Ecuadorian forces have revealed how they captured the country’s most-wanted man, drug lord Adolfo “Fito” Macías, more than a year after his brazen prison escape prompted the president to declare an internal armed conflict to crack down on the country’s most violent gangs.

After an almost 18-month manhunt for the leader of the criminal group Los Choneros, the Ecuadorian Security Bloc made a breakthrough on June 25. They obtained intelligence that alerted them to a luxurious home in the province of Manabí, the gang’s longtime stronghold for drug operations.

Authorities immediately traveled to the area and launched a 10-hour operation to try to find and capture the notorious gangster. To prevent the raid from being thwarted, the military and police shut down access within a 15-block radius so no one could enter or leave the site.

Special teams from the armed forces eventually entered the property to gather more information and take control of the house.

It was a fully equipped villa, featuring a pool, a gym, appliances, a game room, marble-like walls, and features that indicated the property was still under construction.

In one area of the house, there was a perfectly camouflaged hole in the floor, containing a bunker with hidden access and air conditioning.

“Police and armed forces on the scene began conducting a search with instruments to see where alias ‘Fito’ was hiding,” Ecuador’s Interior Minister John Reimberg said.

A surveillance flight had identified an irregular crop field behind the house, so authorities requested the use of excavators to locate the drug lord.

“They started to excavate. As soon as this happened, Fito panicked because if we continued, the roof of his bunker would collapse. At that moment, he opened the hatch, where the military was already located, and climbed out of the hole where he was hiding. That’s how we detained him,” Reimberg said.

Soldiers pinned Macías to the ground, pointed weapons at him and ordered him to say his full name out loud.

“Adolfo Macías Villamar,” he said while lying on the floor with his hands behind his back, footage from the army showed.

After the operation, authorities arrested Macías, along with four other men identified as part of his security detail.

Macías was immediately transferred to the Manta Air Base and then to the Guayaquil Air Base. From there, he was taken to the maximum-security La Roca prison, located in the Guayaquil prison complex, behind La Regional prison, from where he escaped in January 2024.

A photo later released by the interior ministry showed the drug lord locked inside his cell.

President Daniel Noboa said Ecuador is working to extradite him to the United States – where he faces drugs and weapons charges – and is awaiting a response from American officials.

Macías is one of Ecuador’s most notorious gangsters and is the only founding member of Los Choneros believed to still be alive. In 2011 he was sentenced “for a string of crimes, including homicides and narcotics trafficking,” according to think tank Insight Crime, but sprung out of jail in February 2013 before being recaptured months later.

Little is known about his life prior to crime, but he gained a reputation for being the gang’s money laundering expert while incarcerated for over a decade.

Before he fled prison in 2024, the government was planning on moving Macías to a higher-security facility. Noboa’s press secretary told a local channel that the news had likely reached Macías and prompted him to make his escape.

Min Young-jae has not seen or heard anything about her eldest brother for 75 years. He was 19 and she was only 2 when, during the early days of the Korean War, he was kidnapped to the North.

Their peaceful days were shattered on June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded the South. The three-year war would kill more than 847,000 troops and about 522,000 civilians from both sides, and tear apart more than 100,000 families, including Min’s.

After the war, the family kept the rusting doors of their tile-roofed house open, in hopes that their eldest would one day return. But over time, barbed wire has been installed between the two Koreas, and a modern apartment complex has replaced the house.

Though 75 years have passed without a single word about or from the brother, Min and her siblings remain hopeful that they will hear about him some day. Or, if not him, then his children or grandchildren.

A happy family

The family lived in Dangnim village, nestled between green mountains on the western side of Chuncheon city, nearly 100 kilometers northeast of Seoul. It was a village of chirping birds, streaming water and chugging tractors.

It was also dangerously close to the 38th parallel, which divided the peninsula after World War II.

Min Young-jae, the youngest of seven, does not remember fighting with any of her siblings growing up; only sharing tofu that her parents made, splashing in the stream and being carried around on her eldest brother’s shoulders.

