International

Bolivia files ‘genocide’ charges against ex-president Anez

AFP

The Bolivian prosecutor’s office said on Friday it had filed charges of “genocide” and other crimes against former acting president Jeanine Anez, over the death of 20 opposition protesters in 2019.

Attorney General Juan Lanchipa said he had presented documents “against citizen Jeanine Anez” before the country’s Supreme Court of Justice, including charges for “genocide,” which carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison, according to the Bolivian penal code.

The conservative Anez came to power in November 2019 after her predecessor and rival, former president Evo Morales, resigned following weeks of protest over his controversial reelection to an unconstitutional fourth term.

He fled the country after an election audit by the Organization of American States (OAS) found evidence of fraud.

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After the election, at least 37 people died in violence that flared between supporters and opponents of Morales, as well as between protesters and the security forces.

Most of the deaths came in clashes between Morales supporters and security forces after the socialist leader’s flight.

The specific accusation against Anez relates to two incidents in November 2019 in which a total 22 people died. A report released by the OAS on Tuesday described those incidents as “massacres.”

Lanchipa said they had been “provisionally classified as genocide, serious and minor injury, and injury followed by death.”

After Morales resigned, Anez was the most senior parliamentarian left and was sworn in by congress as interim president despite the lack of a quorum, with legislators from Morales’ Movement for Socialism (MAS) boycotting the session.

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MAS cried foul and accused the interim government of having pulled off a coup.

Under Anez’s administration, Bolivia held peaceful, transparent elections in October 2020 in which Morales’s protege Luis Arce stormed to a landslide victory.

He subsequently vowed to go after those he accused of staging a coup.

Anez was arrested in March 2021 on accusations of leading a coup against Morales, including charges of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy. She has remained in pre-trial detention since then.

Her detention elicited widespread international condemnation.

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International

Death toll from southern Spain train crash rises to 40

The death toll from the train accident that occurred on Sunday in southern Spain has risen to 40, according to investigative sources cited by EFE on Monday afternoon.

Since early Monday, search operations have focused on the damaged carriages of a Renfe train bound for Huelva, which collided with the last derailed cars of an Iryo train traveling from Málaga to Madrid after it left the tracks.

The crash has also left more than 150 people injured. Of these, 41 remain hospitalized, including 12 in intensive care units at hospitals across the Andalusia region.

More than 220 Civil Guard officers are working at the site, searching the railway line and surrounding areas for key evidence to help identify victims and determine the causes of the accident.

The tragedy has revived memories of the deadliest railway disasters in Europe in recent decades. In Spain, the most severe occurred on July 24, 2013, when an Alvia train derailed near Santiago de Compostela, killing 80 people and injuring 130 others.

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At the European level, the worst rail disaster took place on June 3, 1998, in Eschede, northern Germany, when a high-speed train struck a bridge pillar at 200 kilometers per hour, resulting in 98 deaths and 120 injuries.

International

Spain’s Prime Minister pledges transparency after train crash kills at least 39

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pledged on Monday to ensure “absolute transparency” regarding the causes of a train crash that killed at least 39 people on Sunday in southern Spain, warning that the death toll could still rise.

The fatal accident occurred in the Andalusia region, where the number of confirmed deaths reached 39 by Monday morning, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior.

Authorities were preparing to deploy heavy machinery to lift several derailed train cars. “We are waiting for cranes to be installed this morning to lift cars one, two and three of the Alvia train, which suffered the most damage,” said Andalusian regional president Juanma Moreno Bonilla on regional television. “It is likely that once they are lifted, we may find more victims,” he added.

The disaster also left more than 120 people injured. As of Monday afternoon, 43 victims remained hospitalized, including 12 in intensive care, according to emergency services.

International

Over 160 christian worshippers kidnapped in Kaduna Church attacks

More than 160 Christian worshippers were abducted on Sunday during coordinated attacks carried out by armed gangs on two churches in a remote village in Kaduna State, northern Nigeria, according to a cleric and a United Nations report accessed by AFP on Monday.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has witnessed a renewed surge in mass kidnappings since November, prompting the United States government to carry out military strikes on Christmas Day in the northwestern state of Sokoto.

U.S. President Donald Trump accused Nigerian armed groups of targeting Christians, describing the violence as a form of “genocide” against the religious community.

According to Reverend Joseph Hayab, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the north, the attackers arrived in large numbers, blocked access to the churches, and forced worshippers to flee into nearby forests.

“The attackers came in large numbers, sealed off the entrances to the churches, and drove the faithful into the bush,” Hayab told AFP.