Ecuador is struggling to bring spiraling violence under control, with mayors fearing for their lives and the national government recognizing an increase in extortion and kidnapping amid a 90-day state of emergency declared to tackle criminal groups.
Over the weekend the country's youngest mayor, 27-year-old Brigitte Garcia, and her head of communications were found dead of gunshot wounds, according to Ecuador's police.
The slaying, decried as an assassination by some politicians, follows an explosion of unrest in January, when gunmen stormed a live television broadcast and scores of prison staff were taken hostage, while police officers were kidnapped.
In response, the government of President Daniel Noboa ordered widespread security force operations. Between Jan. 9 and March 10, almost 13,000 people were arrested, according to the government, 280 for alleged connections to terrorism.
Security in Ecuador has worsened since the coronavirus pandemic, which also battered the Andean nation's economy.
Noboa's predecessor President Guillermo Lasso struggled to control violence and resorted to measures like relaxing gun controls to allow civilians to defend themselves.
The number of violent deaths rose to 7,994 in 2023, according to police, up nearly two-thirds on the 2022 figure. The violence crossed into the political arena last year when anti-corruption presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated.
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.