The Council of the Naso Tjër Di indigenous region of Panama dethroned this Monday Reynaldo Alexis Santana, convicted of the rape of a minor, and appointed Ardinteo Santana as the new interim king, second in line of succession, who will rule for an initial period of five years.

“This Monday the meeting was held where the Council Board proposes that Alexis be suspended and where Ardinteo Santana assumes the position of new king,” said the president of the indigenous council, Ignacio Bonilla Torres. “Right now the new monarch is already ruling the county territory,” he stressed.

The meeting was held in the King's palace, located in the community of Siëy Shik, capital of the region, a place with difficult access and no telephone coverage near the Costa Rican border, so although the appointment of the new king was took in the early afternoon, the news took time to reach the outside.

Twenty members participated in the Council Assembly, made up of 32 community leaders, of whom 12 voted in favor of the suspension of Reynaldo Alexis Santana and eight abstained. Ardinteo Santana, 63, received the crown of feathers, the throne and the scepter from the deposed king.

“They were satisfied that I remain as first king in the position of Mr. Alexis Santana”, who was “dethroned from office”, the new monarch told EFE, who explained that initially his “interim” mandate will be five years, a time in which he hopes to fulfill the wish of the Naso people.

This decision comes after last week a court sentenced Reynaldo Alexis Santana to 5 years in prison for raping a minor. The events occurred in a town in the Naso region in 2016, when the victim was 12 years old, and after the minor's confession, the mother filed the complaint.

In addition, the court disqualified him “to exercise public functions”. However, the court accepted the request to replace the sentence with community work, triggering strong outrage.. There are 5,000 Naso living there scattered in about twenty isolated villages in the exuberant jungle of Bocas de Toro.

The Naso people, one of the seven indigenous ethnic groups of Panama together with the Emberá, Wounaan, Guna, Ngäbe, Buglé and Bri-Bri, are organized in an “assembly monarchy” led by a king.

The throne used to pass from father to son, but for some years the subjects themselves are the ones who choose the monarch among the members of the royal family who decide to stand for “elections” and those who also have the power to remove him. Reynaldo Alexis Santana competed in 2011 against a cousin and uncle, calling himself the “last indigenous king of the Americas.”

The victim of the rape, also a native of the Naso people, said last week that she felt “bad and sad because justice was not done”, at the same time that she is “scared” because “she does not want to see that person.”. According to her, Santana, on the throne since 2011, “tried” to rape her up to three times and threatened her.

“It was family, he lived behind our house. When I got home from school, I took off my uniform, I was alone and he called me. I trusted him because he was my uncle. I went, what happened happened. I didn't want to, I was 12 years old,” said the victim, now 19.

At least 17 workers were killed and several injured when a crane fell on a highway under construction in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, authorities said Tuesday.

The incident took place at midnight in the Thane district, when the crane collapsed on the workers, leaving 17 dead so far.

Emergency teams are in the area where the accident took place to help the injured and collaborate in the rescue efforts, so the number of victims could increase in the next few hours.

It is presumed that between three and five people are still trapped in the rubble, an official with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said, according to the Indian news agency PTI. So far the authorities have not indicated what may have been the causes of the collapse of this structure.

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, expressed his condolences to the families of those who died in this “tragic mishap” and announced compensation of about $2,400. Shinde also expressed his grief over the incident and ordered an extra payment of $6,000 to the families of the victims.

Accidents of this type are relatively common in India, often due to poor infrastructure and lack of maintenance. At the end of last October, at least 132 people died in western India when a suspension bridge collapsed, in the worst accident of its kind in decades in the Asian country.

At least two people have died in the past two weeks in the United States after being infected with the bacterium Naegleria fowleri, commonly known as the 'brain-eater' amoeba.. The first of the victims is a Georgia man who contracted the infection while swimming in a lake.. The second person affected is a two-year-old boy who died on July 26 when he bathed in a contaminated pool.. But what is this parasite really and how does it work?

What are the causes of infection?

Naegleria fowleri is a single-celled microbe that lives in warm freshwater from lakes, rivers or hot springs, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).. Sometimes the bacteria can also reside in soil.

