 26 October 1998, which ended hostilities, and effectively put an end to the Western Hemisphere's longest running territorial dispute.[43] The Guarantors of the Rio Protocol (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and the United States of America) ruled that the border of the undelineated zone was to be set at the line of the Cordillera del Cóndor. While Ecuador had to give up its decades-old territorial claims to the eastern slopes of the Cordillera, as well as to the entire western area of Cenepa headwaters, Peru was compelled to give to Ecuador, in perpetual lease but without sovereignty, 1 km2 (0.39 sq mi) of its territory, in the area where the Ecuadorian base of Tiwinza – focal point of the war – had been located within Peruvian soil and which the Ecuadorian Army held during the conflict. The final border demarcation came into effect on 13 May 1999, and the multi-national MOMEP (Military Observer Mission for Ecuador and Peru) troop deployment withdrew on 17 June 1999.[43] Military governments (1972–79) In 1972, a "revolutionary and nationalist" military junta overthrew the government of Velasco Ibarra. The coup d'état was led by General Guillermo Rodríguez and executed by navy commander Jorge Queirolo G. The new president exiled José María Velasco to Argentina. He remained in power until 1976, when he was removed by another military government. That military junta was led by Admiral Alfredo Poveda, who was declared chairman of the Supreme Council. The Supreme Council included two other members: General Guillermo Durán Arcentales and General Luis Pintado. The civil society more and more insistently called for democratic elections. Colonel Richelieu Levoyer, Government Minister, proposed and implemented a Plan to return to the constitutional system through universal elections. This plan enabled the new democratically elected president to assume the duties of the executive office. Return to democracy See also: History of Ecuador (1990–present) Elections were held on 29 April 1979, under a new constitution. Jaime Roldós Aguilera was elected president, garnering over one million votes, the most in Ecuadorian history. He took office on 10 August, as the first constitutionally elected president after nearly a decade of civilian and military dictatorships. In 1980, he founded the Partido Pueblo, Cambio y Democracia (People, Change, and Democracy Party) after withdrawing from the Concentración de Fuerzas Populares (Popular Forces Concentration) and governed until 24 May 1981, when he died along with his wife and the minister of defense, Marco Subia Martinez, when his Air Force plane crashed in heavy rain near the Peruvian border. Many people believe that he was assassinated by the CIA,[44] given the multiple death threats leveled against him because of his reformist agenda, deaths in automobile crashes of two key witnesses before they could testify during the investigation, and the sometimes contradictory accounts of the incident. Roldos was immediately succeeded by Vice President Osvaldo Hurtado, who was followed in 1984 by León Febres Cordero from the Social Christian Party. Rodrigo Borja Cevallos of the Democratic Left (Izquierda Democrática, or ID) party won the presidency in 1988, running in the runoff election against Abdalá Bucaram (brother in law of Jaime Roldos and founder of the Ecuadorian Roldosist Party). His government was committed to improving human rights protection and carried out some reforms, notably an opening of Ecuador to foreign trade. The Borja government concluded an accord leading to the disbanding of the small terrorist group, "¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo!" ("Alfaro Lives, Dammit!"), named after Eloy Alfaro. However, continuing economic problems undermined the popularity of the ID, and opposition parties gained control of Congress in 1999. President Lenín Moreno, first lady Rocío González Navas and his predecessor Rafael Correa, 3 April 2017 A notable event was the Cenepa War fought between Ecuador and Peru in 1995. Ecuador adopted the United States dollar on 13 April 2000 as its national currency and on 11 September, the country eliminated the Ecuadorian sucre, in order to stabilize the country's economy.[45] The US Dollar has been the only official currency of Ecuador since the year 2000.[46] The emergence of the Amerindian population as an active constituency has added to the democratic volatility of the country in recent years. The population has been motivated by government failures to deliver on promises of land reform, lower unemployment and provision of social services, and historical exploitation by the land-holding elite. Their movement, along with the continuing destabilizing efforts by both the elite and leftist movements, has led to a deterioration of the executive office. The populace and the other branches of government give the president very little political capital, as illustrated by the most recent removal of President Lucio Gutiérrez from office by Congress in April 2005.[47] Vice President Alfredo Palacio took his place[48] and remained in office until the presidential election of 2006, in which Rafael Correa gained the presidency.[49] On 15 January 2007, Rafael Correa was sworn in as the President of Ecuador. Several left-wing political leaders of Latin America, his future allies, attended the ceremony.[50] The new socialist constitution, endorsed in 2008 referendum (2008 Constitution of Ecuador), implemented leftist reforms.[51] In December 2008, president Correa declared Ecuador's national debt illegitimate, based on the argument that it was odious debt contracted by corrupt and despotic prior regimes. He announced that the country would default on over $3 billion worth of bonds; he then pledged to fight creditors in international courts and succeeded in reducing the price of outstanding bonds by more than 60%.[52] He brought Ecuador into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas in June 2009. Correa's administration succeeded in reducing the high levels of poverty and unemployment in Ecuador.[53][54][55][56][57] Rafael Correa's three consecutive terms (from 2007 to 2017) were followed by his former Vice President Lenín Moreno's four years as president (2017–21). After being elected in 2017, President Lenin Moreno's government adopted economically liberal policies: reduction of public spending, trade liberalization, flexibility of the labour code, etc. Ecuador also left the left-wing Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (Alba) in August 2018.[58] The Productive Development Act enshrines an austerity policy, and reduces the development and redistribution policies of the previous mandate. In the area of taxes, the authorities aim to "encourage the return of investors" by granting amnesty to fraudsters and proposing measures to reduce tax rates for large companies. In addition, the government waives the right to tax increases in raw material prices and foreign exchange repatriations.[59] In October 2018, the government of President Lenin Moreno cut diplomatic relations with the Maduro administration of Venezuela, a close ally of Rafael Correa.[60] The relations with the United States improved significantly during the presidency of Lenin Moreno. In February 2020, his visit to Washington was the first meeting between an Ecuadorian and U.S. president in 17 years.[61] In June 2019, Ecuador had agreed to allow US military planes to operate from an airport on the Galapagos Islands.[62] A series of protests began on 3 October 2019 against the end of fuel subsidies and austerity measures adopted by President of Ecuador Lenín Moreno and his administration. On 10 October, protesters overran the capital Quito causing the Government of Ecuador to relocate to Guayaquil,[63] but the government had plans to return to Quito.