News in Brief
Ecuador’s Lasso dissolves congress
AP – Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Wednesday put an end to impeachment proceedings against him by dissolving the opposition-led National Assembly, which had accused him of embezzlement.
The right-wing president, who has denied any wrongdoing, can govern for up to six months by decree under the South American country’s constitution.
The National Electoral Council now has seven days to call presidential and legislative elections, which must be held within 90 days. Those elected will finish the terms of Lasso and the lawmakers he ousted, which had been set to end in May 2025.
Thailand’s opposition holds coalition talks
REUTERS – Thailand’s opposition parties, which trounced their military-allied rivals in this week’s election, met for coalition talks on Wednesday as the liberal Move Forward Party, which won the most votes, looks to form a government.
Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat was seen greeting senior officials from five other parties at a Bangkok restaurant before ushering them upstairs for closed-door talks.
Sunday’s vote saw Move Forward come in first ahead of another opposition party, the political heavyweight Pheu Thai, in a major blow to the establishment’s pro-military parties led by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.
Eight dead, thousands evacuated
as floods batter Italy
REUTERS – At least eight people died and thousands were evacuated from their homes as torrential rain battered Italy’s northern Emilia-Romagna region, triggering widespread floods, officials said on Wednesday.
Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said some areas had received half their average annual rainfall in just 36 hours, causing rivers to burst their banks, sending water cascading through towns and submerging thousands of acres of farmland.