Train derails in southern Mexico, killing 13 and injuring dozens

According to officials, a train carrying 250 people partially derailed in southern Mexico, causing at least 13 fatalities and 98 injuries.

The Interoceanic Train, which connects Oaxaca and Veracruz on Sunday, passed a curve near Nizanda, according to the Mexican Navy.

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According to the report, “unfortunately, 13 people lost their lives” and that 98 people had been injured.

At the time of the accident, the train had 241 passengers and nine members of the crew. 139 of the 98 injured were said to be uninjured, and 36 of the 98 injured were still receiving medical care.

At least five of those injured were listed as in “serious” condition in a statement posted on X, according to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Sheinbaum said she has instructed the navy’s secretary and other senior officers to visit the area and assist the victims’ families. She added that the incident response is being coordinated by the Interior Ministry.

The attorney general of Mexico announced that an investigation was being launched to find the cause of the accident.

Emergency units were close to the accident site, according to a Mexican channel called Uno Noticias Television, but they had trouble getting there.

One of the train’s carriages was on its side, according to images that were circulated on social media and posted by Mexican news outlets, and another was completely disconnected from the tracks.

Translated: A passenger train slammed. The Isthmus is interoceanic. The Interoceanic passenger train derailed on Sunday, 5 kilometers south of Nizanda, belonging to Asuncion Ixtaltepec, Oaxaca. The train had left Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and was heading to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, according to reports of injuries. Emergency personnel are close by the area, but rescue efforts are hampered by the site’s challenging access.

Some of the passengers who were trapped in the derailed carriages were also captured in video clips that were posted online.

According to a passenger, the train “was coming very quickly” before the derailment, according to a passenger in Mexico’s La Razon newspaper.

The passenger told La Razon, “We don’t know if it lost its brakes.”

Oaxaca Governor Salomon Jara Cruz expressed his country’s “heartfelt condolences to the families of these tragic accidents” in a statement posted on X.

Between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, the train travels both with passengers and cargo.

A cargo truck and a train traveling the same route collided on December 20 while trying to cross the tracks, but neither person died.

Under the direction of then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the line was formally established in 2023 as a significant infrastructure project to develop southeast Mexico.

The initiative was to modernize the land bridge connecting Salina Cruz, Mexico’s Pacific port, with Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf Coast, across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

China to stage drills around Taiwan in ‘stern warning’ to external forces

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China has sent air, navy, and rocket troops to Taiwan’s waters for exercises that its military claimed were meant to provide a “stern warning” against “separatist” and “external interference” forces and to test combat readiness.

The United States sold $11.1 billion worth of weapons to Taiwan in response to the announcement made on Monday, which came amid fury in Beijing and a statement from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who suggested that the Japanese military might intervene if China attacked the self-governing island.

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Taiwan is regarded as a part of its territory by Beijing, and the country has pledged to impose itself on Taiwan.

For its “Just Mission 2025” campaign, the Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command announced in a statement that it would begin sending troops from the army, navy, air force, and rocket force to five areas around Taiwan.

The Taiwan Strait and the areas north, southwest, southeast, and east of the island will begin the live-fire exercises on Tuesday, according to the statement.

The activities will focus “on gaining integrated control, sealing off key ports and areas, and conducting multi-dimensional deterrence,” according to Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the Eastern Theatre Command. He continued, “The drills serve as a serious warning to “Taiwan Independence” separatist forces and external interference forces.”

Five large areas around the island where “live firing activities will be organized” on Tuesday from 8 am to 6 pm (00:00 to 10:00 GMT) were highlighted in a separate statement with a map. Any unrelated vessel or aircraft is advised to avoid entering the above-mentioned waters and airspace, according to the statement.

The planned drills, which came after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan by then-US House of Representatives, were described by the state-owned Xinhua news agency as “a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity.”

According to Shi, Chinese ships and aircraft will “assault” Taiwan “in close proximity from different directions” and troops from various services will “engage in joint assaults,” according to Xinhua.

Three military vehicles, two ships, and two golden shields emblazoned with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) insignia and the Great Wall of China were displayed on a poster titled “Shields of Justice: Smashing Illusions” by the Chinese military.

This is the first time the PLA has publicly stated that port blockades around Taiwan are intended to deter international military intervention, despite last year’s PLA’s previous port blockades during war games.

The US announced earlier this month that it had approved $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan as part of the largest ever arms deal for the island. The Ministry of National Defense in China protested the decision, and it issued a warning that the military would “take forceful measures” in response.

After the island’s Ministry of National Defence discovered three Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels around Taiwan between Saturday and Sunday, Taiwan announced over the weekend that it had deployed aircraft, naval assets, missile systems, and other means of monitoring Chinese activities.

All three Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, according to a statement released by the country’s defense ministry on their website. They all flew over the Taiwan Strait’s median line.

Taiwan’s President William Lai Ching-te stated in an interview with Sanli E-Television that the island must continue to reduce the cost of aggression and strengthen its indigenous defenses, stressing that strength alone cannot bring about peace.

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,404

On Monday, December 29th, 2018, this is how things are going.

Diplomacy

    Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, was met by US President Donald Trump for talks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he claimed the two leaders were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to a resolution to end the conflict in Ukraine.