[64] On 14 October 2019, the government restored fuel subsidies and withdrew an austerity package, meaning the end of nearly two weeks of protests.[65] Outgoing President Guillermo Lasso (center) with President-elect Daniel Noboa (right) at the ladder's inauguration in November 2023. The 11 April 2021 election run-off vote ended in a win for conservative former banker, Guillermo Lasso, taking 52.4% of the vote compared to 47.6% of left-wing economist Andrés Arauz, supported by exiled former president, Rafael Correa. Previously, President-elect Lasso finished second in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections.[66] On 24 May 2021, Guillermo Lasso was sworn in as the new President of Ecuador, becoming the country's first right-wing leader in 14 years.[67] However, President Lasso's party CREO Movement, and its ally the Social Christian Party (PSC) secured only 31 parliamentary seats out of 137, while the Union for Hope (UNES) of Andrés Arauz was the strongest parliamentary group with 49 seats, meaning the new president needs support from Izquierda Democrática and the indigenist Pachakutik to push through his legislative agenda.[68] In October 2021, President Lasso declared a 60-day state of emergency with the intention to combat crime and drug-related violence.[69] In Ecuador's state prisons there have been numerous bloody clashes between rival groups of prisoners.[70] Lasso proposed a series of constitutional changes to enhance his government's ability to respond to rising, largely drug-related crime. In a referendum in February 2023, voters overwhelmingly rejected his proposed changes. This result weakened Lasso's political standing.[71] On 15 October 2023, centrist candidate Daniel Noboa won the run-off of the premature presidential election with 52.3% of the vote against leftist candidate Luisa González.[72] On 23 November 2023, Daniel Noboa was sworn in as Ecuador's new president.[73] Government and politics Main article: Politics of Ecuador The Ecuadorian State consists of five branches of government: the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, the Judicial Branch, the Electoral Branch, and Transparency and Social Control. Ecuador is governed by a democratically elected president for a four-year term. The president of Ecuador exercises his power from the presidential Palacio de Carondelet in Quito. The current constitution was written by the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly elected in 2007, and was approved by referendum in 2008. Since 1936, voting is compulsory for all literate persons aged 18–65, optional for all other citizens.[74] The executive branch includes 23 ministries. Provincial governors and councilors (mayors, aldermen, and parish boards) are directly elected. The National Assembly of Ecuador meets throughout the year except for recesses in July and December. There are thirteen permanent committees. Members of the National Court of Justice are appointed by the National Judicial Council for nine-year terms. Executive branch Main article: List of heads of state of Ecuador Palacio de Carondelet, seat of the President of Ecuador The executive branch is led by the president. The president is accompanied by the vice-president, elected for four years (with the ability to be re-elected only once). As head of state and chief government official, he is responsible for public administration including the appointing of national coordinators, ministers, ministers of State and public servants. The executive branch defines foreign policy, appoints the Chancellor of the Republic, as well as ambassadors and consuls, being the ultimate authority over the Armed Forces of Ecuador, National Police of Ecuador, and appointing authorities. The acting president's wife receives the title of First Lady of Ecuador. Legislative branch Main article: National Assembly (Ecuador) The legislative branch is embodied by the National Assembly, which is headquartered in the city of Quito in the Legislative Palace, and consists of 137 assemblymen, divided into ten committees and elected for a four-year term. Fifteen national constituency elected assembly, two Assembly members elected from each province and one for every 100,000 inhabitants or fraction exceeding 150,000, according to the latest national population census. In addition, statute determines the election of assembly of regions and metropolitan districts. Judicial branch Ecuador's judiciary has as its main body the Judicial Council, and also includes the National Court of Justice, provincial courts, and lower courts. Legal representation is made by the Judicial Council. The National Court of Justice is composed of 21 judges elected for a term of nine years. Judges are renewed by thirds every three years pursuant to the Judicial Code. These are elected by the Judicial Council on the basis of opposition proceedings and merits. The justice system is buttressed by the independent offices of public prosecutor and the public defender. Auxiliary organs are as follows: notaries, court auctioneers, and court receivers. Also there is a special legal regime for Amerindians. Electoral branch The electoral system functions by authorities which enter only every four years or when elections or referendums occur. Its main functions are to organize, control elections, and punish the infringement of electoral rules. Its main body is the National Electoral Council, which is based in the city of Quito, and consists of seven members of the political parties most voted, enjoying complete financial and administrative autonomy. This body, along with the electoral court, forms the Electoral Branch which is one of Ecuador's five branches of government. Transparency and social control branch The Transparency and Social Control consists of the Council of Citizen Participation and Social Control, an ombudsman, the Comptroller General of the State, and the superintendents. Branch members hold office for five years. This branch is responsible for promoting transparency and control plans publicly, as well as plans to design mechanisms to combat corruption, as also designate certain authorities, and be the regulatory mechanism of accountability in the country. Foreign affairs Main article: Foreign relations of Ecuador Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 20 July 2019 Ecuador joined the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1973 and suspended its membership in 1992. Under President Rafael Correa, the country returned to OPEC before leaving again in 2020 under the instruction of President Moreno, citing its desire to increase crude oil importation to gain more revenue.[75][76] Ecuador has maintained a research station in Antarctica for peaceful scientific study as a member nation of the Antarctica Treaty. Ecuador has often placed great emphasis on multilateral approaches to international issues. Ecuador is a member of the United Nations (and most of its specialized agencies) and a member of many regional groups, including the Rio Group, the Latin American Economic System, the Latin American Energy Organization, the Latin American Integration Association, the Andean Community of Nations, and the Bank of the South (Spanish: Banco del Sur or BancoSur). In 2017, the Ecuadorian parliament adopted a law on human mobility.[77] The International Organization for Migration lauded Ecuador as the first state to have established the promotion of the concept of universal citizenship in its constitution, aiming to promote the universal recognition and protection of the human rights of migrants.