El Salvador mourns 12 killed in soccer stadium stampede
El Salvador was in shock Sunday after 12 people died and hundreds were injured in a stampede at a soccer stadium, as the country's president vowed an investigation. Authorities said initial reports pointed to a crush of fans who tried to enter the 35,000-seat Cuscatlan Stadium in the Central American country's capital San Salvador to watch a game between two local teams, Alianza and FAS. The match was suspended as emergency personnel evacuated people from the stadium, where hundreds of police officers and soldiers gathered as ambulance sirens wailed. Carlos Fuentes, spokesman for the emergency services group Comandos de Salvamento, said they were treating more than 500 people for various injuries, while civil protection authorities said 88 people in total were hospitalized. The stampede apparently started after a stadium gate fell, causing people to crowd together, Fuentes said. Fredy Alexander Ruiz, a 28-year-old survivor, said he was "traumatized from seeing people thrown on the ground, dead, bruised, with their faces stepped on." The stampede started 10 minutes into the game and after it was suspended even the players joined in the frantic rescue efforts. "I had five people on top of me that were suffocating me," said Ruiz. "Thank God, I was able to grab the foot of a policeman, and he and a friend of mine pulled me out." El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said authorities would investigate the incident and those responsible would be punished. "Everyone will be investigated: teams, managers, stadium, box office, league, federation," Bukele said on Twitter. He warned that "whoever the culprits are, they will not go unpunished." Survivor Sandra Guzman described chaos at the stadium in the moments the stampede began. "A huge crowd of people fell on me. I couldn't even breathe, they were choking me," Guzman, 40, told AFP early Sunday as she was leaving the Rosales National Hospital. When she was in front of the stadium gate that collapsed, she said, "people were pushing me to get in. They did not give me a chance to go back." She panicked when people toppled onto her, Guzman said. "I fainted, and when I woke up I was in the hospital." The Salvadoran Football Federation (Fesfut) said in a statement it "deeply regrets" the events that occurred at the stadium and "expresses its solidarity" with the families of those "affected and killed." "Fesfut will immediately request a report of what happened and will communicate the relevant information as soon as possible," it said. Due to the incident, the federation said "all soccer is suspended at the national level" on Sunday. The chief of world soccer body FIFA offered his condolences after the "tragic" stampede. The tragedy comes seven months after 135 people, including more than 40 children, were killed in a stampede following a football match in Malang, Indonesia. The post El Salvador mourns 12 killed in soccer stadium stampede appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Nine dead in El Salvador stadium stampede at soccer match: police
Nine people were killed Saturday in a stampede at an El Salvador stadium where soccer fans had gathered to watch a local tournament, police said. "The number of deaths after the stampede at the Cuscatlan Stadium amounts to nine," the National Civil Police posted on Twitter. The security agency also noted that "several" injured people, including at least two in critical condition, were being taken to nearby hospitals. The police said initial reports point to a crush of fans who tried to enter the stadium in the Central American country's capital San Salvador to watch a match between teams Alianza and FAS. El Salvador's Interior Minister Juan Carlos Bidegain said the civil protection service's first responders were on the scene and attending to people impacted by the incident. The match was suspended as emergency personnel evacuated people from the stadium, where hundreds of police officers and soldiers gathered as ambulance sirens wailed. Health Minister Francisco Alabi said the country's hospital network was "providing medical care to all patients" in the aftermath of the stampede. The tragedy comes seven months after 135 people including more than 40 children died in a stampede following a football match in Malang, Indonesia. The post Nine dead in El Salvador stadium stampede at soccer match: police appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Politically divided Chile marks 50-year coup anniversary
Chile on Monday marked 50 years since the coup d'etat that brought Augusto Pinochet to power, with political divisions over the legacy of his brutal dictatorship on stark display. Commemorations of the violent US-backed ouster of Marxist leader Salvador Allende still evoke strong emotions, and police fired teargas and water cannons at protesters who vandalized the presidential palace on the anniversary's eve. Leftist President Gabriel Boric led an event at the palace, known as La Moneda, to mark the historic date, and stressed the need to condemn those who violate human rights "without any nuance." "The coup cannot be separated from what came after," he said, referring to the 17-year Pinochet dictatorship under which more than 3,200 people were killed or "disappeared" and tens of thousands tortured. The far-right UDI party issued a statement Monday defending the coup as "inevitable" due to the failures of Allende's political left. The presidents of Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, and Uruguay were at the emotional ceremony in Santiago, also attended by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and former Uruguayan president Jose Mujica. No right-wing representatives attended Monday's event at La Moneda. Poetry readings and musical performances were interrupted by a minute of silence to mark the moment the bombs started dropping on the palace. Allende committed suicide while troops and tanks closed in. As night fell, thousands arrived at the national stadium in the capital -- once used by Pinochet's regime as a torture center -- to place candles in memory of the victims. Elsewhere, protesters on the outskirts of town prevented the passage of vehicles. The 1973 coup, in a country seen until then as a bastion of democracy and stability in Latin America, reverberated around the world and underscored covert interference by the United States. