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WORLD NEWS Friday 4 august 2023
Colombia begins a six-month cease-fire in hopes of forging peace

By JUAN F. VALBUENA that would demobilize all
Associated Press of the country’s remaining
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — rebel groups as well as its
Colombia and the National drug trafficking gangs. He
Liberation Army, or ELN, for- has questioned whether
mally began a six-month senior ELN leaders have full
cease-fire Thursday as part control of a younger gen-
of a process to forge a per- eration of commanders
manent peace between who he has suggested are
the government and the focused more on the illegal
country’s last remaining drug trade than on political
rebel group. goals.
The cease-fire agreement, Two factions of the ELN the
announced June 9 dur- National Urban War Front
ing talks in Havana, comes and the Northern War Front
amid skepticism among announced their endorse-
some Colombians that the ment of the cease-fire in
peace process can fully the hours before it went
end an insurgency dating into effect, saying they
back to the 1960s or halt would abide by orders of
the alleged involvement top leader García to com-
of the group’s estimated ply with its terms.
5,000 remaining members The ELN leader warned,
in drug trafficking. Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, from left, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Special Representative of however, that the group
The ELN leadership denies the Secretary-General, Monsignor Hector Henao and National Liberation Army leader Israel reserves the right to fight if
involvement in the drug Ramirez, alias Pablo Beltran, attend a ceremony to formally begin a six-month cease-fire as part attacked.
trade. of a process to forge a permanent peace between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the The ELN was founded in the
government in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023.
The agreement also called Associated Press 1960s by union leaders, stu-
for the creation of a broad- dents and priests inspired
ly representative national try, and can be extended bombings. tavo Petro, who was sworn by the Cuban revolution. It
committee to discuss a last- next January if progress is The U.N. announced in last year as the country’s has been notoriously diffi-
ing solution to the conflict. made during peace nego- Wednesday it will deploy a first leftist leader, gave new cult for previous Colombian
The first meeting of the Na- tiations. contingent of 68 observers momentum to the coun- governments to negotiate
tional Participation Com- As recently as last month, to monitor the cease-fire. try’s peace efforts, and he with.
mittee was scheduled for guerrillas were blamed for Farhan Haq, a spokesman reached the latest accord In 2016, Colombia’s gov-
later Thursday. the slayings of three Co- for U.N. Secretary-Gener- with top guerrilla com- ernment signed a peace
The cease-fire is supposed lombian police officers on al António Guterres, said mander Antonio García deal with the larger FARC
to suspend attacks be- the border with Venezuela, Thursday that Colombia’s during the talks in the Cu- group that ended five de-
tween the guerrillas and the the kidnapping of an army peace efforts “are ad- ban capital in June. cades of conflict in which
Colombian police and mili- sergeant and her two mi- vancing.” Petro has pushed for what an estimated 260,000 peo-
tary throughout the coun- nor children and several Colombian President Gus- he calls a “total peace” ple were killed.q

Highway bridge in northern China collapses due to flash floods

By SIMINA MISTREANU authorities said. A rescue ing with Blue Sky Rescue, a River exceeded safety lev- ern Shandong province,
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A operation was ongoing, nongovernmental organi- els by 50 centimeters (19.7 authorities also warned of
highway bridge in north- and a section of the high- zation focused on relief ef- inches), indicating ongoing flooding risks as water lev-
ern China collapsed due way had been closed, ac- forts, when he fell into the risks of floods. els on the Zhangwei River
to flash floods triggered by cording to state media. water in Fozizhuang Town- Meanwhile, in the east- continued to rise.q
heavy rains, and two cars China is seeing floods trig- ship, according to the or-
fell into the river, state me- gered by heavy rains in ganization.
dia reported Thursday, as several parts of the coun- His body was recovered
parts of China are experi- try. Weather authorities later.
encing the worst floods in said the capital, Beijing, re- Another rescuer was de-
decades. corded its heaviest rainfall clared dead on Wednes-
There were no known ca- in at least 140 years over day after the rubber boat
sualties as of Thursday af- the past few days as rem- she was in flipped over in a
ternoon after a bridge nants of Typhoon Doksuri rapidly flowing river.
across Mayi River collapsed deluged the region, turning One of the hardest hit ar-
along the Harbin-Mudan- streets into canals where eas was Zhuozhou, a small
jiang Highway in Heilongji- emergency crews used city in Hebei province bor-
ang province, according rubber boats to rescue dering Beijing’s southwest.
to Beijing News. Images stranded residents. About 1,000 rescue workers
published by local media A second rescuer was con- were sent to the city, and
showed two badly dam- firmed dead on Thursday more than 125,000 people
aged cars floating in the in the Beijing area and the were evacuated, accord- In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers use
water. surrounding Hebei prov- ing to state media. boat to evacuate trapped residents at an apartment submerged
The bridge collapsed ince, where the number In Heilongjiang, where the by flood water in Fangshan district on the outskirts of Beijing on
around 8:50 a.m. (0050 of casualties rose to 22. highway bridge collapsed, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
GMT) on Thursday, road Liu Jianmin, 47, was work- water levels on the Mayi Associated Press