A Thai court has approved the request of the Police to arrest the Spanish citizen Daniel Sancho, arrested for the murder of the Colombian Edwin Arrieta Arteaga last Tuesday in a hotel on the island of Koh Phangan, in the southeast of the country.

The order has been approved by the Provincial Court of Koh Samui after the DNA test of the human remains found inside a sack of fertilizer in a garbage container the night of the murder of Arrieta Arteaga, the commissioner of the Provincial Police of Koh Samui reported. the 8th Region, General Surapong Thanomji.

The remains, found on Thursday, actually belong to the Colombian citizen according to the results of the genetic test carried out.

Daniel Sancho, 29, remains in custody at the Phagan Police Station, accused of murder, concealment of the body and tampering with the body by dismembering the body of the deceased to hide his remains.

The young man, the son of actor Rodolfo Sancho, was arrested the day after the remains were found and ended up confessing to the crime, according to the police report collected by the Bangkok Post.

The Russian Army carried out a massive attack on targets in western Ukraine on Sunday, which responded with attacks on the supply routes of Russian forces in the annexed regions of Kherson and Crimea, in the south of the country.

“The Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive strike with high-precision, long-range airborne and naval weapons against Ukrainian Army airbases in the towns of Starokonstantiniv in the Khmelnitsk region and Dubno in Rivna,” Igor Konashenkov said. , spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry.

According to the military spokesman, the attack achieved its purpose and “all the intended targets were hit.”

Deep attacks on Ukraine

The Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelensky, denounced that these attacks were aimed at the Zaporizhia 'Motor Sich' factory, which produced engines for combat aircraft for the Ukrainian Air Force, including drones, and others, without specifying, in the region of Khmelintsk.

Zelensky pointed out that this will not lead Russia to victory because “we will in any case defend the freedom of Ukraine, of all our people. Russia will not be able to supplant international law with terror.”

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that there were several waves of attacks with “Iranian Shahed-136/131 air- and naval-site missiles and assault drones.”

During the first wave of the Russian attack, 14 Kalibr naval-based missiles were launched, twelve of which were shot down, and three Kinzhal missiles, the destination of which was not specified by the Ukrainian side.

Subsequently, Russia again launched drones and Kalibr missiles from the south, to which were added X-101/X-555 cruise missiles “launched by Tu-95M strategic aircraft from the Caspian Sea.”

According to the Ukrainian Air Force all the drones were shot down, as were five of the six Kalibr missiles and 13 of the 20 X-101/X-555 missiles.

“In total the enemy launched 70 aerial shells,” the Ukrainian side said.

Bloody bombing of Russia

In addition, Kiev denounced a Russian bomb attack directed against a blood bank in the Kharkov region, in the east of the country, as a result of which two people died and four others were injured.

“The Russians launched a bomb directed at a building in the town of Kruglákivka, in the Kupiansk district, and a big fire broke out,” reported the head of the Kharkiv military administration, Oleg Sinegubov, quoted by UNIAN.

The Russian forces that resist the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the southern sector of the front have taken the opportunity to advance into the Kharkov region, where the day before they claimed to have taken a town.

Answers from Ukraine

The Ukrainian Army responded by launching several missiles on Sunday against the Chongar bridge, one of those that connects the annexed Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Crimea.

“The enemy carried out a missile attack in the vicinity of the Chongar bridge in northern Crimea,” Crimean leader Sergei Axionov said on Telegram.

According to the pro-Russian representative, “part of the missiles was shot down, but one hit the target. There is damage to the pavement of the automobile bridge, the repairs have already begun. There are no victims.”

For his part, the acting governor imposed by Russia in Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, said the attack was carried out with British Storm Shadow missiles.

This is the second attack against this bridge after the one perpetrated on June 22, and is intended to hinder the transit of Russian troops from the Crimean peninsula to eastern Ukraine.

In addition, Ukraine launched another drone in the direction of Moscow, which was shot down by Russian anti-aircraft defense in the Podolsk district, less than 20 kilometers south of the Russian capital, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Ukraine has attacked buildings in Moskva City, the financial heart of Moscow, with aerial drones in recent weeks, calling into question Russia's anti-aircraft security.

