International
The International Court of Justice sees no reason for precautionary measures against Quito for assault on the Mexican embassy
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) did not consider that there is “urgency” or a “real and imminent risk” that requires the issuance of the precautionary measures requested by Mexico against Ecuador in response to the assault on its embassy in Quito, although it emphasized “the fundamental importance” of respecting the Vienna Convention.
The court refused to issue precautionary measures today because it considered that “the guarantees given” by Ecuador already “cover the concerns expressed by Mexico.”
The Court warned that “unilateral declarations can give rise to legal obligations, and the States concerned can assume the unilateral declarations and trust them, and have the right to demand that the obligation thus created be respected.”
During the hearings on the precautionary measures, at the beginning of the month, Quito made a move forth and announced that it has already given written “guarantees” to Mexico that it will fulfill its duty to respect and protect its personnel and diplomatic headquarters, as requested by the Mexican Government to the ICJ, thus avoiding being the subject of orders from the UN judges today.
Ecuador’s guarantees include “commitments to provide full protection and security to the facilities, properties and archives of Mexico’s diplomatic mission in Quito, as well as allowing the eviction of that mission and the private residences of Mexican diplomatic agents,” the president of the ICJ, Nawaf Salam, said today.
Based on this, the highest UN court decided that “the circumstances as presented to the Court are not such as to require the exercise of its power” to indicate precautionary measures against the Ecuadorian Government after assaulting the Mexican Embassy in Quito and arresting Jorge Glas, former vice president of Rafael Correa (2007-2017), on April 5.
“Currently there is no urgency, in the sense that there is no real and imminent risk of irreparable damage to the rights claimed,” added Salam, who read the ruling.
However, he stressed “the fundamental importance of the consecrated principle” in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and reminded Ecuador that “its good faith in compliance” of the guarantees given to Mexico is presumed.
“These guarantees are especially important during the period necessary for Mexico to evict the facilities of its Embassy in Quito, as well as the private residences of its diplomatic agents. The Court considers that the guarantees given by the Agent of Ecuador on behalf of his Government, which were given publicly before the Court and formulated unconditionally, are binding and create legal obligations for the defendant,” he added.
Before concluding the session in which he announced the decision, Salam noted that “there is no more fundamental requirement for the conduct of relations between States than the inviolability of diplomatic missions and embassies” and recalled that, throughout history, “nations of all creeds and cultures have observed reciprocal obligations with that purpose, in particular the institution of diplomacy with its associated privileges and immunities.”
Last April, Mexico accused Ecuador before the ICJ of violating its obligations under the Bogotá Pact, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the letter of the Organization of American States, and the Charter of the United Nations.
The precautionary measures are issued, if necessary, in a provisional phase, before entering to assess the merits of the case, so this decision is not a judgment on the admissibility of the case, or on the existence or not of the violations alleged by Mexico against Ecuador, issues that will be discussed later, even without a date.
The Government of Ecuador welcomed this Thursday the unanimous decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of The Hague to reject the precautionary measures requested by Mexico for the invasion of the Mexican embassy in Quito on April 5 by the Ecuadorian Police to arrest Jorge Glas, former vice president of Rafael Correa (2007-2017), who had been granted asylum hours earlier.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of Ecuador said that this ruling of the international court “confirms the unnecessary nature of the request” made by the Government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The precautionary measures requested by Mexico sought the UN judges to order Ecuador to respect and protect its staff and diplomatic headquarters, which the Ecuadorian Government had already guaranteed in writing during the hearings on the precautionary measures held at the beginning of the month.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
International
Seven inmates dead, 11 injured after violent riot in Veracruz prison
Seven inmates were killed and eleven others injured in a violent riot and clash inside a penitentiary in the Mexican state of Veracruz, local authorities reported on Sunday.
The disturbance began on Saturday afternoon at the Social Reintegration Center in the port city of Tuxpan, in northern Veracruz, when inmates staged a protest over extortion and assaults allegedly carried out by members of the criminal group known as Grupo Sombra.
The protesting prisoners clashed with another group of inmates and set fires inside and outside the facility, seizing control of the prison for more than 12 hours.
During the takeover, the rioters released several videos, including one showing four prisoners —believed to be members of Grupo Sombra— accusing them of being behind the violence and extortion inside the prison.
It wasn’t until Sunday morning that elements of the Mexican Army, the National Guard, and local police forces managed to enter the prison and regain control. The state’s Public Security Secretariat confirmed that around 9:00 a.m. local time a coordinated operation restored full order and reestablished control of the facility.
Authorities also reported that the fires set by inmates were fully extinguished.
Official figures confirmed the “tragic” deaths of seven inmates and injuries to eleven people, who are now receiving medical treatment in various regional hospitals.
This is the second deadliest riot in Veracruz in the past eight years. In 2018, a violent uprising at the La Toma medium-security prison left seven people dead (six police officers and one unidentified man) and at least 22 injured (15 officers and seven inmates).
The riot follows the kidnapping and killing of retired teacher and taxi driver Irma Hernández, a case that shocked the entire country and was attributed to Grupo Sombra. Images of Hernández kneeling, surrounded by armed men in the municipality of Álamo, sparked nationwide outrage. She was murdered after refusing to pay extortion demands from the criminal organization.
Despite these incidents, Veracruz has not seen a spike in the daily homicide average. In fact, there has been a 1.6% decrease in homicides in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.
In 2023, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reported 3,094 incidents in Mexican prisons —an 18.5% increase from the previous year— resulting in 100 deaths and 892 injuries.
International
Study finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
COVID-19 vaccines prevented an estimated 2,533,000 deaths worldwide between 2020 and 2024, according to an international study led by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy and Stanford University in the United States, published in the journal JAMA Health Forum. Researchers calculated that one death was prevented for every 5,400 doses administered.
The analysis also found that the vaccines saved 14.8 million years of life, equivalent to one year of life gained for every 900 doses given.
The study, coordinated by Professor Stefania Boccia, revealed that 82% of the lives saved were people vaccinated before becoming infected with the virus, and 57% of deaths avoided occurred during the Omicron wave. In addition, 90% of the beneficiaries were adults over 60 years old.
“This is the most comprehensive analysis to date, based on global data and fewer assumptions about the evolution of the pandemic,” explained Boccia and researcher Angelo Maria Pezzullo.
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