Handsome, kind and smart, Min Young-sun was studying at the Chuncheon National University of Education, following in the footsteps of his father, the principal of Dangnim Elementary School.

“His nickname was ‘Math Whiz.’ He excelled in math, even his classmates called him Math Whiz,” Min Jeong-ja, the fifth child of the family, said.

Some days, students followed him all the way home, as he commuted via train and boat, asking him to teach math, the sisters recalled.

The sisters remember Min Young-sun as a caring brother. They caught fish and splashed in the nearby stream, now widely covered with reeds and weeds and almost out of water.

“We grew up in real happiness,” Min Jeong-ja said.

Torn apart

Living near the frontier between the newly separated Koreas – backed by the rival ideological forces of communism or capitalism – Min’s family was among the first to experience the horrors of the Korean War.

When Kim Il Sung’s North Korean troops invaded, Min Jeong-ja remembers seeing her grandmother running in tears, with a cow in tow, screaming: “We’re in a war!”

“We all spread out and hid in the mountains, because we were scared. One day, we hid the 4-year-old, Young-jae, in the bushes and forgot to bring her back because we had so many siblings. When we returned that night, she was still there, not even crying,” Min Jeong-ja said.

While the family was running in and out of the mountains, taking shelter from the troops coming from the North, Min Young-sun was kidnapped, taken to the North by his teacher.

“The teacher gathered smart students and hauled them (away). He took several students, tens of them. Took them to the North,” Min Jeong-ja said.

It is unknown why the teacher would have kidnapped the students to North Korea, but the South Korean government assumes that Pyongyang had abducted South Koreans to supplement its military.

“People called the teacher a commie,” Min Jeong-ja said.

That heartache was soon followed by another: the death of the second-eldest brother. He died of shock and pain, in deep sorrow from the kidnap of his brother, according to the sisters.

“The grief was huge. Our parents lost two sons… imagine how heartbreaking that would be,” Min Jeong-ja said.

For their father, the pain of losing two sons was overwhelming. He developed a panic disorder, she said, and would struggle to work for the rest of his life.

“He couldn’t go outside; he stayed home all the time. And because he was hugely shocked, he struggled going through day-to-day life. So, our mom went out (to work) and suffered a lot,” Min Young-jae said.

The mother jumped into earning a living for the remaining five children and her husband. Still, every morning she prayed for Min Young-sun, filling a bowl with pure water as part of a Korean folk ritual and leaving the first scoop of the family’s rice serving that day in a bowl for a son whom she believed would return one day.

“She couldn’t move house; in case the brother cannot find his way back home. She wouldn’t let us change anything of the house, not even the doors. That’s how she waited for him… We waited for so long, and time just passed,” Min Jeong-ja said.

The pain continues

Min Jeong-ja was 8 years old when the war started, but witnessed brutality that would overwhelm many adults.

“So many kids died. When I went out to the river to wash clothes, I occasionally saw bodies of children floating,” she recalled.

She remembers witnessing North Korean soldiers lining up people in a barley field, and shooting at them with submachine guns. “Then one by one, they fell on the barley field.”

“I saw too much. At one point – I didn’t even know if the soldier was a South Korean or North Korean – but I saw beheaded remains.”

The Min family is one of many torn apart by the war. More than 134,000 people are still waiting to hear from their loved ones believed to be in North Korea, which is now one of the world’s most reclusive states, with travel between the two countries nigh-on impossible.

Years after the Korean War, the two Koreas discussed organizing reunions for the separated families that have been identified from both sides through the Red Cross and both governments.

The first reunion happened in 1985, more than 30 years after the ceasefire agreement was signed, and the annual reunions kicked off in 2000, when many first-hand war victims were still alive, but occasionally halted when tensions escalated on the peninsula.

Once the two governments agree on a reunion date, one of the two Koreas selects families, prioritizing the elderly and immediate relatives, then shares the list with the other, which would cross check the family on its side to confirm the list of around 100 members.