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday that President Joe Biden's government "has tried to be transparent about the US role in that chapter of Chilean history by recently declassifying documents from 1973 as the Chilean government has requested us to do." 'Never again' Chileans remain deeply divided between those who defend the coup and those who repudiate it, while many feel the anniversary is irrelevant amid economic woes and concerns over rising crime. A survey conducted by Cerc-Mori in May found that 36 percent of people believe Pinochet "liberated Chile from Marxism" -- the highest figure measured in 28 years of polling. On Sunday, Boric became the first president since the end of the dictatorship in 1990 to attend a commemorative march through Santiago for Pinochet's victims. But the procession was marred by vandals causing damage to the exterior of La Moneda and the general cemetery that houses a victims' memorial. Six police officers were injured and at least 11 people were arrested, officials said. Boric blamed the acts on "adversaries of democracy." On Sunday night, some 6,000 women dressed in black held a peaceful vigil in the capital under the slogan: "Never again will democracy be bombed," in reference to the 1973 air raids. Politics 'a little toxic' Led by Boric, Allende's leftist political heirs are in power in Chile today. But the far-right Republican Party -- Pinochet apologists -- emerged the strongest from elections in May for a body tasked with drafting a new constitution to replace the one that dates from the dictatorship era. Pinochet died of a heart attack on 10 December 2006, aged 91, without ever stepping foot in a court. Michelle Bachelet, a former leftist president of Chile, told a local radio station Monday the country must "learn from the lessons of the past" at a time when politics "is a little toxic." She herself was tortured during the dictatorship, as was her father, an air force general who had opposed the coup. Chile's right-wing opposition has abstained from signing a document affirming a commitment to "defend democracy from authoritarian threats" that has been signed by four living ex-presidents of the South American country. On Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the 1973 coup "was an institutional breakdown that ruptured the bonds of coexistence and marked generations of Chileans, but also inspired many to fight for justice and freedom." He added: "Today's strong Chilean democracy gives us hope that humanity, united in its diversity, can solve any global challenge." The post Politically divided Chile marks 50-year coup anniversary appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Pope rallies Frenchmen amid debate on meddling
In Marseille, a French Mediterranean city, where Pope Francis has entered an acrimonious European debate on allowing refugees, tens of thousands of people are anticipated to witness the pontiff celebrate mass and process through the streets. Nearly 60,000 people are expected to fill the Velodrome stadium in France’s second-largest city, and up to 100,000 people may line the Avenue du Prado for his “popemobile” tour prior to the Mass. The chairman of an undocumented immigrant group in Marseille, Francky Domingo, expressed his hope that the pope’s visit would “give us back a little hope” and “calm the political tensions.” A “cosmopolitan, multicultural, multireligious” hub, the Mediterranean port “faces enormous difficulties, drug trafficking that claims human lives every day, and the problem of housing,” Domingo continued. In an effort to reverse the deteriorating trend, President Emmanuel Macron has pledged billions of dollars to rebuild the city’s infrastructure after over 40 people were killed in shootings there this year. However, not everybody has praised the Pope’s visit. Left-leaning MPs have criticized Macron’s attendance at Mass on Saturday as a violation of official secularism. Francis has come under fire from right-wingers for “interfering” in domestic politics. Upon his arrival on Friday, the pope fervently urged Europe to accept migrants rather than give in to “fanaticism of indifference” and “paralysis of fear.” The recent wave of large arrivals on the Italian island of Lampedusa has heated up the conversation on immigration. Gerald Darmanin, the French Interior Minister who welcomed the pope upon his arrival, has sworn not to accept a single one. The iconic Notre Dame de la Garde church in Marseille, where sailors have historically prayed for protection and model ships offered in gratitude hang from the roof, was Francis’ first stop when visiting the city. The pontiff urged that “people who are at risk of drowning when abandoned on the waves must be rescued” at a monument that looked out over city rooftops and the glistening Mediterranean. The pope hailed humanitarian organizations for saving migrants in peril at sea and denounced attempts to stop their behavior as “gestures of hate” in unprepared words he added at the conclusion of his speech. With AFP The post Pope rallies Frenchmen amid debate on meddling appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Pope urges Europe against treating migrants as invaders