[78] In March 2019, Ecuador withdrew from the Union of South American Nations.[79] Human rights See also: LGBT rights in Ecuador Poor class neighborhoods in Guayaquil A 2003 Amnesty International report was critical that there were scarce few prosecutions for human rights violations committed by security forces, and those only in police courts, which are not considered impartial or independent. There are allegations that the security forces routinely torture prisoners. There are reports of prisoners having died while in police custody. Sometimes the legal process can be delayed until the suspect can be released after the time limit for detention without trial is exceeded. Prisons are overcrowded and conditions in detention centers are "abominable".[80] UN's Human Rights Council's (HRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) has treated the restrictions on freedom of expression and efforts to control NGOs and recommended that Ecuador should stop the criminal sanctions for the expression of opinions, and delay in implementing judicial reforms. Ecuador rejected the recommendation on decriminalization of libel.[81] According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) former president Correa intimidated journalists and subjected them to "public denunciation and retaliatory litigation". The sentences to journalists were years of imprisonment and millions of dollars of compensation, even though defendants had been pardoned.[81] Correa stated he was only seeking a retraction for slanderous statements.[82] According to HRW, Correa's government weakened the freedom of press and independence of the judicial system. In Ecuador's current judicial system, judges are selected in a contest of merits, rather than government appointments. However, the process of selection has been criticized as biased and subjective. In particular, the final interview is said to be given "excessive weighing". Judges and prosecutors that made decisions in favor of Correa in his lawsuits had received permanent posts, while others with better assessment grades had been rejected.[81][83] The laws also forbid articles and media messages that could favor or disfavor some political message or candidate. In the first half of 2012, twenty private TV or radio stations were closed down.[81] People engaging in public protests against environmental and other issues are prosecuted for "terrorism and sabotage", which may lead to an eight-year prison sentence.[81] According to Freedom House, restrictions on the media and civil society have decreased since 2017.[84] In October 2022, the United Nations expressed concerns about the dire situation in various detention centers and prisons, and the human rights of those deprived of liberty in Ecuador.[85] Administrative divisions Main articles: Provinces of Ecuador and Cantons of Ecuador Ecuador is divided into 24 provinces (Spanish: provincias), each with its own administrative capital: Provinces of Ecuador Regions and planning areas Cabellera de la Virgen waterfall in Baños de Agua Santa, Tungurahua Province Regionalization, or zoning, is the union of two or more adjoining provinces in order to decentralize the administrative functions of the capital, Quito. In Ecuador, there are seven regions, or zones, each shaped by the following provinces: Region 1 (42,126 km2, or 16,265 mi2): Esmeraldas, Carchi, Imbabura, and Sucumbios. Administrative city: Ibarra Region 2 (43,498 km2, or 16,795 mi2): Pichincha, Napo, and Orellana. Administrative city: Tena Region 3 (44,710 km2, or 17,263 mi2): Chimborazo, Tungurahua, Pastaza, and Cotopaxi. Administrative city: Riobamba Region 4 (22,257 km2, or 8,594 mi2): Manabí and Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas. Administrative city: Ciudad Alfaro Region 5 (38,420 km2, or 14,834 mi2): Santa Elena, Guayas, Los Ríos, Galápagos, and Bolívar. Administrative city: Milagro Region 6 (38,237 km2, or 14,763 mi2): Cañar, Azuay, and Morona Santiago. Administrative city: Cuenca Region 7 (27,571 km2, or 10,645 mi2): El Oro, Loja, and Zamora Chinchipe. Administrative city: Loja Quito and Guayaquil are Metropolitan Districts. Galápagos, despite being included within Region 5,[86] is also under a special unit.[87] Military Main article: Military of Ecuador Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) The Ecuadorian Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas de la Republica de Ecuador), consists of the Army, Air Force, and Navy and have the stated responsibility for the preservation of the integrity and national sovereignty of the national territory. Due to the continuous border disputes with Peru, finally settled in the early 2000s, and due to the ongoing problem with the Colombian guerrilla insurgency infiltrating Amazonian provinces, the Ecuadorian Armed Forces has gone through a series of changes. In 2009, the new administration at the Defense Ministry launched a deep restructuring within the forces, increasing spending budget to $1,691,776,803, an increase of 25%.[88] The Military Academy General Eloy Alfaro (c. 1838) located in Quito is in charge of graduating army officers.[89] The Ecuadorian Navy Academy (c. 1837), located in Salinas graduates navy officers.[90] The Air Academy "Cosme Rennella (c. 1920), also located in Salinas, graduates air force officers.[91] Geography Main article: Geography of Ecuador See also: Rivers of Ecuador Ecuadorian topography Historically famous Cotopaxi Volcano Napo Wildlife Center in the Yasuní National Park According to the CIA,Ecuador has a total area of 283,571 km2 (109,487 sq mi), including the Galápagos Islands. Of this, 276,841 km2 (106,889 sq mi) is land and 6,720 km2 (2,595 sq mi) water.[2] The total area, according to the Ecuadorian government's foreign ministry, is 256,370 km2 (98,985 sq mi).[92] The Galápagos Islands are sometimes considered part of Oceania,[93][94][95][96][97][98][99] which would thus make Ecuador a transcontinental country under certain definitions. Ecuador is bigger than Uruguay, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana in South America. Ecuador lies between latitudes 2°N and 5°S, bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, and has 2,337 km (1,452 mi) of coastline. It has 2,010 km (1,250 mi) of land boundaries, with Colombia in the north (with a 590 km (367 mi) border) and Peru in the east and south (with a 1,420 km (882 mi) border). It is the westernmost country that lies on the equator.[100] The country has four main geographic regions: La Costa, or "the coast": The coastal region consists of the provinces to the west of the Andean range – Esmeraldas, Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, El Oro, Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas and Santa Elena. It is the country's most fertile and productive land, and is the seat of the large banana exportation plantations of the companies Dole and Chiquita. This region is also where most of Ecuador's rice crop is grown. The truly coastal provinces have active fisheries. The largest coastal city is Guayaquil. La Sierra, or "the highlands": The sierra consists of the Andean and Interandean highland provinces – Azuay, Cañar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Imbabura, Loja, Pichincha, Bolívar, Cotopaxi and Tungurahua. This land contains most of Ecuador's volcanoes and all of its snow-capped peaks. Agriculture is focused on the traditional crops of potato, maize, and quinua and the population is predominantly Amerindian Kichua. The largest Sierran city is Quito. La Amazonía, also known as El Oriente, or "the east": The oriente consists of the Amazon jungle provinces – Morona Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, Sucumbíos, and