The selected families would meet at an office specifically built for reunions at the Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea.

The Min siblings applied to the Red Cross at least five times and listed themselves under the South Korean government as a separated family. But there was never any word on their brother’s whereabouts from the other side.

As 75 years passed, the siblings grew up, got married, and formed their own families – but questions about their stolen brother linger.

Even worse, the annual reunions of separated families have been halted since 2018, following failed summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, while first-hand victims of the war age and pass away.

The Kumgang resort was dismantled by the North in 2022, also amid strained tensions.

But the siblings, following their parents’ wishes, still hope to connect with Min Young-sun, who would now be 94 years old.

“It’s been a long time since we were separated, but I would be so grateful if you’re alive. And if you’re not, I still would love to meet your children. I want to share the love of family, remembering the happy days of the past… I love you, thank you.”

She and the siblings remember the kidnapped brother by singing his favorite song, “Thinking of My Brother,” a children’s song about a brother that never returned.

“My brother, you said you would come back from Seoul with silk shoes,” Min Young-jae sang, while her sister wiped away tears.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed an agreement with the Council of Europe (CoE) to create a tribunal that would allow for the prosecution of senior Russian officials who have led the war on Ukraine.

Zelensky signed the accord on Wednesday alongside CoE Secretary General Alain Berset in the French city of Strasbourg, where the organization is headquartered.

The Ukrainian leader has portrayed the special tribunal as paramount to holding Russian officials responsible for the full-scale invasion of his country, which began in February 2022 and has grinded on for more than three years, with a huge human cost.

The establishment of the tribunal is aimed at widening the net for those who can be tried over the conflict. The International Criminal Court (ICC), which focuses on crimes against humanity, has already issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and several other high-profile political and military Russian figures.

The new body will deal with the crime of aggression, specifically regarding the use of armed force by one state against another. It marks the first time that the CoE has set up such a tribunal.

“The Tribunal, formally launched today, creates a real opportunity to hold the leadership of the Russian regime accountable for the crimes committed against our state and our people,” the Ukrainian president wrote on X.

“We will continue working to ensure justice for all victims. Criminals must face trial in The Hague and be punished.”

Berset said: “This historic signature reminds us that international law must apply to all – with no exceptions, and with no double standards.”

Alongside Putin, the ICC, based in The Hague, issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, in March 2023. Both are accused of the illegal deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.

In March 2024, the court also issued arrest warrants for Viktor Sokolov, a Russian navy officer and former commander of the Black Sea Fleet, and Sergei Kobylash, a lLieutenant general in the Russian Armed Forces. The two are accused of the war crime of causing excessive incidental harm to civilians and the crime against humanity of inhumane acts.

Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations to end the war in Ukraine have mostly stalled despite mediation from the Trump administration.

The talks between Russia, Ukraine and third countries have struggled to make progress after Moscow refused to back off its maximalist demands and presented a ceasefire proposal that would essentially amount to Ukraine’s capitulation.

At the same time, Russia keeps ramping up its attacks against Ukrainian cities. Russian forces killed dozens of Ukrainian civilians in less than 48 hours on Monday and Tuesday, according to Ukrainian officials, two of the deadliest days in many months.

The clasped hands of French and German leaders have long embodied the spirit of European unity – most famously in 1984, when François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl stood hand-in-hand at Verdun in a symbol of reconciliation.

So, when Chancellor Friedrich Merz grasped President Emmanuel Macron’s hand on the steps of the Élysée palace in early May – a handshake that was long, warm, and accompanied by backslapping – it wasn’t just a photo-op.

It was the clearest sign yet that Europe’s most important alliance was back in motion. After years of sputtering and frustration under Olaf Scholz, the Franco-German engine is humming again, and it has a new name: Merzcron.

Since Merz’s election, the two have met six times – most recently with other NATO leaders at The Hague. They will sit down together again on Thursday at the European Council meeting in Brussels.