Pope Francis on Saturday urged European governments to welcome migrants instead of viewing them as invaders, striding into a hugely sensitive political debate again inflamed by mass arrivals. "Those who risk their lives at sea do not invade, they look for welcome," Francis said in a speech closing a conference of bishops and young people from around the Mediterranean in the French port city of Marseille. Migration is "a reality of our times, a process that involves three continents around the Mediterranean and that must be governed with wise foresight, including a European response," the pontiff added. Francis' 35-minute speech drew a standing ovation from his audience, but his position on migration was unlikely to please French President Emmanuel Macron and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who were both present and planned tougher measures to control arrivals. The pope's forceful interventions come as the migration debate has been stoked by mass arrivals on the Italian island of Lampedusa last week. Speaking at a monument to people lost at sea on his arrival in Marseille on Friday, the pontiff had insisted that "people who are at risk of drowning when abandoned on the waves must be rescued". He thanked aid groups for rescuing migrants in danger at sea, condemning efforts to prevent their work as "gestures of hate". Tens of thousands expected Tens of thousands of people are expected to watch Francis as he travels through the streets of Marseille later Saturday before celebrating mass for almost 60,000 people in the city's famed Velodrome stadium. Up to 100,000 are expected to line the Avenue du Prado for his "popemobile" tour and many roads are decked out with the white-and-yellow colors of the Vatican. Francky Domingo, a Beninese man who heads a group of undocumented migrants in Marseille, said he hoped the pontiff's visit would "give us back a little hope" and "calm the political tensions". The Mediterranean port is a "cosmopolitan, multicultural, multireligious" hub but "faces huge difficulties, drug trafficking that costs human lives every day (and) the problem of housing", Domingo added. Around 40 people have been killed in shootings in Marseille this year, and Macron has promised billions of euros to upgrade city infrastructure in a bid to stop the downward spiral. Not everyone has welcomed the Pope's visit. Some politicians on the left have criticized Macron's decision to attend Saturday's mass as an infringement of state secularism. Others on the right have attacked Francis for "interfering" in domestic politics. The pontiff did nothing Saturday to dodge such allegations, appearing to weigh in on two of Macron's projects -- assisted dying and inscribing the right to abortion in the constitution. Old people risk being "pushed aside, under the false pretenses of a supposedly dignified and 'sweet' death that is more 'salty' than the waters of the sea," Francis warned. He also spoke of "unborn children, rejected in the name of a false right to progress, which is instead a retreat into the selfish needs of the individual". Religious heritage Francis' messages may have less resonance given Catholicism's long decline in France. Fewer than a third of people still say they are Catholic and only a fraction of those regularly attend mass. The country's religious heritage nevertheless still has enormous weight, with Macron showing off progress in restoring the fire-ravaged Notre Dame cathedral in central Paris to Britain's King Charles III this week. He has also announced tax breaks for contributions to a fund to renovate church buildings in villages too small to take on the repairs themselves. The post Pope urges Europe against treating migrants as invaders appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Paranas town mourns village chair’s death
TACLOBAN CITY — The municipality of Paranas in Samar raised the flag on a half-mast last Monday to mourn the death of a barangay captain who was shot dead by suspected members of the communist New People’s Army on 16 September 2023. The victim — identified as Tito Llamado, barangay chairman of Anagasi, a far-flung village of Paranas — is believed to have been killed by members of NPA’s Arnulfo Ortiz Command based on a hand-written note that was found on his body where the communist rebels owned up to the killing. “Kap. Tito was a dedicated leader who tirelessly served the residents of Barangay Anagasi, striving to improve their lives with purpose, choice, dignity, and respect,” a statement posted in the LGU’s social media account said. “We honor his memory and stand in solidarity with the people of Barangay Anagasi during this difficult time, forever inspired by his exemplary service, leadership, and friendship,” it added. The LGU also expressed condolences to the family of the slain village leader. “We deeply appreciate the positive impact of your benevolent actions and outstanding leadership in Barangay Anagasi. May justice be served in the wake of your passing,” it said. Meantime, Paranas Municipal Police chief PMaj. Kim Windell Montilla disclosed that responding investigators found the note of the NPA group owning up responsibility for the killing along with empty shells of 5.56mm gun. Montilla said Llamado is running unopposed in his re-election bid as barangay captain of Anagasi for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections 2023. As the village chief, Montilla said Llamado was an active partner of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police in encouraging rebels to surrender and return to the folds of the law. “Paranas Police will ensure that justice will be served and we will pursue to file appropriate criminal charges against the heartless terrorists who are responsible for this inhumane act,” Montilla said. “The government forces would not be startled nor shaken by this violence committed by the Arnulfo Ortiz Command.” “This assault on the agent of the government who vows only to serve the country and his countrymen will fuel our counter-insurgency efforts to strengthen our battle to free the municipality from the bondage of insurgency,” Montilla added. The post Paranas town mourns village chair’s death appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Morocco mourns quake victims as death toll passes 2,000
