International
Shinzo Abe murder suspect: What we know
AFP
The man accused of assassinating Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe has been arrested and named by police as Tetsuya Yamagami.
Police say the unemployed 41-year-old admits shooting Abe with a homemade gun at a campaign event on Friday, but what else do we know about the suspect so far?
Who is Yamagami?
Yamagami told police he had served in Japan’s navy, the Maritime Self-Defense Force, for three years from 2002.
More recently, he worked at a factory in western Japan for around a year and a half, but quit in May this year, local media reports said.
“His attitude towards work had not been a problem. I’m surprised and shocked,” his former manager at the plant told the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.
Yamagami spoke to police after the attack in a “matter-of-fact” way, according to officers.
Former middle school classmates interviewed by public broadcaster NHK said the suspect had been quiet but not a loner, and was good at both sports and academics.
What could the motive be?
“The suspect stated that he held a grudge against a particular organisation, and that he committed the crime because he believed former prime minister Abe had a connection to it,” police said Friday.
They did not give the name of the organisation in question, but Japanese media said it was a religious group, citing unnamed investigative sources.
NHK and the Mainichi Shimbun said Yamagami’s family had suffered troubles as a result of his mother’s financial donations to the organisation.
Yamagami had originally planned to target the head of the group but then switched focus to Abe, who he believed had promoted the organisation in Japan, Kyodo News reported, also citing anonymous investigative sources.
How was the crime carried out?
Yamagami said he had used a handmade gun to carry out the attack, and images from the scene showed a crude, boxy weapon with two barrels, covered in heavy-duty black tape.
Police searched his home and confiscated “several handmade gun-like items”.
He is suspected of making at least one of the weapons several months ago, Jiji news agency said. Jiji also reported that Yamagami had taken part in live-fire shooting exercises in the Navy.
The officers said Yamagami had found out about Abe’s visit to Nara online.
He is believed to have taken a train to the station where the former prime minister was giving a stump speech.
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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