International
Florida judge dismisses case against Trump for taking confidential documents
Florida Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday dismissed the case of former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump (2017-2021) for the mishandling of confidential documents after his departure from the White House.
The ruling, which comes two days after an attempted assassination of Trump while he was holding a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, represents a legal victory for the former president.
It is the first time that one of the four criminal cases against Trump, who will formally receive his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, has been dismissed outright.
Cannon, who was nominated during Trump’s presidency, argued that the special counsel in charge of the investigation, Jack Smith, was not legally appointed and therefore “violates the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”
The federal judge noted in a 93-page document that Smith’s appointment did not follow the usual procedures, which include confirmation by the Senate.
He added that Congress has a fundamental role in the appointment of special officials and that “that role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or spread to other places, whether in this case or in another, whether in times of greater national need or not.”
Neither the Justice Department nor U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland have yet to comment, but they are expected to appeal the decision in the case in which Trump was accused of illegally retaining classified documents after leaving office and then obstructing repeated government efforts to recover them.
The question of whether Smith’s appointment was legal or not had already been brought to the attention of the judge at the initiative of the former president’s lawyers, during the hearings, to which the special prosecutor’s team argued that addressing this claim should not merit dismissing the case entirely.
The decision comes on the first day of the Republican Party convention, where Trump’s nomination will be made official and he will also announce his running mate for the presidential election next November.
On his social network, Truth, the former president celebrated the decision of the federal judge and pointed out that all criminal and civil cases against him should have the same fate, in pursuit of the “Unification” of the nation.
Trump still faces other trials in Washington, Atlanta and New York.
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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