International
An appeals court disqualifies the prosecutor in the election case against Trump in Georgia
A Georgia appeals court disqualified District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday in the accusation she was carrying against the now elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, for alleged electoral interference in the 2020 elections.
The court’s decision forces the prosecutor to withdraw from this case and possibly in the long run implies the suspension of the judicial process by which the former president (2017-2021) and 18 other people were accused of wanting to illegally annul the result of that year’s elections in Georgia, where Democrat Joe Biden won by about 17,000 votes.
The appeals court did not dismiss the accusation, which had been paralyzed for months and whose future is now uncertain.
The prosecutor disqualified in the case against Trump
Prosecutor Willis, from Fulton County, was under scrutiny after it was discovered that she was in a romantic relationship with a prosecutor who was part of the team that was taking the case.
The appeals court dismissed a previous decision by District Magistrate Scott McAffee, which allowed Willis to continue to lead this case because the prosecutor in question, Nathan Wade, decided to abandon the process.
The above, however, did not prevent Willis’ “appearance of incorrectness”, according to the decision of the Court of Appeals, which concluded that McAffee “made a mistake in not disqualifying the prosecutor Willis and his office.”
Trump’s lawyers asked to dismiss the case
The decision is a new victory for Trump, who has already seen how the Federal Prosecutor’s Office withdrew the accusations against him about alleged electoral interference and for his role in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Earlier this month, Trump’s lawyers asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to dismiss this case on the grounds that there was no jurisdiction.
“Any ongoing criminal proceedings against a sitting president must be dismissed in accordance with the United States Constitution,” Steve Sadow, Trump’s lawyer, told the media at the time.
Magistrate McAffe had dismissed last September some charges against the Republican, who since then faced eight charges in this process and not the 13 contained in the original accusation.
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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