Moroccans on Sunday mourned the victims of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people, as rescue teams raced to find survivors trapped in the rubble of flattened villages. The strongest-ever quake to hit the country has killed at least 2,012 people and injured over 2,059, many of them critically, according to the latest official figures. Friday's 6.8-magnitude quake struck 72 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of the tourist hub of Marrakesh, wiping out entire villages in rural areas. "I've lost everything", said Lahcen, a resident of the mountain village of Moulay Brahim, whose wife and four children were killed. Rescue workers recovered the bodies of Lahcen's three daughters from the rubble of what was once their home, but have not yet found the bodies of his wife and son. "I can't do anything about it now, I just want to get away from the world and mourn." Troops and emergency services have scrambled to reach remote mountain villages where victims are still feared trapped. Al-Haouz province, where the epicenter of the earthquake was located, suffered the most deaths with 1,293, followed by the province of Taroudant with 452. - First funerals - Bouchra, another resident of remote Moulay Brahim village, dried her tears with her scarf as she watched men digging graves to bury the victims. "My cousin's grandchildren are dead", she said in a knotted voice. "I saw the devastation of the earthquake live, and I'm still shaking. It's like a ball of fire that has swallowed up everything in its path," she said. "Everyone here has lost family, whether in our village or elsewhere in the region", she added. Authorities declared three days of national mourning, while several countries, including Israel, France, Spain, Italy and the United States, have offered aid. Neighboring Algeria, which has had rocky relations with Morocco, opened its airspace, which had been closed for two years, to flights carrying humanitarian aid and the injured. - 'Years of aid' - The Red Cross warned that it could take years to repair the damage. "It won't be a matter of a week or two... We are counting on a response that will take months, if not years", Hossam Elsharkawi, the organization's Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement. The village of Tafeghaghte, 60 kilometers southwest of Marrakesh, was almost entirely destroyed by the quake, the epicenter of which was only about 50 kilometers away, an AFP team reported, with very few buildings still standing. "Three of my grandchildren and their mother are dead," said 72-year-old Omar Benhanna. "They're still under the debris. It wasn't so long ago that we were playing together." Residents buried around 70 victims in the nearby cemetery on Saturday, as the funeral rites were punctuated by cries and screams. In the evening, television channels broadcast aerial images showing entire villages of clay houses in the Al-Haouz region completely destroyed. "The public authorities are still mobilized to speed up rescue operations and evacuate the injured", the interior ministry said Saturday evening. The tremor was also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir and Essaouira, where many panicked residents took to the streets in the middle of the night, fearing that their homes would collapse. This earthquake is the deadliest in Morocco since the 1960 quake that destroyed Agadir, in which nearly 15,000 people, a third of the city's population, died. kao-ezz/roc/dhw/mtp © Agence France-Presse The post Morocco mourns quake victims as death toll passes 2,000 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
50 years later, wounds of Pinochet regime are still raw
In the basement of the presidential palace in Chile's capital, Patricia Herrera was detained and tortured for months before being sent into exile. It was early in a military dictatorship that would kill or cause the disappearance of thousands of people. Fifty years after the US-backed coup that snuffed out Chile's democracy, the wounds from all that suffering are still raw. - Torment - As she returned from class at the university, Herrera was detained by officers in plain clothes because she was "a woman and a socialist." She was 19. Herrera was taken, blindfolded, to the basement of La Moneda, as the presidential palace is called. It was then also known as "El Hoyo," or the pit, as it was one of the first detention and torture centers set up by General Augusto Pinochet's new regime after the ouster of Socialist president Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973. Allende committed suicide rather than be captured. "From the very first night we got there, there was sexual humiliation. At first I thought it was just the guard who was overdoing it with me. I did not think it was an established thing that women had to suffer sexual, in addition to political, violence," said Herrera, now 68 and a historian. Herrera was held for 14 months at the palace and in two other buildings in Santiago that were converted into torture centers by the Pinochet regime. She was then sent into an exile that would last 15 years, first in France and then in Cuba. Two commissions created to study the dictatorship concluded that at least 38,254 people were tortured under the Pinochet regime, which lasted until 1990. The basement in the presidential palace where Herrera was held was also known as Cuartel, or barracks, N°1 and is now used as office space. People taken there blindfolded could identify it because of its curved wall. On 30 August of this year, the current president, Gabriel Boric, had a plaque installed in the basement space to mark the horrors endured by around 30 people who were held there. "We want to put up a marker for everyone to see," Herrera said, "that here, in