German car firm Porsche has received a torrent of criticism for removing Lisbon's famous Cristo Rei monument in a video celebrating 60 years of the iconic 911 model.

The controversial ad, which shows luxury Porsche cars touring the mountains of Portugal, has been removed from the automaker's YouTube channel but remains on its website.

In the spot, a woman's red Porsche speeds across Lisbon's 25 de Abril Bridge, from where you can usually see the iconic Cristo Rei (Christ the King) statue overlooking the capital.

But the famous landmark, which was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was removed and Porsche opted to show only the 23-meter concrete plinth.

The statue dates from the 1950s and was erected to express gratitude for the Portuguese surviving World War II, as the country was officially neutral.

It represents Christ with his arms raised, blessing the city of Lisbon. Visitors can enjoy stunning views of the capital from the 75 m high observation deck.

Pope Francis has encouraged the young people present at the sending mass of World Youth Day in Lisbon (WYD) to “not be afraid”, he has pointed out that today a “flash of light” is needed in the face of “so much darkness ” and has asked them not to get carried away by “discouragement” and to continue with their dreams of “changing the world”.

“You who cultivate big dreams, but sometimes clouded by the fear of not seeing them come true. To you who sometimes think that you will not be able. A little pessimism creeps in sometimes. To you young people tempted at this time by discouragement, perhaps by judging yourselves failures or by trying to hide the pain by disguising it with a smile. To you young people who want to change the world and it is good that you want to change the world. To you who want to fight for justice and peace”, the Pontiff indicated, while adding “do not be afraid”.

This was expressed by the Pontiff this Sunday at the WYD sending Mass, which has brought together nearly one and a half million pilgrims in Parque Tejo in Lisbon, according to Vatican Media, citing data from the Portuguese authorities.. In addition, some 700 bishops and 10,000 concelebrants from around the world concelebrated with the pope at the mass.

“To you young people who put desire and creativity into life, but who think that it is not enough. To you young people that the Church and the world need the earth, it needs the rain; To you, young people, who are the present and the future, yes, precisely to you, young people, today Jesus says: Do not be afraid”, Francis remarked, inviting those present to observe a moment of silence to repeat these words.

The Pope stressed that what they have experienced “together” at WYD in Lisbon is “beautiful” and, from now on, he has encouraged the young people to return to their daily lives by putting into practice three verbs: “shine, listen and do not be afraid”.

Regarding the first, to shine, Pope Francis indicated that “some light” is needed today, a “flash of light” that is “hope to face so many darknesses that assail life, so many daily defeats” and he warned the boys and girls that being luminous does not mean placing themselves under some “reflectors” but to stop being “selfish” to do “labors of love”.

“Today we also need some light, a flash of light that is hope to face so many darknesses that assail us in life,” he said, while adding that a person is not luminous when he shows “a perfect image, well neat, well finished”. “No, no, even if we feel strong, successful, but not bright. We become luminous, we shine when welcoming Jesus we learn to love like Him”, he has deepened.

Regarding the second verb, the Pontiff urged young people to “listen to Jesus” and to be “beware of selfishness disguised as love”; and, finally, he has insisted that they “do not be afraid”.

The Pope announced at the end of the mass that the next WYD will be held in Seoul in 2027 and affirmed that thus “that from the western border of Europe it will move to the Far East and these are symbols of the universality of the Church.”

At least 24 people have died this Sunday in central Morocco when a van plunged down a ravine in the province of Azilal, as confirmed by the authorities.

The incident appears to have occurred when the driver of the vehicle lost control on a curve and ended up at the bottom of a ravine.

The occupants were going to a market in the city of Demnate when the tragedy occurred, authorities have reported to the Nador City portal.

Members of the Royal Gendarmerie and Civil Protection have been dispatched to the scene to recover the victims and more accurately determine the causes of the incident.

After the fall, the vehicle has been completely destroyed.

The passions unleashed by football are comparable to few things, and can sometimes be treacherous. This is what Vincenzo La Porta must think, a mafia boss on the run from justice who has been arrested after being seen celebrating the scudetto of his team, Napoli.

Vincenzo La Porta, 60, had been on the run from the law for 11 years until he was identified in a photo of Napoli fans celebrating the team's first Serie A victory in 33 years.

