International

Trial against Guillermo Lasso to begin this week in Ecuador

Photo: Agencies

May 15 |

The head of Ecuador’s National Assembly, Virgilio Saquicela, announced on Sunday that the impeachment trial against President Guillermo Lasso for alleged corruption will begin next Tuesday, according to government media.

The official highlighted that the legislative body approved the judicial process with the support of 88 deputies, although 92 votes are required to remove the president from office, the main objective of the opposition political forces.

After the call for legislative elections, the opposition showed its muscles by electing the president and the two vice presidents of the Congress with 96 and 100 votes, respectively.

Saquicela, reelected with 96 votes, ordered the general secretariat of Congress to summon the parliamentarians for the trial which will begin at 10:00 local time on Tuesday, May 16. If dismissed, Lasso would be replaced by Vice-President Alfredo Borrero.

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However, the Magna Carta empowers the ruler to dissolve the Congress, only once and in the first three years of his term, as well as to call for early general elections to complete his four-year constitutional term.

This option, called “cross death”, which President Lasso has to avoid being removed from office, for several specialists would be a boomerang for the ruler due to the disadvantageous situation in which he finds himself.

Lasso, a former right-wing banker, has been charged for alleged embezzlement in the management of the state-owned shipping company Flota Petrolera Ecuatoriana (Flopec) in relation to the international group Amazonas Tanker, which left losses of more than six million dollars.

Ecuador has been plunged into a political crisis since March, when the opposition brought the impeachment trial against the head of state, endorsed by the Constitutional Court, while Lasso accuses the opposition, including the powerful indigenous movement, which has already tried to remove him from office, for the instability.

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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.

International

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

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International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

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Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”