International

Mexico arrests former top police official for torture

AFP

Mexican authorities on Monday arrested a former top police official accused of torturing suspects in a case involving a French woman whose imprisonment on kidnapping charges sparked diplomatic tensions.

Luis Cardenas Palomino was in charge of regional security at the now-defunct Federal Police.

“An arrest warrant was executed for the crime of torture against Luis ‘C’ in the State of Mexico,” the attorney general’s office said on Twitter.

Cardenas Palomino was seen as the right-hand man of former public security minister Genaro Garcia Luna, who was arrested in the United States in December 2019 on drug trafficking charges.

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A judge issued an arrest warrant against Cardenas Palomino in September 2020 for the alleged torture of four people accused of kidnapping.

They included a brother and a nephew of Israel Vallarta, the ex-boyfriend of Frenchwoman Florence Cassez.

The case dates back to 2005, when the Mexican authorities arrested the alleged members of a kidnapping gang known as the Zodiacs, including Vallarta and Cassez, in front of television cameras.

Cassez, who has always proclaimed her innocence, was sentenced to 60 years in prison, sparking a diplomatic rift between Mexico and France.

She served seven years and was freed in 2013 by the Supreme Court, which ruled that police violated her rights by re-enacting her arrest for the media.

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The case turned a spotlight on the justice system in a country where many crimes go unsolved and authorities are often accused of corruption and abuse.

International

Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

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Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

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International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.