Zamora-Chinchipe. This region is primarily made up of the huge Amazon national parks and Amerindian untouchable zones, which are vast stretches of land set aside for the Amazon Amerindian tribes to continue living traditionally. It is also the area with the largest reserves of petroleum in Ecuador, and parts of the upper Amazon here have been extensively exploited by petroleum companies. The population is primarily mixed Amerindian Shuar, Huaorani and Kichua, although there are numerous tribes in the deep jungle which are little-contacted. The largest city in the Oriente Lago Agrio in Sucumbíos. La Región Insular is the region comprising the Galápagos Islands, some 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) west of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean. Ecuador's capital and second largest city is Quito,[101] which is in the province of Pichincha in the Sierra region. It is the second-highest capital city with an elevation of 2,850 meters. Ecuador's largest city is Guayaquil,[102] in the Guayas Province. Cotopaxi, just south of Quito, is one of the world's highest active volcanoes. The top of Mount Chimborazo (6,268 m, or 20,560 ft, above sea level), Ecuador's tallest mountain, is the most distant point from the center of the Earth on the Earth's surface because of the ellipsoid shape of the planet.[2] The Andes is the watershed divisor between the Amazon watershed, which runs to the east, and the Pacific, including the north–south rivers Mataje, Santiago, Esmeraldas, Chone, Guayas, Jubones, and Puyango-Tumbes. Climate Main article: Climate of Ecuador There is great variety in the climate, largely determined by altitude. It is mild year-round in the mountain valleys, with a humid subtropical climate in coastal areas and rainforest in lowlands. The Pacific coastal area has a tropical climate with a severe rainy season. The climate in the Andean highlands is temperate and relatively dry, and the Amazon basin on the eastern side of the mountains shares the climate of other rainforest zones. Because of its location at the equator, Ecuador experiences little variation in daylight hours during the course of a year. Both sunrise and sunset occur each day at the two six o'clock hours.[2] The country has seen its seven glaciers lose 54.4% of their surface in forty years. Research predicts their disappearance by 2100. The cause is climate change, which threatens both the fauna and flora and the population.[103] Biodiversity Ecuador is one of the most megadiverse countries in the world, it also has the most biodiversity per square kilometer of any nation, and is one of the highest endemism worldwide. In the image, a pale-mandibled aracari in the Mindo-Nambillo Ecological Reserve. Ecuador is one of seventeen megadiverse countries in the world according to Conservation International,[22] and it has the most biodiversity per square kilometer of any nation.[104][105] Ecuador has 1,600 bird species (15% of the world's known bird species) in the continental area and 38 more endemic in the Galápagos. In addition to more than 16,000 species of plants, the country has 106 endemic reptiles, 138 endemic amphibians, and 6,000 species of butterfly. The Galápagos Islands are well known as a region of distinct fauna, as the famous place of birth to Darwin's Theory of Evolution, and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[106] Ecuador has the first constitution to recognize the rights of nature.[107] The protection of the nation's biodiversity is an explicit national priority as stated in the National Plan of "Buen Vivir", or good living, Objective 4, "Guarantee the rights of nature", Policy 1: "Sustainably conserve and manage the natural heritage, including its land and marine biodiversity, which is considered a strategic sector".[104] Western Santa Cruz tortoise in the Galápagos Islands As of the writing of the plan in 2008, 19% of Ecuador's land area was in a protected area; however, the plan also states that 32% of the land must be protected in order to truly preserve the nation's biodiversity.[104] Current protected areas include 11 national parks, 10 wildlife refuges, 9 ecological reserves, and other areas.[108] A program begun in 2008, Sociobosque, is preserving another 2.3% of total land area (6,295 km2, or 629,500 ha) by paying private landowners or community landowners (such as Amerindian tribes) incentives to maintain their land as native ecosystems such as native forests or grasslands. Eligibility and subsidy rates for this program are determined based on the poverty in the region, the number of hectares that will be protected, and the type of ecosystem of the land to be protected, among other factors.[109] Ecuador had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.66/10, ranking it 35th globally out of 172 countries.[110] Despite being on the UNESCO list, the Galápagos are endangered by a range of negative environmental effects, threatening the existence of this exotic ecosystem.[111] Additionally, oil exploitation of the Amazon rainforest has led to the release of billions of gallons of untreated wastes, gas, and crude oil into the environment,[112] contaminating ecosystems and causing detrimental health effects to Amerindian peoples.[113][114] One of the best known examples is the Texaco-Chevron case.[115] This American oil company operated in the Ecuadorian Amazon region between 1964 and 1992. During this period, Texaco drilled 339 wells in 15 petroleum fields and abandoned 627 toxic wastewater pits. It is now known that these highly polluting and now obsolete technologies were used as a way to reduce expenses.[116] In 2022 the supreme court of Ecuador decided that "under no circumstances can a project be carried out that generates excessive sacrifices to the collective rights of communities and nature." It also required the government to respect the opinion of Indigenous peoples about different industrial projects on their land.[117] Economy Main article: Economy of Ecuador GDP per capita development of Ecuador Ecuador has a developing economy that is highly dependent on commodities, namely petroleum and agricultural products. The country is classified as an upper-middle-income country. Ecuador's economy is the eighth largest in Latin America and experienced an average growth of 4.6% between 2000 and 2006.[118][failed verification] From 2007 to 2012, Ecuador's GDP grew at an annual average of 4.3 percent, above the average for Latin America and the Caribbean, which was 3.5%, according to the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC).[119] Ecuador was able to maintain relatively superior growth during the crisis. In January 2009, the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) put the 2010 growth forecast at 6.88%.[120] In 2011, its GDP grew at 8% and ranked third highest in Latin America, behind Argentina (2nd) and Panama (1st).[121] Between 1999 and 2007, GDP doubled, reaching $65,490 million according to BCE.[122] The inflation rate until January 2008, was about 1.14%, the highest in the past year, according to the government.[123][124] The monthly unemployment rate remained at about 6 and 8 percent from December 2007 until September 2008; however, it went up to about 9 percent in October and dropped again in November 2008 to 8 percent.[125] Unemployment mean annual rate for 2009 in Ecuador was 8.5% because the global economic crisis continued to

