International

Mexican President appoints new Supreme Court justice

Photo: Cuartoscuro

December 16 |

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, revealed this Friday that Bertha María Alcalde declined to become a minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), for having obtained fewer votes than Lenia Batres, who was ultimately appointed to that position.

In his morning conference López Obrador announced that Bertha Alcalde -who was part of the shortlist for the new minister of the Court- raised her hand for Batres Guadarrama to replace Arturo Zaldívar in the highest court of the country.

At the end of the morning conference the day before, the Chief Executive met with the three women who were part of the shortlist to define the appointment of the person who would replace former Minister Arturo Zaldívar in the Court.

However, this Friday, López Obrador mentioned that Bertha Alcalde’s decision was an act of dignity and principles because there are those who for a minor position “disgrace themselves” and “scratch themselves”.

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Meanwhile, regarding Lenia Batres, the President commented that like the other women proposed, she is honest, professional and with a vocation for justice: “Independent, incapable of receiving a slogan, a line, as they say colloquially, from anyone. First of all, I would not do it and neither would they accept that I would tell them, you vote like this, in the case of an injustice or to protect an act of corruption, no. We are talking about women of integrity. We are talking about women of integrity and honesty”, she pointed out.

Lenia Batres Guadarrama, a law graduate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), took part in the founding of the Morena party and currently holds the position of Deputy Counselor for Legislation and Regulatory Studies of President López Obrador’s Legal Counsel.

In 2000 Batres held the position of advisor to the head of the Government of Mexico City, when López Obrador was part of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Between 2015 and 2018 she assumed the position of advisor to Claudia Sheimbaun when she was head of Tlalpan, a delegation of the Mexican capital.

International

Football Fan Killed in Clashes After Colombian League Match

Fans of Cúcuta Deportivo and their traditional rivals Atlético Bucaramanga clashed outside the stadium following their local league match on Tuesday, leaving one supporter dead and several others injured.

The deceased fan was stabbed, according to a senior police official in Cúcuta who confirmed the cause of death in a video statement. Local media reported that the victim was a supporter of the visiting team, Atlético Bucaramanga.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Authorities had banned the entry of Atlético Bucaramanga’s organized supporters into the stadium in an effort to prevent disturbances.

Despite the restrictions, violence broke out in the surrounding areas after the game. Among the injured were three police officers, an institutional source told AFP.

The incident adds to a series of recent violent episodes linked to Colombian football. The most recent occurred in December, when supporters of Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín clashed in the stands and on the pitch, leaving 59 people injured.

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International

Missing Spanish Sailor Rescued After 11 Days Adrift in Mediterranean

The man had departed from the port of Gandía, on Spain’s eastern coast, with the intention of reaching the southern Spanish town of Guardamar del Segura, a journey of about 150 kilometers, a spokesperson for Spain’s maritime rescue service told AFP.

Search boats and aircraft were deployed on January 17, but the operation was called off on January 22 after efforts proved unsuccessful. Alerts were then issued to vessels navigating the area in case they spotted any signs of the missing sailor.

As hopes were fading, a surveillance aircraft from the European Union’s border agency Frontex spotted the sailboat on Tuesday, along with a person signaling for help, approximately 53 nautical miles northeast of Bejaia, Algeria.

A nearby vessel, the Singapore-flagged bulk carrier Thor Confidence, carried out the rescue and is expected to bring the man to an end to his ordeal when it arrives on Thursday in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras.

Maritime rescue services shared images on social media showing a small white sailboat drifting at sea and secured alongside the much larger ship.

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It remains unclear how the sailboat ended up hundreds of kilometers off its intended route or how the man managed to survive for so long alone in open waters.

International

Rubio Says U.S. Could Participate in Follow-Up Russia-Ukraine Talks

The United States could join a new round of talks this week aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Teams from Kyiv and Moscow met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi in their first publicly acknowledged direct negotiations to discuss the peace initiative promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They are going to hold follow-up talks again this week,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There could be U.S. participation.”

However, Rubio suggested that Washington’s role may be more limited than during last week’s discussions, which included Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The secretary of state indicated that progress may have already been made on security guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s key demands in any agreement with Moscow after nearly four years of Russian invasion.

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“There is one remaining issue that everyone is familiar with, and that is the territorial claim over Donetsk,” Rubio said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian region that Russia wants Ukraine to cede.

“I know that active efforts are underway to see whether the positions of both sides on this issue can be reconciled. It remains a bridge we have not yet crossed,” he added during the hearing.

Rubio acknowledged that the territorial question would be particularly difficult for Ukraine to resolve.