the political heart of the nation, there was a torture center." - Disappearance - Agents of the dictatorship killed 1,747 people, and detained and made another 1,469 disappear, according to an official government tally. While 307 of the disappeared have since been identified, the other 1,162 remain missing. Fifty years later, their families still wonder where they are. In 1974, when Pinochet's police detained a man named Luis Mahuida -- a 23-year-old university student active in leftist politics and the father of two young daughters -- they also brought an abrupt end to the childhood of his sister Marialina Gonzalez, who was then nine years old. Their mother, Elsa Esquivel, spent all her time looking for her son; it was a full-time occupation. she dedicates herself to caring for her elderly mother and expects to carry suffering with her into her own old age. "There is no closure just because my brother is still missing. There will be no closure." looked after her brother's daughters, who were three and 11 months old when he vanished. "I stopped playing with dolls. My nieces were dolls for me," said Gonzalez. She never finished her education. She went to hundreds of places asking for her brother. Gonzalez even staged a hunger strike and recalls being arrested several times while taking part in protest marches in honor of missing people. She regrets the childhood she never had. "I was not capable of saying: 'Stop, let me be. I want to go out dancing. I want to have friends.' I kept quiet," she said. Now 59, she dedicates herself to caring for her elderly mother and expects to carry suffering with her into her own old age. "There is no closure just because my brother is still missing. There will be no closure." - Exile - The dictatorship triggered the biggest migratory movement in Chilean history. Just over 200,000 people went into exile, according to the non-governmental Chilean Human Rights Commission. Employees of the Allende government, union leaders, workers, students and farmers left the country, taking their families with them. Sweden, Mexico, Argentina, France and Venezuela were the main recipient countries. Most of the exiles were able to return home starting September 1, 1988, when the regime issued a decree allowing them back, a year and a half before the dictatorship ended. A communist activist named Shaira Sepulveda was tortured in secret prisons called Villa Grimaldi and Cuatro Alamos. After her release she left in 1976 for France, along with her husband at that time. She left relatives and friends in Santiago. "My family was here, my sister, my parents. But what really hurt was having to go to a country where you are a nobody," Sepulveda recalls. She returned to Chile 17 years later with two children, but again her family was broken apart. The eldest child could not adapt to life in Chile and returned to Europe. "I am an old woman, so my grandchildren there will barely know me," said Sepulveda, who is 74. bur-pa/vel/gm/dga/dw/bbk © Agence France-Presse The post 50 years later, wounds of Pinochet regime are still raw appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Pets deserve to live longer lives : Janella Salvador mourns death of another pet cat
Actress Janella Salvador is mourning the death of her pet cat Fluffy, which she had for nearly 18 years......»»
‘We are afraid’: Violence-hit Ecuador votes under heavy security
Heavily-armed security officers kept watch Sunday as Ecuadorans voted in a presidential election marked by the murder of a top candidate and despair over the lawlessness that has engulfed the once-peaceful nation. Polls closed after a tense day, with soldiers and police searching voters at the entry to polling stations, while some of the eight presidential candidates wore helmets and bulletproof vests to cast their ballots. The small South American country has in recent years become a staging for foreign drug mafias seeking to export cocaine, stirring up a brutal war between local gangs. The murder of serious presidential contender Fernando Villavicencio on the campaign trail less than two weeks before the vote underscored the challenges facing the country. "The most serious problem is insecurity," said voter Eva Hurtado, 40, as she left a polling station north of the capital Quito on Sunday morning. "So many crimes, assassinations, disappearances. We are afraid." "Security, above all the security of our families, of our people, must be improved," said public worker Luis Veloso, 52. Villavicencio's killing has reshuffled the electoral cards, with none of the eight contenders expected to get an absolute majority -- likely forcing a runoff on October 15. Ecuadorans voted for a successor to conservative leader Guillermo Lasso, who called a snap election to avoid an impeachment trial just two years after coming to power. - Lawyer, reporter, sniper - Leading the polls before Villavicencio's murder was Luisa Gonzalez, 45, a lawyer from the leftist party of former president Rafael Correa. Villavicencio, who was polling second before his murder, was replaced at the last last minute by a close friend, another journalist, Christian Zurita, who witnessed his gunning down. Hours ahead of the vote, Zurita said he was receiving death threats on social media. "The threats against my life and my team will not stop us, but they are forcing us to take greater security protocols," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that his party had alerted authorities and election observers. Political analysts say the candidate who has seen the biggest boost to his popularity is 40-year-old right-wing businessman Jan Topic. Nicknamed "Rambo," the former paratrooper and sniper with the French Foreign Legion has vowed to wipe out criminal gangs and build more prisons, emulating El Salvador's Nayib Bukele. While casting his ballot, Topic urged voters to elect "the candidate who has the experience, the will, and the plan to