Infection occurs when water containing the microbe enters the body through the nose.. Once inside, the amoeba moves up to the brain and begins to destroy the tissue. In 97% of cases the contraction of the bacteria causes death. Not all amoebas are deadly, this is the only species that affects humans in this way.

Where is it located?

The 'brain-eater' amoeba can be found anywhere in the world where there are bodies of warm freshwater, geothermal springs, sewage, swimming pools that do not meet hygienic conditions or geothermal drinking water sources.

When are you most likely to get infected?

The probability of finding the Naegleria fowleri during the summer months is much higher than during the winter, as it can survive better when the temperatures are higher. In addition, during this period people tend to go more frequently to swimming pools, lakes or rivers, causing the number of infections to increase.

What are the symptoms?

When the bacterium enters the body, it causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a brain infection whose early symptoms resemble those of bacterial meningitis.. These symptoms appear about five days after contracting the infection.

People with the 'brain-eater' bacteria experience headaches, fever, nausea or vomiting. In later stages of the infection, other symptoms may appear such as a stiff neck, confusion, inattention to others and the environment, loss of balance, seizures and hallucinations. The disease progresses rapidly and, in most cases, causes death a few days after the bacteria enter the body.

What is the risk?

The risk of contracting this disease is low, since infection by Naegleria fowleri is very rare.. However, anyone who develops symptoms after coming into contact with warm fresh water should see a doctor right away.

How to avoid infection?

To reduce the risk of infection, some measures should be carried out, such as limiting the amount of water that enters through the nose when swimming in lakes or rivers. In addition, it is advisable not to bathe in polluted water or in poorly maintained pools.

It's terrible how some landlords behave with refugees. I rented a room in a neighborhood of Madrid, very cheap, what I could afford; also very small, barely fit with my few things. Still, I hung on there out of necessity. I put the only photo I have of my children on the bedside table, an image in which they are seen in a suit, white shirt and a wonderful smile, so that I can talk to them before going to sleep and start each day seeing them, because they are my only hope.. Sometimes I think of the day we last saw each other and I start to cry.. I can't help it.

It happened one day that I was very sad, that I felt very bad. Four refugees lived in that house and I had had an argument with one of my companions. She complained to our landlady, who told me I had to leave before the end of June.. I was sick, I gave her all possible explanations, and she replied that, despite being a woman and understanding my drama, and also despite knowing that she was sick because “with that face you can't lie”, she maintained her demand.

I felt more and more dizzy and began to vomit, I had to go to the hospital, where I was admitted. My landlady called me saying that I had to leave the house and that I was going to throw away my things, to which I replied by WhatsApp that I was in the hospital, that no one should enter my room and that, when I returned, we would talk.

After twelve days I came home from the hospital, it was 5 pm and I was extremely tired. She called me saying that I had to leave at 20. As much as I told him that I couldn't, that he had nowhere to go, he didn't agree to listen to me.. The next day I had to leave the house, when I returned I found that my key did not work. “Yes, I changed the lock,” he told me over the phone, “you can't get in.” He told me that he had taken my things out and had them in his car to throw them in the street.

I called the police, who came, and they took her away. At that moment it began to rain, a heavy rain that did not stop. My stuff got soaked; I protected the photo of my children under my coat. I cried thinking that I didn't care if I lost everything, but not the only photo I have of my children. I was very disappointed, I felt poor and helpless, a homeless immigrant without a country.

The sun was going down, it was getting dark. A friend came to help me and I saw him arrive like an angel sent by God to help me.. “Don't worry, I'm with you, I'll take you to my house and we'll dry your things. You can sleep peacefully there and tomorrow we will look for another accommodation,” he told me.. How I thank you!

My computer had crashed, just like my documents. my clothes were wet. I spent the whole night wondering where I could go. The next morning Magis came to take me to his house, he prepared a room to take care of me, because I had just come out of the hospital. When he asked me how I was doing, I started crying and told him what my landlady had done the day before. He takes care of me like a daughter and I will always be grateful. I told my mother, “mom, Magis takes care of me more than you.” I stayed at his house for two weeks, he bought me medicine and helped me find a home.

