International
Police arrest suspect in deadly Ecuador blast
AFP
Ecuadoran police on Wednesday arrested a suspect in a weekend blast that killed five people in the port city of Guayaquil and was blamed by the government on organized crime, the interior minister said Wednesday.
The suspect “admitted to being involved in the terrorist attack” in the neighborhood of Cristo del Consuelo, minister Patricio Carrillo said on Twitter.
The man had “a history of murder and robbery,” he added.
Five people died and 17 were wounded — two seriously — when two people on a motorcycle threw a bag of explosives into a restaurant in Guayaquil on Sunday.
“This is the type of crime that now faces #Ecuador, a clear message for all: either we act as a… determined State or the consequences will be very serious,” said Carrillo.
Sandwiched between Colombia and Peru, the world’s two largest cocaine producers, Ecuador is facing a drug-fueled crime wave that has produced scenes of horror, including decapitated bodies hanging from bridges.
Ecuador in 2020 accounted for 6.5 percent of all the cocaine seized in the world, according to United Nations figures.
Tensions between rival drug gangs have reached Ecuador’s prisons, where clashes and massacres have claimed at least 400 lives since February 2021.
Last year, the country of 18 million inhabitants registered a murder rate of 14 per 100,000 people — almost double the previous year although not among the highest in the world.
Guayaquil, the main port and commercial hub of Ecuador with 2.8 million inhabitants, is the city with the highest number of homicides — almost a third of the national total.
President Guillermo Lasso declared a 30-day state of emergency in the country’s second largest city after Sunday’s attack, which damaged eight houses and four cars.
Wednesday’s arrest also saw police net a cache of drugs, guns, ammunition and a grenade, according to Carrillo.
So far this year, 861 people have been killed in the Guayaquil metropolitan area.
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
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