World Echo

A court in Ecuador on Friday handed down prison sentences of 12 years and 34 years for five people found guilty of murdering presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Journalist and former legislator Villavicencio was shot while leaving a rally in August 2023, becoming the most prominent victim of Ecuador's spiraling violence. The ruling, read out by Milton Maroto, one of the court's three judges, can be appealed by both the prosecution and the defense. The trial started at the end of June. Prosecutors accused at least two of those tried of belonging to the Los Lobos crime gang, among 22 criminal gangs designated as terrorists by President Daniel Noboa in January. According to the attorney general's office, Carlos Edwin Angulo Lara, known as 'El Invisible' ('The Invisible'), gave the order to murder Villavicencio from prison, while Laura Dayanara Castillo was in charge of logistics. Both Angulo and Castillo were sentenced to 34 years and eight months. E...

Berlin is taking reports of a plot to assassinate the chief executive of arms manufacturer Rheinmetall very seriously and will not be cowed by Russian intimidation, the German government said on Friday. A source familiar with the situation confirmed reporting by CNN and others that U.S. intelligence officials warned the German authorities this year that Russia was plotting to assassinate Armin Papperger, the head of Europe’s biggest weapons producer, which has produced artillery shells and military vehicles for Ukraine. A US official, without confirming the report, said there has been an increased Russian efforts to conduct subversive or sabotage activities throughout Europe in the last five or six months. These activities seemed to be targeting buildings, facilities, companies, and people involved in the supply of weapons to Ukraine, the official said. The Rheinmetall plot was one of a series of Russian plans to assassinate defence industry executives across Europe supporting...

The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday demanded that Russia "urgently withdraw its military and other unauthorized personnel" from Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and return it to the full control of Ukrainian authorities. The 193-member General Assembly adopted a resolution with 99 votes in favor, nine against and 60 abstentions. The Zaporizhzhia plant, the largest in Europe, was captured by Russia shortly after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It is shut down but needs external power to keep its nuclear material cool and prevent a meltdown. Read: Russia says Ukraine struck nuclear plant, Kyiv denies it was behind the attack Speaking before the vote, Ukraine's UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya urged countries to vote in favor of the resolution, saying: "We owe this to future generations. We must ensure that the horrors of nuclear disasters are not repeated." Throughout the war, Ukraine and Russia have accused e...

A series of lightning strike incidents in various districts of the Indian state of Bihar has reportedly resulted in the4 deaths of 29 people while 18 students were injured. In Madhubani, 5 people were killed; in Aurangabad, 4; in Supaul and Nalanda, 3 each; in Lakhisarai and Patna, 2 each; and in Begusarai, Jamui, Gopalganj, Rohtas, Samastipur, and Purnia, one death each was reported on Indian media. In the village of Bathnaha, lightning struck farmers working in their fields, killing 2 instantly and leaving one in critical condition. In another village, Domriya, 2 women were killed by lightning, and one man was severely injured. Additionally, in Bhojpur district, lightning hit a school, injuring 18 students. Fortunately, there were no fatalities in this incident. The injured students were taken to a nearby hospital, where 2 were admitted to the intensive care unit, while the others are reported to be in stable condition. The Bihar Disaster Management Authority reported that the nu...

Australia plans to introduce a law by the end of the year forcing internet companies to proactively stop hosting scams or face hefty fines, the top consumer regulator said on Friday, potentially setting up another showdown with Big Tech. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the treasury department are consulting internet, banking and telecommunications firms about creating a mandatory, enforceable anti-scam code which legally requires them take reasonable steps to protect users, including offering an effective complaint service. In Australia, cryptocurrency scam advertisements featuring the face of mining billionaire Andrew Forrest have led to Australians losing millions of dollars, according to Forrest. He is suing Facebook owner Meta (META.O), opens new tab over the advertisements in California after saying he was unable to force Meta to take action domestically. Currently only telecommunications providers face specific anti-scam regul...

Taiwan defence ministry said on Thursday it was closely watching Chinese military movements after a surge in warplanes joined drills with China's Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific. The Chinese military exercises coincide with a NATO summit in Washington where a draft communique says China has become a decisive enabler of Russia's war effort in Ukraine and Beijing continues to pose systemic challenges to Europe and to security. The Chinese carrier the Shandong passed close to the Philippines on its way to the Pacific exercises, Taiwan's defence minister said on Wednesday. In its daily update on Chinese military activity over the past 24 and released on Thursday morning, Taiwan's defence ministry said it had detected 66 Chinese military aircraft operating around the island. Of those, 39 passed to the south and southeast of Taiwan, the ministry said, having previously said it had detected 36 aircraft heading to the Western Pacific to carry out drills with the Chi...

The United States will start deploying longer range missiles in Germany in 2026, the two countries announced at a meeting of the NATO alliance on Tuesday, a major step aimed at countering what the allies say is a growing threat Russia poses to Europe. The decision will send Germany the most potent US weapons to be based on the European continent since the Cold War, in a clear warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin. A US-German statement said the "episodic deployments" were in preparation for longer-term stationing in Europe of capabilities that would include SM-6, Tomahawk and developmental hypersonic weapons with greater range. The move would have been banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by the US and the Soviet Union in 1987 but that collapsed in 2019. "We cannot discount the possibility of an attack against Allies’ sovereignty and territorial integrity," the allies said in a communique released on Wednesday. More aid was headed t...