eradicate violence in the country." Other leading candidates are right-wing former vice president Otto Sonnenholzner and leftist Indigenous attorney Yaku Perez. In one of the world's most biodiverse countries, two key referendums are taking place on Sunday alongside the election. One will ask voters to choose whether to continue oil drilling in an Amazon reserve that is home to home to three of the world's last uncontacted Indigenous populations. Another focuses on whether to forbid mining activities in the Choco Andino forest. "I feel bad voting in favor of oil exploitation, but Ecuador lives off this oil," said electrician Magdalena Maurisaca. - Brutal gang war - Ecuador was once seen as a haven of peace wedged between cocaine-producing nations Colombia and Peru. The small country straddles the Andes and the Amazon, and was best known as the world's top exporter of bananas and home to the biodiverse Galapagos Islands, where British scientist Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution. However, in the past five years its large ports, lax security and corruption have lured foreign cartels that have come under increased pressure from the war on drugs in Mexico and Colombia. A struggle for power between local gangs has mostly played out in prisons, where 430 have been killed since 2021, leaving a trail of dismembered and burned bodies. "Ecuadorans are going to vote with three feelings: fear of insecurity... pessimism regarding the economic situation and distrust of the political class," political scientist Santiago Cahuasqui of the SEK International University told AFP. In 2022, the country hit a record of 26 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, higher than the rate in Colombia, Mexico or Brazil. Voters will also elect members of the 137-seat parliament. Initial results are expected to trickle in late Sunday, with a final tally expected in 10 days. To win in the first round a candidate must capture 40 percent of the vote or come 10 points ahead of their nearest competitor. The new president will take office on October 26 and will serve only the remainder of Lasso's term, a year and a half. bur-fb/dw © Agence France-Presse The post ‘We are afraid’: Violence-hit Ecuador votes under heavy security appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Ecuador under emergency after presidential bet gunned down
Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso declared a two-month state of emergency on Thursday following the assassination of a presidential candidate. In an address broadcast on YouTube, Lasso said he is mobilizing the armed forces to secure and ensure the conduct of the 20 August elections as well as protect citizens. “This is a political crime that acquires a terrorist character and we do not doubt that this murder is an attempt to sabotage the electoral process,” Lasso said. Lasso also declared a three-day mourning for Fernando Villavicencio Valencia who was shot dead on Wednesday evening as he was leaving a rally at a stadium in the capital Quito. The 59-year-old Villavicencio, a centrist politician and anti-corruption crusader, was the second most popular candidate in the presidential race, according to recent opinion polls. According to the latest polls, Villavicencio, a former journalist who wrote about corruption and served in parliament, polled at 13 percent behind lawyer Luisa Gonzalez, who is close to former left-wing president Rafael Correa. He complained of receiving death threats before he was assassinated. Nine other people were injured in the attack, including a candidate running for the national legislature and two policemen, prosecutors said. One of the alleged attackers was shot and killed by security personnel. Prosecutors also said six other suspects were arrested in raids carried out in southern Quito and in a neighboring town. Police detonated an explosive device planted in the area, chief investigator Alain Luna said. Carlos Figueroa, a friend of Villavicencio who was with him at the time of the attack, told local media that the assailants fired around 30 shots. The country’s main newspaper, El Universo, reported that Villavicencio was assassinated “hitman-style and with three shots to the head.” WITH AFP The post Ecuador under emergency after presidential bet gunned down appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Ecuadoran presidential candidate shot dead after rally
A popular Ecuadoran presidential candidate was shot dead while leaving a rally in the nation's capital on Wednesday, prompting President Guillermo Lasso to declare a state of emergency and blame the assassination on organized crime. Fernando Villavicencio, a 59-year-old anti-corruption crusader who had complained of receiving threats, was murdered as he was leaving a stadium in Quito after holding a campaign rally, officials said. Lasso declared a two-month state of emergency early Thursday following the assassination, but said general elections slated for 20 August would be held as scheduled. "Outraged and shocked by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio," the president said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, blaming the killing on "organized crime." "For his memory and for his fight, I assure you that this crime will not go unpunished." Villavicencio was the second most popular candidate in the presidential race, according to recent opinion polls. "The Armed Forces as of this moment are mobilized throughout the national territory to guarantee the security of citizens, the tranquility of the country and the free and democratic elections of August 20," Lasso said in a YouTube address. The president also declared three days of national mourning "to honor the memory of a patriot, of Fernando Villavicencio Valencia." "This is a political crime that acquires a terrorist character and we do not doubt that this murder is an attempt to sabotage the electoral process," he