Their shared agenda: to drive the European Union response on security, Ukraine and Trump-era uncertainties, and shape Europe’s role on the global stage.

Ahead of Wednesday’s NATO summit, Macron and Merz laid out their vision in a joint opinion piece in the Financial Times.

“In these testing times, Germany and France – together with our European and transatlantic friends and allies – stand united and strong, to defend our common values as well as the freedom and security of our citizens,” they wrote.

They outlined plans to boost defense spending – aiming to reach 3.5% of GDP in core military investments – and to deepen cooperation between NATO and the EU, calling for a stronger, more sovereign Europe that is no longer reliant on others for its security. They pledged to ensure Ukraine emerges “prosperous, robust and secure,” and warned that European stability for decades to come hangs in the balance.

The signs are that the powerful ‘Mercron’ or ‘Merkozy’ alliance, portmanteaus derived from the names of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Macron and his predecessor Nicholas Sarkozy, is evolving into an equally influential ‘Merzcron.’

The two-day European Council summit now underway in Brussels, hot on the heels of a G7 meeting in Canada and the NATO leaders’ summit in The Hague, is the first of Merz’s chancellorship. It will likely be another demonstration of how strong this union could be.

Leaders who ‘love interaction’

Under Scholz, the former German chancellor, the Berlin-Paris axis became strained, something that both Ischinger and Hollande noted.

Stefan Seidendorf, director at the Franco-German Institute in Ludwigsburg, Germany, said Scholz spent so much time doing “domestic homework” that he was never able to fully focus on Europe.

The three-way coalition he headed was beset with infighting on domestic and Europe issues and eventually collapsed in November last year, triggering an early election.

He added that the same went for Scholz, “who found it difficult to get along with this French president living in the palace of Élysée with all the gold and the glitter and the ceremony.”

But neither was Macron and Merz’s friendship a given, considering their different styles. Macron, 47, is Jupiterian and theatrical, hailed by some as a visionary, dismissed by others as a narcissist. Merz, 69, is impulsive, prickly under pressure and occasionally leans into populist bluster.

That said, Ischinger said both leaders “met rather easily – and got their act together.” Speaking about their shared character traits, he said they “love interaction. They enjoy difficult questions. These two have a way of understanding each other – they are open.”

‘Perfect unity’ over Ukraine

Their recent trip to Kyiv, alongside British and Polish leaders Keir Starmer and Donald Tusk, “was a symbol of a new kind of determined getting-together of the major European powers to make progress,” Ischinger said.

Paris has long been more hawkish than Berlin on its support for Ukraine. Macron has been a strong proponent of boots on the ground in the country and has allowed Ukraine to fire French-made long-range missiles deep into Russia.

However, Hollande said, “we’ve seen that Merz’s position is a bit different from that of his predecessor… including on the delivery of missiles capable of reaching Russian territory.”

Since taking office, Merz has welcomed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to Berlin and unveiled a new $5 billion package for Ukraine that includes joint co-operation in the development of long-range missiles capable of being fired deep into Russia, some of which could be online by the end of the year.

“Now we’re in perfect unity,” Ischinger said of the Franco-German alignment on Ukraine.

Russia’s unease over a more coordinated Franco-German approach to Ukraine is already starting to show.

News of last month’s visit to Kyiv by Merz and Macron was accompanied by the release of a photo taken ahead of a meeting between them. Sitting on the table was a white tissue.

Its presence sparked an online rumor, amplified by Kremlin officials and later traced back to pro-Russian accounts, that falsely claimed the crumpled tissue – which Macron picked up and pocketed – was a cocaine bag.

The Élysée countered by saying “when European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs. This fake news is being spread by France’s enemies, both abroad and at home.”

European security

US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has also forced a new alignment between the European powerhouses, particularly on the issue of Europe’s security.

The Trump administration’s insistence that Europe should do more to defend itself triggered the shift, Hollande explained, saying that it “forced France and Germany to work together diplomatically and militarily, whereas until then, their main alignment had been on monetary issues.

