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Vaughan dropped from BBC Ashes commentary team amid racism row

AFP

Michael Vaughan has been left out of the BBC commentary team for the upcoming Ashes series in Australia to avoid a “conflict of interest” amid an ongoing racism row.

English cricket has been rocked by revelations of racism from Pakistan-born former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq.

These have included an allegation that former England captain Vaughan told the now 30-year-old Rafiq and other Yorkshire players of Asian origin that there were “too many of you lot, we need to do something about it” during a county match in 2009.

Vaughan, an Ashes-winning skipper in 2005, has “categorically denied” the allegation.

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Following Rafiq’s comments, which have sparked a tidal wave of accusations of racism within English cricket, the 47-year-old Vaughan was stood down from his BBC radio show earlier this month.

And a spokesperson for the broadcaster said Wednesday: “While he is involved in a significant story in cricket, for editorial reasons we do not believe that it would be appropriate for Michael Vaughan to have a role in our Ashes team or wider coverage of the sport at the moment.

“We require our contributors to talk about relevant topics and his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest.”

Vaughan still has a contract to commentate on the Ashes series for Fox Sports, one of the hosts Australian television broadcasters, and the former top-order batsman remains a columnist with Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.

In a statement issued earlier in November, Vaughan said: “I categorically deny saying the words attributed to me by Azeem Rafiq and want to re-state this publicly because the ‘you lot’ comment simply never happened.

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“It is extremely upsetting that this completely false accusation has been made against me by a former team-mate, apparently supported by two other players.

“I have been in contact with the six other players from that team and not one of them has any recollection of the remark being made,” he added.

Last week saw Rafiq, who later admitted to posting an anti-Semitic message on Twitter as a teenager, give vivid testimony to a parliamentary committee during a hearing where he said his career had been cut short by racism.

England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tom Harrison, was widely criticised for his response to Rafiq’s revelations while appearing at the same hearing.

Following a meeting of the national governing body’s constituent members on Friday, Harrison promised “tangible action” to combat racism, but said the details would not be published until this week.

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The fallout for Yorkshire, one of English cricket’s oldest and most prestigious counties, over the scandal has been devastating, with sponsors making a mass exodus and the club suspended from hosting lucrative international matches.

Yorkshire’s chairman and chief executive have both resigned, while head coach Andrew Gale has been suspended pending investigations over a historical anti-Semitic tweet.

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Eight Killed in Series of Armed Attacks in Ecuador’s Manabí Province

At least eight people were killed in four separate armed attacks reported Sunday night in the cities of Manta and Montecristi, in Ecuador’s coastal province of Manabí, one of the areas hardest hit by the country’s escalating wave of criminal violence, local media reported on Monday.

The shootings occurred between 7:50 p.m. and 10:50 p.m. local time and affected several neighborhoods, as well as a family gathering, according to press reports. Police are investigating the incidents.

The first attack took place in the Los Artesanos sector of Montecristi, where a couple was shot dead in a public street.

Minutes later, in Manta’s 12 de Octubre neighborhood, a man was killed while sitting down. Police arrested a suspect at the scene and seized a 9mm magazine, authorities said.

A third incident occurred in the Bellavista area of Manta, when an armed assailant entered a home and shot a man during a family celebration. The attacker was captured by neighbors and sustained injuries.

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The deadliest attack was reported at 10:50 p.m. in the Leonidas Proaño parish of Montecristi, where gunmen opened fire from two vehicles on a group of people, leaving four dead and five wounded.

According to Jaime Salgado, acting chief of the Manta Police District, officers recovered seven 7.62mm shell casings, consistent with rifle ammunition, and 14 .40-caliber casings at the scene.

With these killings, the Manta police district, a port and tourist area on Ecuador’s Pacific coast, has recorded 51 violent deaths so far in January 2026, according to official figures.

The attacks occurred amid a state of emergency declared by the government in December due to serious internal unrest in Manabí, where military operations have been intensified this month, particularly in high-conflict zones.

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El Salvador Launches Fourth Year of Ocean Mission to Protect Marine Ecosystems

El Salvador’s Ministry of Environment has launched the fourth consecutive year of “Ocean Mission,” a permanent strategy focused on the protection, restoration, and responsible management of marine ecosystems, linking conservation efforts from inland mountain ranges to the coastline.

During an event held at the Los Cóbanos Protected Natural Area, Environment Minister Fernando López highlighted the ecological, social, and economic value of the site, which is recognized as the country’s eighth wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.

“We are in one of the most valuable natural treasures of our country, not only because of its beauty, but also due to the enormous ecological, social, and economic importance that Los Cóbanos holds for El Salvador,” López said.

The minister emphasized that this volcanic-origin ecosystem is home to coral reefs and key coastal-marine systems that serve as refuge, breeding, and feeding grounds for emblematic species such as sea turtles, cetaceans, and a wide diversity of fish.

“Protecting Los Cóbanos means protecting biodiversity, community livelihoods, the local economy, and our natural heritage,” López stated.

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He also stressed that Ocean Mission goes beyond rhetoric, focusing instead on direct action framed within the National Environmental Education Policy. “We are not here to talk about environmental education; we are here to practice it,” he said, underscoring the guiding principle of moving from paper to action.

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Convicted gang member challenges Guatemala’s anti-gang law, citing Human Rights Violations

A member of a criminal gang currently facing sentencing for the crime of extortion has filed a constitutional appeal before Guatemala’s Constitutional Court against the recently approved and enacted Anti-Gang Law.

The appeal, submitted by Dylan Smaily Archila García, argues that the new legislation violates his fundamental human rights and claims there were procedural irregularities during its approval process, according to local Guatemalan media.

Archila García filed the motion just hours after the law took effect. The new legislation, passed by Guatemala’s Congress, increases penalties for crimes linked to gang activity and authorizes the construction of a mega-prison, modeled after El Salvador’s Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT).

Local outlets reported that in his petition, Archila García contends that the approval of the law did not comply with constitutional requirements and requests that the Court issue a ruling to annul the legislation, effectively halting its enforcement.

The appeal further claims that the Anti-Gang Law infringes on due process rights, as it allegedly fails to guarantee a fair criminal trial in which defendants can prove their innocence, undermining legal certainty and judicial security.

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Through this legal action, the petitioner seeks to have the law suspended and ultimately struck down by the Constitutional Court, preventing it from being debated again in Congress.