The image, released by the carabinieri, showed a group enjoying victory at an Italian restaurant on the Greek island of Corfu, with La Porta holding a blue and white scarf.

La Porta, who is associated with the Camorra, was later detained while riding his moped on Friday, after being identified in the image.

Greek police confirmed that he appeared in court this Saturday and will remain in jail until the judges decide on his extradition to Italy.

The Italian authorities are requesting his extradition so that he can serve a 14-year sentence for conspiracy, tax evasion and fraud, for which he was convicted in absentia. La Porta was on the list of Italy's 100 most wanted criminals after fleeing justice in the early 2010s.

The owner of a local restaurant in Corfu told police that La Porta had been working for him as an assistant chef for the past month while staying low-profile on the island.

A carabinieri spokesman said: “He was betrayed by his passion for football and for the Napoli team.. With the championship win, La Porta couldn't resist celebrating.”

The Spanish Daniel Sancho Bronchano acknowledged this Sunday that he is guilty of the murder in Thailand of his Colombian friend Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, and that he did it because he felt like his hostage.

“I am guilty, but I was Edwin's hostage. held me hostage. It was a glass cage, but it was a cage. It made me destroy my relationship with my girlfriend, it forced me to do things I would never have done,” Sancho said during a conversation in front of his Thai public defenders and several officers at the Koh Phangan police station, where he is being held.

Sancho, 29, the son of Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, has been in police custody since Friday and pleaded guilty to Arrieta's murder and dismemberment on Saturday, although no formal charges have yet been filed against him.

Asked if he felt forced by police to plead guilty, he replied: “I didn't feel comfortable, but I didn't feel forced either.”

“I felt like I didn't have any other choice either.. They took DNA tests and that's it. He deceived me, he made me believe that what he wanted was to do business with me, put money in the company of which I am a partner. That we do things together, that we go to Mexico, Chile, Colombia, to open a restaurant. But it was all a lie. The only thing she wanted was me, to be her boyfriend,” he said.

Sancho, who arrived in Thailand on July 30 and on the island of Phangan on August 1, recounted that the Colombian surgeon decided to join his trip: “Every time I tried to get away from him, he threatened me,” he added.

Has kept in touch with family and friends

The suspect insisted during the conversation that the Thai authorities were treating him well, and that “no one has hit me or hurt me”, revealing that he had spoken during his detention with his father and friends.

Regarding his father, actor Rodolfo Sancho, he said he believed he was on his way to Thailand and would arrive in Samui on Monday or Tuesday.

Thai agents today took Sancho to different parts of the island to reconstruct the crime, police sources confirmed, including Haad Rin beach, where the young man was supposedly with Arrieta shortly before his disappearance.

Arrieta, 44, was a surgeon from the Colombian town of Lorica, in the department of Córdoba (north).

“Edwin's departure hurts in our souls. Great human being, friend and excellent professional. Our most sincere condolences and a big hug for all his relatives,” Carlos Ordosgoitia, mayor of Montería, the capital of Córdoba, wrote on his Twitter account.

The Arrieta family reported this Saturday that they will not make statements so as not to hinder the investigation into his murder.

The Thai Police have made public the images of Daniel Sancho, son of the Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, and Edwin Arrieta riding together on a motorcycle through the streets of the Thai island of Koh Phangan, the same day the murder was committed.

The name of the alleged perpetrator of the crime provided by the police coincides with that of the son of actor Rodolfo Sancho, grandson of actor Sancho Gracia, as well as the photographs provided by the Thai police.

Sancho's visa has been revoked and evidence against him is expected to be presented before a judge to order his arrest, something that could happen in the next few hours.

According to police sources, the young man must now accompany the police to the places where he allegedly threw different parts of the dismembered body of the Colombian, including the sea.

First he reported the disappearance of his friend

Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, 29, reported Thursday the disappearance of his friend Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, 44, a Colombian national, who allegedly arrived on the island a day earlier.

Following Sancho's complaint, a garbage service worker found that same day a severed pelvis and remains of human intestines in a bag of fertilizers thrown into a landfill on the island.. It was then that the police began to investigate the case as a murder.