At the moment I live, very quiet, with a journalist in her house with a garden. From my room there is a wonderful view. I have denounced my landlady, although I still have no news about it. This is life. I'm lucky, I have many people who care about me, friends I can trust, who don't leave me alone when I have a problem. I always think of the refugees who have no one on their side, who live on the streets. And in all those people who abuse people who are in need. We are refugees and we have rights. We are humans.

The Burmese junta announced on Tuesday a pardon for the former democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, detained since the coup d'état on February 1, 2021 and who is facing sentences that add up to 33 years in prison.

The military regime released the news in a letter, a day after announcing the extension of the state of emergency in Burma for another six months, which nullifies the possibility of holding elections this year.

More information shortly…

The II Russia-Africa Summit held on July 27 and 28 under the motto “For peace, security and prosperity” has ended in Saint Petersburg.. At the closing conference, President Putin announced the signing of agreements for the supply of defense equipment to forty African countries and has “promised” to provide free agricultural products to a number of countries attending the summit.. He has also taken the opportunity to announce that, to date, and in his own words, he has forgiven 23,000 million dollars of debt to African countries and that, in addition, he is going to invest 90 million dollars this year for development aid in the area.

At first glance, it is a factual policy that speaks of the commitment and involvement of the Russian Federation in Africa, but what lies behind this apparent generosity is the selfish need to improve its much deteriorated image as a result of the results of the war in Ukraine, of a regional power —which believed itself to be global— which only has the recourse of indiscriminate force, because its level of influence is limited to direct support for tyrannies and the confluence with the political and economic interests of autocrats and dictators, all of which is far removed from true solidarity.

The focus of attention represented by the war in Ukraine and the high tension in the Strait of Formosa seems to prevent us from seeing the growing crisis and destabilization that is taking place in Africa, where in a very short time and with little attention paid to it, three coups d'état (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger) and a civil war (Sudan). In addition, the advance of personalized jihadist Salafism in the different franchises, some alienated with Al Qaeda, and others with Daesh (ISIS), continues to be another cause for concern and instability that hits already weak state structures.. To fill the glass, the impact of climate change in previously depressed areas has finished configuring the perfect storm in countries where the political-administrative structures are impotent to solve even the most pressing needs of their population, being in the process of being failed states.

Based on the fact that Europe, the United States and other countries —with will and capacity— are aware of the magnitude of the problem and its potential for global destabilization, it is imperative to take action to slow down its consequences and reverse them as much as possible.. The level of commitment and the complexity involved in planning an intervention in a continent of the magnitude and diversity that Africa has requires all the talent and all the resources of that group of countries and also sustaining it for as long as necessary. Today, unfortunately, it is not like that; Insufficient aid and gestures of solidarity from the rest of the world do not make up even minimally for the deficiencies experienced by the continent as a whole. The problem of Africa continues to be analyzed as if it were singular and of a purely welfare nature, when what is needed is a total commitment to create infrastructures, help to train ruling elites with standards of merit, capacity and responsibility, and promote the generation of opportunities for the creation of a viable society in origin that does not consider emigration as the only way to survive.

In order to attend to security in the global arena and promote rule-based governance, it is necessary that the firm, continuous and seamless solidarity that manifests itself with Ukraine extends to that continent that feels forgotten, Africa.. We need to convince those countries of the so-called global south that the principles that encourage intervention in Ukraine are the same ones that will be applied to them when they need it and with the same dedication and intensity, otherwise we can err on the side of hypocrites and lose the credit that we have to face future challenges. The commitment must be formalized now, delays are not worth it.

Climate change ends up affecting almost every activity that takes place on the planet. As we have seen, it is having repercussions on the AMOC, the Atlantic current, which is slowing down. And if the climate crisis is suffered by the oceans, the same happens with human activities on the sea. This is the case of the Panama Canal and it is because it does not rain.

The lack of rainfall has led the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) to reduce to 32 the number of vessels that have been crossing the interoceanic route daily since this Sunday. Under normal conditions, the daily transit average is between 35 and 36 vessels.

