International

Ukraine launches counterattacks in Kharkov while trying to contain the Russian attacks in Donetsk

Ukrainian troops defending the north of the Kharkov region are counterattacking after managing to stop the Russian advance in the area near the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Meanwhile, Russian forces remain pressured on different segments of the front in the eastern region of Donetsk and also in the south.

“The fighting continues near Liptsi and between Gliboke and Lukiantsi, as well as the assaults near and inside Vovchansk,” reads the latest bulletin of the Center for Defense Strategies in Kiev, which also states that “the Armed Forces of Ukraine counterattacked near Vovchansk and Staritsia.”

All these localities are located on the two axes opened by Russia in the cross-border offensive that its troops launched in the middle of last month against the Kharkov Oblast, which is still subjected to constant Russian airstrikes that hit the homonymous regional capital with special hard.

Meanwhile, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in Washington collects in its report this Monday “recent” Russian advances “near Vovchansk” and in the surroundings of the occupied cities of Avdivka and Donetsk, capital of the homonymous region of eastern Ukraine.

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The ISW has also confirmed a Russian “marginal” advance in the town of Krinki, located on the eastern shore of the Dnipro River in the southern region of Kherson. Ukraine has established on that margin of the final stretch of the river a beachhead that Russia is trying to destroy with constant attacks.

The pressure that Russia continues to exert on the entire front is accompanied by a very high number of casualties, according to the daily balances offered by the Ukrainian General Staff.

In the past 24 hours alone, Russian forces recorded, between dead and wounded, 1,270 casualties of soldiers along the contact line. Until the opening of a new front in Kharkov last month, the number of Russian casualties did not usually cross the threshold of a thousand, something that now happens practically daily.

Regarding the losses of military material, Ukraine managed to destroy 14 enemy tanks and 47 artillery systems during the last day.

Kiev hopes to be able to completely stabilize the front with the new US aid in weapons and ammunition that it began to receive weeks ago.

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More than a dozen allies have confirmed in recent days that they will allow Ukraine to hit military targets located in the territory of the Russian Federation, which could enable Ukraine to neutralize in origin many of the attacks that the Russians launch from their own territory against border regions such as Kharkov.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra dies in campaign road accident

Presidential candidate Napoleón Becerra, representing the Partido de los Trabajadores y Emprendedores (PTE) in Peru, died in a traffic accident while traveling to a campaign event, local authorities confirmed Sunday.

Becerra, who also served as president of the centrist political party, ranked among the lowest in opinion polls in a crowded field of more than 30 candidates competing in the presidential election scheduled for April 12.

Recent surveys place Rafael López Aliaga at the top of voter preferences.

The accident occurred near the town of Ayacucho, in southern Peru, when the vehicle carrying the candidate overturned for reasons that remain under investigation.

“The candidate Becerra has died,” Balvin Huamani, mayor of the district of Pilpichaca, told RPP radio.

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According to Huamani, he personally transported the 61-year-old candidate to a local health center, where doctors confirmed his death.

The Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) expressed condolences over Becerra’s passing and wished a speedy recovery to the three people who were traveling with him and were injured in the crash.

International

Noboa intensifies anti-cartel crackdown as violence persists in Ecuador

A close ally of Washington, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has pursued a hardline security strategy against cocaine cartels for more than two years, yet homicide, disappearance and extortion rates remain high across the country.

Between Sunday night and the morning of March 31, Ecuador’s armed forces will launch a “very strong offensive” with “advisory support” from the United States, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced Tuesday.

The government has kept details of the operation confidential and has not confirmed whether U.S. troops will be deployed on Ecuadorian soil, as has occurred at times during Noboa’s administration.

As part of the security measures, residents in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, and El Oro will be subject to a nightly curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for the next two weeks.

“We are in a war,” Reimberg said, urging citizens to remain indoors. “Do not take risks. Stay home and allow the security forces and our allies to do the work that must be done.”

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Although Ecuador does not produce cocaine, it has become a major departure point for drugs heading to the United States. Meanwhile, the violence associated with trafficking has increasingly affected the local population.

Bordering the world’s largest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has gone from being considered a relatively peaceful country to recording one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America—52 killings per 100,000 inhabitants—according to the **Observatory of Organized Crime.

International

Peruvian presidential candidate proposes death penalty amid crime surge

Peru is facing an unprecedented surge in crime ahead of its presidential election scheduled for April 12, with violence fueled by extortion networks and a wave of contract killings linked to organized crime.

Police data show that 2,200 homicides tied to organized crime were recorded in 2025, while extortion complaints increased by 19%, underscoring the growing security crisis in the South American nation.

Amid this backdrop, presidential candidate Álvarez has proposed reinstating the death penalty if elected, arguing that extreme measures are needed to curb the violence.

To implement the proposal, Álvarez said Peru would withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights—also known as the Pact of San José—which the country signed in 1978. The agreement prevents member states that have abolished capital punishment from reinstating it.

Currently, Peruvian law only allows the death penalty in cases of treason during wartime.

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“We have to leave the Pact of San José and apply the death penalty in Peru because those miserable criminals don’t deserve to live,” Álvarez told AFP during a campaign stop at a market in Callao, the port city neighboring Lima.

“An iron fist against those criminals,” he added, proposing to declare hitmen as military targets.

During the campaign event, Álvarez walked through stalls selling vegetables, groceries, and fish, greeting vendors while musicians played cumbia music nearby.

The 62-year-old candidate, who spent more than four decades working in television as a comedian, is a newcomer to politics and is running for president under the País para Todos party.

Polls place him fifth in voter preference with nearly 4% support in a fragmented race featuring 36 candidates.