  • Trump and Zelenskyy made progress on two of the peace talks’ most contentious issues: the division of eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region by Russia and the security guarantees for Ukraine.
  • Regarding security guarantees, Trump claimed that the negotiations were still ongoing, while Zelenskyy claimed that the situation was 100%.
  • Although the US president claimed that discussions were “moving in the right direction,” Zelenskyy and Trump both claimed that the situation in the largely Russian-occupied Donbass was still a mystery. Although the situation is still unresolved, it is getting much more complicated. That’s a very difficult problem, according to Trump.
  • Although the two leaders provided no further information or a deadline for ratifying the deal, Zelenskyy claimed any peace agreement would need to be approved by the country’s parliament or be decided by a referendum.
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, reported on X shortly after the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting that the “whole world appreciates” Trump and his team’s efforts to bring peace.
  • Trump and Putin spoke on phone for more than two hours prior to the meeting with Zelenskyy. The call was described as “excellent” and “productive,” according to the US president.
  • After the meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump promised to call Putin again.
  • Yury Ushakov, a senior aide to the Kremlin’s foreign policy adviser, claimed Putin had informed Trump that a 60-day ceasefire, which the European Union and Ukraine had suggested, would only “prolong the war.”
  • According to Ushakov, Kyiv needs to make a “bold, responsible, political decision” regarding the Donbass region and other contentious issues before the hostilities are “completely stopped.”
  • At least some of the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting took place by phone, including those from Finland, France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
  • Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, stated in a statement that having ironclad security guarantees would be of “paramount” importance and that Europe was willing to continue cooperating with the US and Ukraine.
  • Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, reported that the meeting had made progress in terms of security guarantees. According to Macron, the “Coalition of the Willing” nations would convene in Paris in January to finalize their “concrete contributions.”
  • Zelenskyy claimed that Trump had agreed to hold another meeting with European leaders in January, possibly at the White House. Trump claimed that the meeting could take place “somewhere” in Washington, D.C.
  • Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister, warned earlier on Sunday that any Russian forces would legitimately target any Ukrainian troops stationed there. Lavrov also accused European politicians of disregarding the citizens of Ukraine and their own countries and being driven by “ambitions” in their relations with Kyiv.

Fighting

  • One person was hurt when Russian forces attacked a heating plant in Kherson, in southern Ukraine, according to the state oil and gas company Naftogaz, who claimed the facility had suffered “significant damage.”
  • DTEK, the country’s top private energy company, announced the day after a significant Russian air attack caused emergency outages, that more than a million homes in and around Kyiv were restored to power.
  • In a drone attack, the Ukrainian military claimed to have attacked the Syzran oil refinery in the Samara region of Russia. The army said in a statement that the strike started a fire and that damages were still being assessed.
  • In contrast to earlier claims by Moscow that the town of Huliaipole had been taken, the military claimed that only a portion of the southeast’s town of Huliaipole was under Russian control. Additionally, Russia claimed it had taken control of Stepnohirsk, a second town in the southeast of Zaporizhia, and that fighting was still ongoing.
  • Meanwhile, the Donetsk region’s Ministry of Defense announced in a statement that its troops had taken control of four additional settlements. They were given the names Myrnohrad, Artemivka, Rodynske, and Vilne.

North Korea’s Kim oversees test launch of long-range cruise missiles

According to state media, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the testing of long-range strategic cruise missiles and called for “uninterrupted and sustained” development of his nation’s nuclear combat forces.

Kim expressed satisfaction as the cruise missiles flew past their target, which was located above the sea west of the Korean Peninsula, according to a report from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday.

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Kim’s most recent event was the launch, which took place on Sunday, in preparation for a crucial party congress scheduled for early 2026. It was a flurry of activities by the North Korean leader.

A five-year development strategy will be presented at the meeting.

Kim claimed that checking the reliability and quick response of the components of “North Korea’s] nuclear deterrent” on a regular basis was “just a responsible exercise” because the nation “is facing various security threats”. He added that Pyongyang would continue to dedicate “all of their efforts” to the state nuclear combat force’s “unlimited and sustained development,” according to KCNA.

The missile launch site was not specified by KCNA.

The military of South Korea’s state news agency Yonhap reported on Monday that it had been notified that missile launches from the Sunan region close to Pyongyang had been detected.

It warned that North Korea might start conducting additional missile tests by the year’s end.

Kim also inspected a 8,700-tonne “nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine” that was under construction, according to the KCNA, and issued a warning that South Korea’s plan to build nuclear-powered submarines “must be countered.”

The submarine’s lower sections were mostly visible in the lower sections of the vessel, which was the first time the state media of North Korea had made them available.

Kim oversaw the testing of long-range surface-to-air missiles while being accompanied by his daughter, who might succeed him, at the Thursday event.

As the nation works to complete its “five-year plan” of development before convening the Workers’ Party of Korea’s ninth Congress in the first half of 2026, Kim has attended numerous facility openings, including factories and hotels, in the last month.

North Korea conducted a ballistic missile test in November, just one week after US President Donald Trump visited the area and expressed interest in meeting with Kim. The offer was rejected by Pyongyang.

Trump had just approved South Korea’s plan to construct a nuclear submarine at the time.

Pyongyang has repeatedly declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear state since Kim’s summit with Trump in 2019 abruptly ended due to the devastation and sanctions relief it received.

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