Save water in the rainy season

And that, in theory, Panama is in the rainy season. But the fact is that the canal basin, made up of the Alajuela and Gatún lakes, has received less rainfall than in 2016 and 2019, when restrictions also had to be adopted.

But it is the first time that those responsible for the canal, inaugurated in 1914, have taken such a preventive measure.. It's all about saving water. In addition, and with the same purpose, it has been decided to restrict the draft to 13.41 meters (it is the depth that the submerged part of a ship reaches in the water), a measure that will be applied in the next 10 months.

“If I continue passing 34, 35, 36, 38 ships a day, which is what we usually do, then the lake will continue to consume the water that I have to store, to finish the lake as high as possible in December,” The deputy administrator of the ACP, Ilya Marotta, explained to CNN.

Less daily traffic, more traffic jam

Fewer daily boats means more waiting (even jam) and therefore a slowdown in ship traffic. The new measure, which came into force this Sunday, translates into a reduction of between 3 and 4 ships per day.

The ACP has warned this in the notice issued this week about the new restriction and sent to its regular customers: “A reduction in the number of daily transits for a prolonged period will increase the waiting time for some vessels, particularly those that do not get a reservation.”

The Panama Canal connects 180 maritime routes that reach 1,920 ports in 170 countries. Around 3% of world trade passes through its locks.

Less ships, less income

In the notification warning of the restrictions “until further notice”, the ACP specified that each day 22 of the ships will pass through the Miraflores Panamax locks, and 10 will do so through the larger Neopanamax locks, inaugurated in 2016 after the expansion of the Canal. .

The measures adopted will decrease the income of the channel, key for the Panamanian public coffers. In fiscal year 2022, the Panama Canal delivered to the Government the historic annual amount of 2,494.4 million dollars (about 2,260 million euros).

It doesn't rain in Panama

So far in 2023, in five and a half months there has been no significant rainfall in the Panama Canal Hydrographic Basin. That is two weeks less than the longest dry season on record, which lasted six months, explains the manager of the Panama Canal Water Division, Erick Córdoba, in El Faro, the Canal's news magazine.

We would face a very difficult 2024 if we do not manage to recover the level of the lakes”

“We would face a very difficult 2024 if the level of the lakes cannot be recovered, after all the liquid that has been necessary to use in recent months” with “almost zero” rains, Córdoba wrote.

Hard to be optimistic because since June 8, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared the start of an El Niño event. That reduces the chances of above-average rainfall for the remainder of the rainy season.

2022 already gives a clue. The last quarter of the rainy season last year was 25% below the historical average, reports the Panamanian newspaper La Prensa. The first months of this season (April, May and June) occupy the second place among the driest in the historical record.

We never knew what year a case like the one we are experiencing now would occur, but it could happen at any time.”

Freshwater scarcity is real. “It is an issue that the Panama Canal has been warning about for many years.. We simply never knew in what year a case like the one we are experiencing now would occur, but it could happen at any time,” said the Canal's administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, last June.

The consequences of reducing the draft

The lack of precipitation has affected the artificial lakes that feed the Panama Canal. These supply more than 50% of the population of Panama, so the draft was also reduced to 13.41 meters (44 feet).. And that matters.

The reduction in draft offered to the huge merchant ships that cross the interoceanic route has consequences. With less draft, ships are forced to reduce their cargo volume when crossing the Canal.

So that 3% of world trade that uses this seaway is going to suffer the consequences. If there was traffic jam from time to time, now there will be more because fewer ships will pass each day; boats that, in addition, will do so with less cargo due to the reduction in draft. It needs to rain in Panama.

Last Wednesday night, a group of soldiers appeared on Niger's national television and announced the removal of President Mohamed Bazoum.. A coup. Members of the presidential guard detained the president inside the presidential palace, blocked the entrances to the ministries and closed the country's borders. Later, they appointed General Abdourrahmane Tiani as head of state.

Bazoum, who was a professor of philosophy, was the president-elect of Niger after the second round of the presidential elections held in February 2021, which he won at the head of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism. He replaced Mahamadou Issoufou, who has been the country's president since 2011.

But most importantly: since Niger's independence in 1960, Bazoum was the first elected leader to succeed another. Since that year, the country has experienced four coups (and several failed attempts).. The normality that was believed to have been achieved has already been cut short.

