International
Deaths from clashes between military groups and clans in southern Syria rise to 30
The death toll from the clashes between local military groups and clans in the southern Syrian city of Al Sueida, with a Druse majority, amounted to 30 and the number of injuries to about a hundred, the Syrian Ministry of the Interior reported on Monday.
The government department warned in a statement that it is still a “preliminary” recount and explained that the clashes “exploded between local military groups and clans in the Al Maquas neighborhood, in the city of Al Sueida, in a context of tensions accumulated in previous times.”
The incidents began on Sunday, after formations in the area were recently entangled in a series of mutual kidnappings following a robbery on the road that connects Damascus to Al Sueida, inhabited by the Druse religious minority, according to local media.
“This dangerous escalation comes in the midst of the absence of the relevant official institutions, which has aggravated the chaos, the deterioration of security and the inability of the local community to contain the crisis despite the repeated calls for calm,” the Ministry of the Interior warned in its statement.
The central authorities tried to negotiate the deployment of their security forces in the area after a wave of violent clashes between them and Druzian groups took place in areas populated by the community on the outskirts of Damascus and Al Sueida at the end of last April.
However, leaders of the Druze minority insisted that local security remain in the hands of local forces, despite the fact that the incidents two months ago left more than a hundred dead, according to estimates by the organization Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
The Interior announced on Monday that its units, in coordination with the Ministry of Defense, will initiate an intervention in the area to resolve the conflict and stop violence, as well as to guarantee security and bring those responsible for the incidents to justice.
In this line, the head of the department, Anas Khattab, also considered in his X account that “the absence of state institutions, in particular the military and security ones, is one of the main causes of the persistent tensions in Al Sueida and its surroundings.”
Therefore, he sees the presence of the central authorities in the administrative demarcation as the “only” way to achieve a peaceful environment and a return to “normality”.
After the overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, the country’s new government seeks to extend its control to the entire Syrian territory and integrate other armed actors into state forces, something to which both the Drusians and the Kurds have been reluctant.
Also at least six members of the Syrian government forces died on Monday while intervening to contain the clashes.
“Armed bandits attacked military personnel while carrying out their mission in the Al Thala area, in rural areas of Al Sueida,” a source from the Ministry of Defense told Syrian state television, Al Ijbariya, confirming the death of six of them during the incidents.
In addition, another 15 were injured and an undetermined number of them were taken hostage, according to the channel.
International
Authorities capture CJNG financial chief in international airport operation
A man identified as the main financial operator of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) was arrested Thursday at Mexico City’s international airport, authorities reported.
The individual, named by Mexican media as Óscar Antonio Álvarez, was apprehended during an operation involving the army, navy, National Guard, police, and the attorney general’s office, according to a joint statement.
Álvarez is considered the primary financial operator of a criminal group originating in Jalisco, and the capture took place at Benito Juárez Airport as he arrived on a flight from Barcelona, Spain.
Authorities stated that Álvarez faces charges of organized crime and money laundering, specifically for receiving and transferring illicit funds. His work with the CJNG reportedly included purchasing properties and managing businesses in the tequila and livestock sectors.
According to El Universal, Álvarez was directly under the command of Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho”, the cartel’s top leader, for whom the U.S. offers a $15 million reward.
The CJNG, which operates throughout Mexico and in various parts of the world, was designated earlier this year as a “foreign terrorist organization” by the U.S. government.
Álvarez was handed over to the federal public prosecutor to determine his legal situation, the report added.
International
Jair Bolsonaro sentenced for leading armed criminal plot after 2022 election loss
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, 70, has been sentenced for leading an armed criminal organization that attempted to cling to power after losing the 2022 elections to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The alleged coup plot, which reportedly included a plan to assassinate Lula, was not carried out due to lack of support from the military leadership.
By a four-to-one vote of the judges overseeing the case, seven co-defendants, including former ministers and military chiefs, were also convicted.
“A criminal armed organization was formed by the defendants, who must be sentenced based on the factual circumstances I consider proven,” said the final judge to cast a vote, Cristiano Zanin.
Bolsonaro, who has been under house arrest since August, did not attend the court hearings, citing health issues.
Reacting on X, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the former president’s son, said: “They call this a trial a process whose outcome everyone already knew before it began.”
One of the first international reactions came from the White House. Former U.S. President Donald Trump called the sentence “very surprising,” while Senator Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State, stated that the United States will “respond accordingly” to the “unjust” ruling.
International
Poland invokes NATO Article 4 after russian drone incursion
The violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones on Wednesday triggered the most serious clash between Russia and NATO since the start of the war in Ukraine, prompting Poland to invoke Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, which calls for consultations among allies.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed Parliament on Wednesday, describing an unprecedented “aggression” in which at least 19 Russian drones breached Polish airspace, creating a situation that the Prime Minister described as “the closest to an open conflict since World War II.”
Speaking at the start of an extraordinary Council of Ministers session, Tusk stated that “this is the first time Russian drones have been shot down over the territory of a NATO member state, and that is why all our allies are taking the situation very seriously.”
Although he affirmed that “there is no reason to claim that we are in a state of war,” he labeled the incidents as “a large-scale provocation” and ordered the invocation of NATO’s Article 4 to call for consultations with allied nations.
Tusk also noted on X (formerly Twitter) that he had received “not only expressions of solidarity with Poland but, above all, concrete proposals to support the country’s air defense” during discussions with European leaders throughout the day.
The Polish leader specifically mentioned conversations with the leaders of the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands—Keir Starmer, Giorgia Meloni, Friedrich Merz, and Dick Schoof—along with French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
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