International

One year after decriminalizing abortion in Colombia

Photo: EFE

February 22 |

Organizations, collectives and women celebrated this Tuesday a year since the decriminalization of abortion up to 24 weeks of gestation in Colombia, after the claim of the feminist movement in the country that led the Constitutional Court to endorse this right.

The Campaign for the Right to Legal Abortion, a leading organization for this right, stated that they are celebrating “the first year of Ruling C-055 of 2022, which decriminalized abortion up to 24 weeks. This historic achievement leaves us with new parameters and norms that we must know in order to defend our right. We continue”.

The Share-Net Colombia platform, for its part, valued that “this historic ruling protects the life, dignity, health and rights of women, girls, non-binary people and trans men, who can now access abortion freely, safely, free of charge and without criminal threats”.

In the case of pregnancy exceeding 24 weeks of gestation, the current law allows access to abortion if one of the three grounds contained in Ruling C-355 of 2006 is met.

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Causa Justa por el Aborto celebrated “the power of the collective and the movement, which made possible the decriminalization of abortion”, while the slogans raised by women defend that “feminists are changing the world”.

“Our grandmothers gave us the vote, our mothers gave us the divorce and we gave them sentence C-055-22”, said the Colombian women a year after decriminalization.

Likewise, for other activists “migrant women can access abortion, regardless of our immigration status”, thanks to Causa Justa.

Senator María José Pizarro Rodríguez thanked the organizations and the women’s movement that accompanied the process “which guarantees the right to decide on our bodies and life projects”.

In supporting the resolution issued by the Colombian government on January 12 to avoid barriers to access to this right, feminist organizations, one year after the Court’s ruling, also warned of the challenges in guaranteeing this right.

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For feminist activist Jennifer Pedraza Sandoval, not all women have the necessary information, while some medical personnel still lie and claim that it is illegal.

International

Hiroshima survivor who embraced Obama dies at 88

The emotional embrace between Barack Obama and Hiroshima survivor Mori—who was eight years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb in 1945—resonated around the world.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other local media, Mori died on Saturday at a hospital in Hiroshima.

Mori, known for his research on the fate of American prisoners of war in Hiroshima, was thrown into a river by the force of the explosion on August 6, 1945, during the atomic bombing of the city.

In a past interview with AFP, ahead of his meeting with Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in 2016, Mori recalled the chaos and desperation that followed the blast.

He described how, after emerging from the water, he encountered injured civilians seeking help amid the devastation, an experience that stayed with him throughout his life.

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In 2016, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where he paid tribute to the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare. During the visit, Mori was visibly moved as he met the president, sharing a brief but powerful moment that symbolized remembrance and reconciliation.

The bombing of Hiroshima resulted in the deaths of approximately 140,000 people, including those who succumbed to radiation exposure in the aftermath.

Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people and contributing to the end of World War II.

International

Colombia seeks ‘total suffocation’ of armed groups with regional support

Colombia is advancing a strategy aimed at the “total suffocation” of illegal armed groups, seeking to corner them in border regions with the support of Ecuador and Venezuela, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said in an interview with AFP.

According to the minister, coordinated pressure from neighboring countries—backed by United States—aims to dismantle criminal networks that use cross-border routes to traffic Colombian cocaine toward North America and Europe.

For decades, armed groups involved in Colombia’s internal conflict have relied on border territories as strategic rear bases to evade military operations and maintain logistical support.

However, Sánchez said that dynamic is beginning to change.

“We expect a total suffocation between both nations so they have no spaces where they can live or feel safe […] to close off any room they might have,” he stated during the interview in Bogotá, less than five months before the end of President Gustavo Petro’s term.

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Regional developments have reinforced this strategy. Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation, Washington has increased its influence in Caracas, where interim leader Delcy Rodríguez has implemented a renewed anti-narcotics policy.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa—a key U.S. ally in the region—has launched a two-week security plan under strict curfews to combat criminal gangs, with U.S. support.

Sánchez argued that these combined efforts leave illegal organizations with fewer escape routes and operational spaces, effectively placing them in a “dead end.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.