Ecuador’s biggest city ‘a desert’ as state tries to restore order after gang violence

A soldier patrols in a commercial area, in the aftermath of a wave a violence, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Thursday. Photograph: Iván Alvarado/Reuters

Guayaquil eerily quiet as armed forces patrol in wake of stunning wave of arson, bombings and prison riots that killed as many as 15

Tom Phillips in Guayaquil

Ecuador’s largest city has been transformed into a virtual ghost town by a stunning wave of criminal violence that prompted the South American country’s recently elected president to declare his country was in “a state of war”.Read the rest

Guterres warns against Red Sea escalation

© Unsplash/Angus Gray Attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea have severely disrupted international shipping. (file)

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged countries to avoid an escalation in the situation in the Red Sea, where Houthi rebels in Yemen have been attacking commercial vessels amid the ongoing war in Gaza.


The UN chief’s appeal came a day after the United States and the United Kingdom, with the support of other countries, launched airstrikes across multiple parts of Yemen in response.… Read the rest

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