Katt Williams’ Viral Shannon Sharpe Interview Has Essential Lessons For Brands FULL VIDEO HERE -- > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oRRZiRQxTs Jan 9, 2024,04:07pm EST HBO's 13th Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival - Katt Williams Katt Williams during HBO's 13th Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival - Katt Williams at Wheeler Opera ... [+]FILMMAGIC, INC FOR HBO In less than a week, comedian Katt Williams’ interview on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast has racked up more than 37 million views on YouTube. In it, Katt Williams called out various other popular comedians for not being truthful about comments made on their previous appearances on Sharpe’s show, and for not being transparent about how they achieved their success. A lot was said during the nearly 3-hour long interview that has dominated internet headlines since the show dropped. While most of the conversation online surrounds the controversial things Williams had to say about his fellow comedians, there were lots of other gems from the discussion that are worth highlighting, particularly for marketers. Here are a few. Respect And Study The Craft One of the major beefs Williams had with the comedians he called out during the interview stemmed from the fact that he didn’t feel they invested a sufficient amount of time studying the craft. He didn’t feel like they were doing the hard work of developing jokes that would accomplish the primary goal of making the audience laugh. Williams lamented that his colleagues took a lot of shortcuts. He contrasted the shortcuts other comedians took, to the more detailed and diligent approach he takes. He spent years studying the structure and strategy behind jokes of popular comedians of all backgrounds, styles, and eras. Williams also said that he writes new material for every tour he goes on, rather than reusing material from previous years. He even claimed that he spent a significant amount of time studying his competition for movie roles and developed an analytical way to showcase that he was funnier than them. MORE FOR YOU How Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra Will Change Smartphones Forever SEC Issues Sudden Warning As Bitcoin ETF Race Primes Crypto For A 17 Trillion Earthquake Boosting The Price Of Ethereum XRP And Solana Appeals Court Skeptical Of Trump s Immunity Claims In Jan 6 Criminal Case The lesson for marketers is not to take shortcuts. Don’t settle for superficiality when it comes to engaging the communities you want to serve — especially those from underrepresented and underserved communities. CEO: C-suite news, analysis, and advice for top decision makers right to your inbox. Email address Sign Up By signing up, you accept and agree to our Terms of Service (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and you acknowledge our Privacy Statement. Not only will shortcuts and superficiality not yield you the results you desire, but it greatly diminishes the likelihood of you developing a lasting relationship with consumers from those communities. Instead, invest in developing a deep degree of intimacy with the customers you want to serve. The better you know them, the better you’ll be able to integrate that knowledge into your craft, so you can better serve them. It Takes Effort To Diversify Your Audience Katt Williams talked about the early days of his career when it seemed like he fared better with White audiences than Black audiences. Instead of just sticking with the audiences that immediately “got him” he took the time to study and get to know the audiences he wanted to reach at a deeper level. He created material for them, tested it with them, honed it, tested it some more, and kept going until he had a winning formula. Williams talked about a moment when he realized he was getting the same amount of laughs while in front of Black audiences that he was getting with White ones. Eventually, through his work and learning of his customer, he developed material that worked not only with segregated audiences, but with blended ones. That ability to make an audience that included people who were different from each other laugh came only as a result of learning how to talk to each of them effectively individually. Katt Williams revealed his secret to winning the hearts of any audience no matter where he was performing, was devoting part of his act to be local to the community he was in. If he was in Atlanta, he infused jokes and observations about Atlanta into the first part of his show. If he was in San Francisco, or Brussels, he took the same approach. If he talked to church folks, he didn’t curse and incorporated jokes related to church culture. The people you serve are different. Those differences come as a result of race, gender, age, body size and type, sexual orientation, geography, language spoken, marital status, parenting status and so much more. And those elements of difference form the basis of a manner in which you can connect at a deeper level with the people you serve. When you acknowledge those differences while also demonstrating to people that even though you may be different, you still belong together, you set the foundation to develop loyal raving fans. Transparency Rules The Day A major reason why the content of the Katt Williams interview was so riveting, was because of the transparency he offered. It was a rare look behind the curtain of the inner workings (and infighting) that happens within an industry. The advice for marketers and brands isn’t to be scandalous and to start collecting and producing receipts on your competitors. The lesson learned is that audiences crave transparency. They crave truth. They don’t want to just see the finished product from you. They want to know your process for getting there. They want to understand your methodology, your work ethic, and the obstacles you had to climb to deliver products and experiences that not only solve a problem for them, but transform them. They want and need to understand the story behind what makes you uniquely you. Transparency helps you unlock a deeper, more emotional connection with the people you want to reach, in a way that the purely polished presentation of you struggles to achieve. Servings Underrepresented Communities Is Good Business The Club Shay Shay podcast has a predominantly Black audience. The interview was between two Black men, talking about mostly Black comedians. And yet, the impact the interview has had has been massive. The high number of views, the conversations all over social media channels, the articles on mainstream news sites, the response videos and commentaries, and even private discussion showcase that the audience and the featured talent are present and profitable. For comparison, the most popular podcast in the world is the Joe Rogan Experience. The most popular episode he has in terms of YouTube is one he did with Elon Musk more than five years ago. To date, it has more than 68 million views. The way the Williams and Sharpe interview is trending in it’s first week, it will eclipse the views on that video. It’s long been said that content with Black leads or leads from underrepresented and underserved communities do not have the same reach, mass market appeal, or revenue potential as more “mainstream” leads. But that objection has been disproven time and time again. This viral show is just the latest example of that. Content by Black artists and for the Black community are relevant, mainstream, and profitable. The same can be said for other underrepresented and underserved communities. Just look at the impact of the Barbie movie, and Taylor Swift and Beyonce’s tours world tours had in terms of revenue and attention garnered in 2023 alone. The lesson here is to stop focusing all your energy on what seems to be gen pop and mainstream audiences. Instead, start leaning hard into content by and for underrepresented, underserved, and underestimated communities.