“Today there is a shared responsibility. Germany must do more for its defense, and France must be willing to share a number of proposals and initiatives – including on defense – with Germany,” Hollande says.

Before even formally taking office, Merz managed to push through the reform of Germany’s constitutional debt brake to unlock over half a trillion dollars in defense spending. He has also committed to creating Europe’s largest army. Both represent a major shift for Germany.

Previously, Hollande suggested, those moves might have been difficult for France to stomach.

“We used to be very reluctant about German rearmament. That was a politically sensitive issue after the war. But today, no one in France fears German rearmament –we welcome it,” he said.

Macron and Merz also appear to have taken a similar approach to dealing with Trump. Both have had effusive and positive meetings in the Oval Office with a president who has not always been so welcoming to visiting leaders.

Europe’s shifting center

Paris and Berlin are also trying to revive the decades-old “Weimar Triangle.” Established after German reunification in 1991, it aimed to bring Poland deeper into the European fold, led by Germany and France.

Ischinger feels the relative weight of the European Union has shifted eastwards due to the war in Ukraine, meaning that Warsaw, now more than ever, must now be a vital ally for Paris and Berlin. “Harmony (between France and Germany) is key, but it’s not sufficient,” he said.

“The center of gravity of the good old European Union was somewhere between France and Germany. But today, almost half of the members are to the east of Germany,” he added, and giving Poland more say is the best way to bring the continent together.

That shift, too, is already playing out. As well as taking part in the Kyiv trip, Tusk has found himself directly involved in European talks with Trump, as the US president has attempted to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Poland’s status as Europe’s fastest growing economy, its commitment to NATO defense spending – way above other member states’ at 4.2% of GDP in 2024, projected to rise to 4.7% this year – and its geographic location bordering Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, have made the nation a key nexus for the continent.

Nonetheless, for Hollande, “Europe only moves forward when France and Germany speak with one voice and pull in the same direction. Only then can the European machine function properly.”

Ischinger added: “If Franco-German cooperation works well, you have a perfect precondition to get the entire European Union underway, moving forward.”

For now, the “Merzcron” engine is firing up and, if it keeps its momentum, it could pull the rest of Europe into gear.

Germany is cutting financial support for charities that rescue migrants at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean, saying it will redirect resources to addressing conditions in source countries that spur people to leave.

For decades, migrants driven by war and poverty have made perilous crossings to reach Europe’s southern borders, with thousands estimated to die every year in their bid to reach a continent grown increasingly hostile to migration.

“Germany is committed to being humane and will help where people suffer but I don’t think it’s the foreign office’s job to finance this kind of sea rescue,” Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told a news conference.

“We need to be active where the need is greatest,” he added, mentioning the humanitarian emergency in war-shattered Sudan.

Under the previous left-leaning government, Germany began paying around 2 million euros ($2.34 million) annually to non-governmental organizations carrying out rescues of migrant-laden boats in trouble at sea.

For them, it has been a key source of funds: Germany’s Sea-Eye, which said rescue charities have saved 175,000 lives since 2015, received around 10% of its total income of around 3.2 million euros from the German government.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives won February’s national election after a campaign promising to curb irregular migration, which some voters in Europe’s largest economy see as being out of control.

Even though the overall numbers have been falling for several years, many Germans blame migration-related fears for the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), now the second largest party in parliament.

Many experts say that migration levels are mainly driven by economic and humanitarian emergencies in the source countries, with the official cold shoulder in destination countries having had little impact in deterring migrants.

Despite this, German officials suggest that sea rescues only incentivize people to risk the sometimes deadly crossings.

“The (government) support made possible extra missions and very concretely saved lives,” said Gorden Isler, Sea-Eye’s chairperson. “We might now have to stay in harbor despite emergencies.”

The opposition Greens, who controlled the foreign office when the subsidies were introduced, criticized the move.

“This will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis and deepen human suffering,” said joint floor leader Britta Hasselmann.