What happened in Niger could be another coup d'état, from another African country, from another poor nation. But there is something about this case for the military uprising to have surprised and alerted the West. What is there in Niger for the European Union and the United States to watch events with deep concern?

A brake on jihadism

Niger is a key part of Africa's Sahel region, a belt of land that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.. The area is plagued by jihadists and harassed by military regimes where uprisings and riots take place year after year.. In that context, Niger was the West's biggest ally in the region.

Bazoum's Niger has been seen as a bulwark against such unrest and the spread of Russian influence in the region.. In fact, it houses French military bases (France has 1,500 soldiers there) and Americans. Along these lines, the ousted government was considered a key partner in the fight against armed jihadism.

In the US, the State Department described Niger as “important as an axis for stability in the Sahel” and “a reliable partner in the fight against terrorism” against various Islamist groups linked to the Islamic State or Al Qaeda.. For this reason, the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, has called for the immediate release of President Bazoum.

and to immigration

To a lesser extent, Europe cared about the continuity of President Bazoum because he has helped stop, or at least order, the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean. He has even agreed to take hundreds of migrants back from Libyan detention centers.

Furthermore, until now, Niger has been a key transit point for human smugglers between other West African countries and those further north.. Bazoum had also taken action against such trafficking.

Nuclear France needs uranium

French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Friday that the coup in Niger was “deeply dangerous” for the country and the region, and urged the release of President Bazoum.. “France absolutely and firmly condemns the coup against a democratically elected leader,” he declared from Papua New Guinea.

France “does not recognize the authorities resulting from the coup led by General Tchiani,” said a statement from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.. But why does Niger worry Macron so much? Uranium, the explanation is in the uranium.

France has 19 nuclear power plants totaling 56 reactors. In normal times, it is the second largest producer of nuclear electricity in the world (although last year, 32 of those reactors were shut down due to corrosion and maintenance problems).. In addition, the French Government announced in 2022 the construction of up to 14 new nuclear reactors and that it would prolong the life of existing ones.

And where is uranium?

In 2020, nuclear power accounted for 67% of total French electricity production. France is the state of the European Union in which more electricity is generated through uranium. The country depends on nuclear energy, that is, on uranium. And in France there is no uranium.

But in Niger, yes. The African country produces 7% of the entire world supply of this radioactive metal and is the third largest producer in the world.. In the Niger desert are some of the world's largest reserves of uranium. Its exploitation supposes for the country 31% of its income from exports.

Cheers to Russia and Putin

Yet the standard of living for Nigeriens is one of the lowest in the world.. Profits from the sale of uranium flow to few, so Niger's economy is based on herding and agriculture.

For this reason, this Sunday, in a demonstration around the French Embassy in the capital of Niger, hundreds of people cheered Russia and Vladimir Putin, while launching slogans against France. Some even stoned the diplomatic mission and set fire to one of its entrances.

More saber rattling?

Macron has responded by assuring that “it will not tolerate any attack against France and its interests” and that Paris “will immediately respond” to any act of violence against “French citizens, the Army, diplomats and French rights of passage”.. France, a former colonial power, and the European Union have suspended security cooperation and financial aid.

Opposite, the Nigerien military who overthrew Bazoum have accused France of wanting to “intervene militarily” to restore him to office. For now, the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States, meeting in an extraordinary summit this Sunday in neighboring Nigeria, have threatened the coup leaders with military intervention if they do not reinstate the president.

And what is the Wagner group doing here?

The only voice in favor of the coup has been that of the leader of the Russian group Wagner, who has apparently described it as a triumph.. “What has happened in Niger is nothing more than the struggle of the Nigerien people against their colonizers,” Yevgeny Prigozhin told a Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel, though his comments have not been independently verified.

Wagner mercenaries, active elsewhere in the Sahel region, are seen as exerting their influence in Niger. It is already being felt in Mali and Burkina Faso. Before these countries, Russia presents itself as an alternative to France to give them stability. In this way, Moscow gains influence in Africa and votes in the UN, when, for example, it has to vote or condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.