Dog meat production and sales will soon become illegal in South Korea BY HYUNG-JIN KIM Updated January 9, 2024 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s parliament on Tuesday passed a landmark ban on production and sales of dog meat, as public calls for a prohibition have grown sharply over concerns about animal rights and the country’s international image. Some angry dog farmers said they plan to challenge the bill’s constitutionality and hold protest rallies, a sign of continued heated debate over the ban. After a three-year grace period, the bill would make slaughtering, breeding and sales of dog meat for human consumption illegal from 2027 and punishable by 2-3 years in prison. It doesn’t provide any penalties for eating dog meat. ADVERTISEMENT EARLIER COVERAGE David Rasavong stands by a mural depicting his family's journey from Laos to San Francisco and then to Fresno, in his restaurant "Love & Thai" in Fresno, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. Rasavong's body still tenses up when recounting how a so-called animal welfare crusader in May implied on social media that his 7-month-old restaurant, Tasty Thai, owned a pitbull tied up at a home next door. What's more, the dog would eventually be meal fodder. By the next day, vitriolic comments, voicemails and calls rained down. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) California restaurant’s comeback shows how outdated and false Asian stereotype of dog-eating persists Dog farmers struggle with police officers during a rally against the government-led dog meat banning bill in front of the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) South Korean farmers rally near presidential office to protest proposed anti-dog meat legislation Dogs are seen in a cage at a dog farm in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Dog meat consumption, a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula, isn't explicitly prohibited or legalized in South Korea. But more and more people want it banned, and there's increasing public awareness of animal rights and worries about South Korea’s international image. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) South Korean dog meat farmers push back against growing moves to outlaw their industry Dog meat consumption, a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula, is neither explicitly banned nor legalized in South Korea. It has long been viewed as a source of stamina on hot summer days. Recent surveys show more than half of South Koreans want dog meat banned and a majority no longer eat it. But one in every three South Koreans still opposes a ban even though they don’t consume it. The National Assembly passed the bill by a 208-0 vote. It will become law after being endorsed by the Cabinet Council and signed by President Yoon Suk Yeol, considered formalities since his government supports the ban. “This law is aimed at contributing to realizing the values of animal rights, which pursue respect for life and a harmonious co-existence between humans and animals,” the legislation says. The bill offers assistance to dog farmers and others in the industry in shutting down their businesses and shifting to alternatives. Details are to be worked out among government officials, farmers, experts and animal rights activists. ADVERTISEMENT Dozens of animal rights activists gathered at the National Assembly to celebrate the bill’s passage. They carried large photos of dogs, chanted slogans and held placards reading “Dog meat-free Korea is coming.” January 9, 2024 Humane Society International called the legislation’s passage “history in the making.” “I never thought I would see in my lifetime a ban on the cruel dog meat industry in South Korea, but this historic win for animals is testament to the passion and determination of our animal protection movement,” said JungAh Chae, executive director of HSI’s Korea office. Dogs are also eaten in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, North Korea and in some African countries. But South Korea’s dog meat industry has drawn more attention because of the country’s reputation as a cultural and economic powerhouse. It’s also the only nation with industrial-scale dog farms. Most farms in South Korea raise about 500 dogs, but one visited by The Associated Press in July had about 7,000. Farmers were extremely upset by the bill’s passage. ADVERTISEMENT “This is a clear case of state violence as they are infringing on our freedom to choose our occupation. We can’t just sit by idly,” said Son Won Hak, a farmer and former leader of a farmers’ association. Son said dog farmers will file a petition with the Constitutional Court of Korea and hold demonstrations. He said farmers will meet on Wednesday to discuss other steps. There is no reliable official data on the exact size of South Korea’s dog meat industry. Activists and farmers say hundreds of thousands of dogs are slaughtered for meat each year. The anti-dog meat campaign received a huge boost from the country’s first lady, Kim Keon Hee, who has repeatedly expressed her support for a prohibition. She has become the subject of withering criticism and crude insults during demonstrations by farmers. The legislation doesn’t clearly specify how dog farmers and others in the industry will be supported. Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryung said Tuesday the government will try to formulate reasonable assistance programs for them. Ju Yeongbong, an official of the farmers’ association, said most farmers are in their 60-80s and hope to continue their businesses until older people, their main customers, die. But Ju said the legislation would “strip them of their right to live” because it would likely end up only offering assistance for dismantling their facilities and for transitions, without compensation for giving up their dogs. Son said many elderly dog farmers are willing to close their farms if proper financial compensation is provided because of the extremely negative public view of their jobs. Cheon JinKyung, head of Korea Animal Rights Advocates in Seoul, accused farmers of demanding unrealistically high compensation. She said compensation based on the number of dogs owned by farmers won’t be accepted, but acknowledged that payments would likely be a major issue. Ordinary citizens were split over the ban. “Dogs are different from cows, chickens and pigs,” said Kim Myung-ae, a 58-year-old Seoul resident. “Why would you still eat dogs when they are now seen more as family-like pets than food?” Another Seoul resident, Jeong Yoon Hee, disagreed, saying whether to eat dog meat is a matter of a personal choice and dietary culture. “Dogs are dogs, not humans,” she said.

US top diplomat urges Israel to avoid harming civilians in Gaza By Arafat Barbakh, Simon Lewis and Nidal Al-Mughrabi January 9. Summary LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Blinken says the daily toll of the war on civilians in Gaza is far too high but that charges that Israel is committing genocide are "meritless". Hamas says: "There are no differences between Israel and the Americans". GAZA/TEL AVIV/CAIRO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israeli leaders on Tuesday to avoid harming civilians as it presses its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, saying the daily toll was far too high. Blinken, making his fourth visit to the Middle East since the war erupted in October, also told them that the creation of a Palestinian state was key to a long-term solution. But it was also vital that Israel achieved its objective of eradicating the threat from Hamas, he said at the end of a day of talks in Tel Aviv. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Even as he spoke, intense fighting gripped south and central parts of Gaza. Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants also exchanged fire on the Lebanon-Israel border. International concern has mounted over the huge Palestinian death toll from the Israeli assault on the densely populated enclave, as well as a humanitarian crisis afflicting hundreds of thousands of people. The Israeli air and ground assault, prompted by a cross-border Hamas rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7, has now killed 23,210 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, and obliterated large areas from north to south. Advertisement · Scroll to continue The U.S. and other countries are also anxious to prevent the war from spreading through the Middle East. Meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a military base in Tel Aviv, Blinken stressed "the importance of avoiding further civilian harm and protecting civilian infrastructure in Gaza", a State Department spokesperson said. Blinken repeated the Biden administration's support for Israel's right to defend itself and to prevent a repeat of the lightning Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules Gaza and is sworn to Israel's destruction. Addressing a press conference after his meetings, Blinken said the daily toll of the war on civilians in Gaza was far too high though added that charges that Israel was committing genocide were "meritless". He also said Palestinians displaced by the war must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow. The United States rejected any proposals for resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza, as some far-right Israeli ministers have called for. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told Blinken that Israel's offensive in Gaza's southern Khan Younis area will "intensify and continue until Hamas leadership is detected and Israeli hostages return home safely", the defence ministry said. Blinken has also been discussing plans for future governance of Gaza when the war eventually ends. In his session with Netanyahu, Blinken "reiterated the need to ensure lasting, sustainable peace for Israel and the region, including by the realization of a Palestinian state," the State Department spokesman said. [1/11]U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Israel's President Isaac Herzog, during his week-long trip aimed at calming tensions across the Middle East, at David Kempinski Hotel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 9, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Acquire Licensing Rights In the days prior to his Israel visit, Blinken held talks in Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, focused on seeking a longer-term approach to the decades-long Israel-Palestinian conflict. He said Washington's Arab allies wanted closer relations with Israel but only if that included a "practical pathway" to a Palestinian state. Many countries in the region are ready to invest in Gaza's future in that case, he said. U.S.-brokered talks on a Palestinian state in territory now occupied by Israel collapsed almost a decade ago. Right-wing leaders in Israel's current ruling coalition oppose Palestinian statehood. At his press conference, Blinken declined to characterize how Netanyahu and his cabinet responded to his appeal on a Palestinian state. "These goals are attainable, but only if they are pursued together," he said. "To make this possible, Israel must be a partner to Palestinian leaders who are willing to lead their people living side by side in peace with Israel and as neighbours." The Palestinian leadership must reform itself and improve its governance, he said, but Israel must stop taking steps that undercut it. "Extremist settler violence carried out with impunity, settlement expansion, demolitions, evictions, all make it harder, not easier for Israel to achieve lasting peace and security," he said, alluding to conflict in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, part of the territory Palestinians want for a state. Reacting to Blinken's words, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the visit showed there was no fundamental change in the U.S. position. "The aim of the visit was to support the security of the occupation," he told Reuters. "There are no differences between Israel and the Americans." HEAVY FIGHTING IN SOUTH GAZA Israel says it is shifting from a full-blown military assault to more targeted warfare in northern Gaza while maintaining intensive combat in southern areas. It said that since Monday, its troops had killed around 40 Palestinian fighters and raided a militant compound and tunnels in Khan Younis, the main city in the south. It said nine Israeli soldiers had been killed, mostly in engineering units tackling tunnels, one of their deadliest days of the ground assault. The health ministry in Gaza said 126 Palestinians had been killed and 241 wounded in the previous 24 hours. Sean Casey, the World Health Organization Emergency Medical Teams coordinator in Gaza, said the health system in the enclave was collapsing fast. He accused Israel of denying access to more of Gaza for relief trucks. "Every day we line up our convoys, we wait for clearance, and we don't get it - and then we come back and we do it again the next day." Medical staff and patients were fleeing, including an estimated 600 patients from one facility, and 66 health workers were in detention. Only about a third of Gaza's hospitals, all in southern and central Gaza, are even partially functional, he said. Casey added that many staff at the main Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis had fled to shelters in the strip's southernmost tip, leaving just one doctor for more than 100 burn victims. Reporting by Arafat Barbakh and Fadi Shana in Gaza, Simon Lewis in Tel Aviv, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; writing by Kevin Liffey and Angus MacSwan; editing by Peter Graff and Mark Heinrich

Japan earthquake: death toll rises to 62 amid warnings of landslides and aftershocks. Japan earthquake: death toll rises to 62 amid warnings of landslides and aftershocks Ishikawa and its Noto peninsula, one of the worst affected areas, has been hit by more than 100 aftershocks Guardian staff and agencies Wed 3 Jan 2024 03.55 CET Japanese rescuers were scrambling to search for survivors as authorities warned of landslides and heavy rain after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 62 people. The 7.5-magnitude quake on Monday that rattled Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu triggered tsunami waves more than a metre high, sparked a major fire and tore apart roads.

Biden will start the year at sites of national trauma to warn about dire stakes of the 2024 election. [2024-01-03] WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is starting the campaign year by evoking the Revolutionary War to mark the third anniversary of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and visiting the South Carolina church where a white gunman massacred Black parishioners — seeking to present in the starkest possible terms an election he argues could determine the fate of American democracy. On Saturday, Biden will travel to near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where George Washington and the Continental Army spent a bleak winter nearly 250 years ago. There, he’ll decry former President Donald Trump for the riot by a mob of his supporters who overran the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Two days later, the president will visit Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, where nine people were shot and killed in a June 2015 white supremacist attack. Biden’s kicking off 2024 by delving into some of the country’s darkest moments rather than an upbeat affirmation of his record is meant to clarify for voters what his team sees as the stakes of November’s election. During both events, he will characterize his predecessor as a serious threat to the nation’s founding principles, arguing that Trump — who has built a commanding early lead in the Republican presidential primary — will seek to undermine U.S. democracy should he win a second term. “We are running a campaign like the fate of our democracy depends on it, because it does,” Biden reelection campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said on a conference call with reporters. Trump, who faces 91 criminal charges stemming from his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden and three other felony cases, argues that Biden and top Democrats are themselves seeking to undermine democracy by using the legal system to thwart the campaign of his chief rival. “Joe Biden and his allies are a real and compelling threat to our Democracy,” Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote in a memo this week. “In fact, in a way never seen before in our history, they are waging a war against it.” Biden’s channeling of personal grief and national traumas, often into calls for action, has become his political calling card. Tragedies have defined the president’s own life, from the 1972 car crash that killed his first wife and infant daughter to his son Beau’s death from brain cancer at age 46 in 2015. In 2020, Biden first won the White House by promising to heal the “soul of the nation” after he said that seeing hate groups marching in Charlottesville, Virginia, with torches and swastikas in 2017 propelled him to run. Rather than promising to bridge the nation’s partisan divide as he did four years ago, Biden will instead stress how Trump and top supporters of his “Make America Great Again” movement pose existential threats. The president’s reelection campaign has publicized Trump’s repeating rhetoric used by Adolf Hitler when he suggested that immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country,” as well as the former president joking that he’d only seek to serve as a dictator on the first day of his second term. “The leading candidate of a major party in the United States is running for president so that he can systematically dismantle and destroy our democracy,” said Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler. Even if another Republican beats Trump in the GOP primary, Biden’s reelection argues the victor would be similar enough to the former president that the campaign’s themes would change little. “Anybody who wins the MAGA Republican nomination is going to have done so by hard-tacking to the most extreme positions that we have seen in recent American history,” Tyler said. A majority of Americans are concerned about the future of democracy in the upcoming election — though they differ along party lines on whom poses the threat. The Biden campaign also promised it would be “out in full force” to mark the Jan. 22 anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide for nearly 50 years, before the high court overturned the ruling in June 2022. Biden’s team has argued that abortion access and democracy are intertwined in the upcoming election — building on the president’s warnings about Trump and “MAGA extremists” that helped Democrats defy historical precedent by retaining control of the Senate and only narrowly losing the House majority to Republicans in the 2022 midterms.