The search continued on Friday at the same dump and more human remains were found: there was a bag with two lower limb parts, a pair of shorts and a pair of red underpants, supposedly belonging to the victim.

Investigating officers discovered that Sancho had purchased a knife, rubber gloves, a kitchen sponge, a cleaning pad and a bottle of detergent on Tuesday.

Likewise, the police said that the Spaniard was captured by security cameras earlier this week buying knives, a saw and garbage bags, and that they have searched his accommodation on the island located in the Gulf of Thailand and known for its Christmas parties. full moon.

Upon checking their hotel room, they realized that the refrigerator, bathroom, and kitchen sink had been washed, but in the drains they found traces of blood, grease, and hair.

Sancho confessed to the crime after being interrogated

The Spaniard was extensively interrogated throughout Friday by the Thai police and this Saturday he confessed to having murdered him and dismembered his body, apparently out of “jealousy” and “fear” that Arrieta would deceive him.

The Siamese police suspected Sancho from the first moment, since he had scratches and cuts when he filed the complaint for the disappearance of Edwin Arrieta. Apparently, both already knew each other before and arrived in Thailand for a vacation between July 31 and August 3.

The Thai police have not yet identified the body and had previously indicated that they were looking for the rest of the members, especially the head.

Alexéi Navalni, leader of the Russian opposition and number one enemy of President Vladimir Putin, will not see the light of day until 2050. This Friday a new trial was held in which the Russian Justice has sentenced the Russian opposition leader to another 19 years in prison for extremism, after denouncing corruption in the upper echelons of Russian power.

In a quick trial, the judge of the Moscow Urban Court has handed down a sentence against Navalni in just a few minutes. The sentence has taken place inside the prison where he is serving a nine-year sentence for fraud.

In contrast, the Russian leader, who would have ordered his poisoning in 2020, according to Navalni himself, has attended the meeting of the Russian Security Council. He watches over internal stability, supposedly threatened by the supposed fifth column of the opposition.

He asks his supporters to “resist”

After the sentence, on the social network X (formerly Twitter), he has asked his supporters to resist against the Kremlin. Likewise, he has also stated that this sentence is not only his, but will have a negative impact on the entire Russian society. “You, not me, are being scared and deprived of the will to resist.”

Society is being forced “to surrender their country, Russia, without a fight to a gang of traitors, thieves and scoundrels who have seized power.”. “Putin must not achieve his goal. Do not lose the will to resist,” he asserted.

For now, his supporters have called a global protest campaign: “Putin, murderer”. This will take place on August 20, thus coinciding with the third anniversary of the poisoning of its leader. “Fear, violence, murder, that's what has sustained the Putin regime for 20 years. Putin, murderer. Let's shout it as loud as possible,” the ad reads.

The US charges against his sentence

The United States Department of State has expressed this Friday its rejection and disapproval of the sentence received by the Russian opponent. “It's an unfair conclusion to an unfair trial.”

“By conducting this latest trial in secret and limiting the access of his lawyers to the alleged evidence, the Russian authorities once again illustrate both the baselessness of his case and the lack of due process for those who dare to criticize the regime”, they have denounced.

“We will closely follow their cases and advocate for the release of all those unjustly detained.. We once again join Navalni's family, friends and supporters around the world in calling for his immediate release and an end to the continued repression of independent voices in Russia.”

Special regime in prison

The opponent, who is currently 47 years old, will serve this sentence imposed in a prison with a special regime. This is where recidivist prisoners or those who have been sentenced to life imprisonment are held.. As the local press has clarified, he could be transferred to a penitentiary without access to visits or correspondence.

At the hearing held this Friday in the Vladimir region, 200 kilometers from the country's capital, Navalni appeared smiling. However, the prison prevented the entry of his parents and journalists, who had to follow the hearing on television.

As he had foreseen, he would receive a “Stalinist” sentence of 18 years, something that has almost been fulfilled. However, this sentence could be extended, as he still has to be tried by a military court for terrorism.. According to his forecasts, this could lead to another 10 years in prison.

As a consequence, and for the moment, he will not be released while Vladimir Putin remains in power.. This, probably, will be presented to the elections that will take place next 2024, according to the parliamentary opposition.

