International
STF of Brazil annuls Odebrecht “evidence” against Jorge Glas
August 11|
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) on Thursday issued a ruling that annuls the evidence presented by the company Odebrecht against the former vice president of Ecuador, Jorge Glas, confirmed this Friday the international law firm, Juscogens.
The communication recalls that Glas was unjustly convicted in Ecuador, while explaining that “the annulment is based on the fact that the evidence was delivered without judicial authorization and without respecting due legal process”.
Glas’ defense, led by Brussels-based Juscogens, challenged the validity of Odebrecht’s evidence before Brazil’s STF and “demonstrated the illegality of the evidence through strategic, innovative and effective litigation.”
The legal team expresses that the annulled evidence includes documents and testimonies provided by Odebrecht executives, which were illegally used by the Ecuadorian prosecution in a “process that has been criticized for directing and selecting evidence a la carte”.
In this sense, they denounced that “this practice has questioned the integrity of the legal process in the region. The STF’s determination to annul this evidence not only deals a blow to the fight against corruption in Latin America, but also sheds a critical light on the tactics employed by Odebrecht, a company that admitted to having paid more than $700 million in bribes, often in a targeted and selective manner.”
The then Ecuadorian vice president was in prison for more than five years for Odebrecht-related convictions. However, in April 2022, he was granted provisional release under precautionary measures.
According to his lawyers, Glas’ case highlights “the trend of lawfare in Latin America, defined by the Lawfare Observatory of the Latin American Strategic Center for Geopolitics (CELAC) as a political war through judicial-media channels, with economic, political and geopolitical interests hidden from public opinion”.
They exemplify that “leaders such as Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil have been victims of this strategy, which has been dismantled or reversed in many cases”.
Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, whose second in command was Glass himself, celebrated the decision: “The farce is over!
International
Judge to rule next week on injunction against Trump’s student visa restrictions
A Boston (Massachusetts) federal judge postponed on Monday her decision on whether to maintain the injunction blocking President Donald Trump’s ban on foreign students at Harvard University.
District Judge Allison D. Burroughs announced after a hearing that she would decide next week whether to uphold or lift the temporary restraining order she issued in May against the policy.
The order will remain in effect until her ruling next week, according to local media reports.
Last month, the Trump administration barred Harvard from enrolling new foreign students and warned current international students that they must transfer to other universities or risk losing their immigration status.
Harvard, one of the most prestigious U.S. universities, filed a lawsuit arguing that its authorization to accept foreign students is “essential” for them to remain legally in the country.
In its legal challenge, the university stated that revoking this authorization has already “disrupted countless academic programs, research labs, and courses.”
Following Harvard’s lawsuit, Judge Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order against the government’s ban, which affects about a quarter of the university’s student body.
Despite the judge’s order, Harvard reported in court documents that several students who arrived in Boston on June 5 were sent to “secondary inspection” and “were detained for many hours without being able to contact anyone.”
International
Netanyahu: Israel is ‘changing the face of the Middle East’ amid Iran strikes
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Monday that Israel is “changing the face of the Middle East” with its unprecedented attack on Iran, now in the fourth day of escalating military tensions between the two countries.
Netanyahu made these remarks during a televised press conference, just hours after an airstrike targeted the Iranian state television building in Tehran, forcing a brief interruption of its broadcast.
At the time of the attack, cameras captured a state TV presenter, who had been criticizing Israel’s offensive, hastily leaving the studio amid thick dust and falling debris from the ceiling, according to videos circulated by Iranian media.
The channel resumed live programming minutes later, while Tehran condemned the strike as a “war crime.” Netanyahu stated that Iranians are now seeing that “the regime is much weaker” than previously thought, highlighting that since Friday, Israel has systematically eliminated Iran’s military leadership. “We take them out one by one,” he said.
Killing the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “would end the conflict” between Israel and Iran, Netanyahu told ABC News.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly opposed an Israeli plan to assassinate Khamenei, a senior U.S. official revealed on Sunday.
International
Israeli strike targets Iran’s state news agency amid escalating conflict
The fourth day of armed conflict between Israel and Iran has been marked by an Israeli attack on Iran’s official news agency, IRNA, which oversees a pair of television channels controlled by the Shiite theocracy and forms part of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) media apparatus.
The bombing occurred during a live broadcast of the channels. Iranian local media report that several employees present at the complex have died. In a video released by IRNA itself, presenter Sahar Emami is seen having to leave the studio as the bombing takes place.
Both Iran and Israel have issued warnings for their citizens in Tehran and Tel Aviv to evacuate certain areas. Israel ordered an immediate evacuation of Tehran’s District 3, where most foreign diplomats reside. The National Library of Iran is also located in this neighborhood. Meanwhile, Iran mirrored its systemic rival by advising residents of the ultra-Orthodox Bnei Brak district in Tel Aviv to prepare for further attacks.
Guatemala cracks down on prison corruption with over 20 raids in recent weeks
Judge to rule next week on injunction against Trump’s student visa restrictions
Netanyahu: Israel is ‘changing the face of the Middle East’ amid Iran strikes
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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