Senior Hamas leader killed in Beirut blast, heightening fears of wider regional conflict. CNN — Hamas said Tuesday that one of its senior leaders has been killed in an attack in the south of the Lebanese capital Beirut, raising fears of a potential escalation in fighting in the region. Hamas media outlet Al Aqsa TV said Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas, was “martyred in a treacherous Zionist airstrike in Beirut.” Arouri was considered one of the founding members of the group’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and was based in Beirut. Two other leaders from Hamas’ military wing, Samir Findi Abu Amer and Azzam Al-Aqraa Abu Ammar, were also among those killed in the strike, according to Hamas officials. At least four people were killed in the attack that targeted an office belonging to Hamas in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh, Lebanese news agency NNA reported. The area is also a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to comment when asked about the announcement and its spokesperson Daniel Hagari skirted a question from a reporter on Tuesday about the matter saying “we are focused on fighting against Hamas.” But in a seemingly veiled reference to the killing, Israel’s far right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on his official social media platforms that all of Israel’s enemies will “perish.” An image posted by Issam Abdallah to social media shows him immediately before the attack. He can clearly be seen wearing his press vest. Israeli tank fire killed Reuters journalist in October attack, CNN analysis suggests Meanwhile, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, praised the Israeli security and intelligence agencies for what he said was the “assassination” of Arouri on Tuesday. “Anyone who was involved in the 7/10 massacre should know that we will reach out to them and close an account with them,” Danon said on X. If true, Arouri would be the most senior Hamas official killed by Israeli forces since the start of the war sparked by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. In addition to dealing a blow to Hamas’ leadership, the apparent attack also risks further broadening the arena of the Israel-Hamas conflict. It would mark the biggest Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital since the 2006 war between the two countries. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the attack and said the “explosion is a new Israeli crime” aimed at drawing Lebanon into a new phase of confrontation, referring to the months-long tit-for-tat conflict between Hezbollah and Israeli forces in the Lebanon-Israel border region People search for survivors inside an apartment following a massive explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. People search for survivors inside an apartment building following a massive explosion in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Jan. 2, 2024. Hassan Ammar/AP “We call on the concerned countries to put pressure on Israel to stop its targeting. We also warn against the Israeli political level resorting to exporting its failures in Gaza to the southern [Lebanese] border,” Mikati wrote on X. “It has become clear to everyone near and far that the decision to go to war is in the hands of Israel, and what is required is to deter it and stop its aggression,” he added. Israel vowed to annihilate Hamas after its militants killed hundreds of people in Israel on October 7. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November told a press conference that he had instructed the Mossad spy agency to act against “the heads of Hamas wherever they are.” Members of the Lebanese army walk in the village of Dhayra, near the border with Israel, in southern Lebanon, October 11. First on CNN: US rebukes Israel for more than 30 attacks on Lebanese military amid concerns of Gaza conflict widening Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev noted in an interview with MSNBC that Israel had “not taken responsibility” for the attack in Beirut. Regev, who is a senior adviser to Netanyahu, said “whoever did it must be clear that this was not an attack on the Lebanese state. It was not an attack even on Hezbollah,” Regev said. Regev said that although individuals who kill Israelis “can expect the Israeli state and the Israeli armed forces to ultimately reach them,” this rather is a “general statement” of Israel’s policy. Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader, called Arouri’s killing a “cowardly assassination” and blamed Israel for the deadly strike, as did the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have launched more than 100 attacks against about a dozen commercial and merchant ships transiting the Red Sea over the past few weeks. Fears of escalation For nearly three months, tit-for-tat fighting between Israel’s military and Hezbollah has largely stayed within a roughly four-kilometer range of the border region, with Hezbollah striking Israel while Israel struck Lebanon. The fighting has raised fears among the United States and other Western countries that a full-scale war could break out between Israel and the Middle East’s most powerful paramilitary, Hezbollah. Those fears have so far failed to materialize, but the blast in Beirut on Tuesday afternoon is likely to fuel concerns about the potential for escalation. Lebanese emergency responders gather at the site of a strike, reported by Lebanese media to be an Israeli strike targeting a Hamas office, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 2, 2024. Lebanese emergency responders gather at the site of a strike in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 2, 2024. Anwar Amro/AFP/Getty Images During a televized address last summer, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned against Israeli assassinations in Lebanon, saying that they would inspire a “strong response” from the militant group. Nasrallah also said in the August 2023 speech that the group would try to prevent Lebanon from becoming an “arena for assassinations,” invoking the country’s tumultuous past. On Tuesday, Iran – which backs Hezbollah – condemned Arouri’s assassination and blamed the attack on Israel. Arouri’s death comes as Israel’s military begins to draw down the number of soldiers on the ground in Gaza as it looks to move to a new phase of its war on Hamas amid a spiraling civilian death toll in the besieged enclave. Who is Saleh Al-Arouri? The prominent Hamas political and military leader was born in 1966 in the village of Aroura in the Ramallah district of the West Bank. He went on to play a role in founding the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas in the West Bank, and is considered to be the mastermind behind arming the group. He was a member of Hamas since 1987 and considered its leader in the West Bank prior to his death, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). He has been a member of Hamas Politburo since 2010 and was elected its deputy head in 2017, ECFR added. Israel considers him one of the key founders of the Al-Qassam Brigades in the occupied West Bank and accused him of being behind the kidnapping of three settlers in Hebron, which led to the demolition of his house. He began establishing and organizing a military apparatus for the movement in the West Bank in 1991-1992, which contributed to the actual launch of the Al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank in 1992. People search for survivors following a massive explosion in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. People search for survivors following a massive explosion in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Jan. 2, 2024. Hassan Ammar/AP He helped negotiate the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, in 2011, in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. He had been repeatedly detained by Israel, including for long periods between 1985-1992, and 1992-2007, according to ECHR. In 2010, he was deported by Israel to Syria, living there for three years before moving to Turkey and traveling to several countries, including Qatar and Malaysia. He finally settled in the southern suburbs of Lebanon. The Israeli army demolished Arouri’s house in Aroura in October. The IDF said at the time that forces “operated in the town” to “demolish the residence of Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the Hamas terrorist organization’s political bureau and in charge of Hamas’ activities in Judea and Samaria.” In 2015, the US Department of the Treasury designated Arouri as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and offered a reward of up to $5 million for information on him. CNN has reached out to the US State Department to see if the reward will be paid and to whom. He was married with two daughters and lived in Lebanon at the time of his death. This story has been updated.