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager in the West Bank on Wednesday, Palestinian health authorities said, as settler violence against Palestinians surged in the occupied territory.

The military shot 15-year-old Rayan Tamer Hawshiya in the neck, the Ministry of Health in Ramallah said, after troops raided Al Yamoun, near Jenin. Residents in the northern town reported “heavy Israeli gunfire,” according to the minstry.

The Israeli military said that “terrorists hurled explosive devices at IDF forces” in Al Yamoun on Wednesday, adding that no IDF injuries were reported.

Separately, a 66-year-old Palestinian woman died from injuries after Israeli police shot her in the head in occupied East Jerusalem, according to local media reports.

Zahia Joudeh al-Obeidi “succumbed to her wounds” after Israeli police stormed Shuafat refugee camp, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Israeli police said they launched an investigation into the circumstances of the death of an “East Jerusalem resident,” adding that the resident was “pronounced dead” by medical officials upon arrival at Shuafat checkpoint.

The killings came on the heels of a spate of attacks in the West Bank town of Kafr Malik, where Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian homes and vehicles in what one Israeli opposition politician called a “violent Jewish pogrom.” Several people were killed and wounded, according to Palestinian and Israeli authorities.

The details of the deaths in Kafr Malik are unclear. The Palestinian foreign ministry said the settlers opened fire on Palestinian residents, while Israeli authorities said there was a firefight between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli security forces.

At least three Palestinians were killed and several were wounded, according to Palestinian officials. The Israeli military said “several” people were killed in the central town, but did not specify whether they were Palestinian or Israeli.

Israel has ramped up military operations in the West Bank, displacing thousands of Palestinians and razing entire communities as it targets what it says are militants operating in the territory.

Last year, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the state “must deal with the threat (in the West Bank) just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents.” He later warned that the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have fled their West Bank homes would not be allowed to return.

Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of inflicting “massive, deliberate displacement of Palestinian civilians” and making “much of the territory unlivable” in violation of international law.

Israeli settlers have also increased attacks on Palestinian communities and their properties, according to the United Nations’ human rights office.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 947 Palestinians, among them 200 children, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between October 7, 2023 and June 12, the UN reported on June 20. Between October 7, 2023 and June 26, at least 39 Israeli civilians have been killed in the West Bank, according to Israeli government officials.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since seizing the territory from Jordan in 1967. In late May, the Israeli government approved the largest expansion of Jewish settlements in the area in decades. The settlements are considered illegal under international law,

‘Stripped of basic dignity’

The IDF said security forces were deployed to the scene after “dozens of Israeli civilians” had set properties on fire. On arrival, the IDF said, the security forces were met with gunfire and rocks hurled by what it described as “terrorists” and they returned fire.

“Hits were identified, and it was later reported that there were several individuals injured and fatalities,” the IDF said, adding that five Israelis were arrested.

Israeli opposition politician Yair Golan condemned the settler attack, saying: “What happened this evening in Kafr Malik was a violent Jewish pogrom – dozens of rioters set fire to homes and vehicles, and assaulted Palestinians and security forces.”

Shortly after the violence in Kafr Malik, there was another settler attack close to the nearby village of Taybeh, according to the Israeli rights organization B’Tselem, which shared footage of masked men torching a parked car. Three people were injured and three cars were set on fire, it said.

A third settler attack took place around Jericho, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, which said eight people were injured due to smoke inhalation after a house was set on fire.

A UN official warned there has been “no respite” for Palestinian people in the northern West Bank, where he accused Israel of imposing “systematic forced displacement” on refugee communities in “violation of international law.”

“Out of the spotlight of the regional escalation, camps in the northern West Bank have faced ongoing destruction, with dozens of buildings demolished in the last twelve days,” Roland Friedrich, the director of affairs for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, posted on X on Wednesday.

“Even now, Israeli security forces are continuing to demolish homes and buildings in Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps. Stripped of basic dignity, many families have not even been able to save their belongings ahead of anticipated bulldozing.”