“Nineteen years of special regime. The number doesn't matter.. I fully understand, like many political prisoners, that I am serving a life sentence,” Navalni wrote on his Telegram channel.

Denunciations of Kremlin corruption

Since entering prison, the opponent has condemned the “criminal war” launched by Russia against Ukraine. As a consequence, he accused the Kremlin leader of sending thousands of Russian civilians “to the slaughterhouse”.. However, this is not the reason for his conviction.

The opponent, whose name and surnames the Russian leader refuses to pronounce, is accused of creating an extremist organization. This incrimination corresponds to the Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK), which began in 2011 and was outlawed two years ago.

This group denounced the illegal appropriation of capital by high-ranking officials, including Putin, whom he accused in 2021 of having a luxurious palace on the shores of the Black Sea.. However, he is not the only defendant, as an investigation into the fortune of the Prime Minister, Dmitri Medvedev, the Attorney General or other charges, including directors of state banks, have also been published.

Likewise, he was also sentenced for financing and urging extremist activities, as well as for creating an organization that violated the rights of citizens.

The political and social future of Niger begins and ends this Sunday. The Economic Community of West African States (Cedeao) issued an ultimatum last Wednesday to the coup junta in Niger to return power to Mohamed Bazoum, the president deposed at the end of July. The response of the coup leaders was resounding.. They refuse to comply with what ECOWAS demands, despite the fact that four of the 15 countries that make up the group —Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Benin— are willing to take up arms against the coup leaders in Niger who, for their part, , are supported by Mali and Burkina Faso.

“A military intervention is a reason for an armed conflict and the coup plotters have the partial support of the population”. The reflection, shared 20 minutes later by Frédéric Mertens —expert in International Relations and professor at the European University— reveals one of the great fears that the international community faces after the coup d'état in Niger: that the country enters a civil war .

At the end of last month, a group of soldiers overthrew the country's president, Mohamed Bazoum, who won the elections held in February 2021 at the head of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism.. The members of the presidential guard held the president inside the presidential palace, closed the borders and appointed General Abdourahmane Tiani as head of state.

The problem goes far beyond a conflict between civilians in an impoverished nation.. The interests of the great powers, such as China or Russia, are at stake. “This war would have to be located in the West,” says Mertens. The European Union and the United States are concerned about the situation in Niger, their great ally within the belt that extends from the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea, an area plagued by jihadists and military regimes.

Not only economic interests come into play, but geopolitical ones against the West. “The Wagner Group is the executing arm of Putin” which is trying to “weaken the Western presence and influence” on the African continent, as Mertens explains.. “Two countries – Mali and Burkina Faso – have also been rocked by civil wars and there were Wagner's troops.”

For now, in anticipation of what the situation in Niger may bring, an A330 plane from the Air Force landed this past Friday with dozens of Spaniards evacuated from the African country. An evacuation that adds to those previously carried out by France and Germany to repatriate their people. The Gauls took 1,079 people out of the country, most of them French.

A conflict in Niger could generate tensions between the powers that are acting on the African continent. “There is not going to be any kind of war between them”, especially since “Russia does not have the resources to stay in an armed conflict” elsewhere, but other countries could enter. “If a French soldier dies because of a Nigerien, I don't think Macron will have a problem intervening or carrying out a military operation to protect his troops,” the expert pointed out.

Can an episode similar to the Vietnam War be repeated? “The Americans were directly involved in that conflict, but behind them were the Soviets and the Chinese supplying the Vietnamese with weapons,” explains Mertens.. These days, the United States has shown itself to be in favor of “putting pressure” on the coup leaders, but did not clarify whether it would support a military intervention to restore “constitutional order in the country,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.

What seems clear is that Putin's hand would be behind this movement in a country rich in natural resources.. A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry revealed on Friday that its intelligence services detect “growing pro-Russian propaganda” and “a disinformation campaign” since the coup.

“Russia, in case the West weakens, wants support in Africa,” says Mertens. It could be compared to a puzzle: “If I move a piece in Ukraine, I have to move another in Niger or wherever”. The key now is to wait for what the next steps will be. “If Putin has not assassinated the president yet, it is because he needs it,” he says. “Perhaps he has let him live in exchange for him doing his dirty work on the mainland.”