added. Lasso has said he will not seek re-election. President of the National Electoral Council Diana Atamaint said "the date of the elections scheduled for August 20 remain unalterable." Nine other people were injured in the shooting attack, including a candidate running for the national legislature and two policemen, prosecutors said. One of the alleged attackers was shot and killed by security personnel. And police detonated an explosive device planted in the area, said chief investigator Alain Luna. Carlos Figueroa, a friend of Villavicencio's who was with him at the time of the attack, told local media that the assailants fired around 30 shots. "They ambushed him outside" the sports center, Figueroa said. "Some (of those present) even thought they were fireworks." The country's main newspaper, El Universo, reported that Villavicencio was assassinated "hitman-style and with three shots to the head." Prosecutors later said six other suspects were arrested in raids carried out in southern Quito and in a neighboring town, and that Villavicencio's body was brought to a police department and would undergo an autopsy. 'Full weight of the law' In recent years, Ecuador has been hit by a wave of violence linked to drug trafficking which, in the midst of the electoral process, has already led to the death of a mayor and a parliamentary candidate. The homicide rate has doubled between 2021 and 2022. "Organized crime has gone too far, but the full weight of the law will be applied to them," Lasso said in his post. According to the latest polls, Villavicencio, a former journalist who wrote about corruption and served in parliament, polled at 13 percent behind lawyer Luisa Gonzalez, who is close to former left-wing president Rafael Correa. Gonzalez and other presidential candidates denounced the murder and said they were suspending their campaigns, local media reported. "We will never allow such acts to go unpunished. When they touch one, they touch all. When one's life is at risk, everyone's life is at risk," Gonzalez wrote on X. National Court of Justice president Ivan Saquicela called Villavicencio's murder "very painful for the country." "I am very hurt and very worried about Ecuador," he said. The United States, Spain, Chile and the Organization of American States observer mission have also condemned the crime. "We are horrified by the tragic attack... Violence cannot win. Democracy can," European Union ambassador to EcuadorCharles-Michel Geurts said on X. As a journalist, Villavicencio uncovered a corruption scheme for which former president Correa (2007-2017) was sentenced to eight years in prison. Villavicencio later served as president of the legislative oversight commission, where he continued to denounce corruption. The politician had complained this month that he and his team were receiving threats allegedly coming from the leader of a criminal gang linked to drug trafficking. "Despite the new threats, we will continue fighting for the brave people of our #Ecuador," he posted on X at the time. Atamaint, head of the electoral council, also said that several members of her organization, which is responsible for supervising the ballot, had received death threats. President Lasso sent a message to Villavicencio's family. "My solidarity and my condolences with his wife and his daughters," he said in his post. The post Ecuadoran presidential candidate shot dead after rally appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Magnus White, 17-Year-Old Talented Cyclist of the U.S. National Team, Tragically Killed in Training Accident
Title: Tragic Death of Rising Cyclist Shakes Boulder Community Boulder, Colorado – The world of cycling mourns the loss of 17-year-old Magnus White, a promising.....»»
Lionel Messi signs contract with Inter Miami through 2025
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has signed a contract until 2025 with Inter Miami, the Major League Soccer team announced on Saturday. The 36-year-old striker who sparked Argentina to a World Cup title last year in Qatar, is set to be unveiled by the team in a Sunday ceremony and expected to join Inter Miami on the pitch as early as Friday. "I'm very excited to start this next step in my career with Inter Miami and in the United States," Messi, who moves from Paris Saint-Germain, said in a statement. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner's arrival in Miami has already caused a sensation and is expected to spark greater interest in the game and MLS across the United States. It's also hoped he'll revive the fortunes of a Miami squad at the bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference at 5-13 with three drawn. "This is a fantastic opportunity and together we will continue to build this beautiful project," Messi said. "The idea is to work together to achieve the objectives we set and I'm very eager to start helping here in my new home." Messi's debut match is planned for Friday when Inter Miami will host Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup, a revamped competition between MLS and Mexican league squads. It's the biggest boost for the North American league since English star David Beckham, now a co-owner of Inter Miami, joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007. He launched the MLS Miami squad in 2020 after years of trying to find a stadium site. "Ten years ago, when I started my journey to build a new team in Miami, I said that I dreamt of bringing the greatest players in the world to this amazing city, players who shared the ambition I had when I joined LA Galaxy to help grow football in the USA and to build a legacy for the next generation in this sport that we love so much," Beckham said in a statement. "Today that dream came true. "I couldn't be prouder that a player of Leo's caliber is joining our club, but I am also delighted to welcome a good friend, an amazing person, and his beautiful family to join