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At least five people were killed and 26 more injured in the blast on Sunday. Ecuador's interior minister said it was a "declaration of war" by criminal gangs against the government. The Andean country, which is used as a cocaine smuggling route from neighbouring Peru and Colombia, has seen a sharp rise in murders and gang-related crime recently. A state of emergency has been declared in Guayaquil, Ecuador's most populous city and an important trade hub. It is the fourth emergency to be declared in Ecuador since October because of gang violence. Eight houses and two cars were destroyed in the early morning blast, according to the National Risk and Emergency Management Service. Pictures Hoka Shoes Canada from the scene show the front of houses ...

Speaking in a rare public interview, Lt Gen Sir Jim Hockenhull also said he had been keeping a very close eye on Russia's potential use of nuclear weapons. On 23 February this year, Gen Hockenhull had been working late into the night. He cycled home at midnight, and went to bed at about 01:00. He got a phone call an hour later saying there had been some odd indicators of activity on the Ukrainian border, so he got back on his bicycle and returned to work. The confirmation came that Russia had indeed invaded its neighbour. Minutes later, and still in the early hours of the morning, he was briefing Britain's prime minister and defence secretary on the beginning of Europe's biggest armed conflict since World War Two. IMAGE SOURCE,SOPA IMA...

A wild goat has been taken down from a 50ft (15m) stand at a festival in Ireland for the second day in a row as temperatures soar across the country. The annual Puck Fair in Killorglin in County Kerry sees a goat, crowned King Puck, paraded through the town during the three-day event. Unprecedently, the animal was removed from its cage on Thursday and Friday as the mercury hit the high 20s. Organisers said the goat had a clean bill of health and was being monitored. With a high temperature warning for all of Ireland in effect,Rockport Shoes the goat was taken down from its pedestal and put back in the shade. Animal welfare groups have raised concerns about the wild goat's well-being, with the Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) cal...

The UK was closely involved with the evacuation of British nationals and those who had worked for the British. How many Afghans have been resettled in the UK? The government says that more than 21,000 Afghan refugees have been resettled in the UK. Most came as part of Operation Pitting, which was the British military operation starting on 13 August 2021 to evacuate British nationals and Afghans from Kabul. About 2,000 came before Operation Pitting 15,000 were involved with Operation Pitting 5,000 have arrived since then. They have been resettled under several schemes and we do not have breakdowns of how many were involved with each scheme. The Home Office said another 1,400 former staff and their families had alr...

The Saky base in the west of Russian-ruled Crimea was rocked by a string of blasts on Tuesday, killing one person. The blasts led to the loss of eight Russian combat jets, the MoD said in its daily intelligence update. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility, but satellite images suggest the possibility of a targeted attack. The cause of the blasts is unclear, but at least five fighter-bombers and three multi-role jets were "almost certainly destroyed or seriously damaged", the statement says. The loss of eight combat jets will make only a minor dent in Moscow's overall fleet of aircraft, but will be a significant setback to the Russian Navy's Black Sea fleet, it says. "The fleet's naval aviation capability is now significantly degr...

Neither Kyiv nor Moscow are expected to achieve any decisive military action in Ukraine this year, the UK's military intelligence chief has told the BBC. Lt Gen Sir Jim Hockenhull - who was briefing the UK's prime minister just hours after Moscow invaded back in February - says we should be wary of thinking either side is winning or losing, or that there is a stalemate. Russia is trying to recruit and train more forces after suffering losses, but it is also having to redeploy some of its troops from Donbas to the south, where it faces heavy pressure from Ukrainian forces. A big shift in the next few months is unrealistic, Gen Hockenhull suggests. Thursday saw 10 hits on the office and fire station Thorogood Boots of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power...