our Inter Miami community. "The next phase of our adventure starts here and I can't wait to see Leo take to the pitch." World's greatest Inter Miami head coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino has managed Messi in two separate prior stints –- with FC Barcelona in the 2013-14 campaign, winning the 2013 Spanish SuperCup, and from 2014-2016 with the Argentine national team. Messi captained the Albiceleste to victory at the 2021 Copa America as well as the Qatar World Cup and has 103 goals in 175 appearances for Argentina. "We're overjoyed that the greatest player in the world chose Inter Miami and Major League Soccer," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "His decision is a testament to the momentum and energy behind our league and our sport in North America. We have no doubt that Lionel will show the world that MLS can be a league of choice for the best players in the game." Messi is set for a glitzy arrival ceremony on Sunday at "The Unveil" with 18,000 expected to watch his first public event with his new club, followed by his first news conference with Inter on Monday and first training session with the club on Tuesday. "I'm honored to welcome Leo Messi and his family to their new home," Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas said. "We made a promise to build an ambitious club that would attract the world's elite players... a heartfelt thank you to our fans that never stopped believing. Together we will continue to turn dreams into reality." The post Lionel Messi signs contract with Inter Miami through 2025 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Cash handout leads to stampede, 85 dead
At least 85 people were killed, including women and children, and more than 322 others were injured in a stampede during a cash handout in Sanaa, Yemen early on Thursday. Three people were detained over the incident in the rebel-held capital, after large crowds gathered at a school to receive gifts of 5,000 rial (about $8) for the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. Eyewitnesses said gunfire sparked a stampede after crowds gathered at the school to receive the handouts from a businessman. The head of the Huthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Mohamed Ali al-Huthi, blamed “overcrowding,” saying that people were packed in a narrow street leading to the school’s back entrance. Once the gates opened, the crowd streamed into a tight staircase leading to the courtyard where the distribution was taking place. “Citizens were informed a week ago that sums of money would be disbursed without ID verification,” one witness said. “People flocked in a huge way, the gate opened, and with the large numbers, the stampede happened.” Harrowing footage screened by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels’ Al Masirah TV showed a tightly packed crowd screaming and shoving, unable to move, while others attempted to haul stricken people out of the crush. Other shots showed dead bodies on the ground as the panic continued. Afterwards, piles of abandoned sandals, clothing and a crutch littered the scene, while an investigator in white protective gear collected evidence. The post Cash handout leads to stampede, 85 dead appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Janella Salvador mourns passing of Twinkie, her cat for 17 years
Actress Janella Salvador is reeling from the loss of another furry friend, this time, of her cat Twinkie whom she had looked after since 2006......»»
K-pop band’s Indonesia concert halted after 30 faint in crush
K-pop band NCT 127 was forced to end their first concert in Indonesia early after 30 people fainted in a crush, police said. Indonesia is still reeling after more than 130 people, including over 40 children, died in a stadium stampede last month–one of the deadliest disasters in football history. Police spokesperson Endra Zulpan said […] The post K-pop band’s Indonesia concert halted after 30 faint in crush appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
At least 149 killed in stampede at Halloween event in South Korea
SEOUL – At least 149 people were killed in a crush when a huge crowd celebrating Halloween surged into an alley in a nightlife area of the South Korean capital Seoul on Saturday night, emergency officials said. A further 150 people were injured in the melee in Seoul’s Itaewon district, Choi Sung-beom, head of the […] The post At least 149 killed in stampede at Halloween event in South Korea appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
‘Little kids who were still sleeping’ – Thailand mourns victims of mass killing
NA KLANG, Thailand – Pink and white coffins adorned with gold and bearing the bodies of the 22 children killed in a gun and knife rampage in Thailand were loaded onto a truck late on Thursday, October 6, 2022, and driven away in the darkness. Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, clasped his hands together […] The post ‘Little kids who were still sleeping’ – Thailand mourns victims of mass killing appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
How the Indonesia stadium disaster unfolded: minute by minute
Indonesian investigators are still assessing events that culminated in one of the deadliest disasters in the history of football. A pitch invasion and a stampede prompted by police firing tear gas in a packed Indonesian stadium on Saturday left at least 131 people dead, including 32 children. Using interviews with officials, witness accounts and verified images […] The post How the Indonesia stadium disaster unfolded: minute by minute appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
FIFA chief calls Indonesia football stadium stampede tragedy beyond comprehension
At least 174 people have died in the incident while many others were hurt as fans began invading the pitch after home team Arema FC lost to rivals Persebaya Surabaya at the Kanjuruhan Stadium......»»